RANKING ALGORITHM FOR SEARCH BOX AUTO-COMPLETE

• US 20100250524A1
• Filed: 03/31/2009
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Shoup, Randall Scott, Hu, Wenyan, Zhang, Xiaodi, Bolivar, Alvaro
• Granted Patent: US 8,738,641 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/723
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3338 Query expansion
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/334 Query execution G06F16/335 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90324 using system suggestions

Abstract

In various exemplary embodiments, a system and associated method for prioritizing search results in an electronic environment is disclosed. The system comprises a communications module to receive a search query from an end-user. The search query includes one or more characters contained within a single TCP packet. A query engine coupled to the communications module matched the one or more characters from the search query against a plurality of selected keywords contained within a database against the search query. Each keyword is then ranked within the plurality of selected keywords thus forming a subset of selected keywords. A response including the subset of selected keywords is returned to the end-user.

Claims

1. A system to prioritize search results in an electronic environment, the system comprising:

a communications module to receive a search query, the search query including one or more characters; and

a query engine coupled to the communications module, the query engine to match the one or more characters from the search query against a plurality of selected keywords contained within a data structure, to rank each keyword within the plurality of selected keywords, to form a subset of the plurality of selected keywords based on rank, and to form a response to the search query based on the subset of the plurality of selected keywords based on rank.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more characters of the search query are contained within a first single communications packet.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising the response to be transmitted within a second single communications packet.

4. The system of claim 1 further comprising the query engine to match each of the plurality of selected keywords from the one or more characters based on a subset of a group comprising most frequent queries, items available matching the search query, bids on items matching the search query, purchases of items matching the search query, and items matching the search query being placed on a watch list.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising the query engine to generate a plurality of responses to the search query based on the one or more characters.

6. The system of claim 5 further comprising the communications module to return the plurality of responses to a generator of the search query.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the plurality of responses is arranged to be contained within a second single communications packet.

8. The system of claim 5 further comprising the communications module to send a plurality of sub-nodes along with the plurality of responses to a generator of the search query, each of the plurality of sub-nodes including an additional plurality of responses relating to the one or more characters.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the additional plurality of responses is arranged to be contained within a second single communications packet.

10. The system of claim 1 further comprising the query engine to rank keywords based on the one or more characters from the search query as either a prefix or an infix.

11. A method to prioritize search results in an electronic environment in response to a received search query, the method comprising:

selecting a plurality of equivalent keywords for the search query;

determining a rank of each of the plurality of equivalent keywords;

selecting a plurality of most highly ranked keywords from the plurality of equivalent keywords;

preparing a response including the plurality of most highly ranked keywords; and

transmitting the response.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

ordering the response by rank; and

fitting the response within a single communications packet prior to transmitting the response.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the rank of each of the plurality of equivalent keywords comprises calculating a weight of each of the plurality of equivalent keywords.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the act of calculating the weight is based on a group consisting of most frequent queries, a number of items available matching the search query, a number of bids on items matching the search query, a number of purchases of items matching the search query, and a number of items matching the search query being placed on a watch list.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the act of selecting the plurality of equivalent keywords for the search query includes finding prefixes or infixes matching available keywords.

16. The method of claim 11 further comprising generating a plurality of responses to the search query.

17. The method of claim 11 further comprising sending a plurality of sub-nodes along with the response in a single communications packet, each of the plurality of sub-nodes including a plurality of responses.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising matching available keywords based on the search query as either a prefix or an infix of available keywords.

19. The method of claim 11 further comprising receiving the search query within a single received communications packet, the search query containing one or more characters.

20. A machine-readable storage medium storing an instruction that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform a method to prioritize search results in an electronic environment in response to a received search query, the method comprising:

selecting a plurality of equivalent keywords for the search query;

determining a rank of each of the plurality of equivalent keywords;

selecting a plurality of most highly ranked keywords from the plurality of equivalent keywords;

preparing a response including the plurality of most highly ranked keywords; and

transmitting the response.

21. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 20 wherein the method further comprises:

ordering the response by rank; and

fitting the response within a single communications packet prior to transmitting the response.

22. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 20 wherein the method further comprises calculating a weight of each of the plurality of equivalent keywords.

23. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 22 wherein the method further comprises basing calculating the weight on a group comprising most frequent queries, a number of items available matching the search query, a number of bids on items matching the search query, a number of purchases of items matching the search query, and a number of items matching the search query being placed on a watch list.

24. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 20 wherein the method further comprises matching available keywords based on the search query as either a prefix or an infix of available keywords.

25. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 20 wherein the method further comprises generating a plurality of responses to the search query.

26. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 20 wherein the method further comprises sending a plurality of sub-nodes along with the response in a single communications packet, each of the plurality of sub-nodes including a plurality of responses.

27. A system for prioritizing search results in an electronic environment, the system comprising:

a communications module to receive a search query, the search query including one or more characters contained within a first single communications packet,

a searching means for matching the one or more characters from the search query to a plurality of selected keywords contained within a data structure, ranking each keyword within the plurality of selected keywords, forming a subset of the plurality of selected keywords based on rank, and forming a response to the search query based on the subset of the plurality of selected keywords based on rank.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the communications module is further configured to transmit the response within a second single communications packet.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the searching means further matches each keyword within the plurality of selected keywords from the one or more characters based on a subset of a group consisting of most frequent queries, items available matching the search query, bids on items matching the search query, purchases of items matching the search query, and items matching the search query being placed on a watch list.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein the communications module is further configured to send a plurality of sub-nodes along with the response to a generator of the search query where each of the plurality of sub-nodes includes a plurality of responses relating to the one or more characters.