Systems and Methods for Compound Searching

• US 20090234835A1
• Filed: 03/14/2008
• Published: 09/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OL Security LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Michelli Capital LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: McCord, Alan, Boys, Donald R., Galvin, Brian
• Granted Patent: US 7,930,287 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3322 using system suggestions G06F16/3325 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

A search service includes a network-connected server, a data repository coupled to the first server, and software resident in the data repository and executing on the first server. The service, through the software, presents an interactive interface to a user, determines, through iterative interaction with the user a purpose for a search, develops search criteria for the search, enters the criteria to one or more standard search engines accessible through the network, and collects results of the search on behalf of the user.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a network-connected server;

a data repository coupled to the network-connected server; and

software resident in the data repository and configured to execute on the network-connected server;

wherein the network-connected server, through execution of the software, is configured to provide an interactive interface to a computing device connected to a network, to determine a purpose for a search through iterative interaction, to develop search criteria for the search, to enter the criteria to one or more standard search engines accessible through the network, and to collect results of the search.

3. The system of claim 1, the network-connected server is further configured to process the collected results, and to send processed results to the computing device for presentation.

4. The system of claim 1, the network-connected server is configured to develop plural criteria relative to the purpose for the search, to enter the criteria in different entries to the one or more standard search engines to perform plural searches, and to aggregate results from the plural searches.

5. The system of claim 3, the network-connected server is further configured to process the collected results by selecting a subset of pages returned by the one or more standard search engines.

6. The system of claim 3, the network-connected server is further configured to process the collected results by re-ranking pages returned ranked by the one or more standard search engines.

7. The system of claim 6, the network-connected server is configured to re-rank the pages at least in part using one or more of search history or information in a profile.

8. The system of claim 3, the network-connected server is further configured to process the collected results by selecting portions of content from one or more pages returned, and preparing a report for the computing device comprising the selected portions.

9. The system of claim 1, the network-connected server is configured to store results of the search in the data repository, identified as to the computing device employed for conducting the search.

10. The system of claim 9, the network-connected server is configured to provide interactive access to stored search results by allowing the computing device to search and retrieve the stored search results.

2. (canceled)

11. A method, comprising:

providing an interactive interface to a computing device connected to a network from a network-connected server executing software retained in a data repository coupled thereto;

determining a purpose for a search through iterative interaction;

developing search criteria based upon the determined purpose of the search;

entering the developed criteria to one or more standard search engines connected to the network; and

collecting results of the search from the one or more standard search engines.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

processing the results returned by the one or more standard search engine; and

sending processed results to the computing device for presentation.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

developing plural criteria relative to the determined purpose for the search;

entering the criteria in different entries to the one or more standard search engines to perform plural searches; and

aggregating results from the plural searches for the computing device.

15. The method of claim 13, the processing further includes selecting a subset of pages returned by the one or more standard search engines.

16. The method of claim 13, the processing further includes re-ranking pages returned ranked by the one or more standard search engines.

17. The method of claim 16, the re-ranking is accomplished at least in part using one or more of search history or information in a profile.

18. The method of claim 13, the processing further includes:

selecting portions of content from one or more pages returned; and

preparing a report for the computing device comprising the selected portions.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

storing results of searches in the data repository; and

identifying the stored search results in the data repository as being associated with the computing device.

20. The method of claim 19, further

comprising providing interactive access to stored search results, by allowing the computing device to search and retrieve the stored search results.

12. (canceled)

21. A method, comprising:

connecting to a server via a network;

displaying an interactive interface provided by the server;

obtaining input that describes a nature of a search through iterative interaction;

sending the input to the server for determining a purpose of the search, developing search criteria based upon the purpose of the search, entering the criteria to one or more standard search engines, and collecting results of the search; and

receiving the results of the search from the server.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising refining the nature of the search to enable the server to determine the purpose of the search by presenting at least one question specific to the input and collecting further input in response to the at least one question.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising searching previously returned search results stored in a data repository coupled to the server.

24. A system, comprising:

a network interface configured to connect to a network-coupled server that provides a search service; and

an interactive interface supplied by the search service configured to iteratively collect input related to a description of a search to refine a purpose for the search, the purpose of the search used by the search service to determine search criteria employed to yield search results from one or more standard search engines.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the interactive interface is rendered with one of a mobile appliance, a laptop computer, or a desktop computer.

26. The system of claim 24, further comprising a past search interface provided by the search service configured to interactively access results for past searches retained in a data repository connected to the network-coupled server.

27. A system, comprising:

means for determining a purpose of a search initiated by a network-connected client device;

means for obtaining search results from at least one standard search engine based upon the purpose of the search; and

means for processing the search results prior to return to the network-connected client device.