GENERATING AND PRESENTING A SUGGESTED SEARCH QUERY

• US 20110320470A1
• Filed: 06/28/2010
• Published: 12/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Agrawal, Nitin, Hosseini, Farid, Ahari, Sanaz, Stepin, Maxim, Hsu, Bo-June, WILLIAMS, ROBERT, Bolla, Jason
• Granted Patent: US 8,719,246 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/767
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3322 using system suggestions G06F16/3325 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9532 Query formulation

Abstract

The present invention is directed to presenting a suggested search query. Responsive to receiving a user-devised search parameter, a suggested search query is identified. The user-devised search parameter might have been previously received by a search system, or alternatively, might be a unique query that has not been previously received. A suggested search query might be generated using various techniques, such as by applying an n-gram language model. A classification of the suggested search query is determined, and the suggested search query is presented together with a visual indicator, which signifies the classification.

Claims

1. A method of presenting a suggested search query as an option to be submitted to a search system, the method comprising:

receiving a user-devised search parameter;

responsive to receiving the user-devised search parameter, identifying the suggested search query;

determining a classification of the suggested search query; and

causing the suggested search query to be presented together with a visual indicator, which suggests the classification of the suggested search query.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-devised search parameter is a unique query, which is not recognized by the search system as a previously received search query.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the previously received search query is listed on a query log of the search system.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying the suggested search query includes applying an n-gram language model to the unique query to generate a potential search query.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the potential search query is a unique suggested search query, which is not a previously suggested search query, such that the unique suggested search query is dynamically created in response to receiving the unique query.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the classification includes applying a classifier to the suggested search query, and wherein the classifier has been trained using a machine-learning technique to recognize the classification.

7. The method of claim 1,

wherein identifying the suggested search query includes retrieving a trending search query, such that the suggested search query is not based on the at least a portion, and

wherein the visual indicator signifies that the suggested search query is currently trending.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the suggested search query is identified from a search-parameter corpus, which includes a structured data source.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the structured data source includes indexed information that has been retrieved from a webpage.

10. The method of claim 9,

wherein the information is retrieved using a customized crawler, which is programmed to determine an information type under which the information is categorized in the structured data source, and

wherein the information type is used to determine the classification.

11. One or more computer-readable media having computer executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, facilitate a method of presenting a suggested search query as an option to be submitted to a search system, the method comprising:

receiving a user-devised search parameter, which does not match a previously received search query;

applying an n-gram language model to the user-devised search parameter to dynamically generate a unique suggested search query, which does not match a previously suggested search query;

applying a classifier to the unique suggested search query to determine a classification of the unique suggested search query; and

causing the unique suggested search query to be presented together with a visual indicator, which signifies the classification of the unique suggested search query.

12. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the classification of the unique suggested search query includes a search-results task, which is pursuable using search results that satisfy the unique suggested search query.

13. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein the visual indicator signifies the search-results task.

14. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein the search-results task includes a subtask, and wherein the subtask includes a subtask indicator that is presented together with the visual indicator.

15. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 11,

wherein the visual indicator, which is presented together with the unique suggested search query, includes a set of text, and

wherein the set of text indicates a use of a search result, which satisfies the unique suggested search query.

16. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 11,

wherein the visual indicator, which is presented together with the unique suggested search query, includes an icon, and

wherein the icon signifies a use of a search result, which satisfies the unique suggested search query.

17. One or more computer-readable media having computer executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, implement a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting suggested search queries, the GUI comprising:

a search-query input portion, which presents a user-devised search parameter;

a suggested-search-query output portion, which presents a suggested search query; and

a visual-indicator output portion, which presents a visual indicator that signifies a classification of the suggested search query.

18. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the visual indicator includes a set of text indicating a use of a search result, which satisfies the suggested search query.

19. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the visual indicator includes an icon signifying a use of a search result, which satisfies the suggested search query.

20. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 17,

wherein a plurality of suggested search queries are presented;

wherein the plurality of suggested search queries include a same suggested search query;

wherein a first suggested search query of the plurality includes a first visual indicator; and

wherein a second suggested search query of the plurality includes a second visual indicator, which is different than the first visual indicator.