BLENDING MOBILE SEARCH RESULTS

• US 20080183699A1
• Filed: 01/24/2008
• Published: 07/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Hu, Ning, Ha, Vida U.
• Granted Patent: US 7,962,477 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• 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

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for blending mobile search results. A method includes receiving a search query and multiple search results. The search results each satisfy the search query and have a respective search result quality score. The search results include generic and mobile search results. The generic and mobile search results each identify a generic and mobile resource, respectively. The search result quality scores include mobile and generic search result quality scores for the mobile and generic search results, respectively. The mobile search result quality scores and the generic search result quality scores were generated according to different scoring formulas. Based on one or more terms in the search query, the search query is classified as a mobile query. As a consequence, one or more search result quality scores are modified to improve the sorting of search results that include both mobile and generic search results.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a search query and a plurality of search results, wherein the search results each satisfy the search query and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the search results comprise mobile search results and generic search results, the mobile search results each identifying a mobile resource, the generic search results each identifying a generic resource, wherein the search result quality scores comprise mobile search result quality scores for the mobile search results and generic search result quality scores for the generic search results, and wherein the mobile search result quality scores and the generic search result quality scores were generated according to different scoring formulas; and

based on one or more terms in the search query, classifying the search query as a mobile query and as a consequence modifying one or more search result quality scores to improve the sorting of search results that include both mobile search results and generic search results.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying the one or more search result quality scores comprises modifying one or more mobile search result quality scores to make the modified mobile search results quality scores commensurable to the generic search result quality scores.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the mobile search results are derived from a mobile corpus, the mobile corpus being a corpus of resources that are adapted for use on mobile devices; and

the generic search results are derived from a generic corpus, the generic corpus being a corpus of generic resources, the generic corpus being distinct from the mobile corpus.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a search result as a mobile search result based on one or more properties of the resource identified by the search result.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more properties comprise whether the resource is a wireless markup language document.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting the plurality of generic search results, the generic search results being presented in an order; and

presenting one or more of the mobile search results inserted at a position between two otherwise adjacent search results in the order, the position being determined by using the search result quality scores of the generic and mobile search results.

7. A method, comprising:

presenting a plurality of search results, wherein the search results each satisfy a search query and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the search results comprise a first and second set of search results, the search result quality scores of the first set of search results being calculated based on a first scoring criteria, the search result quality scores of the second set of search results being calculated based on a second scoring criteria, and the first and second scoring criteria being distinct; and

modifying the search result quality scores of the first set of search results to make the scores commensurable to the search result quality scores of the second set of search results.

8. A method, comprising:

receiving a search query, a plurality of generic search results, and a plurality of mobile search results, wherein the generic search results each satisfy the search query, identify a generic resource, and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the mobile search results each satisfy the search query, identify a mobile resource, and have a respective search result quality score;

determining that the search query came from a mobile user; and

evaluating, for each mobile search result, one or more properties of the mobile resources identified by the mobile search results, and modifying at least one of the mobile search result quality scores based on the one or more properties of the corresponding mobile resources.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein modifying the mobile search result quality score comprises:

increasing the mobile search result quality score if the mobile search result links to a mobile resource that links to downloadable content for a mobile device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein modifying the mobile search result quality score comprises:

identifying a first language of the search query;

identifying that the mobile resource identified by the mobile search result is written in a second language; and

decreasing the mobile search result quality score if the first language is different from the second language.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

ranking the mobile search results and the generic search results in an order, the ranking being based on the search result quality scores; and

removing one or more duplicates from the order.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein removing the one or more duplicates comprises:

identifying a first mobile search result that identifies a first uniform resource locator;

identifying a first generic search result that identifies a second uniform resource locator, the second uniform resource locator being the same as the first uniform resource locator;

removing the first generic search result from the order; and

if the first generic search result had a higher rank than the first mobile search result, moving the first mobile search result to the position in the order that the first generic search result occupied.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein removing the one or more duplicates comprises:

identifying a first mobile search result that identifies a first uniform resource locator;

identifying a first generic search result that identifies a second uniform resource locator, the second uniform resource locator being different from the first uniform resource locator, the respective resources located at the first and second uniform resource locators being different versions of a same web page;

removing the first generic search result from the order; and

if the first generic search result had a higher rank than the first mobile search result, moving the first mobile search result to the position in the order that the first generic search result occupied.

14. A method, comprising:

receiving a search query, a plurality of generic search results, and a plurality of mobile search results, wherein the generic search results each satisfy the search query, identify a generic resource, and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the mobile search results each satisfy the search query, identify a mobile resource, and have a respective search result quality score;

determining that the search query came from a mobile user;

identifying one or more threshold scores, each threshold score being based on correlations between evaluation ratings assigned by one or more people to a sample of mobile search results and their respective search result quality scores; and

modifying at least one search result quality score of the mobile search results based on whether it exceeds one or more of the threshold scores, wherein modifying a search result quality score of a mobile search result makes it commensurable to the search result quality scores of the generic search results.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein identifying one or more threshold scores comprises identifying two threshold scores, and wherein modifying at least one search result quality score of the mobile search results further comprises:

multiplying a first search result quality score of the mobile search results by a first value, wherein the first search result quality score exceeds only one of the identified threshold scores;

multiplying a second search result quality score of the mobile search results by a second value, wherein the second search result quality score exceeds the two identified threshold scores, the first and second values being distinct.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining a query length, the query length being the number of terms in the search query;

wherein one or more threshold scores is lower for a query with a longer query length than for a query with a shorter query length.

17. A method, comprising:

receiving a search query, a plurality of generic search results, and a plurality of mobile search results, wherein the generic search results each satisfy the search query, identify a generic resource, and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the mobile search results each satisfy the search query, identify a mobile resource, and have a respective search result quality score;

determining that the search query came from a mobile user;

for each generic search result that identifies a generic resource, evaluating one or more properties of the generic resource to detect similarities with one or more properties of a mobile resource;

detecting a similarity between a property of a first generic resource and a property of a first mobile resource, wherein the first mobile resource is identified by a first mobile search result that has a first mobile search result quality score; and

increasing the first mobile search result quality score.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein one or more properties of the generic resources identified by the generic search results comprises a domain where the generic resource is located, the method further comprising:

determining that one or more mobile search results identify a mobile resource located in a first domain;

determining that a generic search result identifies a generic resource located in the first domain; and

increasing the mobile search result quality score of the one or more mobile search results.

19. A method, comprising:

receiving a search query, a plurality of generic search results, and a plurality of mobile search results, wherein the generic search results each satisfy the search query, identify a generic resource, and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the mobile search results each satisfy the search query, identify a mobile resource, and have a respective search result quality score;

determining that the search query came from a mobile user;

determining the number of mobile search results;

presenting the generic search results; and

presenting the mobile search results only if the number of mobile search results exceeds a threshold number.

20. A system, comprising:

a user interface device; and

one or more computers operable to interact with the user interface device and to;

receive a search query and a plurality of search results from the user interface device, wherein the search results each satisfy the search query and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the search results comprise mobile search results and generic search results, the mobile search results each identifying a mobile resource, the generic search results each identifying a generic resource, wherein the search result quality scores comprise mobile search result quality scores for the mobile search results and generic search result quality scores for the generic search results, and wherein the mobile search result quality scores and the generic search result quality scores were generated according to different scoring formulas; and

based on one or more terms in the search query, classify the search query as a mobile query and as a consequence modify one or more search result quality scores to improve the sorting of search results that include both mobile search results and generic search results.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more computers comprise a server operable to interact with the user interface device through a data communication network, and the user interface device is operable to interact with the server as a client.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein modifying the one or more search result quality scores comprises modifying one or more mobile search result quality scores to make the modified mobile search results quality scores commensurable to the generic search result quality scores.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the mobile search results are derived from a mobile corpus, the mobile corpus being a corpus of resources that are adapted for use on mobile devices; and

the generic search results are derived from a generic corpus, the generic corpus being a corpus of generic resources, the generic corpus being distinct from the mobile corpus.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more computers are further operable to:

identify a search result as a mobile search result based on one or more properties of the resource identified by the search result.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the one or more properties comprise whether the resource is a wireless markup language document.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more computers are further operable to:

present the plurality of generic search results, the generic search results being presented in an order; and

present one or more of the mobile search results inserted at a position between two otherwise adjacent search results in the order, the position being determined by using the search result quality scores of the generic and mobile search results.

27. A system, comprising:

a user interface device; and

one or more computers operable to interact with the user interface device and to;

present a plurality of search results to the user interface device, wherein the search results each satisfy a search query and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the search results comprise a first and second set of search results, the search result quality scores of the first set of search results being calculated based on a first scoring criteria, the search result quality scores of the second set of search results being calculated based on a second scoring criteria, and the first and second scoring criteria being distinct; and

modify the search result quality scores of the first set of search results to make the scores commensurable to the search result quality scores of the second set of search results.

28. A system, comprising:

a user interface device; and

one or more computers operable to interact with the user interface device and to;

receive a search query, a plurality of generic search results, and a plurality of mobile search results from the user interface device, wherein the generic search results each satisfy the search query, identify a generic resource, and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the mobile search results each satisfy the search query, identify a mobile resource, and have a respective search result quality score;

determine that the search query came from a mobile user; and

evaluate, for each mobile search result, one or more properties of the mobile resources identified by the mobile search results, and modify at least one of the mobile search result quality scores based on the one or more properties of the corresponding mobile resources.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein modifying the mobile search result quality score comprises:

increasing the mobile search result quality score if the mobile search result links to a mobile resource that links to downloadable content for a mobile device.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein modifying the mobile search result quality score comprises:

identifying a first language of the search query;

identifying that the mobile resource identified by the mobile search result is written in a second language; and

decreasing the mobile search result quality score if the first language is different from the second language.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein the one or more computers are further operable to:

rank the mobile search results and the generic search results in an order, the ranking being based on the search result quality scores; and

remove one or more duplicates from the order.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein removing the one or more duplicates comprises:

identifying a first mobile search result that identifies a first uniform resource locator;

identifying a first generic search result that identifies a second uniform resource locator, the second uniform resource locator being the same as the first uniform resource locator;

removing the first generic search result from the order; and

if the first generic search result had a higher rank than the first mobile search result, moving the first mobile search result to the position in the order that the first generic search result occupied.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein removing the one or more duplicates comprises:

identifying a first mobile search result that identifies a first uniform resource locator;

identifying a first generic search result that identifies a second uniform resource locator, the second uniform resource locator being different from the first uniform resource locator, the respective resources located at the first and second uniform resource locators being different versions of a same web page;

removing the first generic search result from the order; and

if the first generic search result had a higher rank than the first mobile search result, moving the first mobile search result to the position in the order that the first generic search result occupied.

34. A system, comprising:

a user interface device; and

one or more computers operable to interact with the user interface device and to;

receive a search query, a plurality of generic search results, and a plurality of mobile search results from the user interface device, wherein the generic search results each satisfy the search query, identify a generic resource, and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the mobile search results each satisfy the search query, identify a mobile resource, and have a respective search result quality score;

determine that the search query came from a mobile user;

identify one or more threshold scores, each threshold score being based on correlations between evaluation ratings assigned by one or more people to a sample of mobile search results and their respective search result quality scores; and

modify at least one search result quality score of the mobile search results based on whether it exceeds one or more of the threshold scores, wherein modifying a search result quality score of a mobile search result makes it commensurable to the search result quality scores of the generic search results.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein identifying one or more threshold scores comprises identifying two threshold scores, and wherein modifying at least one search result quality score of the mobile search results further comprises:

multiplying a first search result quality score of the mobile search results by a first value, wherein the first search result quality score exceeds only one of the identified threshold scores;

multiplying a second search result quality score of the mobile search results by a second value, wherein the second search result quality score exceeds the two identified threshold scores, the first and second values being distinct.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein the one or more computers are further operable to:

determine a query length, the query length being the number of terms in the search query;

wherein one or more threshold scores is lower for a query with a longer query length than for a query with a shorter query length.

37. A system, comprising:

a user interface device; and

one or more computers operable to interact with the user interface device and to;

receive a search query, a plurality of generic search results, and a plurality of mobile search results from the user interface device, wherein the generic search results each satisfy the search query, identify a generic resource, and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the mobile search results each satisfy the search query, identify a mobile resource, and have a respective search result quality score;

determine that the search query came from a mobile user;

for each generic search result that identifies a generic resource, evaluate one or more properties of the generic resource to detect similarities with one or more properties of a mobile resource;

detect a similarity between a property of a first generic resource and a property of a first mobile resource, wherein the first mobile resource is identified by a first mobile search result that has a first mobile search result quality score; and

increase the first mobile search result quality score.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein one or more properties of the generic resources identified by the generic search results comprises a domain where the generic resource is located, the one or more computers further operable to:

determine that one or more mobile search results identify a mobile resource located in a first domain;

determine that a generic search result identifies a generic resource located in the first domain; and

increase the mobile search result quality score of the one or more mobile search results.

39. A system, comprising:

a user interface device; and

one or more computers operable to interact with the user interface device and to;

receive a search query, a plurality of generic search results, and a plurality of mobile search results from the user interface device, wherein the generic search results each satisfy the search query, identify a generic resource, and have a respective search result quality score, and wherein the mobile search results each satisfy the search query, identify a mobile resource, and have a respective search result quality score;

determine that the search query came from a mobile user;

determine the number of mobile search results;

present the generic search results; and

present the mobile search results only if the number of mobile search results exceeds a threshold number.