Method and system for progressive disclosure of search results

• US 20080154859A1
• Filed: 12/22/2006
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Weber, Karon A., Tripodi, Samantha M., Chi, Liang-Yu
• Granted Patent: US 8,156,135 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results

Abstract

Method and system for progressive disclosure of search results are disclosed. The method includes receiving a first portion of a search query from a user, and presenting a first search result page to the user in response to the first portion of the search query, where the first search result page includes a first set of search results categorized into a first set of search result topics related to the first portion of the search query. The method of presenting a first search result page includes analyzing the first portion of the search query and predicting the first set of search results using a set of contextual information, which includes user behavior, user preferences, user environment, and context of the search query. The method further includes receiving a second portion of the search query from the user, and presenting a second search result page to the user, where the second search result page includes a second set of search results derived from the first set of search result topics and from the first and second portions of the search query.

Claims

1. A method for presenting search results on the Internet, comprising:

receiving a first portion of a search query from a user, wherein the search query includes two or more search terms;

presenting a first search result page to the user in response to the first portion of the search query, wherein the first search result page includes a first set of search results categorized into a first set of search result topics related to the first portion of the search query;

receiving a second portion of the search query from the user; and

presenting a second search result page to the user, wherein the second search result page includes a second set of search results derived from the first set of search result topics and from the first and second portions of the search query.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting a first search result page comprises:

analyzing the first portion of the search query; and

predicting the first set of search results using a set of contextual information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the set of contextual information comprises:

user behavior;

user preferences;

user environment; and

context of the search query.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting a first search result page further comprises:

presenting a first set of advertisements in response to the first set of search results.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of search results comprises:

a summary of various aspects of a topic in the first set of search result topics.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting a second search result page further comprises:

presenting a second set of advertisements in response to the second set of search results.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a third portion of the search query; and

presenting a third search result page to the user, wherein the third search result page includes a third set of search results derived from the second set of search results and from the first, second, and third portions of the search query.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the third set of search results comprises:

a detailed description of a subject in the second set of search results.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein presenting a third search result page further comprises:

presenting a third set of advertisements in response to the third set of search results.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing a set of tools for assisting the user to navigate the first set of search result topics.

11. A computer program product for presenting search results on the Internet, comprising a medium storing computer programs for execution by one or more computer systems, the computer program product comprising:

code for receiving a first portion of a search query from a user, wherein the search query includes two or more search terms;

code for presenting a first search result page to the user in response to the first portion of the search query, wherein the first search result page includes a first set of search results categorized into a first set of search result topics related to the first portion of the search query;

code for receiving a second portion of the search query from the user; and

code for presenting a second search result page to the user, wherein the second search result page includes a second set of search results derived from the first set of search result topics and from the first and second portions of the search query.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the code for presenting a first search result page comprises:

code for analyzing the first portion of the search query; and

code for predicting the first set of search results using a set of contextual information.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the set of contextual information comprises:

user behavior;

user preferences;

user environment; and

context of the search query.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the code for presenting a first search result page further comprises:

code for presenting a first set of advertisements in response to the first set of search results.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the second set of search results comprises:

a summary of various aspects of a topic in the first set of search result topics.

16. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the code for presenting a second search result page further comprises:

code for presenting a second set of advertisements in response to the second set of search results.

17. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising:

code for receiving a third portion of the search query; and

code for presenting a third search result page to the user, wherein the third search result page includes a third set of search results derived from the second set of search results and from the first, second, and third portions of the search query.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the third set of search results comprises:

a detailed description of a subject in the second set of search results.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the code for presenting a third search result page further comprises:

code for presenting a third set of advertisements in response to the third set of search results.

20. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising:

code for providing a set of tools for assisting the user to navigate the first set of search result topics.