Patent ID: 8849567

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for updating information contained in a geographic information system, the method comprising: receiving, at one or more processors and from a client computing device, a name of a point of interest and a location associated with the point of interest; comparing, at the one or more processors, the name and location of the received point of interest to names and locations of a plurality of points of interest stored in a data repository; determining, at the one or more processors, whether a first point of interest in the data repository has a name that matches the name of the received point of interest, and a location that is within a predetermined distance of the location of the received point of interest; increasing a confidence value for the first point of interest or verifying that the confidence value for the first point of interest is at a maximum if the first point of interest has a name that matches the name of the received point of interest, and a location that is within a predetermined distance of the location of the received point of interest; and adding the name and location of the received point of interest to a temporary set of points of interest, stored in the memory if it is determined that no point of interest in the data repository has a name that matches the name of the received point of interest, and a location that is within a predetermined distance of the location of the received point of interest; and when it is determined that the first point of interest in the data repository has a name that matches the name of the received point of interest, and a location that is within a predetermined distance of the location of the received point of interest: determining whether a second point of interest in the data repository has a location that is within a predetermined distance of the location of the received point of interest, but a name that does not match the name of the received point of interest; determining whether the confidence value associated with the first point of interest exceeds a second predetermined threshold; and reducing the confidence value of the second point of interest if the confidence value of the first point of interest exceeds the second predetermined threshold.