Ranking Search Results Based On Color

• US 20140188853A1
• Filed: 12/28/2012
• Published: 07/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wal-Mart Stores Texas LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Vuong, Ba-Quy, Gattani, Abhishek, Tholiya, Namrata PramodKumar
• Granted Patent: US 9,460,157 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/723
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9038 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

Example systems and methods that rank search results based on color are described. In one implementation, a method receives a product search query from a user and identifies a reference to a color in the product search query. The product search query is executed to identify multiple products. The method further identifies references to the color in a title or a description of each of the multiple products. A ranking of the multiple products is created by increasing the ranking of products that include a reference to the color in the title or the description.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a product search query from a user;

identifying a reference to a color in the product search query;

executing the product search query to identify a plurality of products;

identifying references to the color contained in a title or a description of each of the plurality of products; and

creating, using one or more processors, a ranking of the plurality of products by increasing the ranking of products that include a reference to the color in the title or the description.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating the ranking of the plurality of products to a device operated by the user.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing to display the ranking of the plurality of products to the user.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing the product search query to determine whether the user intended an actual color.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the ranking of the plurality of products is performed without reference to color if the user did not intend an actual color.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the analyzing of the product search query to determine whether the user intended an actual color includes calculating a cosine similarity between the search query and a title of each of the plurality of products.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference to a color in the product search query is a keyword in the product search query.

8. The method of claim 1, the identifying of the reference to the color in the product search query includes comparing each term in the product search query with a listing of known color terms.

9. A method comprising:

receiving a product search query from a user;

identifying a reference to a color in the product search query;

creating an initial ranking of the plurality of products based on the product search query;

analyzing the product search query to determine whether the user intended an actual color;

responsive to determining that the user intended an actual color in the product search query;

identifying references to the color contained in a title or a description of each of the plurality of products; and

creating, using one or more processors, a ranking of the plurality of products by increasing the ranking of products that include a reference to the color in the title or the description.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising communicating the ranking of the plurality of products to a device operated by the user.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising causing to display the ranking of the plurality of products to the user.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising ranking the plurality of products without reference to color if the user did not intend an actual color.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the analyzing of the product search query to determine whether the user intended an actual color includes calculating a cosine similarity between the search query and a title of each of the plurality of products.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the reference to a color in the product search query is a keyword in the product search query.

15. The method of claim 9, the identifying of the reference to the color in the product search query includes comparing each term in the product search query with a listing of known color terms.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a memory to store data associated with at least one product; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to;

receive a product search query from a user;

identify a reference to a color in the product search query;

execute the product search query to identify a plurality of products;

identify references to the color contained in a description of each of the plurality of products; and

create a ranking of the plurality of products by increasing the ranking of products that include a reference to the color in the description.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, the one or more processors further configured to communicate the ranking of products to a device operated by the user.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, the one or more processors further configured to analyze the product search query to determine whether the user intended an actual color.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, the one or more processors further configured to rank the products without reference to color if the user did not intend an actual color.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, the one or more processors further configured to identify the reference to the color in the product search query by comparing each term in the product search query with a listing of known color terms.