USING A HUMAN COMPUTATION GAME TO IMPROVE SEARCH ENGINE PERFORMANCE

• US 20100317444A1
• Filed: 06/10/2009
• Published: 12/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Gupta, Abhishek, Ma, Hao, Shah, Sarthak Deepak, Richardson, Matthew, Chandrasekar, Raman, Burges, Christopher John Champness, Quirk, Christopher Brian
• Granted Patent: US 8,285,706 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/43
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Human computation games are provided wherein a player is shown a page, such as a web page. The player is then asked to provide one or more terms that are intended to cause a search engine to return the page in response to performing a query using the terms. The terms provided by the player during game play are then collected, stored, and utilized to improve the performance of the search engine.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for using a human computation game to improve search engine performance, the computer-implemented method comprising performing computer-implemented operations for:

providing a game wherein a player of the game is shown a page and provides one or more terms intended to cause a search engine to return the page in response to performing a query using the terms;

storing the terms provided by the player during play of the game and associated data; and

utilizing the terms and the associated data to improve the search engine.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the game comprises a single player game and wherein providing the game comprises:

causing the page to be displayed to the player;

receiving from the player the one or more terms;

causing a query to be performed by the search engine using the terms;

receiving results from the search engine;

determining whether the page displayed to the player is included in the results; and

assigning points to the player if the page displayed to the player is included in the results received from the search engine.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the game comprises a multi-player game and wherein providing the game comprises:

causing the page to be displayed to two or more players;

receiving terms from the players;

causing queries to be performed by the search engine using the terms provided by the players;

receiving results from the search engine;

determining whether the page displayed to the players is included in the results; and

assigning points to the player that first provides terms which, when used by the search engine to perform a query, cause the search engine to return results that include the page displayed to the players.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the game comprises a multi-player game and wherein providing the game comprises:

causing the same page or related pages to be displayed to two players;

receiving terms from the players;

causing queries to be performed by the search engine using the terms provided by the players;

receiving results from the search engine;

causing the results to be displayed to the players;

querying each player as to whether they believe they are viewing the same or a different page as the other player; and

assigning points to each of the players when each of the players agree and correctly indicate that they are viewing the same or a different page as the other player.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein utilizing the terms to improve the search engine comprises utilizing the terms to identify query alterations for use by the search engine.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the terms to improve the search engine comprises utilizing the terms to provide metadata for the page.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the terms to improve the search engine comprises utilizing the terms to identify query structure.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the terms to improve the search engine comprises performing a cognitive analysis on the terms to identify searching behavior.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the terms to improve the search engine comprises utilizing the terms to perform the equivalent of an eye-tracking analysis on the page.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the terms to improve the search engine comprises utilizing the terms to identify a ranking issue with the page.

11. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

provide a human computation game configured to cause a page to be displayed to one or more players, to receive from the players one or more terms likely to cause a search engine to return search results that include the displayed page when the terms are utilized by the search engine to perform a search, to collect the terms received from the players, and to analyze the terms to improve the performance of the search engine.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the page is displayed to one player and wherein the human computation game is further configured to assign points to the player when the displayed page is included in the top N results returned by the search engine.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the page is displayed to two or more players and wherein the human computation game is further configured to assign points to the player that first provides terms which, when used by the search engine to perform a query, cause the search engine to return N results that include the page displayed to the players.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the page is displayed to two players and wherein the human computation game is further configured to query each player as to whether they believe they are viewing the same or a different page as the other player and to assign points to each of the players when each of the players agree and correctly indicate that they are viewing the same or a different page as the other player.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein analyzing the terms to improve the performance of the search engine comprises utilizing the terms to identify query alterations for use by the search engine.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein analyzing the terms to improve the performance of the search engine comprises utilizing the terms to provide metadata for the page.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein analyzing the terms to improve the performance of the search engine comprises utilizing the terms to identify query structure.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the page is a page that is not returned by the search engine and wherein analyzing the terms to improve the performance of the search engine comprises utilizing the terms to determine why the page is not returned by the search engine.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein analyzing the terms to improve the performance of the search engine comprises utilizing the terms to perform an equivalent of eye-tracking analysis on the page.

20. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

cause a web page to be displayed to a player;

receive from the player one or more terms likely to cause the web page to be returned in the top N search results retrieved by a search engine in response to performing a search with the terms;

cause a query to be performed by the search engine using the terms;

receive search results from the search engine;

determine whether the web page displayed to the player is included in the top N search results received from the search engine;

assign points to the player if the web page displayed to the player is included in the top N search results received from the search engine; and

to

analyze the terms to improve the performance of the search engine.