Hybrid location and keyword index

A computer-readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions for controlling a computing device to create a data structure that maps values of geographic location and keyword attributes to objects, the data structure comprising:

• a hybrid index having a primary index and secondary indexes, the primary index mapping a value of a first attribute of the geographic location attribute and the keyword attribute to an associated secondary index, each secondary index mapping values of a second attribute of the geographic location attribute and the keyword attribute to objects that have the value of the first attribute associated with the secondary index and the value of the second attribute,
• wherein the geographic locations are represented using an R*-tree-based index and the geographic locations are rectangular areas represented using a vector-based representation,
• wherein the hybrid index maps geographic location and keyword combinations to objects associated with the combination,
• wherein when an object is associated with multiple geographic locations, the hybrid index represents combined geographic locations by a minimum bounding rectangle of the geographic locations, and
• wherein the hybrid index identifies objects of a search result of a query having a location query value and a keyword query value, the objects being identified using the primary index to identify a secondary index associated with a query value of the query of the first attribute and using the identified secondary index to identify objects associated with a query value of the query of the second attribute, wherein the identified objects have values associated with the location query value and the keyword query value.

A computing device for performing a location-based search for web pages based on query values for a geographic location attribute and a keyword attribute, comprising:

• a central processing unit;
• a memory;
• a component that generates a hybrid index having a primary index and secondary indexes, the primary index mapping values of a first attribute of the geographic location attribute and the keyword attribute to associated secondary indexes, each secondary index mapping values of a second attribute of the geographic location attribute and the keyword attribute to web pages that have the value of the first attribute associated with the secondary index and the value of the second attribute, wherein the geographic locations are rectangular areas represented using a vector-based representation and an R*-tree-based index of geographic locations, wherein when the hybrid index maps geographic location and keyword combinations to web pages associated with the combinations, wherein when a web page is associated with multiple geographic locations, the hybrid index maps to a minimum bounding rectangle of the rectangular areas of the geographic locations;
• a component that receives from a user a query that includes a location query value and a keyword query value;
• a component that uses the primary index to identify a secondary index associated with a query value of the query of the first attribute;
• and
• a component that uses the identified secondary index to identify web pages associated with a query value of the query of the second attribute, wherein the identified web pages have values associated with the location query value and the keyword query value;
• wherein the identified web pages represent search results for a search request represented by the received query that includes a location query value and a keyword query value.