METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INCREMENTALLY SELECTING AND PROVIDING RELEVANT SEARCH ENGINES IN RESPONSE TO A USER QUERY
First Claim
1. ) A user-interface method of incrementally providing fully qualified links to a set of relevant search engines, the method comprising:
- a) identifying a set of search engines, each search engine being characterized with corresponding metadata;
b) receiving a partial search query entered on a keypad by a user;
c) after each keypress received from the user, inferring a set of potential full queries intended by the user, based at least in part on the partial search query;
d) using the inferred full queries and the metadata characterizing the search engines to select a subset of the identified search engines that are relevant to the inferred full queries;
e) for each of the selected search engines, providing a fully qualified link designed to directly launch a search for a relevant query string using the search engine.
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Abstract
Methods and systems for incrementally selecting and providing relevant search engines in response to a user query. A method of incrementally selecting and providing relevant search engines is based in part on identifying a set of search engines associated with corresponding metadata, receiving a partial search query entered by the user of a device, inferring after each user keypress a set of potential full queries intended by the user, using the potential full queries and the search engine metadata to identify a set of relevant search engines, and for each of these search engines, providing a direct link to launch a relevant query in the search engine. The user input may be either ambiguous, or erroneous, and may be entered using an input-constrained device.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. ) A user-interface method of incrementally providing fully qualified links to a set of relevant search engines, the method comprising:
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a) identifying a set of search engines, each search engine being characterized with corresponding metadata;
b) receiving a partial search query entered on a keypad by a user;
c) after each keypress received from the user, inferring a set of potential full queries intended by the user, based at least in part on the partial search query;
d) using the inferred full queries and the metadata characterizing the search engines to select a subset of the identified search engines that are relevant to the inferred full queries;
e) for each of the selected search engines, providing a fully qualified link designed to directly launch a search for a relevant query string using the search engine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. ) A user-interface system for incrementally providing fully qualified links to a set of relevant search engines, the system comprising:
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a) logic for identifying a set of search engines, each search engine being characterized with corresponding metadata;
b) logic for receiving a partial search query entered on a keypad by a user;
c) logic for inferring, after each keypress received from the user, a set of potential full queries intended by the user, based at least in part on the partial search query;
d) logic for using the inferred full queries and the metadata characterizing the search engines to select a subset of the identified search engines that are relevant to the inferred full queries;
e) logic for providing, for each of the selected search engines, a fully qualified link designed to directly launch a search for a relevant query string using the search engine. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification