Time based ordering of provided mobile content

• US 20090144244A1
• Filed: 12/04/2007
• Published: 06/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramamurthi, Shiv, Maghoul, Farzin
• Granted Patent: US 8,145,643 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

A method, system, and apparatus are directed to providing information over a network. A search query may be received. If the search query includes at least one keyword matching a pattern associated with a specific search engine, a plurality of search results is retrieved from the specific search engine based on the keyword, and the plurality of search results is provided. A plurality of potential search or source engines may be determined based on a current time information. At least one of the potential search or source engines may be a personalized source engine. At least one plurality of results may be retrieved from at least one of the potential search or source engines. The result may be based on the search query. An aggregated result may be determined based on a time rule and/or the current time information. The aggregated result may comprise the plurality of results.

Claims

1. A method for providing information over a network, comprising:

receiving a search query and a current time information from a client device;

retrieving from at least one search engine a plurality of search results based on the search query;

determining an aggregated search result comprising the plurality of search results based on a time rule, wherein a selected search result included within the aggregated search result is modified based on a type of the selected search result and a time included within the current time information; and

providing the aggregated search result to the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

customizing at least one time criterion of the time rule or at least one action of the time rule for modifying the aggregated search result.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the time information further includes a geographic location based on at least one of a time zone, an IP address, or a provided location.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

modifying a plurality of potential search engines based on the time rule, wherein the modified plurality of potential search engines comprises the at least one search engine.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected search result is ordered, featured, or removed based on the time.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregated search result comprise at least two search results of different types, wherein the different types comprise:

a first type from a first search engine configured to provide meteorological information from an online database comprising information associating weather and location,

a second type from a second search engine configured to provide real-time stock information about a traded company, or

a third type from a third search engine configured to provide real-time information about at least one traffic condition in at least one location associated with a user of the client device.

7. A mobile device capable of receiving information over a network, comprising:

a transceiver for communicating data over the network; and

a processor configured to perform actions comprising;

determining a current time information;

sending a search query and the current time information to a search aggregator;

receiving an aggregated search result comprising at least one of a plurality of search results based on the search query, wherein an ordering of the aggregated search result is based on the current time information; and

providing the aggregated search result.

8. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein at least a portion of the current time information is sent within an Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request.

9. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the actions further comprise:

determining a time zone based on a geographic location of the device or a selected location.

10. The mobile device of claim 7, further comprising:

an input interface for customizing a time rule configured to modify the aggregated search result.

11. An apparatus for providing information to a client device over a network, comprising:

a transceiver for communicating data over the network;

a processor configured to perform actions comprising;

receiving a current time information from the client device;

generating at least one plurality of results by at least one search or source engine;

determining, based on a time rule, an aggregated result comprising the at least one plurality of results; and

sending the aggregated result to the client device.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a search query from the client device, wherein generating the at least one plurality of results is further based on the received search query.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

selecting the at least one search or source engine from a plurality of potential search or source engines based on applying a customized time rule for at least one time zone, wherein at least one of the plurality of potential search or source engine is a personalized source engine personalized for at least a user of the client device.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein determining an order comprises:

promoting the plurality of results in the aggregated result; and

removing at least one result from the aggregated result based on the time rule.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein determining an order comprises:

receiving a geographic location associated with the client device; and

modifying the aggregated result based on the geographic location.

16. A system for providing information to a mobile device over a network, comprising:

the mobile device configured to perform actions comprising;

sending a current time information and a search query;

receiving an aggregated search result comprising at least one plurality of search results and an indication of an ordering determined by the current time information;

at least one search engine in communication with the server;

a server in communication with the mobile device, wherein the server is configured to perform actions comprising;

receiving from the at least one search engine a plurality of search results based on the search query; and

determining the aggregated search result.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the server is further operable configured to select one of the at least one search engine based on the current time information.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the at least one search engine is at least one of an Internet, weather, sports, entertainment, movie, stock, news, shopping, playable media, event, scientific, dining, traffic, or personalized source engine.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the current time information further includes a geographic location.

20. A processor readable medium for providing information to a mobile device over a network, wherein the processor readable medium comprises instructions executable by a processor for performing operations, the operations comprising:

receiving a search query;

if the search query includes at least one keyword matching a pattern associated with a specific search engine;

retrieving from the specific search engine a plurality of search results based on the keyword;

providing the plurality of search results;

if the search query does not include a keyword matching the pattern associated with the specific search engine;

determining a plurality of potential search engines based on a current time information;

retrieving at least one plurality of search results based on the search query from at least one of the potential search engines; and

determining an aggregated search result based on a time rule, wherein the aggregated search result comprises the plurality of search results.