Dynamically Expiring Crowd-Sourced Content

A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that when executed by a computer control the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

• accessing crowd-sourced content in a crowd-sourced database, the crowd-sourced content comprising a point of interest data set, where the point of interest data set is suitable for storing on a computer-readable storage medium, where the point of interest data set includes information concerning a hyperlocal point of interest, and where the information concerning the hyperlocal point of interest includes a predicted expiration time, a predicted expiration event, or an observed expiration of the hyperlocal point of interest, and where the point of interest data set includes an identifier of a user who provided the point of interest data set, where the identifier is configured to identify the user as a voluntarily registered contributor to a crowd-sourced database and to provide access to a user profile;
• establishing a quality measure for the point of interest data set, where establishing the quality measure is a function of a completeness of the point of interest data set, a type of data provided in the point of interest data set, a frequency of submissions related to the point of interest data set, a similarity of the point of interest data set to other data stored in the crowd-sourced database, a location from which the point of interest data set was submitted, or the user profile of the user that provided the point of interest data set, and where establishing the quality measure includes evaluating subsequent treatment of the point of interest data set, where evaluating subsequent treatment of the point of interest data set includes evaluating whether the point of interest data set was voted up, evaluating whether the point of interest data set was voted down, evaluating whether the point of interest data set was validated, evaluating whether the point of interest data set was invalidated, or evaluating whether the point of interest data set was confirmed;
• establishing an expiration criteria for a point of interest associated with the point of interest data set, where the expiration criteria is a function of the point of interest data set, the quality measure, and a frequency measure, where establishing the expiration criteria includes identifying a time, a date, or an event after which the point of interest or the crowd-sourced content is to be expired, where establishing the expiration criteria includes establishing a confidence level for the expiration criteria, where the confidence level controls, at least in part, whether a point of interest associated with the point of interest data set or the crowd-sourced content will be expired as a function of the expiration criteria, where the frequency measure is a function of a number of times point of interest data is provided for a selected hyperlocal point of interest, a similarity of point of interest data provided for the selected hyperlocal point of interest, a period of time over which point of interest data is provided for the selected hyperlocal point of interest, or a number of unique users of the crowd-sourced database who provide point of interest data concerning the selected hyperlocal point of interest;
• selectively expiring the point of interest or the crowd-sourced content based on the expiration criteria, where expiring the point of interest data leaves the point of interest available for determining future expiration criteria or blocks the point of interest from being returned in a search result that accesses the crowd sourced database;
• selectively updating the user profile as a function of a subsequent treatment of the point of interest data set, where selectively updating the user profile includes manipulating a trustworthiness rating for the user or manipulating a confidence level for the user;
• and
• upon detecting that a user of a mobile device is at a selected point of interest, the user being a registered contributor to the crowd-sourced database, soliciting the user to provide an observation concerning the selected point of interest, where the observation concerns whether data concerning expiration criteria associated with the selected point of interest is accurate.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory;
• a set of logics configured to dynamically expire crowd-sourced content provided to a crowd-sourced database;
• and
• an interface to connect the processor, the memory, and the set of logics;
• the set of logics comprising:
• a first logic configured to acquire a contribution from a user, where the contribution is data associated with the crowd-sourced content, where the data is provided by a mobile device, and where the data is configured for storage on a computer-readable storage medium;
• a second logic configured to produce an evaluation of the contribution;
• and
• a third logic configured to selectively update an expiration criteria for the crowd-sourced content based on the contribution, the evaluation, and the user, the expiration criteria being stored in the crowd-sourced database.