METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPROVED CATEGORICAL SEARCHING

• US 20080189247A1
• Filed: 02/01/2007
• Published: 08/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Blinnikka, Tomi, Horowitz, Steven
• Granted Patent: US 8,825,625 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Systems and methods have been developed for searching an index by category. More specifically, systems and methods have been developed for launching a search program that sends to a browser a search address associated with a selected search category for transmission to a remote computing device.

Claims

1. A method for searching in a networked computing environment comprising:

launching a search program associated with a search utility on a remote computing device, the search program including at least one search category selection control associated with a search address;

receiving a user selection of the at least one search category selection control;

launching, by the search program, a browser program; and

transmitting the search address to the browser program.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the search program further includes at least one search term input control.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

receiving a user input into the search term input control; and

modifying the search address based on the user input.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein modifying incorporates at least a portion of the user input into the search address.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein modifying involves parsing the user input.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one search category selection control is selected from a group consisting of a button, a check box, and a radio button.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the search address comprises a uniform resource locator for a web page associated with the at least one search category selection control.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the steps of launching the browser program and transmitting the search address to the browser program occur in parallel.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

transmitting the search address to the search utility; and

receiving search results from the search utility.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

displaying the search results to a user via the browser program.

11. A system for searching an index, comprising:

a search program adapted to permit selection of at least one search category parameter, the search program including instructions for generating and sending a search module request to a browser program;

a browser program including instructions for receiving the search module request from the search program and transmitting a remote search module request;

a searchable index of entries, the entries including information that corresponds to the at least one search category parameter; and

a search module on a remote computing device adapted to search, in response to receiving the remote search module request, for entries matching the at least one search category parameter.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the search program is further adapted to permit input of a search term by a user.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the search module request includes the search term input by the user.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the search module request includes information identifying the search module.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the search program request and the remote search module request are identical.

16. The system of claim 11 further comprising:

a communication module adapted to transmit search results to the browser program.

17. A graphical user interface generated by a client for display to a user via a rendering device, the graphical user interface comprising:

an application window, the application window comprising;

a search term input field; and

one or more search category selection controls.

18. A computer readable medium encoding or containing computer executable instructions for performing a method for searching in a networked computing environment, the method comprising:

launching a search program associated with a search utility on a remote computing device, the search program including at least one search category selection control associated with a search address;

receiving a user selection of the at least one search category selection control;

launching, by the search program, a browser program; and

transmitting the search address to the browser program.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18 wherein the search program further includes at least one search term input control.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 19 further comprising instructions for:

receiving a user input into the search term input control; and

modifying the search address based on the user input.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 20 wherein modifying incorporates at least a portion of the user input into the search address.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 21 wherein modifying involves parsing the user input.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 18 wherein the at least one search category selection control is selected from a group consisting of a button, a check box, and a radio button.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 18 wherein the search address comprises a uniform resource locator for a web page associated with the at least one search category selection control.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 18 wherein the steps of launching the browser program and transmitting the search address to the browser program occur in parallel.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 18 further comprising instructions for:

transmitting the search address to the search utility; and

receiving search results from the search utility.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 26 further comprising instructions for:

displaying the search results to a user via the browser program.

28. A method for searching in a networked computing environment comprising:

launching a first program associated with a search utility on a remote computing device, the first program including at least one search category selection control associated with a search request;

receiving a user selection of the at least one search category selection control;

launching, by the first program, a second program; and

transmitting the search request to the second program.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the second program is a browser program.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein the first program further includes at least one search term input control.

31. The method of claim 30 further comprising:

receiving a user input into the search term input control; and

modifying the search request based on the user input.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein modifying incorporates at least a portion of the user input into the search request.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein modifying involves parsing the user input.

34. The method of claim 28 wherein the at least one search category selection control is selected from a group consisting of a button, a check box, and a radio button.

35. The method of claim 28 wherein the search request comprises a uniform resource locator for a web page associated with the at least one search category selection control.

36. The method of claim 28 wherein the steps of launching the second program and transmitting the search address to the second program occur in parallel.

37. The method of claim 28 further comprising:

transmitting the search request to the search utility; and

receiving search results from the search utility.

38. The method of claim 37 further comprising:

displaying the search results to a user via the second program.

39. A computer readable medium encoding or containing computer executable instructions for performing a method for searching in a networked computing environment, the method comprising:

launching a first program associated with a search utility on a remote computing device, the first program including at least one search category selection control associated with a search request;

receiving a user selection of the at least one search category selection control;

launching, by the first program, a second program; and

transmitting the search request to the second program.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the second program is a browser program.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the first program further includes at least one search term input control.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 41 further comprising instructions for:

receiving a user input into the search term input control; and

modifying the search request based on the user input.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 42 wherein modifying incorporates at least a portion of the user input into the search request.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 43 wherein modifying involves parsing the user input.

45. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the at least one search category selection control is selected from a group consisting of a button, a check box, and a radio button.

46. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the search request comprises a uniform resource locator for a web page associated with the at least one search category selection control.

47. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the steps of launching the second program and transmitting the search address to the second program occur in parallel.

48. The computer readable medium of claim 39 further comprising instructions for:

transmitting the search request to the search utility; and

receiving search results from the search utility.

49. The computer readable medium of claim 48 further comprising instructions for:

displaying the search results to a user via the second program.

50. A method for searching in a networked computing environment comprising:

launching a first program associated with a search utility on a remote computing device, the first program including at least one search category selection control associated with a search request;

receiving a user selection of the at least one search category selection control to generate the search request;

transmitting the search request to the search utility;

receiving, by the first program, at least one search result corresponding to the search request;

selecting the at least one search result; and

launching, by the first program, a second program to render the selected at least one search result.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein the second program is a browser program.

52. The method of claim 50 wherein the first program further includes at least one search term input control.

53. The method of claim 52 further comprising:

receiving a user input into the search term input control; and

modifying the search request based on the user input.

54. The method of claim 53 wherein modifying incorporates at least a portion of the user input into the search request.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein modifying involves parsing the user input.

56. The method of claim 50 wherein the at least one search category selection control is selected from a group consisting of a button, a check box, and a radio button.

57. The method of claim 50 wherein the search request comprises a uniform resource locator for a web page associated with the at least one search category selection control.

58. The method of claim 50 wherein the selection of the at least one search result comprises a user selection.

59. The method of claim 50 wherein the selection of the at least one search result comprises a selection by the first program.

60. A computer readable medium encoding or containing computer executable instructions for performing a method for searching in a networked computing environment, the method comprising:

launching a first program associated with a search utility on a remote computing device, the first program including at least one search category selection control associated with a search request;

receiving a user selection of the at least one search category selection control to generate the search request;

transmitting the search request to the search utility;

receiving, by the first program, at least one search result corresponding to the search request;

selecting the at least one search result; and

launching, by the first program, a second program to render the selected at least one search result.

61. The computer readable medium of claim 60 wherein the second program is a browser program.

62. The computer readable medium of claim 60 wherein the first program further includes at least one search term input control.

63. The computer readable medium of claim 62 further comprising instructions for:

receiving a user input into the search term input control; and

modifying the search request based on the user input.

64. The computer readable medium of claim 63 wherein modifying incorporates at least a portion of the user input into the search request.

65. The computer readable medium of claim 64 wherein modifying involves parsing the user input.

66. The computer readable medium of claim 60 wherein the at least one search category selection control is selected from a group consisting of a button, a check box, and a radio button.

67. The computer readable medium of claim 60 wherein the search request comprises a uniform resource locator for a web page associated with the at least one search category selection control.

68. The computer readable medium of claim 60 wherein the selection of the at least one search result comprises a user selection of the at least one search result.

69. The computer readable medium of claim 60 wherein the selection of the at least one search result comprises a selection of the at least one search result by the first program.