Method and system for providing alternative result for an online search previously with no result

• US 10,262,063 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2013
• Issued: 04/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Transform Sr Brands, LLC (ESL Investments, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sears Brands LLC (Sears Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Zhao, Rongkai, Lu, Zhenyu, Katschke, Kenneth
• Primary Examiner(s): Kerzhner, Aleksandr
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cheung, Eddy
• Application Number:
  US14/034,875
• Publication Number:
  US 20150088845A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,030 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

A computing device hosting a website of a business may be operable to receive a first search input comprising a term submitted via a search bar on the website. Upon performing an internal search for the term with no result, the computing device may output information on the no-result. The computing device may then perform, using one or more external search engines, a search for the term. Search results of the search, performed using the external search engine(s), may be analyzed. Based on a result of the analysis, one or more particular character strings related to the term may be identified. The computing device may generate and store, based on the identifying of the particular character string(s), one or more alternative search suggestions. Upon subsequently receiving an input comprising at least a portion of the term entered in the search bar, the computing device may output the alternative search suggestion(s).

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

in a computing device hosting a web site of a business;

receiving a first search input comprising a term which is submitted via a search bar on the website;

upon performing a search, internal to the business, for the received term with no result, outputting information on the no-result of the search;

in response to the no-result of the search, expanding the search to increase a number of search results;

performing, using one or more search engines external to the business, a search for the term, wherein the term that produced the no-result is modified in accordance with a model number or a part number;

analyzing search results of the search performed using the one or more search engines external to the business;

identifying, based on the analysis, one or more particular character strings related to the term that include particular character strings that are descriptive of the term and that, when used to perform a search, internal to the business, outputs information about an item sold by the business instead of the no-result search;

generating and storing the one or more particular character strings for use in a subsequent search, internal to the business, when the term or a portion thereof is subsequently submitted via the search bar on the website;

upon subsequently receiving an input comprising at least a portion of the term entered in the search bar on the website, using the one or more particular character strings instead of the at least the portion of the term to perform the search that is internal to the business.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the term comprises a string of alphanumeric characters.

3. The method according to claim 2, comprising determining that the term is a valid term for search if the string of alphanumeric characters comprises at least one digit.

4. The method according to claim 3, comprising normalizing the determined valid term in compliance with a model number or a part number for searching for a model or a part of a product.

5. The method according to claim 1, comprising performing, utilizing one or more methods in natural language processing (NLP), one or more of the analyzing, the identifying, and the generating.

6. The method according to claim 1, comprising:

assigning a score to each of a plurality of character strings identified during the analyzing of the search results; and

identifying the one or more particular character strings based on the assigned scores.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the generating of the one or more alternative search suggestions comprises selecting each of the one or more alternative search suggestions based on that a characteristic of each of the one or more alternative search suggestions matches a predetermined characteristic condition.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined characteristic condition comprises:

the number of the particular character strings in each of the one or more alternative search suggestions being greater than a certain threshold; and

each of the one or more alternative search suggestions comprising a brand name.

9. The method according to claim 1, comprising storing the one or more alternative search suggestions in a form of autofill index.

20. The method according to claim 3, comprising trimming the determined valid term to target search.

21. The method according to claim 1, wherein the outputting information on the no-result of the search includes displaying the no-result information on a user device that is also configured to send the first search input via the search bar on the website.

22. The method according to claim 1, comprising:

determining if the received term is valid and, if valid, normalizing the received term in compliance with a model number or a part number of an item;

performing, using the one or more search engines external to the business, the search for the normalized term; and

upon subsequently receiving the input comprising at least the portion of the term entered in the search bar on the website, outputting the one or more alternative search suggestions for alternative search consideration even if the subsequently received input comes from a different device or a different user than the first search input.

23. The method according to claim 1, comprising:

after the no-result of the search and before performing the search external to the business, determining whether the term is valid by determining whether the term includes at least one digit.

10. A system, comprising:

one or more processors for use in a computing device hosting a website of a business, the one or more processors being operable to;

receive a first search input comprising a term which is submitted via a search bar on the website;

upon performing a search, internal to the business, for the received term with no result, output information on the no-result of the search;

in response to the no-result of the search, expand the search to increase a number of search results;

perform, using one or more search engines external to the business, a search for the term, wherein the term that produced the no-result is modified in accordance with a model number or a part number;

analyze search results of the search performed using the one or more search engines external to the business;

identify, based on a result of the analysis, one or more particular character strings related to the term;

generate and store the one or more particular character strings for use in a subsequent search, internal to the business, when the term or a portion thereof is subsequently submitted via the search bar on the website; and

upon subsequently receiving an input comprising at least a portion of the term entered in the search bar on the website, use the one or more particular character strings instead of the at least the portion of the term to perform the search that is internal to the business.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are operable to:

receive, after the outputting of the one or more alternative search suggestions, a second search input comprising the term which is submitted via the search bar on the website; and

output information on a search result according to one of the one or more alternative search suggestions and a search internal to the business.

12. The system according to claim 10, wherein the term comprises a string of alphanumeric characters.

13. The system according to claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are operable to perform, utilizing one or more methods in natural language processing (NLP), one or more of the analyzing, the identifying and the generating.

14. The system according to claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are operable to store the one or more alternative search suggestions in a form of autofill index.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section, the at least one code section being executable by a computing device hosting a website of a business for causing the computing device to perform steps comprising:

receiving a first search input comprising a term which is submitted via a search bar on the web site;

upon performing a search, internal to the business, for the received term with no result, outputting information on the no-result of the search;

in response to the no-result of the search, expanding the search to increase a number of search results;

performing, using one or more search engines external to the business, a search for the term, wherein the term that produced the no-result is modified in accordance with a model number or a part number;

analyzing search results of the search performed using the one or more search engines external to the business;

identifying, based on a result of the analysis, one or more particular character strings related to the term that include particular character strings that are descriptive of the term and that, when used to perform a search, internal to the business, outputs information about an item sold by the business instead of the no-result search;

generating and storing the one or more particular character strings for use in a subsequent search, internal to the business, when the term or a portion thereof is subsequently submitted via the search bar on the website; and

upon subsequently receiving an input comprising at least a portion of the term entered in the search bar on the website, using the one or more particular character strings instead of the at least the portion of the term to perform the search that is internal to the business.

16. The non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 15, wherein the at least one code section comprises code for:

receiving, after the outputting of the one or more alternative search suggestions, a second search input comprising the term which is submitted via the search bar on the website; and

outputting information on a search result according to one of the one or more alternative search suggestions and a search internal to the business.

17. The non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 15, wherein the term comprises a string of alphanumeric characters.

18. The non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 15, wherein the at least one code section comprises code for performing, utilizing one or more methods in natural language processing (NLP), one or more of the analyzing, the identifying and the generating.

19. The non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 15, wherein the at least one code section comprises code for storing the one or more alternative search suggestions in a form of autofill index.