Patent Document ID: 7487144
Application ID: 11420108

Base Claim:
1. A method for automatically presenting inline answers or suggestions from user-created web-search verticals in response to a general web-search query, the method comprising: receiving a general web-search query from a user in a web-search user interface that has been customized by the user selecting to install one or more user-created web-search vertical tabs in the web-search user interface, wherein the user-created web-search verticals have been created by one or more search-engine consumers rather than a search-engine provider; obtaining general web-search results from the World Wide Web based on the query; accessing the user-created web-search verticals that have been installed in the customized user-interface by the user; determining whether answers or suggestions relevant to the query are available from the installed user-created web-search verticals by first accessing a user-created definition for each of the installed user-created web-search verticals to determine whether return of answers or suggestions are supported by each of the installed user-created web-search verticals, and, second, determining whether any keywords from the query are present in a programmed keyword list in each of the installed user-created web-search verticals; and if return of answers or suggestions are supported and if any keywords from the query are present, then, presenting, on a common display with the general web-search results, at least one answer or suggestion from an installed user-created web-search vertical that supports answers or suggestions and that has at least one keyword from the query in its programmed keyword list.

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Claim 6:
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining whether the query satisfies a customer satisfaction rating threshold for an installed user-created web-search vertical that supports answers or suggestions and that has at least one keyword from the query in its programmed keyword list, and if so, presenting, on the common display, at least one answer from the installed user-created web-search vertical that satisfies the customer satisfaction rating threshold.