USER INTERFACES FOR SEARCH SYSTEMS USING IN-LINE CONTEXTUAL QUERIES
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- receiving, from a client, a request that includes both query data and a context vector;
wherein the query data is a first set of one or more terms;
wherein the context vector comprises a second set of one or more terms;
wherein the query data is different from the context vector;
wherein the request further includes data indicating that the first set of one or more terms is a set of one or more search terms entered by a user;
wherein the request further includes data indicating that the second set of one or more terms is a set of one or more context terms representative of content being presented at the client during a time that the user entered the set of one or more search terms;
in response to the request, generating, using at least the query data and the context vector, a search result comprising an aggregated ranked list of hits;
wherein generating the search result includes performing a first search and a second search against a search corpus to generate, respectively, a first ranked list of hits and a second ranked list of hits;
wherein the first search and the second search are each performed using search criteria and ranking criteria based on one of;
a) the query data, but not the context vector;
b) the context vector, but not the query data;
or c) both the query data and the context vector;
wherein at least one of the search criteria and the ranking criteria differs between the first search and the second search; and
aggregating at least the first ranked list of hits with the second ranked list of hits;
wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.
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Abstract
Systems and methods, including user interfaces, are provided for implementing searches using contextual information associated with a Web page (or other document) that a user is viewing when a query is entered. The page includes a contextual search interface that has an associated context vector representing content of the page. When the user submits a search query via the contextual search interface, the query and the context vector are both provided to the query processor and used in responding to the query.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving, from a client, a request that includes both query data and a context vector; wherein the query data is a first set of one or more terms; wherein the context vector comprises a second set of one or more terms; wherein the query data is different from the context vector; wherein the request further includes data indicating that the first set of one or more terms is a set of one or more search terms entered by a user; wherein the request further includes data indicating that the second set of one or more terms is a set of one or more context terms representative of content being presented at the client during a time that the user entered the set of one or more search terms; in response to the request, generating, using at least the query data and the context vector, a search result comprising an aggregated ranked list of hits; wherein generating the search result includes performing a first search and a second search against a search corpus to generate, respectively, a first ranked list of hits and a second ranked list of hits; wherein the first search and the second search are each performed using search criteria and ranking criteria based on one of;
a) the query data, but not the context vector;
b) the context vector, but not the query data;
or c) both the query data and the context vector;wherein at least one of the search criteria and the ranking criteria differs between the first search and the second search; and aggregating at least the first ranked list of hits with the second ranked list of hits; wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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6. A method comprising:
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receiving input from a user indicating a request to perform a search; in response to said input, performing an analysis of content presented to the user in a first application, wherein the content was being presented to the user during a time the input from the user was received; based on said analysis of the content, generating a context vector representative of the content, the context vector including one or more terms derived from the content; causing submission of a search request to a search engine, wherein the search request includes the context vector; wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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14. A method for providing access to a search engine, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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sending, to a client, a page of content comprising first code, wherein execution of said first code by a content presentation application at the client causes the client to perform the steps of; displaying at least first content, wherein said first content is a subset of the content in said page; displaying one or more contextual search icons, each contextual search icon associated with a different portion of the content of the page, said contextual search icons including a particular contextual search icon associated with the first content; detecting a user selection of the particular contextual search icon; in response to detecting the user selection, and while continuing to display at least a portion of said page, displaying an expanded contextual search interface corresponding to the particular contextual search icon, the expanded contextual search interface including both (a) a query entry area configured to accept entry of one or more query terms from the user and (b) a search submission control element; wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices. - View Dependent Claims (15, 29, 30)
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Specification