Inferring Geographic Locations for Entities Appearing in Search Queries
First Claim
1. A method for inferring locations associated with a website, performed by a server system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the method comprising:
- at the server system;
identifying a website;
for each respective location of a plurality of locations referenced in queries with respective result sets that comprise search result links to documents hosted at the website, computing a location-specific score representing the likelihood that the respective location is associated with the website;
computing a site confidence value representing a likelihood that the website is associated with a physical location;
determining a location associated with the website using the location-specific scores and the site confidence value;
storing information indicating that the determined location is associated with the website for subsequent use when processing respective search queries.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A server system associates one or more locations with a query by identifying the query, selecting a set of documents responsive to the query, and assigning weights to respective documents in the set of documents based, at least in part, on historical data of user clicks selecting search result links in search results produced for historical queries substantially the same as the identified query. Websites hosting the selected documents are identified, and, for each website, location-specific information for one or more locations is retrieved, including a location-specific score that corresponds to the likelihood that the respective location corresponds to a respective website. For each respective location for which location-specific information was retrieved, aggregating the location-specific scores, as weighted by the document weights, to compute an aggregated likelihood that the respective location is associated with the query. A specific location is assigned to the query when predefined criteria are satisfied.
43 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for inferring locations associated with a website, performed by a server system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the method comprising:
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at the server system; identifying a website; for each respective location of a plurality of locations referenced in queries with respective result sets that comprise search result links to documents hosted at the website, computing a location-specific score representing the likelihood that the respective location is associated with the website; computing a site confidence value representing a likelihood that the website is associated with a physical location; determining a location associated with the website using the location-specific scores and the site confidence value; storing information indicating that the determined location is associated with the website for subsequent use when processing respective search queries. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured for execution by a computer system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:
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identifying a website; for each respective location of a plurality of locations referenced in queries with respective result sets that comprise search result links to documents hosted at the website, computing a location-specific score representing the likelihood that the respective location is associated with the website; computing a site confidence value representing a likelihood that the website is associated with a physical location; determining a location associated with the website using the location-specific scores and the site confidence value; storing information indicating that the determined location is associated with the website for subsequent use when processing respective search queries. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A server computer system comprising:
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one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for; identifying a website; for each respective location of a plurality of locations referenced in queries with respective result sets that comprise search result links to documents hosted at the website, computing a location-specific score representing the likelihood that the respective location is associated with the website; computing a site confidence value representing a likelihood that the website is associated with a physical location; determining a location associated with the website using the location-specific scores and the site confidence value; storing information indicating that the determined location is associated with the website for subsequent use when processing respective search queries. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method for assigning a location to a query, performed by a server system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the method comprising:
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at the server system; identifying a query; selecting a set of documents responsive to the identified query; assigning weights to respective documents in the set of documents based, at least in part, on historical data of user clicks selecting search result links in search results produced for historical queries substantially the same as the identified query; identifying respective websites hosting the documents in the set of documents; for each website of a plurality of the identified websites, retrieving location-specific information for one or more locations, the retrieved information for a respective location comprising a location-specific score that corresponds to the likelihood that the respective location corresponds to a respective website of the identified websites; for each respective location for which location-specific information was retrieved, aggregating the location-specific scores, as weighted by the document weights, to compute an aggregated likelihood that the respective location is associated with the query; and assigning a specific location to the query when predefined criteria are satisfied, the predefined criteria comprising a requirement that the aggregated likelihood for the specific location exceeds a first predefined value. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A server system, comprising:
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one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for; identifying a query; selecting a set of documents responsive to the identified query; assigning weights to respective documents in the set of documents based, at least in part, on historical data of user clicks selecting search result links in search results produced for historical queries substantially the same as the identified query; identifying respective websites hosting the documents in the set of documents; for each website of a plurality of the identified websites, retrieving location-specific information for one or more locations, the retrieved information for a respective location comprising a location-specific score that corresponds to the likelihood that the respective location corresponds to a respective website of the identified websites; for each respective location for which location-specific information was retrieved, aggregating the location-specific scores, as weighted by the document weights, to compute an aggregated likelihood that the respective location is associated with the query; and assigning a specific location to the query when predefined criteria are satisfied, the predefined criteria comprising a requirement that the aggregated likelihood for the specific location exceeds a first predefined value. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured for execution by a computer system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:
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identifying a query; selecting a set of documents responsive to the identified query; assigning weights to respective documents in the set of documents based, at least in part, on historical data of user clicks selecting search result links in search results produced for historical queries substantially the same as the identified query; identifying respective websites hosting the documents in the set of documents; for each website of a plurality of the identified websites, retrieving location-specific information for one or more locations, the retrieved information for a respective location comprising a location-specific score that corresponds to the likelihood that the respective location corresponds to a respective website of the identified websites; for each respective location for which location-specific information was retrieved, aggregating the location-specific scores, as weighted by the document weights, to compute an aggregated likelihood that the respective location is associated with the query; and assigning a specific location to the query when predefined criteria are satisfied, the predefined criteria comprising a requirement that the aggregated likelihood for the specific location exceeds a first predefined value. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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Specification