System, method and service for ranking search results using a modular scoring system

• US 20050262050A1
• Filed: 05/07/2004
• Published: 11/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Williamson, Devid Paul, Sivakumar, Dandapani, Tomlin, John Anthony, Fagin, Ronald, McCurley, Kevin Snow, Novak, Jasmine, Ravikumar, Shanmugasundram
• Granted Patent: US 7,257,577 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9532 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99937 Sorting
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A modular scoring system using rank aggregation merges search results into an ordered list of results using many different features of documents. The ranking functions of the present system can easily be customized to the needs of a particular corpus or collection of users such as an intranet. Rank aggregation is independent of the underlying score distributions between the different factors, and can be applied to merge any set of ranking functions. Rank aggregation holds the advantage of combining the influence of many different heuristic factors in a robust way to produce high-quality results for queries. The modular scoring system combines factors such as indegree, page ranking, URL length, proximity to the root server of an intranet, etc, to form a single ordering on web pages that closely obeys the individual orderings, but also mediates between the collective wisdom of individual heuristics.

Claims

1. A system for ranking search results, comprising:

a plurality of indices for grading a set of pages to generate a graded set of pages;

a plurality of scoring modules for ranking the graded set of pages to generate a plurality of ranked sets of pages;

a duplication module for duplicating the ranked sets of pages;

the scoring modules further scoring corresponding duplicates of the ranked sets of documents;

a rank aggregation processor for merging the scored corresponding duplicate sets of pages into a single scored set of pages; and

wherein the rank aggregation processor further ranks pages in the single scored set of pages according to predetermined criteria.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the single scored set of pages is scored as a function of relevance to a query.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the single scored set of pages is scored as a function of authoritativeness.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of pages is obtained by means of a query.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein an input to the rank aggregation processor comprises the query.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein an input to the rank aggregation processor comprises the graded set of pages.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein an input to at least some of the indices comprises the query.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein an input to at least some of the scoring modules comprises the query.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising an auxiliary information module for customizing the system for a specific application.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a selection module for deselecting at least one of the scoring modules for customizing the system for a specific application.

11. A computer program product having a set of executable instruction codes for ranking search results using, comprising:

a first set of instruction codes for grading a set of pages to generate a graded set of pages;

a second set of instruction codes for ranking the graded set of pages to generate a plurality of ranked sets of pages;

a third set of instruction codes for duplicating the ranked sets of pages;

a fourth set of instruction codes for scoring corresponding duplicates of the ranked sets of documents;

a fifth set of instruction codes for merging the scored corresponding duplicate sets of pages into a single scored set of pages; and

a sixth set of instruction codes for ranking pages in the single scored set of pages according to predetermined criteria.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the single scored set of pages is scored as a function of relevance to a query.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the single scored set of pages is scored as a function of authoritativeness.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the set of pages is obtained by means of a query.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the fifth set of instruction codes comprises the query.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the fifth set of instruction codes comprises the graded set of pages.

17. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the first set of instruction codes comprises the query.

18. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the second set of instruction codes comprises the query.

19. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising a seventh set of instruction codes for customizing computer program product for a specific application.

20. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising an eight set of instruction codes for deselecting at least one of the scoring modules for customizing the computer program product for a specific application.

21. A method for ranking search results using, comprising:

grading a set of pages to generate a graded set of pages;

ranking the graded set of pages to generate a plurality of ranked sets of pages;

duplicating the ranked sets of pages;

scoring corresponding duplicates of the ranked sets of documents;

merging the scored corresponding duplicate sets of pages into a single scored set of pages; and

ranking pages in the single scored set of pages according to predetermined criteria.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the single scored set of pages is scored as a function of relevance to a query.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the single scored set of pages is scored as a function of authoritativeness.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the set of pages is obtained by means of a query.

25. A method for ranking results using a modular scoring system, comprising:

specifying a plurality of data for which a scoring is performed;

specifying a query for selecting a set of pages from the data;

invoking a modular scoring utility program, wherein the set of pages and the query are made available to the modular scoring utility program; and

outputting the scoring of at least some pages of the set of pages from at least some of the data.

26. A service for ranking results using a modular scoring system, comprising:

a plurality of data for which a scoring is performed are inputted to the modular scoring system;

a query being inputted to the modular scoring system for selecting a set of pages from the data;

a modular scoring utility program that is invoked so that the set of pages and the query are made available to the modular scoring utility program; and

the scoring of at least some pages of the set of pages are outputted from at least some of the data.