Ranking Domains Using Domain Maturity

• US 20080086467A1
• Filed: 10/10/2006
• Published: 04/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Challam, Vishnu, Majumder, Rangan, Crumb, Janine, Gade, Krishna C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,740,778 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Ranking domains for search engines is provided herein. To rank a domain, contributing domains associated with the domain are identified. Additionally, the maturity of each of the contributing domains is determined. A rank for the domain is then determined based at least in part on the maturity of each of the contributing domains. The domain rankings may then be used to order results for search queries.

Claims

1. A method for ranking a domain, the method comprising:

receiving a list of one or more contributing domains associated with the domain;

determining a maturity for at least one of the one or more contributing domains; and

calculating a rank for the domain based at least in part on the maturity for the at least one of the one or more contributing domains.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the maturity for at least one of the one or more contributing domains comprises identifying at least one of the one or more contributing domains as a mature domain.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the mature domain is identified based on factors comprising at least one of a date of domain registration and a date of first discovery of the mature domain.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the mature domain is a contributing domain that has been registered for more than one year without having expired or being swapped.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein calculating the rank for the domain comprises calculating the rank based at least in part on a rank of the mature domain.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the maturity for at least one of the one or more contributing domains comprises identifying at least one of the one or more contributing domains as an immature domain;

and

wherein calculating the rank for the domain comprises calculating the rank based at least in part on a rank of the immature domain, wherein the rank of the immature domain is based on contributing domains associated with the immature domain that have been identified as mature domains.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the rank for the domain comprises calculating the rank based on a fraction of a number associated with at least one of the one or more contributing domains, wherein the fraction of the number associated with the at least one of the one or more contributing domains corresponds to the maturity of the at least one of the one or more contributing domains.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more contributing domains comprise a domain that includes at least one link to the domain.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising using the rank of the domain to facilitate ordering results for a search query that include the domain.

10. A method for presenting search results, the method comprising:

receiving information associated with a plurality of domains;

determining a maturity for each of one or more contributing domains associated with each of the plurality of domains;

calculating a rank for each of the plurality of domains based at least in part on the maturity for at least one of the one or more contributing domains associated with the each of the plurality of domains;

in response to receiving a search query, generating one or more search results comprising at least one of the plurality of domains that match the search query; and

presenting the one or more search results in accordance with ranks of the at least one of the plurality of domains that match the search query.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the maturity for each of the one or more contributing domains associated with each of the plurality of domains comprises identifying at least one of the one or more contributing domains as a mature domain.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein calculating the rank for each of the plurality of domains comprises calculating the rank based at least in part on a rank of the mature domain.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the maturity for each of the one or more contributing domains associated with each of the plurality of domains comprises identifying at least one of the one or more contributing domains as an immature domain;

and

wherein calculating the rank for each of the plurality of domains comprises calculating the rank based at least in part on a rank of the mature domain and a rank of the immature domain, wherein the rank of the immature domain is based only on contributing domains associated with the immature domain that have been identified as mature domains.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein calculating the rank for each of the plurality of domains comprises calculating the rank based on a fraction of a rank associated with at least one of the one or more contributing domains, wherein the fraction of the rank associated with the at least one of the one or more contributing domains corresponds to the maturity of the at least one of the one or more contributing domains.

15. A search engine for ranking search results, the search engine comprising:

a ranking component configured to determine one or more contributing domains associated with each of a plurality of domains, to determine a maturity for each of the one or more contributing domains, and to calculate a rank for each of the plurality of domains based at least in part on the maturity for at least one of the one or more contributing domains; and

a searching component configured to perform a search in response to a search query and to return one or more search results comprising at least one of the plurality of domains that match the search query.

16. The search engine of claim 15, further comprising a user interface component configured to receive the search query and to present the one or more search results in accordance with the ranks of the at least one of the plurality of domains that match the search query.

17. The search engine of claim 15, wherein the ranking component is further configured to determine the maturity for each of the one or more contributing domains by identifying at least one of the one or more contributing domains as a mature domain.

18. The search engine of claim 17, wherein the ranking component is further configured to calculate the rank for each of the plurality of domains based at least in part on a rank of the mature domain.

19. The search engine of claim 17, wherein the ranking component is further configured to determine the maturity for each of the one or more contributing domains by identifying at least one of the one or more contributing domains as an immature domain and to calculate the rank for each of the plurality of domains based at least in part on a rank of the mature domain and a rank of the immature domain, wherein the rank of the immature domain is based only on contributing domains associated with the immature domain that have been identified as mature domains.

20. The search engine of claim 15, wherein the ranking component is further configured to calculate the rank for each of the plurality of domains based on a fraction of a rank associated with at least one of the one or more contributing domains, wherein the fraction of the rank associated with the at least one of the one or more contributing domains corresponds to the maturity of the at least one of the one or more contributing domains.