Vertical search expansion, disambiguation, and optimization of search queries

• US 20070208706A1
• Filed: 03/06/2006
• Published: 09/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kantak, Darshan, Carinio, Matthew, Madhavan, Anand
• Granted Patent: US 8,832,097 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/903 Querying for retrieval from the web G06F16/953
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A system and method to facilitate expansion, disambiguation, and optimization of search queries over a network wherein an original query received from a user is parsed to obtain at least one query term. One or more filtered queries are retrieved from a database, each of the filtered queries corresponding to one or more advertising offers related contextually to the at least one query term. Selection of advertising content associated with the advertising offers is optimized based on one or more predetermined parameters, the advertising content to be displayed for the user in conjunction with query results of the original query and the one or more filtered queries.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

parsing an original query received from a user to obtain at least one query term;

retrieving at least one filtered query from a database, each of said at least one filtered query corresponding to at least one advertising offer related contextually to said at least one query term; and

optimizing selection of advertising content associated with said at least one advertising offer based on at least one predetermined parameter, said advertising content to be displayed for said user in conjunction with query results of said original query and said at least one filtered query.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said retrieving further comprises:

generating a plurality of modified queries, each modified query comprising said at least one query term and at least one keyword of a plurality of keywords related contextually to said at least one query term;

retrieving a plurality of advertising offers for each modified query and for said original query;

selecting advertising offers related contextually to said at least one query term and said plurality of keywords; and

filtering said set of modified queries and said original query to generate said at least one filtered query.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said retrieving further comprises:

accessing said database; and

matching said at least one query term to said at least one filtered query previously stored in said database.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said optimizing further comprises:

optimizing said at least one advertising offer according to said at least one predetermined parameter.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said optimizing further comprises:

optimizing said at least one filtered query according to said at least one predetermined parameter.

6. An apparatus comprising:

at least one advertising processing server; and

at least one search processing server coupled to said at least one advertising processing server;

said at least one search processing server to parse an original query received from a user and to obtain at least one query term, and to retrieve at least one filtered query from a database, each of said at least one filtered query corresponding to at least one advertising offer related contextually to said at least one query term;

said at least one advertising processing server to optimize selection of advertising content associated with said at least one advertising offer based on at least one predetermined parameter, said advertising content to be displayed for said user in conjunction with query results of said original query and said at least one filtered query.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said at least one search processing server further generates a plurality of modified queries, each modified query comprising said at least one query term and at least one keyword of a plurality of keywords related contextually to said at least one query term, said at least one advertising processing server further retrieves a plurality of advertising offers for each modified query and for said original query and selects advertising offers related contextually to said at least one query term and said plurality of keywords, and said at elast one search processing server further filters said set of modified queries and said original query to generate said at least one filtered query.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said at least one search processing server further accesses said database and matches said at least one query term to said at least one filtered query previously stored in said database.

9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said at least one advertising processing server further optimizes said at least one advertising offer according to said at least one predetermined parameter.

10. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said at least one advertising processing server further optimizes said at least one filtered query according to said at least one predetermined parameter.

11. An apparatus comprising:

means for parsing an original query received from a user to obtain at least one query term;

means for retrieving at least one filtered query from a database, each of said at least one filtered query corresponding to at least one advertising offer related contextually to said at least one query term; and

means for optimizing selection of advertising content associated with said at least one advertising offer based on at least one predetermined parameter, said advertising content to be displayed for said user in conjunction with query results of said original query and said at least one filtered query.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:

means for generating a plurality of modified queries, each modified query comprising said at least one query term and at least one keyword of a plurality of keywords related contextually to said at least one query term;

means for retrieving a plurality of advertising offers for each modified query and for said original query;

means for selecting advertising offers related contextually to said at least one query term and said plurality of keywords; and

means for filtering said set of modified queries and said original query to generate said at least one filtered query.

13. The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:

means for accessing said database; and

means for matching said at least one query term to said at least one filtered query previously stored in said database.

14. The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:

means for optimizing said at least one advertising offer according to said at least one predetermined parameter.

15. The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:

means for optimizing said at least one filtered query according to said at least one predetermined parameter.

16. A computer readable medium containing executable instructions, which, when executed in a processing system, cause said processing system to perform a method comprising:

parsing an original query received from a user to obtain at least one query term;

retrieving at least one filtered query from a database, each of said at least one filtered query corresponding to at least one advertising offer related contextually to said at least one query term; and

optimizing selection of advertising content associated with said at least one advertising offer based on at least one predetermined parameter, said advertising content to be displayed for said user in conjunction with query results of said original query and said at least one filtered query.

17. The computer readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said retrieving further comprises:

generating a plurality of modified queries, each modified query comprising said at least one query term and at least one keyword of a plurality of keywords related contextually to said at least one query term;

retrieving a plurality of advertising offers for each modified query and for said original query;

selecting advertising offers related contextually to said at least one query term and said plurality of keywords; and

filtering said set of modified queries and said original query to generate said at least one filtered query.

18. The computer readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said retrieving further comprises:

accessing said database; and

matching said at least one query term to said at least one filtered query previously stored in said database.

19. The computer readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said optimizing further comprises:

optimizing said at least one advertising offer according to said at least one predetermined parameter.

20. The computer readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said optimizing further comprises:

optimizing said at least one filtered query according to said at least one predetermined parameter.