Patent ID: 8010537

Claim:
A computerized method for assisting a user in formulating a search request through a presentation of one or more suggested search vertical segments, the method comprising: electronically, via a processing device, retrieving one or more terms or phrases comprising a query; electronically, via a processing device, receiving user specific information comprising at least one of an IP address, a geographic location, an age, a sex, a marital status, past browsing behavior, and brand loyalty associated with the user; electronically, via a processing device, generating one or more suggested search vertical segments based on the one or more terms or phrases and the user specific information; electronically, via a processing device, selecting a suggested search vertical segment from the one or more suggested search vertical segments, wherein selecting the search vertical comprises displaying the vertical segments along with one or more indices from other sources, wherein the vertical segments are ranked based on a combination of click-through rates and a conditional probability of each vertical segment; and electronically, via a processing device, displaying a search result to the user on the basis of the query and the selected suggested search vertical segment.