AUGMENTING URL QUERIES

• US 20090063457A1
• Filed: 08/31/2007
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: KUMAR, GIRISH, STEWART, RYAN
• Granted Patent: US 7,899,805 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links

Abstract

Computer-readable media, systems, and methods for augmenting URL queries are described. In embodiments, a URL query is received from a user and it is determined whether the URL query is a simple URL query. Further, if the URL query is a simple URL query, an augmented query is created by word-breaking at least a portion of the URL query and the augmented query is associated with one or more ranking preferences. In various other embodiments, a URL query is received from a user and it is determined whether the URL query is a complex URL query. Further, if the URL query is a complex URL query, an augmented query is created that is identical to the URL query and the augmented query is associated with one or more ranking preferences.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having computer-usable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of augmenting uniform resource locator (URL) queries in a search engine, the method comprising:

receiving a URL query from a user;

determining whether the URL query is a simple URL query; and

if the URL query is a simple URL query, then creating an augmented query by word-breaking at least a portion of the URL query and associating the augmented query with one or more ranking preferences.

2. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

issuing a query utilizing the augmented query to obtain one or more results;

ranking the one or more results in accordance with the one or more ranking preferences; and

presenting the ranked results to the user.

3. The computer-readable media of claim 2, wherein determining whether the URL query is a simple URL query comprises:

parsing the URL query to extract a key query portion; and

determining whether the key query portion indicates a simple URL query.

4. The computer-readable media of claim 3, wherein parsing the URL query to extract the key query portion comprises stripping generic URL information from the URL query.

5. The computer-readable media of claim 4, wherein determining whether the key query portion indicates a simple URL query comprises determining whether the key query portion includes one or more path depth indicators, the absence of the one or more path depth indicators indicating a simple URL query.

6. The computer-readable media of claim 5, wherein the portion of the URL query that is word-broken is the domain name portion of the URL query.

7. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the one or more ranking preferences indicate a primary preference for a document having a URL that matches the URL query.

8. The computer-readable media of claim 7, wherein the one or more ranking preferences further indicate a secondary preference for one or more documents having at least a portion of the augmented query in the domain name.

9. One or more computer-readable media having computer-usable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of augmenting uniform resource locator (URL) queries in a search engine, the method comprising:

receiving a URL query from a user;

determining whether the URL query is a complex URL query; and

if the URL query is a complex URL query, then creating an augmented query substantially identical to the URL query and associating the augmented query with one or more ranking preferences.

10. The computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

issuing a query utilizing the augmented query to obtain one or more results;

ranking the one or more results in accordance with the one or more ranking preferences; and

presenting the ranked results to the user.

11. The computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein determining whether the received URL query is a complex URL query comprises:

parsing the URL query to extract a key query portion; and

determining whether the key query portion indicates a complex URL query.

12. The computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein parsing the URL query to extract the key query portion comprises stripping generic URL information from the URL query.

13. The computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein determining whether the key query portion indicates a complex URL query comprises determining whether the key query portion includes one or more path depth indicators, the existence of the one or more path depth indicators indicating a complex URL query.

14. The computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the one or more ranking preferences indicate a preference for a document having a URL that matches the URL query.

15. A computerized system for augmenting uniform resource locator (URL) queries in a search engine, the system comprising:

a receiving component configured to receive a URL query from a user;

a determining component configured to determine whether the URL query is a simple URL query or a complex URL query;

a simple URL augmenting component configured to create an augmented query from a simple URL query by word-breaking at least a portion of the URL query, and further configured to associate the augmented query with one or more simple URL ranking preferences;

a complex URL augmenting component configured to create an augmented query from a complex URL query, the augmented query being identical to the URL query, and further configured to associate the augmented query with one or more complex URL ranking preferences; and

a database for storing information associated with processing the URL query.

16. The computerized system of claim 15, further comprising:

an issuing component configured to issue a query utilizing the augmented query to obtain one or more results;

a ranking component configured to rank the one or more results in accordance with one or more simple URL ranking preferences or one or more complex URL ranking preferences; and

a presenting component configured to present the ranked results to the user.

17. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the determining component is further configured to parse the URL query to extract a key query portion and determine whether the key query portion indicates a simple URL query or a complex URL query.

18. The computerized system of claim 17, wherein determining whether the key query portion indicates a simple URL query or a complex URL query comprises determining whether the key query portion includes one or more path depth indicators, the existence of the one or more path depth indicators indicating a complex URL query and the absence of the one or more path depth indicators indicating a simple URL query.

19. The computerized system of claim 15, wherein the one or more simple URL ranking preferences indicate at least one of a primary preference for a document having a URL that matches the URL query and a secondary preference for one or more documents having at least a portion of the augmented query in the domain of the one or more documents.

20. The computerized system of claim 15, wherein the one or more complex URL ranking preferences indicate a preference for a document having a URL that matches the URL query.