PRESENTATION OF QUERY WITH EVENT-RELATED INFORMATION

• US 20090287691A1
• Filed: 05/14/2009
• Published: 11/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sundaresan, Neelakantan, Parikh, Nishith
• Granted Patent: US 9,652,535 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

In an embodiment, a method is provided for presenting a query directed at an information resource. In this method, a number of queries is accessed over a time period. A burst of the number of queries is detected within the time period. It should be noted that a burst is a determinable increase in the number of queries received within the time period relative to a historical number of queries received in a preceding time interval. Event-related information that is associated with the burst in the time is searched, and the query in conjunction with the event-related information is displayed at a display unit.

Claims

1. A method of presenting a query directed at an information resource, the method comprising:

accessing a number of a plurality of queries over a time period;

detecting a burst of the number of the plurality of queries within the time period, the burst being a determinable increase in the number of the plurality of queries received within the time period relative to a historical number of queries received in a preceding time interval;

searching for event-related information that is associated with the burst in the time period; and

displaying, at a display unit, the query in conjunction with the event-related information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

searching at the information resource based on the query; and

retrieving information associated with the information resource based on locating the information resource,

wherein the information associated with the item is displayed in conjunction with the query and the event-related information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the burst is detected based on a rate of increase of the number of the plurality of query entries.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the event-related information includes a plurality of different event-related information, the method further comprising ranking each event-related information from the plurality of different event-related information relative to each other event-related information, wherein the plurality of different event-related information is displayed at the display unit based on the ranking.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each event-related information is ranked based on a number of a plurality of instances of locating each event-related information.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein each event-related information is ranked based on an inventory of an item.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the event-related information is a news story.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the event-related information is a blog.

9. A machine-readable medium that stores instructions, which, when performed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

accessing a number of a plurality of query entries over a time period, the plurality of query entries being associated with a query and being entered by a plurality of different users;

detecting a rate of increase of the number of the plurality of query entries to exceed a threshold rate within the time period;

identifying a time within the time period associated with an occurrence of the rate of increase exceeding the threshold rate;

searching for event-related information that is associated with the time and based on the query;

associating the event-related information with the query; and

displaying, at a display unit, the query in conjunction with the event-related information.

10. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when performed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations further comprising identifying a further query related to the query, wherein the further query is displayed with the query and the event-related information.

11. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the further query is related to the query based on a common term shared between the further query and the query.

12. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the further query is related to the query based on the further query and the query being associated with a single search session.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the further query is related to the query based on identifying a relationship between a first attribute of a first item retrieved from the query and a second attribute of a second item retrieved from the further query.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the rate of increase is a change in the number of the plurality of query entries within the time period.

15. A processing system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory in communication with the at least one processor, the memory being configured to store a query presentation module that is executable by the at least one processor, the query presentation module having instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause operations to be performed, the operations comprising;

accessing a number of a plurality of query entries over a time period, the plurality of query entries being associated with a query;

detecting a burst of the number of the plurality of query entries within the time period, the burst being a determinable increase in the number of the plurality of queries received within the time period relative to a historical number of queries received in a preceding time interval;

identifying a time within the time period associated with an occurrence of the burst;

searching for a plurality of different event-related information associated with the time;

searching for an item based on the query;

retrieving information associated with the item based on locating the item; and

displaying the query in conjunction with the plurality of different event-related information and the information associated with the item.

16. The processing system of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise ranking each event-related information from the plurality of different event-related information relative to each other event-related information, wherein the plurality of different event-related information is displayed based on the ranking.

17. The processing system of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise receiving user feedback of the display of the query with the plurality of different event-related information and the information associated with the item, wherein the ranking is based on the user feedback.

18. The processing system of claim 15, wherein the information associated with the item comprises a description of the item.

19. The processing system of claim 15, wherein the information associated with the item comprises an attribute of the item.

20. A system for presenting a query of an information resource, the system comprising:

a query retrieval module to access a number of a plurality of queries over a time period;

a burst detection module to detect a burst of the number of the plurality of queries within the time period and to identify a time within the time period associated with an occurrence of the burst;

a search engine module to search for event-related information associated with the time; and

a presentation module to display the query in conjunction with the event-related information.