Patent ID: 7272597

Claim:
A method for identifying an expert network domain for a query, the method comprising: maintaining a query ontology that includes one or more query categories and one or more queries associated with each of the one or more categories, the one or more queries associated with a particular category included in the query ontology representing queries associated with that particular category; retrieving search results for queries included in the query ontology; determining a frequency of occurrence in the retrieved search results for each network domain from which one of the search results for the queries included in the query ontology generally was identified; retrieving search results for queries associated with a category included in the query ontology; determining a frequency of occurrence in the retrieved search results for each network domain from which one of the search results for the queries associated with the category was identified; comparing the frequency of occurrence in the search results for the queries associated with the category to the frequency of occurrence in the search results for the queries included in the query ontology generally for each network domain from which one of the search results for the queries associated with the category was identified; identifying, as expert network domains for the category, one or more network domains from which search results are identified more frequently in the search results for the queries associated with the category than in the search results for the queries included in the query ontology generally; and storing, in electronic storage, data indicating that the identified one or more network domains are expert network domains for the category.