Search query processing to provide category-ranked presentation of search results

• US 20030195877A1
• Filed: 03/31/2003
• Published: 10/16/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: A9.com Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: A9.com Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Scofield, Christopher L., Bowman, Dwayne E., Ortega, Ruben E., Ford, James L.
• Granted Patent: US 6,963,867 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/35 Clustering; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/358 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99937 Sorting

Abstract

A search engine system displays the results of a multiple-category search according to levels of relevance of the categories to a user'"'"'s search query. A query server receives a search query from a user and identifies, within each of multiple item categories, a set of items that satisfy the query. The sets of items are used to generate, for each of the multiple categories, a score that reflects a level significance or relevance of the category to the search. The scores may be based, for example, on the number of hits within each category relative to the total number of items in that category, the popularity levels of items that satisfy the query, a personal profile of the user, or a combination thereof. The categories are then presented to the user, together with the most relevant items within each category, in the order of highest to lowest category relevance.

Claims

1. A method of assisting users in locating items that are arranged within a database system by category, the method comprising:

monitoring user actions performed with respect to specific items in the database system to generate item usage data;

calculating item scores for specific items in the database system, wherein an item score for an item is dependent upon the item usage data associated with that item;

receiving a search query specified by a user;

identifying, within each of multiple categories of the database system, items that are responsive to the search query (“

responsive items”

);

for each of the multiple categories, calculating a respective category score based at least in-part on the item scores of responsive items in that category; and

determining an order in which to present the multiple categories to the user such that the order is dependent upon the category scores.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting the multiple categories in said order, together with corresponding responsive items within each of the multiple categories, for presentation to the user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of outputting the multiple categories in said order comprises generating a search results page in which each of the multiple categories is listed together with a selected subset of the responsive items falling within that category.

4. A search results page generated according to the method of claim 3 and represented within a computer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the category scores are calculated based further upon a profile of the user such that the order in which the categories are presented is personalized for the user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the category score for a given category is calculated based on the item scores of a most highly ranked subset of the responsive items within the given category.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the category score for a given category is based further upon a number of responsive items falling within the given category relative to a total number of items falling within the given category.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the item usage data reflects item viewing events.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the item usage data further reflects the following types of user actions:

selections of items to add to a shopping cart, and item purchases.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the item scores indicate current popularity levels of items among a population of users of the database system.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein each category score represents a predicted level of significance of the respective category to the search query.

12. A server system that embodies the method of claim 1.

13. A computer-implemented method for processing a search query specified by a user, the method comprising:

identifying, within each of a plurality of categories, one or more items that are responsive to the search query (“

responsive items”

);

calculating a respective category score for each of the plurality of categories, wherein the category score for at least one of the categories is dependent upon a number of responsive items within that category relative to a total number of items in that category; and

presenting the plurality of categories to the user, together with associated responsive items, in an order which depends upon the category scores.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the category score for at least one of the categories is dependent upon item scores of responsive items falling therein.

15. A web page generated according to the method of claim 13 represented within a computer, said web page displaying responsive items arranged by category in said order.

16. A server system that processes search queries according to the method of claim 13.

17. A computer readable medium which stores a computer program that embodies the method of claim 13.

18. A computer-implemented method for processing a search query specified by a user so as to personalize a presentation of search results, the method comprising:

identifying, within each of a plurality of categories, one or more items that are responsive to the search query (“

responsive items”

);

calculating a respective category score for each of the plurality of categories, said category score reflecting a predicted level of affinity the user has for the respective category as determined from a preexisting profile of the user, said score further reflecting a degree to which the respective category is relevant to the search query; and

presenting the plurality of categories- to the user, together with associated responsive items, in an order which depends upon the category scores.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the preexisting profile reflects item purchases made by the user.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the category score for a given category depends upon item popularity scores of responsive items within the given category.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the category score for a given category is based further upon a number of responsive items falling within the given category relative to a total number of items falling within the given category.

22. A web page generated according to the method of claim 18 represented within a computer, said web page displaying responsive items arranged by category in said order.

23. A server system that processes search queries according to the method of claim 18.

24. A computer readable medium which stores a computer program that embodies the method of claim 18.

25. A method of assisting users in locating items that are arranged by category within an electronic catalog, the method comprising:

monitoring actions performed by a plurality of users with respect to items in the electronic catalog to generate item usage data;

calculating popularity scores for items in the catalog using said item usage data;

receiving a search query specified by a user, and identifying a set of items in the electronic catalog that are responsive to the search query (“

responsive items”

), including items from multiple categories;

selecting an order in which to present the multiple categories to the user such that the order is dependent upon the popularity scores of responsive items, said order reflecting predicted levels of relevance of the categories to the search query; and

generating a search results display in which the multiple categories are presented in said order together with corresponding responsive items.

26. The method as in claim 25, wherein the order in which the categories are presented is selected based further upon a number of responsive items falling within a given category relative to a total number of items in the given category.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the order in which the categories are presented is based further upon a profile of the user such that the order is personalized for the user.

28. A search results display generated according to the method of claim 25 and represented within a computer.

29. A server system that embodies the method of claim 25.