Patent ID: 6370527
Filing Date: 2002-04-09
Classification: G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
A method for searching a distributed network, comprising:submitting a query simultaneously to a plurality of search engine devices, the query including at least one search term; receiving search results from the search engine devices, the search results including listings of sources containing the at least one search term, or a term or terms related to the at least one search term, wherein the listings of sources include at least one of a title and summary of each source; ranking the search results based on the occurrence of the at least one search term, or a term or terms related to the at least one search term, in at least one of titles and summaries of the search results; and compiling a single ranked list of the received search results, wherein the ranking step comprises generating scores for each source in the search results and sorting the search results into the single ranked list based on the generated scores, and if two or more sources have a same score, the ranking step further comprises calculating a secondary score for the two or more sources and the ranking of the two or more sources is based on the secondary score.