Systems and methods for providing search results

• US 20060287985A1
• Filed: 06/20/2005
• Published: 12/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Gomes, Benedict, Lin, Walt, Castro, Luis
• Granted Patent: US 7,996,391 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]

Abstract

A method includes generating search results in response to a user query, where at least one of the search results includes a group of links. The group of links may represent links to web pages within a same web site and may be identified based on at least one factor associated with the links. The method may also include providing the search results to the user.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a search query from a user;

generating search results based on the search query;

identifying a plurality of web pages associated with at least one of the search results based on a quality factor associated with the plurality of web pages, wherein the plurality of web pages and a web page associated with the at least one search result comprise web pages in a same web site; and

providing the search results and a plurality of links associated with the plurality of web pages to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing link information associated with the plurality of web pages.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information when one of the plurality of web pages has been accessed; and

sorting the plurality of web pages based on a number of accesses associated with each of the plurality of web pages.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the quality factor is based on a number of times each of the plurality of web pages has been accessed.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the providing a plurality of links includes:

providing the plurality of links in an order where a link to a more frequently accessed one of the plurality of web pages is listed before a link to a less frequently accessed one of the plurality of web pages.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the quality factor is based on an amount of time a plurality of users have viewed each of the plurality of web pages.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the quality factor is based on a number of web pages with a link pointing to one of the plurality of web pages.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the quality factor is based on a score associated with how closely the search query matches information contained on each of the plurality of web pages.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the quality factor is based on items purchased via each of the plurality of web pages.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the quality factor is based on the user'"'"'s prior behavior with respect to the plurality of web pages.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing a plurality of links comprises:

including text with each of the respective links, the text comprising text located on a web page corresponding to the respective link.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing a plurality of links comprises:

including text with each of the respective links, the text comprising text located on a web page corresponding to the at least one search result.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying a plurality of web pages associated with at least one of the search results based on a quality factor comprises:

identifying links on a web page associated with the at least one search result.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing the search results and a plurality of links to the user comprises:

providing the plurality of links on a user interface screen, wherein the plurality of links are located below the at least one search result.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a group of links with each of a plurality of the search results, wherein the group of links for each of the plurality of search results is identified based on a popularity determination.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of links correspond to web pages accessible via the web page associated with the at least one search result.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information from an entity associated with a web site, the information identifying a first plurality of links associated with the web site.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

providing the first plurality of links when a search result identifying the web site is generated.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving, from the entity associated with the web site, an order associated with the first plurality of links, wherein the first plurality of links are to be displayed in the order when a search result identifying the web site is generated.

20. A system, comprising:

means for receiving a search query from a user;

means for generating search results, a first one of the search results including a plurality of links identified based on a quality factor associated with the plurality of links, wherein the plurality of links correspond to web pages on a same web site; and

means for providing the search results to the user.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

means for receiving information when web pages associated with the plurality of links have been accessed.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

means for assigning an order to the plurality of links based on the received information; and

means for presenting the plurality of links based on the assigned order.

23. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

means for ranking the plurality of links based on at least one of a number of accesses associated with web pages corresponding to the plurality of links, a number of web pages with a link pointing to a web page corresponding to one of the plurality of links, how closely the search query matches information on web pages corresponding to each of the plurality of links or the user'"'"'s history associated with accessing web pages corresponding to each of the plurality of links.

24. A computer-readable medium that stores instructions executable by at least one processor to perform a method comprising:

receiving a search query from a user;

generating first search results based on the search query;

identifying a plurality of links associated with at least one of the first search results based on at least one factor associated with the plurality of links; and

forwarding second search results to the user, the second search results including the first search results and the plurality of links associated with the at least one of the first search results, wherein the plurality of links correspond to web pages on a same web site.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the at least one factor comprises a quality factor associated with web pages corresponding to the plurality of links.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the identifying a plurality of links comprises:

determining an order associated with the plurality of links based on the at least one factor.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein the forwarding second search results comprises:

displaying the plurality of links to the user in the determined order.

28. A system, comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of links; and

a search engine to;

receive a search query from a user,

generate search results based on the search query,

access the memory to identify a first group of links associated with a first one of the search results, the first group of links being associated with a same web site, and

provide the search results and the first group of links to the user.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the search engine orders the first group of links based on information associated with each of the first group of links.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein when ordering the first group of links, the search engine orders the first group of links based on an estimation as to whether the user will access web pages corresponding to the respective links.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein the search results and the first group of links are provided to the user via a display screen, the first group of links being displayed in an order where a higher quality one of the links is listed before a lower quality one of the links.

32. A method, comprising:

generating a plurality of search results in response to a user query, at least one of the plurality of search results including a group of links sorted in an order based on at least one factor associated with the group of links; and

providing the plurality of search results to the user.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the providing comprises:

displaying the group of links in the sorted order.