ENHANCING SEARCH RESULTS WITH SOCIAL LABELS

• US 20150120700A1
• Filed: 10/28/2013
• Published: 04/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Holm, Fredrik, Djurhuus, Rune, Baciu, Lucian, Solheim, Helge Grenager, Shaporenkov, Dmitry, Pregueiro Jernimo, Tiago Duarte
• Granted Patent: US 11,238,056 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/722
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/904 Browsing; Visualisation therefor for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and software for facilitating enhanced search services. In an implementation, an enhanced search service receives a search query associated with a user and responsively identifies documents relevant to the search query. The enhanced search service also identifies a social label for each of the documents that is at least partly representative of how the document relates socially to the user. The enhanced search service replies to the search query with search results indicative of at least the documents and the social label for each of the documents.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating enhanced document search comprising:

receiving a search query associated with a user;

identifying a plurality of documents in response to the search query;

identifying a social label for each document of the plurality of documents representative at least in part of how the document relates socially to the user; and

replying to the search query with search results indicative of at least the plurality of documents and the social label for each of the plurality of documents.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the social label comprises:

identifying a plurality of relationships between the document and a plurality of users related to the user;

identifying which of the plurality of relationships relates to which of a plurality of candidate labels from which to select the social label;

performing an evaluation of each of the plurality of candidate labels based at least in part on those of the plurality of relationships that relate to each of the plurality of candidate labels; and

selecting the social label from the plurality of candidate labels based at least in part on the evaluation of each of the plurality of candidate labels.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein identifying the plurality of relationships between the document and the plurality of users comprises querying a graph comprising a plurality of nodes representative of the document and the plurality of users and further comprising a plurality of edges representative of a plurality of actions taken with respect to the document by the plurality of users.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein each of the plurality of relationships is representative of a different one of the plurality of actions taken with respect to the document, wherein each of the plurality of actions comprises any one of a plurality of possible actions including at least presenting the document, sharing the document, creating the document, modifying the document, commenting on the document, viewing the document, following the document, and liking the document.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the plurality of candidate labels correspond to the plurality of possible actions and wherein the social label identified for the document comprises social information that represents at least in part how the document relates socially to the user in terms of an action taken with respect to the document by at least one of the plurality of users related to the user.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the plurality of candidate labels comprises a presented-by label representative of any of the plurality of users having presented the document, a shared-by label representative of any of the plurality of users having shared the document, a created-by label representative of any of the plurality of users having created the document, a modified-by label representative of any of the plurality of users having modified the document, a commented-on-by label representative of any of the plurality of users having commented on the document, a viewed-by label representative of at least any of the plurality of users having viewed the document, a followed-by label representative of at least any of the plurality of users having followed the document, and a liked-by label representative of any of the plurality of users having liked the document.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein performing the evaluation of each of the plurality of candidate labels comprises scoring each of the plurality of candidate labels based on at least a representative trait that is shared in common by each of the plurality of candidate labels and that is derived at least in part from a characteristic of each of those of the plurality of relationships that relate to each of the plurality of candidate labels.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein selecting the social label from the plurality of candidate labels based at least in part on the evaluation of each of the plurality of candidate labels comprises selecting the social label from the plurality of candidate labels based at least in part on the scoring of each of the plurality of candidate labels.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the representative trait comprises at least one of a freshness of each of the plurality of candidate labels and a popularity of each of the plurality of candidate labels.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the representative trait comprises a strength of a social link between each of the plurality of candidate labels and the user.

11. One or more computer readable storage media having program instructions stored thereon for facilitating enhanced document search that, when executed by a computing system, directs the computing system to at least:

receive a search query associated with a user;

identify a plurality of documents in response to the search query;

identify a social label for each document of the plurality of documents representative at least in part of how the document relates socially to the user; and

reply to the search query with search results indicative of at least the plurality of documents and the social label for each of the plurality of documents.

12. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 11 wherein to identify the social label, the program instructions direct the computing system to:

identify a plurality of relationships between the document and a plurality of users related to the user;

identify which of the plurality of relationships relates to which of a plurality of candidate labels from which to select the social label;

perform an evaluation of each of the plurality of candidate labels based at least in part on those of the plurality of relationships that relate to each of the plurality of candidate labels; and

select the social label from the plurality of candidate labels based at least in part on the evaluation of each of the plurality of candidate labels.

13. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 12 wherein to identify the plurality of relationships between the document and the plurality of users, the program instructions direct the computing system to query a graph comprising a plurality of nodes representative of the document and the plurality of users and further comprising a plurality of edges representative of a plurality of actions taken with respect to the document by the plurality of users.

14. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 13 wherein the plurality of candidate labels correspond to the plurality of actions and wherein the social label identified for the document comprises social information that represents at least in part how the document relates socially to the user in terms of an action taken with respect to the document by at least one of the plurality of users related to the user.

15. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 12 wherein to perform the evaluation of each of the plurality of candidate labels, the program instructions direct the computing system to score each of the plurality of candidate labels based on at least a representative trait that is shared in common by each of the plurality of candidate labels and that is derived at least in part from a characteristic of each of those of the plurality of relationships that relate to each of the plurality of candidate labels.

16. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 15 wherein to select the social label from the plurality of candidate labels based at least in part on the evaluation of each of the plurality of candidate labels, the program instructions direct the computing system to select the social label from the plurality of candidate labels based at least in part on the scoring of each of the plurality of candidate labels.

17. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 16 wherein the representative trait comprises one of a freshness of each of the plurality of candidate labels and a popularity of each of the plurality of candidate labels.

18. An enhanced search service comprising:

a search engine that, in response to a search query associated with a user, identifies a plurality of items in response to the search query;

a social label engine that identifies a plurality of relationships between each item of the plurality of items and a plurality of users related to the user, identifies which of the plurality of relationships relates to which of a plurality of candidate labels from which to select a social label, performs an evaluation of each of the plurality of candidate labels, and selects the social label from the plurality of candidate labels based at least in part on the evaluation of each of the plurality of candidate labels; and

a service interface that receives the search query and replies to the search query with search results indicative of at least the plurality of items and the social label for each of the plurality of items.

19. The enhanced search service of claim 18 wherein the item comprises a document, and wherein to identify the plurality of relationships between the document and the plurality of users, the social label engine queries a graph comprising a plurality of nodes representative of the document and the plurality of users and further comprising a plurality of edges representative of a plurality of actions taken with respect to the document by the plurality of users.

20. The enhanced search service of claim 19 wherein the plurality of candidate labels correspond to the plurality of actions and wherein the social label identified for the document comprises social information that represents at least in part how the document relates socially to the user in terms of an action taken with respect to the document by at least one of the plurality of users related to the user.