METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING ALTERNATIVE RESULT FOR AN ONLINE SEARCH PREVIOUSLY WITH NO RESULT

• US 20150088845A1
• Filed: 09/24/2013
• Published: 03/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Transform Sr Brands, LLC (ESL Investments, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sears Brands LLC (Sears Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Zhao, Rongkai, Lu, Zhenyu, Katschke, Kenneth
• Granted Patent: US 10,262,063 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

A computing device hosting a website of a business may be operable to receive a first search input comprising a term submitted via a search bar on the website. Upon performing an internal search for the term with no result, the computing device may output information on the no-result. The computing device may then perform, using one or more external search engines, a search for the term. Search results of the search, performed using the external search engine(s), may be analyzed. Based on a result of the analysis, one or more particular character strings related to the term may be identified. The computing device may generate and store, based on the identifying of the particular character string(s), one or more alternative search suggestions. Upon subsequently receiving an input comprising at least a portion of the term entered in the search bar, the computing device may output the alternative search suggestion(s).

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

in a computing device hosting a website of a business;

receiving a first search input comprising a term which is submitted via a search bar on the website;

upon performing a search, internal to the business, for the received term with no result, outputting information on the no-result of the search;

performing, using one or more search engines external to the business, a search for the term;

analyzing search results of the search performed using the one or more search engines external to the business;

identifying, based on a result of the analysis, one or more particular character strings related to the term;

generating and storing, based on the identifying of the one or more particular character strings, one or more alternative search suggestions, wherein each of the one or more alternative search suggestions will result in information on an item carried by the business; and

upon subsequently receiving an input comprising at least a portion of the term entered in the search bar on the website, outputting the one or more alternative search suggestions for alternative search consideration.

2. The method according to claim 1, comprising:

receiving, after the outputting of the one or more alternative search suggestions, a second search input comprising the term which is submitted via the search bar on the website; and

outputting information on a search result according to one of the one or more alternative search suggestions.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the term comprises a string of alphanumeric characters.

4. The method according to claim 3, comprising determining that the term is a valid term for search if the string of alphanumeric characters comprises at least one digit.

5. The method according to claim 4, comprising normalizing the determined valid term in compliance with a model number or a part number for searching for a model or a part of a product.

6. The method according to claim 1, comprising performing, utilizing one or more methods in natural language processing (NLP), one or more of the analyzing, the identifying, and the generating.

7. The method according to claim 1, comprising:

assigning a score to each of a plurality of character strings identified during the analyzing of the search results; and

Identifying the one or more particular character strings based on the assigned scores.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the generating of the one or more alternative search suggestions comprises selecting each of the one or more alternative search suggestions based on that a characteristic of each of the one or more alternative search suggestions matches a predetermined characteristic condition.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined characteristic condition comprises:

the number of the particular character strings in each of the one or more alternative search suggestions being greater than a certain threshold; and

each of the one or more alternative search suggestions comprising a brand name.

10. The method according to claim 1, comprising storing the one or more alternative search suggestions In a form of autofill index.

11. A system, comprising:

one or more processors for use in a computing device hosting a website of a business, the one or more processors being operable to;

receive a first search input comprising a term which is submitted via a search bar on the website;

upon performing a search, internal to the business, for the received term with no result, output information on the no-result of the search;

perform, using one or more search engines external to the business, a search for the term;

analyze search results of the search performed using the one or more search engines external to the business;

identify, based on a result of the analysis, one or more particular character strings related to the term;

generate and store, based on the identifying of the one or more particular character strings, one or more alternative search suggestions, wherein each of the one or more alternative search suggestions will result in information on an item carried by the business; and

upon subsequently receiving an input comprising at least a portion of the term entered in the search bar on the website, output the one or more alternative search suggestions for alternative search consideration.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are operable to:

receive, after the outputting of the one or more alternative search suggestions, a second search input comprising the term which is submitted via the search bar on the website; and

output information on a search result according to one of the one or more alternative search suggestions.

13. The system according to claim 11, wherein the term comprises a string of alphanumeric characters.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are operable to perform, utilizing one or more methods in natural language processing (NLP), one or more of the analyzing, the identifying and the generating.

15. The system according to claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are operable to store the one or more alternative search suggestions In a form of autofill index

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section, the at least one code section being executable by a computer for causing the computer to perform steps comprising:

in a computing device hosting a website of a business;

receiving a first search input comprising a term which is submitted via a search bar on the website;

upon performing a search, internal to the business, for the received term with no result, outputting information on the no-result of the search;

performing, using one or more search engines external to the business, a search for the term;

analyzing search results of the search performed using the one or more search engines external to the business;

identifying, based on a result of the analysis, one or more particular character strings related to the term;

generating and storing, based on the identifying of the one or more particular character strings, one or more alternative search suggestions, wherein each of the one or more alternative search suggestions will result in information on an item carried by the business; and

upon subsequently receiving an input comprising at least a portion of the term entered in the search bar on the website, outputting the one or more alternative search suggestions for alternative search consideration.

17. The non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 16, wherein the at least one code section comprises code for:

receiving, after the outputting of the one or more alternative search suggestions, a second search input comprising the term which is submitted via the search bar on the website; and

outputting information on a search result according to one of the one or more alternative search suggestions.

18. The non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 16, wherein the term comprises a string of alphanumeric characters.

19. The non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 16, wherein the at least one code section comprises code for performing, utilizing one or more methods in natural language processing (NLP), one or more of the analyzing, the identifying and the generating.

20. The non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 16, wherein the at least one code section comprises code for storing the one or more alternative search suggestions In a form of autofill index.