Source: http://patents.com/us-9092523.html
Timestamp: 2019-09-22 05:45:11
Document Index: 666825765

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 06738810', 'Application No. 095109496', 'Application No. 200680013556', 'Application No. 2007', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 200680013556', 'Application No. 2007558198', 'Application No: 10', 'Application No. 200680013556', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 200680013556']

US Patent # 9,092,523. Methods of and systems for searching by incorporating user-entered information - Patents.com
United States Patent 9,092,523
Tanne , et al. July 28, 2015
Tanne; Michael (Los Altos, CA), Lu; Yunshan (Milpitas, CA), Karsh; Bruce D. (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Tanne; Michael
Lu; Yunshan
Karsh; Bruce D.
SEARCH ENGINE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (Los Altos, CA)
Family ID: 1000001239938
11/364,617
US 20060271524 A1 Nov 30, 2006
60657371 Feb 28, 2005
Current CPC Class: G06F 17/30864 (20130101); G06F 17/30648 (20130101)
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This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(e) of the U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/657,371, filed on Feb. 28, 2005, and titled "Search Engine that Incorporates User-Entered Information," which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. A method comprising: a) managing a database by an Internet search application in response to user input provided by one or more first users in response to one of visiting a Web site and performing a first search query, wherein the user input comprises relevance feedback; b) ranking documents for including in a results list in response to a search query, by a search engine, an order in which the documents are ranked being influenced by the user input; and c) presenting web page search results from the database in response to a second search query initiated by a second user different from the one or more first users, wherein the web page search results includes supplemental information related to the search query and a results list comprising a list of web pages related to the second search query, multiple users are able to modify the same portions of the supplemental information, which pages are presented and the order in which the web pages are presented are influenced by the relevance feedback received prior to the second search query, the relevance feedback is different from selection of a link to a web page in the results list, the supplemental information includes a user-entered description of a first concept related to the search query, and the user-entered description of the first concept contains one of a link to a description of a second concept related to the first concept or links to documents related to the first concept.
22. A system comprising: a) a Web server computer configured to present web page search results related to terms of a search query initiated by a user, wherein the web page search results include a results list comprising a list of web pages related to the terms of the search query, the order in which the web pages are presented in response to the search query being influenced by relevance feedback provided by multiple users prior to the search query, and wherein the relevance feedback is different from selection of a link to a web page in the results list; b) a search engine for querying a database and providing the web page search results in response to user queries; c) a content manager for managing the supplemental information in response to user input, wherein the user input comprises the relevance feedback; and d) a first data store coupled to the content manager for storing supplemental information related to the search query, wherein the web page search results include the supplemental information, and multiple users are able to modify the same portions of the supplemental information, wherein after the second user modifies the supplemental information previously provided by a first user, any user, including the first user, is able to at least one of further modify the supplemental information or revert the modification of the second user.
36. A method comprising: a) managing a database including user input, wherein the database comprises supplemental information, wherein the supplemental information includes at least one of a user-entered description of a first concept related to the search query or hyperlinks to documents related to the search query, and wherein managing the database comprises any one of adding, editing, and deleting the description of the first concept or the hyperlinks; and b) presenting web page search results from the database in response to a search query initiated by a user, wherein the web page search results includes a results list and the supplemental information related to the search query, wherein the results list comprises a list of web pages related to the search query, and wherein multiple users are able to modify the same portions of the supplemental information regardless of the original source of the supplemental information.
44. A system comprising: a) a Web server computer configured to present web page search results, wherein the web page search results include a results list and supplemental information related to terms of a search query initiated by a user, wherein the results list comprises a list of web pages related to the terms of the search query, and wherein multiple users are able to modify the same portions of the supplemental information regardless of the source of the supplemental information, wherein the supplemental information includes at least one of a user-entered description of a first concept related to the search query or hyperlinks to documents related to the search query, and wherein managing the database comprises any one of adding, editing, and deleting the description of the first concept or the hyperlinks; b) a search engine for querying a database and providing the web page search results in response to user queries; and c) a content manager for managing the supplemental information in response to user input.
Results returned by search engines can also be manipulated. Web site owners can add content or meta data or hyperlinks from other Web sites to their Web site, so that their Web pages are listed near the top of results lists, even though the Web pages do not contain information that is highly related to a user's query. This practice is often referred to as Search Engine Optimization ("SEO").
The objective of search engines is not simply to provide lists of links to documents, but ultimately to provide access to the most relevant information to users in response to their queries. Conventional search engines provide primarily a ranked list of hyperlinks to Web pages that are determined by computer algorithms to be relevant. Users looking for answers to questions about a subject area must follow those hyperlinks and search around on those Web sites for the information they are seeking. Search engines do not return information about the subject, or direct answers to questions in addition to links to Web sites. When, for example, a user enters a query for "Calgary Alberta" the results page does not contain information such as: Location: Lat: 51' 1'', Long: 114' 1'' and Population: 922,315, in addition to a link to a "City of Calgary" Web page along with the conventional results list.
Additionally, search engines have a difficult time disambiguating between different concepts that can be described by the same query term. For example the query "star wars" may refer both to the movie "Star Wars" and to the Strategic Defense Initiative. Attempts have been made to develop algorithms such as clustering or semantic analysis in order to determine which concept a user is searching for when he enters a query, but so far with limited success. Often users have knowledge of the concept to which their query pertains. It would be advantageous if those users were able to enter this relevant information to help the search engine disambiguate between that concept and other related concepts. This information would also help other users to understand the concept and assist in the process of searching for information about the concept.
Embodiments of the present invention, unlike traditional search engines, make use of supplemental information to provide more relevant information to users searching the Internet, more particularly where this supplemental information is user-entered. For example, in accordance with the present invention, a first user performing a search is able to add user-entered information about performing searches for information regarding a concept referenced by the query. The first user is able to enter (1) a description of a concept related to the query, (2) advice for performing a search relating to that concept, (3) "see also" hyperlinks to query terms associated with related concepts, (4) related or suggested query terms, (5) feedback on the relevance of the results to his search, or (6) any other information. Additionally some or all of this information can be generated by computer algorithms, Web crawlers or other technology. A second user performing a similar or related search is then able to view this supplemental information in addition to a results list provided by the search engine, thereby obtaining search results that are more likely most relevant to him. This second user is also able to add user-entered information. Both users are able to share information related to the subject of the search. A community of users is thus able to share information that helps users to quickly evaluate and more accurately use and provide search results.
In accordance with other embodiments of the present invention, search results also include selected items for display including, but not limited to, (1) mechanisms for providing feedback on the relevance of links in the results list, (2) mechanisms for saving links that are able to be displayed on personal search pages or voting for relevant links, and (3) mechanisms for "blocking" links to Web pages that are unrelated to the search result or are offensive in nature. Other embodiments include displays and links to related search terms and sponsored links.
Throughout the following description, the term "search engine" refers to an apparatus (or programs running on general purpose computers) that take as input a query and return a results list of hyperlinks to electronic documents or Web pages. The search engine includes the index of documents in its corpus, the code and algorithms that determine the relevance of each document, and the graphical user interface that delivers the results list to the user.
Throughout the following description the term "query" refers to a set of terms submitted to the search engine whether typed, spoken, submitted through a "link" that already has embedded a set of search terms, or submitted by any other interface. A query can comprise a single word, multiple words, or phrases. The query can be phrased as a question (e.g., a "natural language" query), a loose set of terms, or a structured Boolean expression. Indeed, a query can comprise symbols or any other characters used by a search engine to search for electronic documents or Web pages containing or related to the search characters.
Throughout the following description, the term "Web site" refers to a collection of Web pages that are linked together and are available on the World Wide Web. The term "Web page" refers to a publication accessible over the World Wide Web from any number of hosts and includes, but is not limited to, text, video, images, music, and graphics.
Throughout the following description, the term "results list" refers to a list of hyperlinks that reference documents or Web Pages that are accessible using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or any other protocol for accessing Web pages or other electronic documents, along with other associated information for each link, including, but not limited to, titles of the documents, summaries of the documents, links to cached copies of the documents, the date on which the documents were last indexed or last modified, images associated with or located within the documents, and information extracted from the documents.
As used herein, the term "document" is defined broadly, and includes, in addition to its ordinary meaning, computer files and Web pages, whether those pages are actually stored or are generated dynamically in response to a request to display. The term "document" is not limited to computer files containing text, but also includes computer files containing graphics, audio, video, and other multimedia data.
The results page 100 comprises a box 110 for inserting a query term, an area 120 for displaying a description for a concept related to the query term, an area 130 containing a description of a different concept relating to the query term, an area 140 containing "See also" links to concepts relating to other query terms, and an area 150 containing a list of links which will cause related query terms to be executed, and an area 180 of sponsored links. The results page 100 also includes an area 160 containing the results list returned by the search engine. The area 160 also contains mechanisms 170 for entering user feedback and mechanisms 190 for saving links associated with each result returned by the search engine. As described in more detail below, in a preferred embodiment the areas 120, 130, 140 and 150 are able to be edited, added to, or otherwise modified by a user to display information presented to other users performing the same or similar queries.
As shown in the example of FIG. 1, when a user enters the query term "U2" in the box 110 and requests a search, the results page 100 is returned to him. The area 120 displays a description of one concept related to the query term "U2", here a description of the band "U2", as entered by users. The area 130 shows descriptions of a different concept for the query "U2", here the U2 spy plane, as entered by users. The area 150 displays query terms for related searches that the user may also be interested in having the search engine execute, such as "U2 concert tickets" or "U2 ipod", as entered by users or derived by algorithms. The area 140 contains "see also" hyperlinks to concepts relating to other query terms, as entered by users or derived by algorithms, such as "Bono" for the concept of "U2 the band" or "Dragon Lady" for the concept of "U2 the spy plane."
The area 160 contains the results of the search as well as user feedback mechanisms 170. Using the user feedback mechanisms 170, a user is able to rate how well the corresponding Web page matched what he was looking for. In other words, if a first Web page listed in the area 160 contained relevant information about the rock band U2 sought by the user, then the user is able to use the user feedback mechanism 170 to rate the link with a high score (e.g., 5 stars). A second Web page devoted to the name of a clothing line called "U2", irrelevant to the concept sought by the user but listed in the area 160, can be rated with a low score (e.g., 1 star). In accordance with the present invention, when a later user also interested in the band "U2" searches with the query "U2", the results list returned to him contains the first Web page (ranked with 5 stars) closer to the top of the results list and the second Web page (ranked with 1 star) closer to the bottom of the results list, or not even listed at all. In this way, a user is presented with a results list having only the most relevant results listed first. A user sequentially visiting the sites in the results list has a greater chance of viewing sites most relevant to the concept he is seeking. The order of the items in the results list is thus based on user feedback, in addition to meta data and other information over which users have no input.
Users are able to add descriptions of additional concepts relating to a search term, even if other concepts have already been entered. For example, for the query term "star wars" a description of the concept of the movie "Star Wars" is able to be added, including such information as the plot, actors, and producer. Subsequently, users are able to click on a link 130, which allows them to add a description relating to the same query term "star wars", describing a different concept, for example "Strategic Defense Initiative or SDI".
In alternative embodiments, concepts added, modified, or deleted in accordance with the present invention are sub-categories (e.g., sub-topics) of one another, co-occur in documents, or occur in a statistically-related manner. For example, the concepts "Operating System" and "Linux" are a topic and a related sub-topic. Also, in alternative embodiments, concepts are determined to be related from pre-determined criteria, user-entered categories, and statistical calculations (e.g., how often the concepts appear together in a document).
Users are able to add hyperlinks or "see also" references 140 linking to concepts relating to different query terms. As one example, a user adds to the "See also" section of the concept of Star Wars the movie, a hyperlink to the concept of George Lucas the writer/producer for the query term "George Lucas". Users are able to modify, add, or delete "See also" references.
Users are able to add or save links to documents they consider to be highly relevant to the concept. This can be done by manually entering the links or by clicking on a hyperlink or icon 190 marked "Save", or referred to by other terms such as "Bookmark", "Tag", or "Add to Favorites." Since different users will have different ideas about which sites are most relevant, algorithms in accordance with the present invention determine the order of the sites listed. In one embodiment, the algorithm uses a "democratic" process, such that the documents receiving the most "votes" (e.g., "saved" by the largest number of users) are placed higher in the results list.
If the link to a document that is "saved" also shows up in the results list generated by the search engine, then an icon 165 can be used to show that this link is also one that has been voted for by users. Also, below each search result is a "By" entry 167, which shows the name of the user who added the link so that it could be returned as part of the results list, and a "Tags" entry 168, which lists the terms that the user tagged the link with or that were generated by a previous search.
Two or more people are able to modify any of the information described herein. As one example, a first user writes and a second user modifies the work of the first. The first is able to either "revert" or re-edit the work of the second. If two or more people disagree about what information should be entered, they can communicate by some other means (e.g., a discussion forum, email, instant messenger) in order to resolve the conflict and agree on what the entry should say.
If any two or more users are unable to resolve their disagreement about what should be entered, they are able to take their differences to an "editor" who can resolve the disagreement. The "editor" is responsible for a number of subject areas and has the authority to settle disputes, add or remove information, and ultimately to remove users who refuse to cooperate.
It will be appreciated that many modifications can be made in accordance with the present invention. For example, user-generated feedback can be read from a file rather than input by a user directly from a terminal. Moreover, while the results page 100 shows areas such as "See also" links 140, it will be appreciated that in accordance with the present invention, results pages containing user-entered information can be displayed with any combination of areas, including or in addition to those shown in FIG. 1. This information is used to make search results more comprehensive, accurate, and meaningful.
FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of an Internet search application 200 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The Internet search application 200 provides the ability for users to input information to the system, thereby allowing other users to receive more meaningful search results based on the user input. The information is used to rank documents in a results list (e.g., re-rank the results initially returned by a search engine) generated in response to a specific query, or to add information that may be useful to users who perform the same or similar search. The results list is thus able to be "tuned" in response to user feedback to return more meaningful results, as well as to return additional information related to the subject matter of the query.
In the step 240, the user is allowed to add to or edit the supplemental information (e.g., areas 120, 130, 140 or 150, FIG. 1). Alternatively, in the step 250, the user is able to click on a suggested search link (e.g., area 130, FIG. 1); or in the step 260, click on a "See also" link (e.g., area 140, FIG. 1); or in the step 270, visit a Web site (e.g., follow one of the links in area 150, FIG. 1). The step 240 loops back to the step 230, and the steps 250, 260, and optionally 270, all loop back 280 to the step 205. Alternatively, from the step 270, the user is able to proceed to the step 290, where the query completes.
Also in response to the query, the content manager 320 retrieves supplemental information related to the query from the data repository 330, including concept descriptions, other-concept descriptions, "See also" links and related query terms. This information is displayed, for example, in areas 120, 130, 140 and 150, respectively, of FIG. 1. The content manager 320 also allows users to add, edit, or remove supplemental information. The Web server 310 combines the results from the search engine 340 with the information from the content manager 320 and returns the combination to the user. The content manager 320 determines whether the user changed supplemental information and, if so, stores it in the data repository 330. The new or updated information is now available to a later user running the same or similar search.
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