Patent ID: 8676776

Claim:
An interactive multi-prefix and multi-tier search system, comprising a non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium, that searches a database of content items across a plurality of channels, each channel representing a category of content items within the database, the system comprising: (a) a multi-prefix word index, generated by the system and embodied in a non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium, that contains: (i) a list of content items, each content item having an associated unique identifier; (ii) a list of words, each word having an associated list of content items containing that word; and (iii) a list of prefixes, each prefix having an associated list of content items containing words having that prefix, and indices identifying the location within such content item of the words containing that prefix; (b) a multi-prefix search module, generated by the system and embodied in a non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium, that receives keystrokes as they are entered by a user into a device, and searches the multi-prefix word index for content items within the database that contain words having a prefix matching the keystrokes; (c) a multi-tier search module, generated by the system and embodied in a non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium, that limits a first search, including a first set of keystrokes, to a first tier of content that contains names of channels in the database, and, upon receiving an indication of the user's selection of the name of a first channel, limits a second search, including a second set of keystrokes, to a second tier of content that contains items within the category represented by the name of the first channel; and (d) a search result delivery module, generated by the system and embodied in a non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium, that delivers the matching content items generated by the multi-prefix search module to the device for display to the user.