DYNAMIC FILTERING IN APPLICATION SEARCH

• US 20140006409A1
• Filed: 05/22/2013
• Published: 01/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Quixey, Inc.
• Inventors: KAGAN, TOMER, PROSNITZ, JASON, GLOVER, ERIC
• Granted Patent: US 9,552,414 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/740
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24544 Join order optimisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

One embodiment of a disclosed system, method, and computer readable storage medium provides dynamic filtering in application searches. Partner systems leverage search functionality of an application search system configured to perform searches for applications. In one embodiment, partner systems select application categories to be associated with search queries submitted to the application search system via the partners'"'"' websites. When users submit search queries to the application search system via a partner system, the users'"'"' queries are associated with the partner system'"'"'s application category selection. Alternatively, the search queries may implicitly or explicitly specify an application category. In response to receiving the queries, the application search system returns search results from the selected application category.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

storing a plurality of application indexes, each application index corresponding to one or more application categories and each application index comprising identifiers for a plurality of application representations;

receiving a search query from a computing device;

identifying an application category based on the received search query;

selecting an index from the plurality of application indexes corresponding to the identified application category;

querying the selected index corresponding to the identified application category to generate search results for the received search query, the search results corresponding to a plurality of application representations associated with the identified application category, and

providing, for display, the generated search results to the computing device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a partner system with the plurality of application categories;

receiving from the partner system, a selection of an application category from the plurality of application categories; and

associating the selected application category with an identifier of the partner system.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the computing device is associated with the partner system, and wherein identifying the application category based on the search query comprises:

retrieving the selected application category based on the identifier of the partner system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the received search query specifies the application category.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the application category based on the search query comprises:

determining a language of the search query; and

identifying the language as the application category.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the application category based on the search query comprises:

identifying an application platform executing on the computing device; and

identifying the application platform as the application category.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the application category based on the search query comprises:

identifying an association between one or more query terms in the received search query and an application category; and

responsive to identifying the association, prompting an end user of the computing device to select the application category.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the application category based on the search query comprises:

identifying an association between an identifier of the computing device and an application category; and

responsive to identifying the association, prompting an end user of the computing device to select the application category based on an identifier of the computing device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a second application category based on the received search query;

selecting a second index from the plurality of application indexes corresponding to the second identified application category; and

querying the second index to generate additional search results for the received search query; and

identifying a union of the search results and the additional search results;

wherein providing the search results to the computing device comprises providing the union to the computing device.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising stored computer program instructions that when executed cause one or more processors to:

store a plurality of application indexes, each application index corresponding to one or more application categories and each application index comprising identifiers for a plurality of application representations;

receive a search query from a computing device;

identify an application category based on the received search query;

select an index from the plurality of application indexes corresponding to the identified application category;

query the selected index corresponding to the identified application category to generate search results for the received search query, the search results corresponding to a plurality of application representations associated with the identified application category, and

provide, for display, the generated search results to the computing device.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, the instructions further comprising instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

provide a partner system with the plurality of application categories;

receive from the partner system, a selection of an application category from the plurality of application categories; and

associate the selected application category with an identifier of the partner system.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the computing device is associated with the partner system, and wherein the instructions causing the one or more processors to identify the application category based on the search query comprise instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

retrieve the selected application category based on the identifier of the partner system.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the received search query specifies the application category.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions causing the one or more processors to identify the application category based on the search query comprise instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

determine a language of the search query; and

identify the language as the application category.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions causing the one or more processors to identify the application category based on the search query comprise instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

identify an application platform executing on the computing device; and

identify the application platform as the application category.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, the instructions further comprising instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

prompt an end user to select the application category based on one or more query terms in the received search query.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions causing the one or more processors to identify the application category based on the search query comprise instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

identify an association between an identifier of the computing device and an application category; and

responsive to identifying the association, prompt an end user of the computing device to select the application category based on an identifier of the computing device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, the instructions further comprising instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

identify a second application category based on the received search query;

select a second index from the plurality of application indexes corresponding to the second identified application category;

query the second index to generate additional search results for the received search query; and

identify a union of the search results and the additional search results;

wherein the instructions to cause the one or more processors to provide the search results to the computing device comprises instructions to cause the one or more processors to provide the union to the computing device.

19. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving at a computing device, an application search query associated with a selected application category;

transmitting the application search query to an application search system, the application search system storing a plurality of application indexes, each application index comprising identifiers of a plurality of application representations and corresponding to one or more application categories, wherein the application search system is configured to generate search results based on the application search query;

receiving the search results from the application search system, the search results comprising identifiers of a plurality of application representations within the selected application category; and

displaying the search results by the computing device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the computing device is associated with a partner system, the method further comprising:

transmitting an identifier of the partner system to the application search system, wherein the application search system stores the selected application category in association with the identifier of the partner system.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

sending an identifier of an application platform executing on the computing device to the application search system, wherein the application search system is configured to identify the selected application category based on the application platform.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the application search query specifies the selected application category.

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving a prompt from the application search system to select an application category; and

receiving a user selection in response to the prompt;

wherein the selected application category comprises the user selection.