Patent Publication Number: US-7587309-B1

Title: System and method for providing text summarization for use in web-based content

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
   The invention relates in general to text summarization and, in particular, to a system and method for providing text summarization for use in Web-based content. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
   Although the origins of the Internet trace back to the late 1960s, the more recently-developed Worldwide Web (“Web”), together with the long-established Usenet, have revolutionized accessibility to untold volumes of information in stored electronic form to a worldwide audience, including written, spoken (audio) and visual (imagery and video) information, both in archived and real-time formats. The Web provides information via interconnected Web pages that can be navigated through embedded hyperlinks. In short, the Web provides desktop access to a virtually unlimited library of information in almost every language. 
   The Web provides a readily accessible and widely available electronic communications channel to content providers of all types, from advertisers and search engines to individual end users. Web content is presented as a visual medium, which can be complemented by sound, tactile and other forms of non-visual feedback. Visual Web content includes text, images, graphics, video and similar information. The available space on every Web page is finite and both practical and physical limitations can restrict the information presented. 
   In particular, Web page text is often restricted. The space available for display on a Web page is limited and content providers attempt to make the best use of the space available by limiting the size and amount of text. For instance, Web-enabled cellular telephones and personal data assistant devices have considerably less display space than a full-sized computer monitor. Similarly, advertisements are often subject to strict space limits and are incentived to work within the space restrictions for practical and budgetary reasons. Web content providers frequently charge on-line advertisers for both the space occupied by each advertisement and for the number of times an advertisement is displayed to and selected by end users. Similarly, Web search engines must balance between finding quality search results and being able to only present those search results that will fit on a given Web page. Consequently, Web search engines often rank search results to ensure presentation of the best search results first. Finally, Web pages include columnar and tabular presentation formats respectively including headings and text and individual cells. Heading and cells are inherently limited in the space available and, if necessary, text must be condensed or truncated to fit. 
   Substantively, quality Web content gets read, yet providing salient and responsive Web content can be difficult. For instance, advertisements are frequently provided with other competing Web-based advertisements and unrelated but distracting content. Relevance and succinctness become particularly important. Product names typically are presented prominently to attract the attention of a user and each word appearing must be carefully selected to maximize user appeal yet conserve available space. Crafting a suitable product name can be particularly problematic for advertisers who have a significant body of advertisements, such as a Web retailer with a large product catalog, and such advertisers may prefer to generate Web-based advertisements through automated means, which draw advertising content from stored advertisement feeds. 
   Unfortunately, information contained in the stored advertisement feeds tends to be unstructured and of relatively poor quality. Generally, the advertisements are overly wordy and often contain only nouns, adjectives, conjunctions, and prepositions. Improper capitalization often occurs in the description. Consequently, information extracted from the feeds may be unsuitable for mapping directly into standardized Web-based advertisements. Moreover, arbitrarily truncating the product names can result in grammatically improper or nonsensical wording. Other types of information feeds, such as news wires, present similar challenges with respect to editing and condensing the text into quality WEB content usable within available WEB page space. 
   Therefore, there is a need for an approach to providing text summarization of information provided as WEB content. Preferably, such an approach would enable candidate text, including unstructured content, to fit within a limited space budget while maintaining quality and format. 
   Therefore, there is a further need for an approach to building standardized advertisements in the form of WEB-based advertising creatives based on information retrieved from advertising excerpts. Preferably, such an approach would identify and summarize information selected from advertising excerpts of stored advertisement feeds in a succinct fashion and relevant to user queries. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
   An embodiment provides a system and method for providing text summarization for use in WEB-based content. Text is determined responsive to an executed query including one or more query terms. Phrases within the text are identified. The phrases are summarized into summarized text. At least one word in the phrases is marked. Zero or more words in the phrases are matched to the query terms. At least one of a matched word or a marked word is placed into the summarized text subject to space restrictions. 
   A further embodiment provides a system and method for building WEB-based advertising creatives. At least one item description is identified responsive to an executed query comprising one or more query terms. A name is extracted from the item description. Phrases within the name are identified. The phrases are summarized into an advertising creative. At least one word in the phrases is marked. Zero or more words in the phrases are matched to the query terms. At least one of a matched word or a marked word is placed into the advertising creative subject to space restrictions. 
   Still other embodiments of the invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein are described embodiments of the invention by way of illustrating the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respect, all without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a system for providing text summarization for use in WEB-based content, in accordance with the invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram showing a text summarizer, in accordance with one embodiment. 
       FIG. 3  is a data structure diagram showing, by way of example, a product description for use by the text summarizer of  FIG. 2 . 
       FIGS. 4A-D  are diagrams showing, by way of example, advertising creatives generated by the text summarizer of  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 5  is a flow diagram showing a method for providing text summarization for use in WEB-based content, in accordance with one embodiment. 
       FIG. 6  is a flow diagram showing the routine for processing phrases by content for use in the method of  FIG. 5 . 
       FIG. 7  is a flow diagram showing the routine for processing phrases by parts of speech for use in the method of  FIG. 5 . 
       FIG. 8  is a flow diagram showing the routine for processing categories for use in the method of  FIG. 5 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   System Overview 
     FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a system  9  for providing text summarization for use in WEB-based content, in accordance with the invention. A plurality of individual clients  12  are communicatively interfaced to a server  11  via an internetwork  10 , such as the Internet, or other form of communications network, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. The individual clients  12  are operated by users  19  who transact requests for WEB content, news messages, advertisements, other types of content, and other operations through their respective client  12 . 
   Each client  12  can be any form of computing platform connectable to a network, such as the internetwork  10 , and capable of interacting with application programs. Exemplary examples of individual clients include, without limitation, personal computers, digital assistants, “smart” cellular telephones and pagers, lightweight clients, workstations, “dumb” terminals interfaced to an application server, and various arrangements and configurations thereof, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. The internetwork  10  includes various topologies, configurations, and arrangements of network interconnectivity components arranged to interoperatively couple with enterprise, wide area and local area networks and include, without limitation, conventionally wired, wireless, satellite, optical, and equivalent network technologies, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. 
   For WEB content retrieval and news message posting and retrieval, each client  12  executes a Web browser and news reader application  18  (“Browser/Reader”). WEB content  24  is requested via a WEB server  20  executing on the server  11 . Similarly, news messages (“News Msgs”)  25  are posted and retrieved via a news server  21  also executing on the server  11 . In addition, advertisements (“Ads”)  26  are provided with the WEB content  24 , news messages  25 , and other content  27  via an advertisement server (“Ad Server”)  22  also executing on the server  11 . The advertisements  26  provide stored advertisement feeds and can also include standardized advertisements that normalize the general layout and appearance of WEB-based advertisements through a common format, such as product name and body. The advertisement server  22  can target the advertisements  26  for inclusion with or in lieu of the WEB content  24 , news messages  25 , and other content  27 , such as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/676,195, filed Sep. 30, 2003, pending, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. Other types of server functionality can be provided, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. Note the WEB browsing, news reading, and advertising functions could also be implemented separately as stand alone applications. 
   The server  11  maintains an attached storage device  15  in which the WEB content  24 , news messages  25 , advertisements  26 , and other content  27  are stored. The WEB content  24 , news messages  25 , advertisements  26 , and other content  27  could also be maintained remotely on other WEB and news servers (not shown) interconnected either directly or indirectly via the internetwork  10  and which are preferably accessible by each client  12 . 
   A search engine  22  executes on the server  11  for processing queries for WEB content  24 , news messages  25 , advertisements  26 , and other content  27 . Each query is meant to describe or otherwise identify information potentially retrievable via either the Web server  20  or news server  21 . The information can include other information also determined to be relevant to the query. In one embodiment, each query provides characteristics, typically expressed as terms, including individual words and compounds. The search engine  22  receives a query, identifies matching WEB content  24 , news messages  25 , advertisements  26 , and other content  27 , including text, and sends back search results conforming to the query preferences. Other styles, forms or definitions of queries, query characteristics, and related metadata are feasible, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. 
   In one embodiment, the search engine  22  identifies the WEB content  24 , news messages  25 , advertisements  26 , and other content  27  determined to be highly relevant in relation to a given set of search query terms, for example, using such techniques as described in S. Brin and L. Page, “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Search Engine” (1998) and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,999, issued Sep. 4, 2001 to Page, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference. In identifying matching WEB content  24 , news messages  25 , advertisements  26 , and other content  27 , the search engine  22  operates on information characteristics describing potentially retrievable content. Note the functionality provided by the server  20 , including the WEB server  20 , news server  21 , advertising server  22 , and search engine  23 , could be provided by a loosely- or tightly-coupled distributed or parallelized computing configuration, in addition to a uniprocessing environment. 
   The space available for displaying WEB content, including the WEB content  24 , news messages  25 , advertisements  26 , and other content  27 , is limited. To assist with fitting text contained in the WEB content for display within the limited space budget of a WEB page, a text summarizer (not shown) summarizes the text, as further described below with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
   The individual computer systems, including server  11  and clients  12 , include general purpose, programmed digital computing devices including a central processing unit (processors  13  and  16 , respectively), random access memory (memories  14  and  17 , respectively), non-volatile secondary storage  15 , such as a hard drive or CD ROM drive, network or wireless interfaces, and peripheral devices, including user interfacing means, such as a keyboard and display. Program code, including software programs, and data is loaded into the RAM for execution and processing by the CPU and results are generated for display, output, transmittal, or storage. 
   Text Summarizer 
     FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram  30  showing a text summarizer  31 , in accordance with one embodiment. The text summarizer  31  summarizes text  43 , which can include text extracted from product descriptions (“Descriptions”)  50 , search results (“Srch Rslts”)  51  and other WEB content  52 , into summarized text  49 . The text can also be extracted from other non-WEB content sources, including virtual private and local networks. The text summarizer  31  uses the terms  48 , which constitute each query  47 , to help identify and summarize the information contained within the text  43 . The summarized text  49  is then provided to the server  11  (shown in  FIG. 1 ) as an advertising creative  53 , summarized search results (“Summ Srch Results”)  54  and summarized WEB content  55  for inclusion with or in lieu of the WEB content  24 , news messages  25 , and other content  27 . 
   The individual computer system, including the text summarizer  31 , include general purpose, programmed digital computing devices including a central processing unit (processor  33 ), random access memory (memory  32 ), non-volatile secondary storage  37 , such as a hard drive or CD ROM drive, network or wireless interfaces, and peripheral devices, including user interfacing means, such as a keyboard and display. Program code, including software programs, and data is loaded into the RAM for execution and processing by the CPU and results are generated for display, output, transmittal, or storage. 
   Advertising Creative Generation 
   The text summarizer  31  includes storage  42  for maintaining the text  43 . In one embodiment, the text  43  includes the product descriptions  50 , such as further described below, by way of example, with reference to  FIG. 3 . The text summarizer  31  builds a WEB-based advertising creative  53  from information obtained from one or more product descriptions  50 . The product descriptions  50  are preferably selected by the advertising server  22  (shown in  FIG. 1 ), which targets advertisements based on a query  47  received from a user  19 . The text summarizer  31  uses the terms  48 , which constitute each query  47 , to help identify and summarize the information contained within the product description  50  and the advertising creative  53  is then provided to the advertising server  22  for inclusion with or in lieu of the WEB content  24 , news messages  25 , and other content  27 . 
   The text summarizer  31  includes a format selector  34 , phrase identifier  35 , phrase summarizer  36 , case normalizer  37 , description identifier and summarizer  38 , category identifier and summarizer  39 , and merchant identifier and summarizer  40 . The format selector  34  identifies a predefined WEB-based format  44  for the advertising creative  53 . Each advertising creative  53  can include a product name and a body containing an extended product name, description, category name, merchant information, or other content, as further described below, by way of example, with reference to  FIGS. 4A-D . Although described with reference to product offerings, the advertising creative  53  can also be used to describe service or combined product and service offerings. Accordingly, the terms “product” and “service” are considered interchangeable and, except as expressly provided otherwise, apply equally to either or both product and service offerings. Each advertising creative  53  must fit within a limited amount of space. As a result, information provided in the text  43  is evaluated before being placed within an advertising creative  53  to meet the space restrictions. 
   Each product name appearing in an advertising creative  53  is limited to a fixed number of characters. In one embodiment, each product name is displayed in an advertising creative  53  in a slightly larger type size with underlining and is limited to 25 characters. Accordingly, the product name appearing in an advertising creative  53  should be succinct and relevant to the query received from the user  19 . The phrase identifier  35  and phrase summarizer  36  tokenize, analyze and restate a product name identified in text  43  to condense and optimize the actual product name appearing in an advertising creative  53 , subject to space restrictions, as further described below with reference to  FIGS. 7 and 8 . 
   The phrase identifier  35  retrieves text  43  and tokenizes the product name identified in the text  43  into individual words based on breaking punctuations, parenthetical text and breaking prepositions. The words are then grouped into phrases. The product name identified in the text  43  can be tokenized using regular expressions or with a tokenizer  41 . The phrase summarizer  36  analyzes the tokenized phrases and attempts to place zero or more words identified in the phrases into the product name of the advertising creative  53 . A word includes any sequence of characters appearing in a contiguous order or connected by an express grammatical connector, such as a hyphen or underscore. The phrase summarizer  36  can apply rules  35  that formalize the conventions and practices used in the application of ordinary grammar and, for example, editorial guidelines. The phrase summarizer  36  can operate in conjunction with the case normalizer  37 , which corrects the capitalization of the individual phrases by recognizing non-standard variations of capitalization and also by applying the rules  45 , such as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 10/716,951, filed Nov. 18, 2003, pending, the disclosure which is incorporated by reference. 
   The remaining components, the description identifier and summarizer  38 , category identifier and summarizer  39 , and merchant identifier and summarizer  40 , provide and summarize, if necessary, product description, category, and merchant information used in the body of the advertising creative  53 , subject to space restrictions. The description identifier and summarizer  38  provides a product description based on product information identified in the text  43 . In one embodiment, the description identifier and summarizer  38  attempts to fit as many sentences from the description identified in the text  43  into the body of the advertising creative  53  based on available space. Preferably, the sentences are not truncated, but can be reformatted to conform to the line widths of the advertising creative  53 . 
   In a further embodiment, the description identifier and summarizer  38  retrieves sentences from the product description based on the query  47  and product name, if known. A parse tree of the product description  50  is created. During a first pass, the description identifier and summarizer  38  attempts to fit as many of the retrieved sentences that can fit into the body of the advertising creative  53  based on available space. During a second pass, the description identifier and summarizer  38  traverses the parse tree, preferably in a breadth-first order, and outputs constituents that meet available space and syntactic constraints, such as “complicated” noun phrases containing adjectives, numbers and prepositional phrases; verbs not starting with auxiliary verbs; and adjective phrases or sentences. 
   The category identifier and summarizer  39  provides a category name based on category information identified in the text  43 , as further described below with reference to  FIG. 8 . The category associated with a product described in text  43  can be a simple category label, can be retrieved from a hierarchy of category names  46 , or can be classified by closest fit. The category identifier and summarizer  39  summarizes the names of hierarchical categories  46  to remove redundancies and also selects the classified category name with a satisfactory confidence level. 
   Finally, the merchant identifier and summarizer  40  provides merchant information based on merchant information identified in the text  43  in the advertising creative  53  and related records. Merchant information can include the name of the merchant, geographical and physical locations, telephone number, e-mail address, Website, slogan, and other information relevant to the merchant. 
   Search Results Text Summarization 
   In a further embodiment, the text  43  can include search results  51 , such as identified by the search engine  23 . Analogous to building a Web-based advertising creative  53 , the text summarizer  31  builds summarized search results  54  from information obtained from one or more search results  51 . The search results  51  are preferably identified by the search engine  23  (shown in  FIG. 1 ) based on an executed query  47  received from a user  19 . The text summarizer  31  uses the term  48 , which constitute each query  47 , to help identify and summarize the information contained within the search results  51  and the summarized search results  54  are then provided to the search engine  23  for presentation. 
   The text summarizer  31  includes a format selector  34 , phrase identifier  35 , phrase summarizer  36 , and case normalizer  37 . The format selector  34  identifies a predefined Web-based format  44  for the summarized search results  54 . Each summarized search result  54  can include a heading and text. Each summarized search result  54  must fit within a limited amount of space. As a result, information provided in the text  43  is evaluated before being placed within a summarized search result  54  to meet the space restrictions. 
   Each heading appearing in a summarized search result  54  is limited to a fixed number of characters. In one embodiment, the phrase identifier  35  identifies and extracts an existing heading in the text  43  or, if an existing heading is not found, a first sentence or phrase. The phrase summarizer  36  summarizes the extracted information summarized into a heading that is preferably displayed as a hyperlink in the summarized search result  54 . If the extracted information cannot fit within the space available even after summarization, the heading is preferably truncated with the truncated material replaced by a set of ellipses. The phrase summarizer  36  can operate in conjunction with the case normalizer  37 , which corrects the capitalization of the individual phrases by recognizing non-standard variations of capitalization and also by applying the rules  45 , such as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 10/716,951, filed Nov. 18, 2003, pending, the disclosure which is incorporated by reference. 
   Other Web Content Text Summarization 
   In a still further embodiment, the text  43  can include other Web content  52 , including the Web content  24 , news messages  25 , advertisements  26 , and other content  27  stored by the server  11  (shown in  FIG. 1 ), as well as documents and excerpts from other sources. Analogous to building a Web-based advertising creative  53 , the text summarizer  31  builds summarized Web content  55  from other Web content  52 , including the Web content  24 , news messages  25 , advertisements  26 , and other content  27 , for display in a specified format, such as in a table or set of columns. The other Web content  52  is preferably identified by the search engine  23  (shown in  FIG. 1 ) based on an executed query  47  received from a user  19 . The text summarizer  31  uses the terms  48 , which constitute each query  47 , to help identify and summarize the information contained within the other Web content  52  and the summarized Web content  55  is then provided to the search engine  23  for formatted presentation. 
   The text summarizer  31  includes a format selector  34 , phrase identifier  35 , phrase summarizer  36 , and case normalizer  37 . The format selector  34  identifies a predefined Web-based format  44  for the summarized Web content  55 . For example, the summarized Web content  55  could be presented in a table or set of columns and each item of summarized Web content  55  would need to fit within the width of each cell or column entry. Information provided in the text  43  is evaluated before being placed as summarized Web content  55  to meet the space restrictions. 
   Assuming that the summarized Web content  55  is limited to a fixed number of characters, the phrase identifier  35  identifies and extracts an existing heading in the text  43  or, if an existing heading is not found, a first sentence or phrase. The phrase summarizer  36  condenses the extracted information as summarized Web content  55  into a size suitable to the format. If the summarized Web content  55  cannot fit within the space available even after summarization, the summarized Web content  55  is truncated with the truncated material replaced by a set of ellipses. The phrase summarizer  36  can operate in conjunction with the case normalizer  37 , which corrects the capitalization of the individual phrases by recognizing non-standard variations of capitalization and also by applying the rules  45 , such as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 10/716,951, filed Nov. 18, 2003, pending, the disclosure which is incorporated by reference. 
   Advertising Excerpt Data Structure 
     FIG. 3  is a data structure diagram  60  showing, by way of example, a product description  61  for use by the text summarizer  31  of  FIG. 2 . Although described with reference to a description of a product, descriptions of services, combinations of products and services, and similar items could equally be applied. The product description  61  is preferably organized as a structured record or similar type of organization, whereby individual fields representing predefined categories of product information can be identified. By way of non-exclusive example, in one embodiment, the advertising excerpt fields include the following:
         Merchant ( 62 ): Identifies the name of a merchant providing the product or service. Additional merchant-related information can be obtained by performing a lookup of a related merchant records (not shown). Alternatively, the merchant field  62  can include complete merchant information.   Name ( 63 ): Provides the name of the product or service.   URL ( 64 ): Provides a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or similar hyperlink reference to identify on-line product or service information.   Price ( 65 ): Provides a price, range of prices, opening bid, or similar pricing information associated with the product or service.   Description ( 66 ): Specifies a description of the product or service. Preferably, the description field  66  is written in complete sentences or phrases.   Category ( 67 ): Identifies the category name or category path, if a hierarchy of category names  46  is used, to which the product description  61  is most closely related.   Type ( 68 ): Provides a generic product or service type identifier.   Classified Category ( 69 ): Associates a classified category name most closely matching the product or service based on an approximated best fit. The classified category  69  could be different than the assigned category  67 .   Confidence ( 70 ): Specifies the level of confidence assigned to the classified category  69 .
 
Other fields, types and collections of product and service information could be provided, either in addition to or in lieu of the forgoing, and can include metadata as well as explicit information, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art.
 
Advertising Creatives
       
     FIGS. 4A-D  are diagrams showing, by way of example, advertising creatives  53  generated by the text summarizer  31  of  FIG. 2 . An advertising creative provides information about a product or service and can include text, images, sounds, and other content. An advertising creative can summarize the product or service information contained within corresponding advertising excerpts  46 . In a further embodiment, an advertising creative can be based on the names of categories or can be based on any other type or source of information describing the products or services. 
   An advertising creative need not follow a prescribed form and the format adopted by a particular advertising creative will depend in part upon the size and display characteristics of the Web page upon which the advertising creative will be provided. Standardized advertising creatives facilitate placement of multiple advertisements on a given Web page. When provided as standardized Web-based advertisements, each advertising creative includes a product name and a body. The product name is preferably visually distinct from the body and can be presented, for example, in a larger type size with underlining, or in any other format suitable for display as Web-based content. The body presents additional information and can non-exclusively include an extended product name, description, category name, and merchant information. The body can be presented, for example, in a smaller type size, or in any other format suitable for display as Web-based content. Both the product name and body can include hyperlinks referencing further Web content. Additionally, the entire advertising creative can be provided in a frame and visually accented through the use of color in the text and frame. 
   Referring first to  FIG. 4A , an advertising creative  90  having a product name  91  and body containing an extended product name  92  is shown. The extended product name  92  provides the remaining part of the product name  63  identified in the product description  61  that the text summarizer  31  was unable to fit into the product name  91  of the advertising creative  90 , subject to any space constraints. Other formats, styles and articulations of product names and extended product names are possible in alternative embodiments, as are various advertising creative constraints. 
   Referring next to  FIG. 4B , an advertising creative  93  having a product name  94  and body containing a description  95  is shown. The description  95  provides the description  66  originally identified in the product description  61 , subject to any space constraints. In one embodiment, sentences appearing in the original description  66  are not truncated, but can be reformatted to conform to the line widths of the advertising creative  93 . In a further embodiment, the original description  66  is summarized, for instance, to emphasize information potentially relevant to the user  19 , such as shipping or discount information. In alternative embodiments, other formats, styles and articulations of product names and descriptions are possible, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. 
   Referring next to  FIG. 4C , an advertising creative  96  having a product name  97  and body containing a category name  98  is shown. The category name  98  provides the summarized category  67  identified in the product description  61 , subject to any space constraints. In one embodiment, category names retrieved from a structured hierarchy are preferably summarized to remove redundancies. Other formats, styles and articulations of product names and category names are possible, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. 
   Finally, referring to  FIG. 4D , an advertising creative  99  having a product name  100  and body containing merchant information  101  is shown. The merchant information  101  provides the merchant information  62  identified in the product description  61  and related records, subject to any space constraints. For example, an advertising slogan, such as “Make a clean sweep of it!,” can be retrieved from a related record and provided as the merchant information  101 . Other formats, styles and articulations of product names and extended product names are possible, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. 
   In one embodiment, each advertising creative  90 ,  93 ,  96 ,  99  is provided as phrase content written in a suitable variant of a hypertext markup language, such as the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). 
   Method Overview 
     FIG. 5  is a flow diagram showing a method  110  for providing text summarization for use in phrase-based content  49 , in accordance with one embodiment. The method  110  is described as a sequence of process operations or steps, which can be executed, for instance, by the text summarizer  31  of  FIG. 2  or other components. 
   The method  110  begins by processing a query  47  and identifying text  43  (blocks  111  and  112 , respectively), such as extracted from the product descriptions  50 , search results  51 , or other phrase content  52 . The text can also be extracted from other non-phrase content sources, including virtual private and local networks. A format  44  for summarized text  49  is selected (block  113 ) and phrases are processed (block  114 ), either by content or parts of speech, to form the summarized text  49 , as further described below respectively with reference to  FIGS. 6 and 7 . Next, the summarized text  49  is processed depending upon whether the summarized text  49  is to be provided as an advertising creative  53 , summarized search results  54  or summarized WEB content  55  (blocks  115 - 123 ). 
   If the summarized text  49  is being provided as an advertising creative, that is, the text  43  is neither search results  51  (block  115 ) nor other phrase content (block  116 ), an advertising creative  53  is generated, as follows. Depending upon the format  44  selected, a description  66  (block  117 ), a category  67  (block  118 ), as further described below with reference to  FIG. 8 , and merchant information  62  (block  119 ) are processed. Finally, the advertising creative  53  is generated (block  120 ) as a standardized phrase-based advertisement. The routine then terminates. 
   Otherwise, if the summarized text  49  is being provided as summarized search results  54  (block  115 ), the summarized phrase is processed into a summarized search result  54  (block  121 ). The summarized phrase is summarized into a heading that is preferably displayed as a hyperlink in the summarized search result  54 . If the extracted information cannot fit within the space available even after summarization, the heading is preferably truncated with the truncated material replaced by a set of ellipses. If further search results require summarization (block  123 ), processing continues. Otherwise, the routine terminates. 
   Finally, if the summarized text  49  is being provided as summarized Web content  55  (block  116 ), the phrase is processed into summarized Web content  55  (block  122 ) depending upon the format  44  selected. For example, the summarized Web content  55  could be presented in a table or set of columns and each item of summarized Web content  55  would need to fit within the width of each cell or column entry. Assuming that the summarized Web content  55  is limited to a fixed number of characters, the summarized phrase is condensed into a size suitable to the format  44 . If the summarized Web content  55  cannot fit within the space available even after summarization Web content  55  is truncated with the truncated material replaced by a set of ellipses. If further other Web content  52  require summarization (block  123 ), processing continues. Otherwise, the routine terminates. 
   Processing Phrases By Content 
     FIG. 6  is a flow diagram showing the routine  130  for processing phrases by content for use in the method  110  of  FIG. 5 . One purpose of the routine is to identify phrases by analyzing content within text  43  and to summarize the identified phrases as summarized text  49  to fit within the space restrictions of an advertising creative  53 , summarized search result  54  or summarized Web content  55 . 
   As an initial step, the text  43  is extracted from the product descriptions  50 , search results  51 , or other Web content  52  (block  131 ). Phrases within the text  43  are then identified (block  132 ). In one embodiment, the phrases are identified based on breaking punctuation marks and breaking prepositions not appearing in a first word, or as parenthesized text. A breaking punctuation mark includes a colon, dash, or semicolon. A dash is a hyphen separated by spaces on both sides or may be identified otherwise, such as by a double hyphen. Parenthesized text includes text that appears between a set of matching parentheses or brackets. Breaking prepositions include without limitation the words “from,” “with,” “for,” and “in.” Commas can be treated as breaking punctuation marks, but must be parsed selectively. Commas used to separate items in a list are not breaking punctuation marks, while commas used to separate prepositional or noun phrases are delimiters that can be treated as breaking punctuation marks. A word includes any sequence of characters appearing in a contiguous order or connected by an express grammatical connector, such as a hyphen or underscore. Accordingly, an identified phrase is parenthesized text, quoted text, or a sequence of individual words not containing breaking punctuations, parenthesized text, or breaking prepositions other than in a first word. A word can also include two or more words that form a compound word, whose meaning is generally understood in combination. For instance, “San Francisco” is a two-word compound referring to a city in Northern California. In a further embodiment, compound words are identified for inclusion as part of a phrase, such as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/647,203, filed Aug. 21, 2003, pending, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. 
   By way of example, the product name  63  (shown in  FIG. 3 ) provides “Acme Y2K Pro-Series Broom with Extendible Handle and one meter Sweep.” This product name  63  includes the phrases “Acme Y2K Pro-Series Broom” and “with Extendible Handle and one meter Sweep.” 
   Next, one or more of the identified phrases are iteratively processed while space remains available in the advertising creative  53 , summarized search result  54  or summarized Web content  55  (blocks  133 - 141 ), as follows. Each identified phrase is considered independently from the other phrases and all of the identified phrases need not be processed. Rather, one or more individual phrases, such as the first phrase in the text  43 , can be selectively processed. First, zero or more of the words in each phrase are matched, if possible, to a term  48  in the query  47  (block  134 ). Matching the words to the terms  48  in the query  47  helps to identify those words within the text  43  that are likely most relevant to the user  19  and can be instructive when summarizing the text  43  for use in the advertising creative  53 , summarized search result  54  or summarized Web content  55 . Preferably, capitalization is ignored when matching queries  47  and terms  48 . If one or more word matches are found (block  135 ), the words are logically marked (block  136 ). Each word is considered independently from the other words and all of the matching words need not be included. Rather, one or more individual words can be selectively used. By way of continuing example, assuming a query  47  that included the search terms  48  “Acme” and “Broom,” the marked words, indicated in boldface, would include “Acme Y2K Pro-Series Broom” and “with Extendible Handle and one meter Sweep.” 
   Following the logical marking of words in each phrase, the last significant word, if any, occurring subsequent to the matched words is identified and logically marked (block  137 ). In one embodiment, the last significant word is the rightmost word following the last marked word within the same phrase that matches the regular expression: “^\W*([A−Z][a−z]+(−[A−Z][a−z]+)?|[A−Z]+|[0−9]+)\W*$,” where “^\([A−Z][a−z]+(−[A−Z][a−z]+)?” matches a title-case word that could be hyphenated, “[A−Z]+” matches an uppercase word, and “[0−9]\W*$” matches a number. Other forms of regular expressions could be used, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. By way of continuing example, the marked words, indicated in boldface, would still include “Acme Y2K Pro-Series Broom” and “with Extendible Handle and one meter Sweep” and application of the regular expression would result in no further marked words. 
   If the current sequence of words in the advertising creative  53 , summarized search result  54  or summarized Web content  55  is too long (block  138 ), words in each phrase are logically unmarked in left-to-right order until the cumulative size of all marked words, including white space, fits into the space available (block  139 ). By way of continuing example, the marked words, indicated in boldface, would still include “Acme Y2K Pro-Series Broom” and “with Extendible Handle and one meter Sweep” with no marked words in either phrase being logically unmarked. 
   Next, words in each phrase are logically marked in right-to-left order, beginning with the rightmost marked word, subject to space available in the advertising creative  53 , summarized search result  54  or summarized Web content  55  (block  140 ). Since English is a right-headed language that places noun modifiers to the right of the noun being modified, the words are deleted from the product name  91  from left-to-right and added from right-to-left. Thus, by way of example, the marked words, indicated in boldface, would now include “Acme Y2K Pro-Series Broom” and “with Extendible Handle and one meter Sweep,” assuming a product name  90  limited to 25 characters. In a further embodiment, words in each phrase can be logically marked in left-to-right order to support left-headed languages, such as Japanese and French. Other types of markings could also be used for languages that use neither right- nor left-headed. Processing continues with the next phrase (block  141 ). 
   Finally, the text  43  is output (block  142 ) by providing the final set of marked words for inclusion in the advertising creative  53 , summarized search result  54  or summarized Web content  55 . The routine then returns. 
   In a further embodiment, the summarized text  49  is assigned a confidence score that provides an estimate of the quality of the text summary. The confidence score can be used, for instance, by the advertising server  22  or search engine  23  as feedback from the text summarized  31 . An initial confidence score is assigned to the text  43  prior to summarization. Discounting factors are associated with different types of deletions based on linguistic knowledge and empirical analysis, such as deletions using the certain punctuation marks or prepositional phrases. In addition, some words count more than other words and the confidence score adjusts the confidence score to discount the dropping of more important words than the dropping of other words. An overall confidence score is then determined by multiplying the appropriate discount factor by the number of words deleted. Other forms of confidence scoring are also possible. 
   Processing Phrases By Parts of Speech 
     FIG. 7  is a flow diagram showing the routine  150  for processing phrases by parts of speech for use in the method  110  of  FIG. 5 . One purpose of the routine is to identify phrases by analyzing parts of speech within text  43  and to summarize the identified phrases as summarized text  49  to fit within the space restrictions of an advertising creative  53 , summarized search result  54  or summarized Web content  55 . 
   As an initial step, the text  43  is extracted from the product descriptions  50 , search results  51 , or other Web content  52  (block  151 ). Parts of speech within the text  43  are then tagged (block  152 ), such as by using Hidden Markov Models. Commas must be parsed selectively to distinguish between commas used to separate items in a list from commas used to separate prepositional or noun phrases, where the latter are termed delimiters. In a further embodiment, a word can also include two or more words that form a compound word, whose meaning is generally understood in combination, as described above with reference to  FIG. 6 . 
   Next, one or more of the words is iteratively processed from right to left (blocks  153 - 158 ), as follows. Each word is considered independently from the other words and all of the words need not be included. Rather, one or more individual words can be selectively processed. First, if a hyphen, colon or parentheses occurs (block  154 ), the last seen words are considered to be delimited words, which are dropped (block  155 ). Delimited words are words separated by select hyphens, colons and parentheses, as well as other punctuations functioning to separate prepositional phrases. Similarly, if the word is a preposition (block  156 ), the last seen prepositional phrase is dropped (block  157 ). Processing continues with the next word (block  158 ). By way of continuing example, the prepositional phrases “with Extendible Handle” and “and one meter Sweep” would be dropped. 
   Following the processing of words, the rightmost proper noun is selected, if possible (block  159 ). However, if a regular noun immediately follows the proper noun, the regular noun is selected. If a proper noun is not found, the rightmost regular noun is selected. If neither a proper nor regular noun is found, the last word at the end of the remaining text is selected. Then, a reasonable number of premodifiers are added to fill the space available (block  160 ) in the advertising creative  53 , summarized search result  54  or summarized Web content  55 . By way of continuing example, the summarized text  49  would include the phrase “Y2K Pro-Series Broom.” Finally, the text  43  is output (block  161 ) by providing the final set of selected words for inclusion in the advertising creative  53 , summarized search result  54  or summarized Web content  55 . The routine then returns. 
   In a further embodiment, the summarized text  49  is assigned a confidence score that provides an estimate of the quality of the text summary, similar to the optional confidence score assigned when processing phrases by content, described above with reference to  FIG. 6 . Other forms of confidence scoring are also possible. 
   Processing Categories 
     FIG. 8  is a flow diagram showing the routine  170  for processing categories for use in the method  110  of  FIG. 5 . One purpose of this routine is to identify and summarize a category name  98  identified in a product description  61 . 
   A category name is retrieved (block  171 ). While space is available (block  172 ), the currently most specific category name  67  is selected, subject to space restrictions in the category name  98  of the advertising creative  96  (block  173 ). If necessary, the category name  67  is cleaned up (block  174 ) to provide a meaningful category descriptor. For instance, generic categories, such as “Other,” are avoided and redundant categories, such as “Cameras&gt;See All Cameras” is revised into “Cameras.” Other forms of category name clean up are possible. The category is then output (block  175 ). 
   By way of example, the complete category name  67  including “Household&gt;Cleaning Supplies&gt;Brooms&gt;Adjustable Brooms” can be used as summarized to “Household—Cleaning Supplies—Adjustable Brooms” by combining the most specific category name, “Adjustable Brooms,” with the next most specific category name, “Cleaning Supplies.” Other hierarchical category name summarizations are possible, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. 
   Finally, the category name  98  section of the body of the advertising creative  96  is supplemented with the category name  97  (block  176 ), after which the routine returns. 
   While the invention has been particularly shown and described as referenced to the embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will understand that the foregoing and other changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.