DYNAMIC SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS EMPLOYING USER BEHAVIOR
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for dynamically modifying search results “on the fly” based on the behavior of the user currently conducting a search. In one embodiment, data regarding user behavior is gathered from virtually any activity, including clicks on links, dwell times, downloads, transactions and cursor movements. Subordinate keywords are generated to reflect the intent of the user as inferred from the user'"'"'s behavior. Subordinate keywords, as opposed to traditional primary keywords, are keywords that are identified as important to the search, but are not necessarily essential for a matched document. They are automatically generated by the system from a variety of places, such as documents clicked on by the user as well as documents that are skipped. The system uses the subordinate keywords to dynamically re-rank matched documents and advertisements to best reflect the inferred intent of the user in order to continuously provide the most relevant results.
22 Citations
44 Claims
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1-21. -21. (canceled)
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22. A method for dynamically modifying advertisements associated with search results comprising:
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receiving one or more keywords for use as search terms from a user; providing a set of search result objects on a first page of results displayed to said user; providing a set of advertisement objects on said first page of results; monitoring which of said objects, search results and advertisements, is selected by said user; compiling information to infer user intent based on analyzing the content of an object the user clicks; and upon said user clicking to return from said object to said set of search result objects including said object, immediately automatically re-ranking said set of advertisement objects based on said user inferred intent, so that upon said user returning from said object to said set of search result objects including said object, without the user resubmitting the search, the re-ranked advertisements will be visible; wherein said re-ranking includes moving at least one advertisement object from a subsequent page, not originally visible to said user on said first page, onto said first page. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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34. A system for dynamically modifying search results comprising:
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a user interface on a first computer configured to receive one or more keywords for use as search terms from a user; a search engine on a server in communication with said first computer over a network, said search engine being configured to provide a set of search result objects on a first page of results displayed in response to said keywords and to provide some title and display text with each of said search result objects in said set of search result objects and to provide a plurality of advertisement objects on said first page of results; a monitoring program in communication with said network, said monitoring program being configured to monitor user behavior in interacting with said search result and advertisement objects; a re-ranking program configured to monitor which objects said user clicks on in interacting with said first set of objects; monitor which objects said user skips; compile information to infer user intent based on analyzing the content of said objects the user clicks on and said objects said user skips; upon said user clicking to return from an object to said set of search result objects including said object, immediately automatically re-rank said set of advertisement objects based on said inferred intent, so that a user clicking on a single object from said set of search result objects results in a re-ranking of said set of advertisement objects, so that upon said user returning from said object to said set of search result objects including said object, without the user resubmitting the search, the re-ranked advertisement will be visible; and use terms from the title and display text corresponding to a selected object in an algorithm for generating said re-ranking of said set of advertisement objects on at least said first page; an advertising program configured to select and display advertising based on said inferred intent and immediately and automatically re-ranking said plurality of advertisement objects on said first page by adding at least one advertisement not previously shown on said first page. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. A computer product having computer instructions on computer readable media executable by a processor to dynamically modify search results, comprising code for:
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receiving one or more keywords for use as search terms from a user; providing a set of search result objects on a first page of results displayed; providing some title and display text with each of said search result objects in said set of search result objects; providing a set of advertisement objects on said first page of results; monitoring which of said objects is selected by said user; monitoring which of said objects said user skips; compiling information to infer user intent based on analyzing the content of said objects the user clicks on and said objects said user skips; upon said user clicking to return from an object to said set of search result objects including said object, immediately automatically re-ranking said first set of advertisement objects based on said inferred intent, so that a user clicking on a single object from said set of search result objects results in a re-ranking of said set of advertisement objects, so that upon said user returning from said object to said set of search result objects including said object, without the user resubmitting the search, the re-ranked advertisements will be visible; using terms from the title and display text corresponding to a selected object in an algorithm for generating said re-ranking of said set of objects on at least said first page; wherein said re-ranking includes moving at least one object from a subsequent page, not originally visible to said user on said first page, onto said first page; wherein said at least one advertisement object moved onto said first page is displayed in a manner to indicate to the user that it has been inserted between other objects on said first page, with said display providing an indication that the object is from a subsequent page and was not originally displayed on said first page
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37. A method for ranking a set of search results having an initial ranking, comprising:
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providing some title and display text with each of said search result objects on a first page of results displayed in said set of search result objects; monitoring which of said objects is selected by said user; determining one or more selected objects in said set of search results which corresponds to user interest based on user behavior; monitoring which documents said user skips; compiling information to infer user intent based on the content of said object the user clicks on and said objects said user skips; upon said user clicking to return from an object to said set of search result objects including said object, immediately automatically re-ranking said set of advertisement objects based on said user inferred intent, so that a user clicking on a single document from said first set of objects results in a re-ranking of said set of objects, so that upon said user returning from said object to said set of search result objects including said object, without the user resubmitting the search, the re-ranked advertisements will be visible; using terms from the title and display text corresponding to a selected object as positive subordinate keywords for generating said re-ranking of said set of advertisement objects; increasing the ranking of advertisement objects containing positive subordinate keywords. using terms from the title and display text corresponding to objects skipped by a user as negative subordinate keywords; reducing the ranking of advertisement objects containing said negative subordinate keywords; wherein said re-ranking includes moving at least one advertisement object from a subsequent page, not originally visible to said user on said first page, onto said first page; wherein said at least one advertisement object moved onto said first page is displayed in a manner to indicate to the user that it has been inserted between other objects on said first page, with said display providing an indication that the object is from a subsequent page and was not originally displayed on said first page.
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Specification