RELATED URLS FOR TASK-ORIENTED QUERY RESULTS

• US 20110035402A1
• Filed: 01/29/2010
• Published: 02/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: CAMERON, MICHAEL MAXWELL, CHEN, LIWEI, GOVANI, TABREEZ, AALETI, SRINATH REDDY, AHARI, SANAZ, AGRAWAL, NITIN, ZHANG, YANG YANG, BUCKLEY, JAMIE P., WILLIAMS, HUGH EVAN
• Granted Patent: US 8,543,592 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links

Abstract

Methods, computer-storage media, and graphical user interfaces are provided for identifying and presenting rich related sites for task-oriented search queries. Upon receipt of a search query input by a user, one or more query logs are analyzed to determine if the search query is a related to a task being performed by the user. If the query is determined to be a task-oriented search query, search results are identified, as is one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) related to a particular search result. The related URL is presented to the user in association with the particular search result. Additional controls, e.g., search tools that facilitate querying of those URLs determined to be relevant to a particular search result, may also be provided to aid the user in performing the task at hand.

Claims

1. One or more computer storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, perform a method for providing uniform resource locators (URLs) related to search results determined for task-oriented search queries input by users, the method comprising:

receiving a search query input by a user;

determining that the input search query is a task-oriented search query utilizing at least one query log;

identifying at least one search result that satisfies the task-oriented search query;

identifying, with respect to the at least one search result, at least one related URL; and

presenting an identifier for the at least one related URL in association with an identifier for the at least one search result.

2. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, wherein determining that the input search query is a task-oriented search query utilizing at least one query log comprises determining that the input search query is a task-oriented search query utilizing at least one query log comprising at least one of aggregate past user session data and current session data associated with the user.

3. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, wherein determining that the input search query is a task-oriented search query utilizing at least one query log comprises determining that the input search query is a navigational search query utilizing the at least one query log.

4. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, wherein determining that the input search query is a task-oriented search query utilizing at least one query log comprises determining that the input search query is a categorical search query utilizing the at least one query log.

5. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, wherein determining that the input search query is a task-oriented search query includes determining that the user intends to engage in a particular task, and wherein the particular task is one of comparison shopping, social networking, researching a topic, reading news, reviewing blogs, searching for reviews, and booking a trip.

6. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, wherein presenting the identifier for the at least one related URL in association with the identifier for the at least one search result comprises presenting the identifier for the at least one related URL and the identifier for the at least one search result in association with one another on a search engine results page.

7. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, further comprising navigating to the related URL upon user selection of the identifier for the related URL.

8. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting one or more controls in association with the identifier for the at least one related URL and the identifier for the at least one search result, each of the one or more controls providing additional information and/or additional functionality with respect to the associated at least one related URL.

9. A computerized method for providing uniform resource locators (URLs) related to search results determined for task-oriented search queries input by users, the method comprising:

receiving a search query input by a first user via a first computing device during a first search session;

presenting a first plurality of search results satisfying the input search query in association with a display device associated with the first computing device;

receiving a selection of one of the first plurality of search results from the first user via the first computing device;

receiving a request from the first user via the first computing device to navigate to a URL that differs from a URL corresponding to the selected one of the first plurality of search results;

wherein the request is received during the first search session;

determining, utilizing a second computing device, that the input search query is a task-oriented search query and that the URL to which the first user requested to navigate is related to the one of the first plurality of search results;

receiving the search query from a second user via a third computing device during a second search session;

presenting a second plurality of search results satisfying the search query in association with a display device associated with the third computing device, the second plurality of search results including the selected one of the first plurality of search results; and

presenting, in association with the display device associated with the third computing device, an identifier for the related URL in association with the selected one of the first plurality of search results.

10. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein the first user and the second user are the same user.

11. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein the first computing device and the third computing device are the same computing device.

12. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein determining, utilizing the second computing device, that the input search query is a task-oriented search query comprises determining that the input search query is a task-oriented search query utilizing at least one query log comprising at least one of aggregate past user session data and data associated with the first user and the first search session.

13. The computerized method of claim 12, wherein determining, utilizing the second computing device, that the input search query is a task-oriented search query comprises determining that the input search query is a navigational search query utilizing the at least one query log.

14. The computerized method of claim 12, wherein determining, utilizing the second computing device, that the input search query is a task-oriented search query comprises determining that the input search query is a categorical search query utilizing the at least one query log.

15. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein determining, utilizing the second computing device, that the input search query is a task-oriented search query includes determining that the first user intends to engage in a particular task, and wherein the particular task is one of comparison shopping, social networking, researching a topic, reading news, reviewing blogs, searching for reviews, and booking a trip.

16. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein presenting, in association with the display device associated with the third computing device, the identifier for the related URL in association with the selected one of the first plurality of search results comprises presenting the identifier for the related URL and the selected one of the first plurality of search results in association with one another on a search engine results page.

17. The computerized method of claim 9, further comprising navigating to the related URL upon selection of the identifier for the related URL.

18. The computerized method of claim 9, further comprising:

presenting a control in association with the identifier for the related URL and the selected one of the first plurality of search results, the control configured to receive input of an additional query;

receiving, via the control, input of the additional query; and

querying only the related URL and content associated with a web site associated with related URL to determine if the related URL and content matches the additional query.

19. A graphical user interface embodied on one or more computer storage media, and executable on a computing device, the graphical user interface comprising a first display area displaying a plurality of search results;

and a second display area graphically associated with at least one of the plurality of search results, the second display area displaying a plurality of uniform resource locator identifiers each associated with a uniform resource locator determined to be related to the at least one of the plurality of search results.

20. The graphical user interface of claim 19, further comprising a third display area graphically associated with the second display area, the third display area operative to receive a search request that will be executed only with respect to uniform resource locators associated with each of the plurality of uniform resource locator identifiers displayed in association with the second display area.