GENERATING RELATED INPUT SUGGESTIONS

• US 20120259829A1
• Filed: 12/30/2009
• Published: 10/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhou, Xin
• Application Number:
  US13/517,241
• Publication Number:
  US 20120259829A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24534 Query rewriting; Transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for generating search query suggestions. In one aspect, a method includes receiving query and label data, the data including a plurality of queries and, for each query, specifying one or more labels associated with the query, where the queries are n grams submitted by users of a search engine and the labels identify a category or topic in which an associated query belongs; generating a suggestion resource, including: identifying unique labels in the query and label data; and for each unique label: indexing the unique label; identifying in the query and label data, each query associated with the unique label; and associating, in the suggestion resource, the identified queries with the unique label; and storing the suggestion resource in a computer readable medium.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving query and label data, the data including a plurality of queries and, for each query, specifying one or more labels associated with the query, wherein the queries are n-grams submitted by users of a search engine and the labels identify a category or topic in which an associated query belongs;

generating a suggestion resource, including;

identifying unique labels in the query and label data; and

for each unique label;

indexing the unique label;

identifying in the query and label data, each query associated with the unique label; and

associating, in the suggestion resource, the identified queries with the unique label; and

storing the suggestion resource in a computer-readable medium.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a textual input entered in a search engine query input field by a user; and

identifying input suggestions using the query and label data including;

comparing the textual input to the queries in the query and label data to identify a first query that the textual input represents; and

identifying the one or more labels that are associated with the first query as being selectable alternatives to the textual input.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the input suggestions are identified as characters are entered in the search engine query input field and before a complete query is submitted for a search.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a textual input entered in a search engine query input field by a user; and

identifying input suggestions using the suggestion resource including;

comparing the textual input to the indexed labels in the suggestion resource to identify a first indexed label that the textual input represents; and

identifying the one or more queries associated with the first indexed label as being selectable alternatives to the textual input.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

comparing each query identified as being a selectable alternative to the queries in the query and label data to identify a first query that is textually identical to the query identified as being a selectable alternative; and

identifying the one or more labels that are associated with the first query as being selectable alternatives to the textual input.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the textual input is not a substring of any of the selectable alternatives.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the textual input is a prefix, midfix, or suffix of at least one of the selectable alternatives.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein identifying the first indexed label includes:

determining whether the textual input is a prefix of the first indexed label and determining that the first indexed label is represented by the textual input when the textual input is a prefix of the first index label.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the queries are associated with at least one label that is not a substring of the associated query.

10. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a textual input entered in a search engine query input field by a user; and

identifying input suggestions using a suggestion resource, the suggestion resource including an index of labels, each label being associated with one or more queries and identifying a category or topic in which an associated query belongs;

wherein the identifying includes;

comparing the textual input to the indexed labels in the suggestion resource to identify a first indexed label that the textual input represents; and

identifying the one or more queries associated with the first indexed label as being selectable alternatives to the textual input.

11. A system comprising:

a machine-readable storage device including a program product; and

one or more processors operable to execute the program product and perform operations comprising;

receiving query and label data, the data including a plurality of queries and, for each query, specifying one or more labels associated with the query, wherein the queries are n-grams submitted by users of a search engine and the labels identify a category or topic in which an associated query belongs;

generating a suggestion resource, including;

identifying unique labels in the query and label data; and

for each unique label;

indexing the unique label;

identifying in the query and label data, each query associated with the unique label; and

associating, in the suggestion resource, the identified queries with the unique label; and

storing the suggestion resource in a computer-readable medium.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a textual input entered in a search engine query input field by a user; and

identifying input suggestions using the query and label data including;

comparing the textual input to the queries in the query and label data to identify a first query that the textual input represents; and

identifying the one or more labels that are associated with the first query as being selectable alternatives to the textual input.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the input suggestions are identified as characters are entered in the search engine query input field and before a complete query is submitted for a search.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a textual input entered in a search engine query input field by a user; and

identifying input suggestions using the suggestion resource including;

comparing the textual input to the indexed labels in the suggestion resource to identify a first indexed label that the textual input represents; and

identifying the one or more queries associated with the first indexed label as being selectable alternatives to the textual input.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

comparing each query identified as being a selectable alternative to the queries in the query and label data to identify a first query that is textually identical to the query identified as being a selectable alternative; and

identifying the one or more labels that are associated with the first query as being selectable alternatives to the textual input.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the textual input is not a substring of any of the selectable alternatives.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the textual input is a prefix, midfix, or suffix of at least one of the selectable alternatives.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein identifying the first indexed label includes:

determining whether the textual input is a prefix of the first indexed label and determining that the first indexed label is represented by the textual input when the textual input is a prefix of the first index label.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the queries are associated with at least one label that is not a substring of the associated query.

20. A system comprising:

a machine-readable storage device including a program product; and

one or more processors operable to execute the program product and perform operations comprising;

receiving a textual input entered in a search engine query input field by a user; and

identifying input suggestions using a suggestion resource, the suggestion resource including an index of labels, each label being associated with one or more queries and identifying a category or topic in which an associated query belongs;

wherein the identifying includes;

comparing the textual input to the indexed labels in the suggestion resource to identify a first indexed label that the textual input represents; and

identifying the one or more queries associated with the first indexed label as being selectable alternatives to the textual input.