METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR SEARCHING, SELECTING, AND DISPLAYING CONTENT

• US 20100318507A1
• Filed: 03/19/2010
• Published: 12/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mediashift Acquisition, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Ad-Vantage Networks LLC
• Inventors: Grant, John W., Kuwadekar, Sanjeev, Grant, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,898,161 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/706
• 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: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/01 Customer relationship services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0215 Including financial accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0282 Rating or review of business operators or products

Abstract

Methods and systems for identifying and presenting information are described. Search results are received from a search engine. An entity associated with a networked site is selected using a selection criterion. A determination is made as to whether the listing includes a link to the networked site or includes the link to the networked site at a list position that fails to satisfy a first criterion. After determining that the link to the site associated with the entity is not included in the search result listing, or that the link to the site associated with the entity is not at a position in the search result listing that satisfies the first criterion, the search listing is modified by causing the link to the site associated with the entity to appear in a first position in the search listing. The modified search listing is displayed on a user terminal.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor;

tangible, non-transitory media that stores a program that when executed by the processor is configured to perform operations, comprising;

receiving search results from a search engine, the search results including a listing including one or more links;

selecting a link to a networked site associated with a first entity based on at least one selection criterion;

determining at least one of the following;

whether the search result listing includes the link to the networked site associated with the first entity;

whether the link to the networked site associated with the first entity is at a list position that fails to satisfy a first criterion;

at least partly in response to determining that;

the link to the networked site associated with the first entity is not included in the search result listing, or

the link to the networked site associated with the first entity is not at a position in the search result listing that satisfies the first criterion,

modifying the search listing by causing the link to the networked site associated with the first entity to appear in a first position in the search listing; and

causing, at least in part, the modified search listing to be displayed on a user terminal.

2. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the first criterion is a specified position.

3. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein the first position is not the top-most position,

4. The system as defined in claim 1, the operations further comprising:

accessing a profile of a user that issued a query used by the search engine to generate the search results, wherein the profile was created prior to the user issuing the query; and

based at least in part of on the user profile, selecting the link for inclusion in the modified search results.

5. The system as defined in claim 1, the operations further comprising:

automatically receiving at a client application hosted on the user terminal a uniform resource locater from a remote system; and

automatically accessing the uniform resource locator without displaying a web page associated with the uniform resource locator on the user terminal.

6. A system, comprising:

a processor;

tangible, non-transitory media that stores a program that when executed by the processor is configured to perform operations, comprising;

receiving over a network search results from a remote search engine,

the search results including a listing including one or more links;

selecting a networked site link,

wherein the network site link is selected based on at least one selection criterion; and

modifying the search listing,

wherein the search listing is modified by causing the link to the networked site to be positioned at a selected position in the search listing,

wherein the selected position is selected based at least in part on a level of service subscribed to by an entity associated with the network site link.

7. The system as defined in claim 6, the operations further comprising causing, at least in part, the modified search listing to be displayed on a user terminal.

8. The system as defined in claim 6, the operations further comprising:

causing, at least in part, the modified search listing to be displayed on a user terminal; and

providing a control via which a user of the user terminal can cause the unmodified search listing to be displayed.

9. The system as defined in claim 6, wherein the system is a peer node with respect to a user terminal that issued a query to the search engine,

wherein the search engine generated the search result listing in response the query from the user terminal.

10. The system as defined in claim 6, wherein the system is an enterprise proxy node with respect to a user terminal that issued a query to the search engine,

wherein the search engine generated the search result listing in response the query from the user terminal.

11. The system as defined in claim 6, wherein the system is a user terminal that issued a query to the search engine,

wherein the search engine generated the search result listing in response the query from the user terminal.

12. The system as defined in claim 6, the operations further comprising:

causing, at least in part, the link to the networked site to appear at a plurality of positions in the search listing.

13. The system as defined in claim 6, the operations further comprising:

causing, at least in part, the link to the networked site to appear in a sponsored advertisement area of a web page.

14. The system as defined in claim 6, wherein the selected position satisfies a first criterion specified by the entity associated with the network site link.

15. The system as defined in claim 6, wherein the selected position is selected based at least in part on a rank specified by the entity associated with the network site link.

16. The system as defined in claim 6, wherein the selected position is selected based at least in part on account information of a customer associated with the networked site link.

17. The system as defined in claim 6, the operations further comprising:

receiving a search query term provided by a user to the search engine,

wherein the search results from the search engine are provided in response to the search query; and

including the search query term in the at least one selection criterion.

18. The system as defined in claim 6, the operations further comprising:

accessing a profile of a user that issued a query used by the search engine to generate the search results, wherein the user profile was created prior to the issuing of the query; and

based at least in part of on the user profile, selecting the link to the networked site for inclusion in the modified search listing.

19. The system as defined in claim 6, wherein the first position is a highest position in the search result listing.

20. The system as defined in claim 6, the operations further comprising:

automatically receiving at a client application hosted on the system a uniform resource locater from a remote system; and

automatically accessing the uniform resource locator without displaying a web page associated with the uniform resource locator on the system.

21. The system as defined in claim 6, the operations further comprising:

generating a report indicating that the link to the networked site was caused to appear at the selected position in the search listing; and

transmitting the report to a recipient associated with the networked site.

22. The system as defined in claim 6, the operations further comprising:

causing at least in part a user interface to be provided for display on the user terminal via which the user can specify at least one of;

one or more topics of interest, or

demographic information,

wherein the user specification of the topics of interest and/or demographic information are included in the at least one selection criterion.

23. The system as defined in claim 6, wherein the search engine is not provided a communication regarding the modification.

24. The system as defined in claim 6, the operations further comprising:

storing in memory an indication that the search listing modification is performed; and

storing an indication that a deposit or credit is to be made with respect to an account associated with a user associated with the user terminal at least partly in response to the search listing modification is performed.

25. A method of processing search results, comprising:

receiving over a network at a computer system search results from a remote search engine,

the search results including a listing including one or more links;

selecting, using the computer system, a networked site link,

wherein the network site link is selected based on at least one selection criterion; and

modifying, using the computer system, the search listing,

wherein the search listing is modified by causing the link to the networked site to be positioned at a selected position in the search listing,

wherein the selected position is selected based at least in part on a level of service subscribed to by an entity associated with the network site link.

26. The method as defined in claim 25, the method further comprising causing, at least in part, the modified search listing to be displayed on a user terminal.

27. The method as defined in claim 25, the method further comprising:

causing, at least in part, the modified search listing to be displayed on a user terminal; and

providing a control via which a user of the user terminal can cause the unmodified search listing to be displayed.

28. The method as defined in claim 25, wherein the system is a peer node with respect to a user terminal that issued a query to the search engine,

wherein the search engine generated the search result listing in response the query from the user terminal.

29. The method as defined in claim 25, wherein the system is an enterprise proxy node with respect to a user terminal that issued a query to the search engine,

wherein the search engine generated the search result listing in response the query from the user terminal.

30. The method as defined in claim 25, wherein the system is a user terminal that issued a query to the search engine,

wherein the search engine generated the search result listing in response the query from the user terminal.

31. The method as defined in claim 25, the method further comprising:

causing, at least in part, the link to the networked site to appear at a plurality of positions in the search listing.

32. The method as defined in claim 25, the method further comprising:

causing, at least in part, the link to the networked site to appear in a sponsored advertisement area of a web page.

33. The method as defined in claim 25, wherein the selected position satisfies a first criterion specified by the entity associated with the network site link.

34. The method as defined in claim 25, wherein the selected position is selected based at least in part on a rank specified by the entity associated with the network site link.

35. The method as defined in claim 25, wherein the selected position is selected based at least in part on account information of a customer associated with the networked site link.

36. The method as defined in claim 25, the method further comprising:

receiving a search query term provided by a user to the search engine,

wherein the search results from the search engine are provided in response to the search query; and

including the search query term in the at least one selection criterion.

37. The method as defined in claim 25, the method further comprising:

accessing a profile of a user that issued a query used by the search engine to generate the search results, wherein the user profile was created prior to the issuing of the query; and

based at least in part of on the user profile, selecting the link to the networked site for inclusion in the modified search listing.

38. The method as defined in claim 25, the method further comprising:

automatically receiving at a client application hosted on the system a uniform resource locater from a remote system; and

automatically accessing the uniform resource locator without displaying a web page associated with the uniform resource locator on the system.

39. The method as defined in claim 25, the method further comprising:

generating a report indicating that the link to the networked site was caused to appear at the selected position in the search listing; and

transmitting the report to a recipient associated with the networked site.

40. The method as defined in claim 25, wherein the search engine is not provided a communication regarding the modification.

41. The method as defined in claim 25, the method further comprising:

storing in memory an indication that the search listing modification is performed; and

storing an indication that a deposit or credit is to be made with respect to an account associated with a user associated with the user terminal at least partly in response to the search listing modification is performed.

42. Tangible, non-transitory media that stores a program that when executed by the processor is configured to perform operations, comprising:

receiving search results from a remote search engine,

the search results including a listing including one or more links;

selecting a networked site link,

wherein the network site link is selected based on at least one selection criterion; and

modifying the search listing,

wherein the search listing is modified by causing the link to the networked site to be positioned at a selected position in the search listing,

wherein the selected position is selected based at least in part on a level of service subscribed to by an entity associated with the network site link.

43. The media as defined in claim 42, the operations further comprising:

causing, at least in part, the modified search listing to be displayed on a user terminal; and

providing a control via which a user of the user terminal can cause the unmodified search listing to be displayed.

44. The media as defined in claim 42, the operations further comprising:

causing, at least in part, the link to the networked site to appear at a plurality of positions in the search listing.

45. The media as defined in claim 42, wherein the selected position satisfies a first criterion specified by the entity associated with the network site link.

46. The media as defined in claim 42, wherein the selected position is selected based at least in part on account information of a customer associated with the networked site link.

47. The media as defined in claim 42, the operations further comprising:

receiving a search query term provided by a user to the search engine,

wherein the search results from the search engine are provided in response to the search query; and

including the search query term in the at least one selection criterion.

48. The media as defined in claim 42, the operations further comprising:

accessing a profile of a user that issued a query used by the search engine to generate the search results, wherein the user profile was created prior to the issuing of the query; and

based at least in part of on the user profile, selecting the link to the networked site for inclusion in the modified search listing.

49. The media as defined in claim 42, the operations further comprising:

automatically receiving at a client application a uniform resource locater from a remote system; and

automatically accessing the uniform resource locator without displaying a web page associated with the uniform resource locator.

50. The media as defined in claim 42, wherein the search engine is not provided a communication regarding the modification.

51. The media as defined in claim 42, the operations further comprising:

storing in memory an indication that the search listing modification is performed; and

storing an indication that a deposit or credit is to be made with respect to an account associated with a user associated with the user terminal at least partly in response to the search listing modification is performed.

52. A system, comprising:

a processor;

tangible, non-transitory media that stores a program that when executed by the processor is configured to perform operations, comprising;

transmitting instructions to a plurality of nodes,

the nodes including respective computing devices,

wherein the instructions are configured to cause at least in part the plurality of nodes to;

automatically issue search requests,

activate links in search results, and/or

issue uniform resource locator requests,

so that a first of the plurality of nodes issues a search, activates a link, and/or issues a uniform resource locator request at a time different than a second of the plurality of nodes;

issuing a report over a network, the report providing information related to the number of times the plurality of nodes issued search requests, activated links, and/or issued uniform resource requests.

53. The system as defined in claim 52, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the plurality of nodes to:

automatically issue search requests,

activate links in search results, and/or

issue uniform resource locator requests,

at substantially random times within a first period of time.

54. The system as defined in claim 52, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the plurality of nodes to:

automatically issue search requests,

activate links in search results, and/or

issue uniform resource locator requests,

without displaying the results of the search requests, activated links, or uniform resource locator requests on the plurality of nodes.

55. The system as defined in claim 52, the operations further comprising:

storing in memory an indication that the first of the plurality of nodes has issued the search query, activated the link, and/or issued a uniform resource locator request; and

storing an indication that a deposit or credit is to be made with respect to an account associated with a user associated with the user terminal at least partly in response to the indication that the first of the plurality of nodes has issued the search query, activated the link, and/or issued a uniform resource locator request.

56. A method, comprising:

transmitting from a computing system instructions to a plurality of nodes,

the nodes including respective computing devices,

wherein the instructions are configured to cause at least in part the plurality of nodes to;

automatically issue search requests,

activate links in search results, and/or

issue uniform resource locator requests,

so that a first of the plurality of nodes issues a search, activates a link, and/or issues a uniform resource locator request at a time different than a second of the plurality of nodes;

generating, using the computer system, a response, and issuing the report over a network, the report providing information related to the number of times the plurality of nodes issued search requests, activated links, and/or issued uniform resource requests.

57. The method as defined in claim 56, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the plurality of nodes to:

automatically issue search requests,

activate links in search results, and/or

issue uniform resource locator requests,

at substantially random times within a first period of time.

58. The method as defined in claim 56, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the plurality of nodes to:

automatically issue search requests,

activate links in search results, and/or

issue uniform resource locator requests,

without displaying the results of the search requests, activated links, or uniform resource locator requests on the plurality of nodes.

59. The method as defined in claim 56, the method further comprising:

storing in memory an indication that the first of the plurality of nodes has issued the search query, activated the link, and/or issued a uniform resource locator request; and

storing an indication that a deposit or credit is to be made with respect to an account associated with a user associated with the user terminal at least partly in response to the indication that the first of the plurality of nodes has issued the search query, activated the link, and/or issued a uniform resource locator request.