Maps Viewport Listing Ranking by Booking Score and Distance
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Solution Overview
Problem
The transition from a list format to a map format in a user interface disrupts the ranking of search results, leading to inefficiencies in user experience and computational load, as ranking is irrelevant in map views, and users may overlook top-ranked listings, straining server resources during peak usage.
Innovation Solution
A maps viewport optimization system dynamically adjusts the display of listings in a map format by selecting top listings based on booking probability, distance from the center, and visibility, optimizing the cumulative booking score to maintain ranking relevance and visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If listings are displayed in map format, then spatial visualization and user exploration are improved, but ranking relevance and conversion rates deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the treatment of listings based on their position and characteristics within the map viewport. Top-ranked listings receive enhanced visual treatment (larger icons, different colors, animation effects) while lower-ranked listings use standard markers. This selective differentiation maintains spatial exploration benefits while ensuring high-value listings remain prominent and clickable, thereby preserving conversion rates.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from the traditional two-dimensional list ranking to a three-dimensional map space with vertical layering. Listings are positioned at different depths and heights within the map viewport, with top-ranked listings placed in foreground positions and animated to draw attention. This dimensional transformation allows both spatial exploration and ranking preservation to coexist.
2Stability of the object's composition
If all listings are displayed equally in map view, then spatial context is maintained, but user attention to top listings is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs color changes to encode ranking information within the map viewport. Top-ranked listings are displayed with distinct colors (e.g., gold, red, or highlighted borders) while lower-ranked listings use standard marker colors. This visual encoding allows users to quickly identify high-value listings while maintaining the spatial distribution and context of all listings on the map.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies animation effects and visual vibrations to top-ranked listings to draw user attention. These listings may pulse, bounce, or display expanding rings that create visual movement, making them stand out against static lower-ranked listings. This dynamic visual treatment preserves spatial context while effectively communicating ranking information through motion.
3Reliability
If ranking system is applied to map results, then relevance is improved, but computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the ranking computation from the map rendering process itself. The ranking system pre-calculates and assigns ranking scores to listings based on relevance criteria before the map is displayed. These pre-computed rankings are then used to determine visual positioning and styling in the map viewport, separating the computational complexity of ranking from the rendering complexity of map display.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs ranking computations in advance before generating the map viewport. Listings are sorted and ranked based on relevance criteria, and this pre-computed ranking information is stored and reused when rendering the map. This preliminary action eliminates the need for complex real-time ranking calculations during map display, reducing computational complexity while maintaining relevance.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided to select a set of candidate listings having geographic locations within a geographical area, fit a bound for a maps viewport to the set of candidate listings, generate a maximum score for the set of candidate listings based on a booking probability for each listing, a distance of the listing location from a center of the bound for the maps viewport, and visibility based on other listings. The systems and methods further optimize the listings shown in the maps viewport by removing and replacing farthest listings up to a predefined number of listings to be removed and computing a cumulative booking score for each set of listings to compare to the maximum score. The systems and methods cause display in a maps viewport in a user interface of a computing device of a set of listings that has a maximum score.