Patent ID: 7945485
Filing Date: 2011-05-17
Classification: G06F,G06Q,H04L

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method of providing a service to a plurality of sites that provide interactive user access to electronic data repositories of items, the method comprising: receiving and recording event data reported by each of the sites, said event data describing events generated by users of said sites, said events including search query submission events in which a user submits a search query comprising one or more search terms to a search engine of a site, said events additionally including item selection events in which a user selects an item represented in an electronic data repository of a site; generating, for each of the plurality of sites, a respective site-specific dataset that maps particular search queries to particular items selected by users who submitted such search queries to the respective site, said site-specific datasets generated by analyzing the recorded search query submission events in conjunction with the recorded item selection events on a site-by-site basis; receiving a request from a particular site of said plurality of sites, said request identifying a particular search query submitted by a user to the particular site, said request additionally identifying the particular site; and responding to the request by looking up, from the site-specific dataset corresponding to the particular site, a list of items selected by users who submitted the particular search query to the particular site, and by returning at least a portion of the list to the particular site for use in responding to the particular search query; said method performed by a computer system that comprises one or more computers, said computer system being separate from each of said sites, and being programmed to communicate with said sites via a service interface.