Patent ID: 8285737

Claim:
A computer-implemented method relating to selecting content for publication, the method comprising: receiving, by a computer device, at least one term to be used in selecting content from a repository for publication; obtaining, by the computer device and before querying the repository, information from a record by looking up a first query in the record, the first query based on the received at least one term, the record including query terms associated with corresponding values indicating how many content items in the repository are responsive to the query terms, the corresponding values obtained by past queries of the repository; comparing, by the computer device and using at least the obtained information, a corresponding value for the first query with at least one of a predetermined upper limit and a predetermined lower limit; determining, by the computer device and using at least the obtained information, a second query to be performed on the repository for selecting at least some of the content items, wherein determining the second query comprises one of: (i) if the corresponding value is greater than the predetermined upper limit, narrowing the first query to obtain the second query, the second query being narrower than the first query by including at least one more term, or at least one less term, than the first query; or (ii) if the corresponding value is less than the predetermined lower limit, broadening the first query to obtain the second query, the second query being broader than the first query by including at least one more term, or at least one less term, than the first query; and providing, by the computer device, the selected content items that result from performing the second query.