Patent ID: 8874604

Claim:
A method for searching an electronic map, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a user query entered by a user for searching the electronic map; extracting at least one place name in the user query; extracting, from a plurality of web pages searched on a computer network, at least one co-occurrence place name that co-occurred with the at least one place name; selecting at least one extension place name from the at least one co-occurrence place name, thereby obtaining an extension place name set; generating a set of queries, wherein the set of queries includes the user query, and includes a query obtained by replacing the at least one place name in the user query with each extension place name in the extension place name set, respectively; sending the set of queries to a map search engine; and providing a single display having a map portion and a result portion; wherein at least one of the foregoing steps is performed by a programmed data processing system; wherein the method further comprises calling, by the map search engine, an image search engine to perform an image search on the set of queries; wherein the method further comprises ranking preferential presentation order of images in a set of images returned by the image search engine; wherein the ranking of the order comprises ranking a given one of the images based upon a number of co-occurrence place names in text surrounding the given image; wherein the method further comprises at least one of: (a) removing, in response to a specified region entered by the user, at least one co-occurrence place name; and (b) removing, in response to the specified region entered by the user, at least one extension place name; and wherein the method further comprises presenting at least some of the images in the set of images returned by the image search engine in the result portion of the display and providing in the map portion of the display a map upon which the specified region is specified by the user through a pointer device.