DELEGATED SEARCH OF CONTENT IN ACCOUNTS LINKED TO SOCIAL OVERLAY SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method of querying a plurality of online services on a network from a client machine coupled to the network, said method comprising:
- receiving a set of keywords from a user;
identifying a domain of online services of the user;
querying at least some of the online services based on the set of keywords received from the user and the user'"'"'s personalized account in each online service; and
providing results in a format that indicates results from the online services.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a federated search tool and search methods that consolidate searches to external online accounts of a user and other people that are part of the user'"'"'s social network. In some embodiments, the search tool is presented as a single search box that may appear persistently on the user'"'"'s desktop display or as a toolbar embedded within another application. The search tool may be embedded as part of web page. Embodiments of the present invention may provide the results in a simple real-time display stack or a static result list, such as a web page. Blocks in the stack may indicate a result and the context of the result, such as which online account originated the result, whether the result is from a linked external accounts of people associated with the user, pointers to people and groups the user has linked to, an age of the result, and the like. The present invention may also permit the user to search the Internet generally, such as well known search engines, and to search the contents of their local machine, such as documents, emails, pictures, and the like. In addition, the present invention allows searches to be performed asynchronously to various linked external online account sites and then provides these results as they arrive.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of querying a plurality of online services on a network from a client machine coupled to the network, said method comprising:
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receiving a set of keywords from a user; identifying a domain of online services of the user; querying at least some of the online services based on the set of keywords received from the user and the user'"'"'s personalized account in each online service; and providing results in a format that indicates results from the online services. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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14. A system for processing queries by a user for information from a plurality of sources, said system comprising:
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an open overlay service that provides a single context of online services subscribed to by the user that is accessible by a social network of other users known to the user; a set of online services accessible to the user; and a client device configured to receive a set of keywords from the user, request, from the open overlay a domain of online services subscribed to by the user, submit queries to the online services based on the set of keywords and the user'"'"'s personalized account in each online service, and provide results of the queries in a format that indicates where the results originated and context of the results.
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19. A client device configured to process queries from a user for information from a plurality of sources, said client device comprising:
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a user interface configured to receive a set of keywords from the user and provide results related to the keywords in a format that indicates contexts of the results; a first module configured to interface the client device with an open overlay service that provides information indicating online services to which the user is subscribed and a social network of the user; a query engine configured to submit queries to the online services which the user is subscribed based on the received set of keywords and the user'"'"'s personalized account in each online service and provide results to the user interface.
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Specification