SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING ENHANCEMENTS TO ELECTRONIC GROUP SEARCHES

• US 20150294014A1
• Filed: 05/21/2015
• Published: 10/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Twittle Search Limited Liability Company
• Original Assignee: Alan Mark Reznik
• Inventors: Reznik, Alan Mark
• Granted Patent: US 10,572,556 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results

Abstract

In accordance with some embodiments, processes and interfaces provide for enhancing search results of a group research project. For example, members of a group may be provided with information regarding other group member'"'"'s search activities and/or be restricted from viewing certain search results (e.g., search results that are most popular with the public for a given search term, that are most popular with the group for the given search term or for the project, and/or search results that are restricted by a group manager).

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

recognizing a group search project which has associated therewith a plurality of users registered as a search group for the group search project;

determining that one user of the plurality of users is designated a manager for the group search project, wherein the manager for the group search project is authorized to set search rules for the group search project which govern an output of search results to the remainder of users of the search group;

receiving, by a processor of a computing device operable to modify a set of search results and from one of the plurality of users, an indication of at least one search result to be removed from a set of search results output to another user of the search group, thereby receiving an indication of at least one disallowed search result;

determining, by the processor, a preliminary set of search results based on the search term, the preliminary set of search results comprises results of a search of information available on the internet;

determining, by the processor, whether the disallowed search result is included in the preliminary search results;

if the disallowed search result is included in the preliminary search results, removing, by the processor, the disallowed search result from the preliminary search results, thereby determining a modified set of search results; and

causing the modified set of search results to be output to at least the user from whom the search term was received.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving an indication of at least one disallowed search result comprises receiving the indication from the manager.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving, by a processor of a computing device operable to modify a set of search results and from one of the plurality of users, an indication of at least one search result to be removed from a set of search results output to another user of the search group comprises:

receiving, by a processor of a computing device operable to modify a set of search results and from the manager, at least one characteristic defining at least one search result to be removed from a set of search results output to a user of the search group other than the manager, thereby receiving an indication of a at least one disallowed search result, such that any search result having the at least one characteristic is removed from a set of search results output to a user of the search group other than the manager.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing, in response to receiving at least one search term from one of the plurality of users, a search of information available on the internet.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the preliminary set of search results are not output to the user from whom the search term was received.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a predetermined number of highest ranked search results as identified by a search tool using at least one search term relevant to the group search project; and

wherein receiving the indication of the at least one disallowed search result comprises receiving from a user of the search group a selection of at least one of the highest ranked search results.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving, from a user of the search group and prior to receiving the indication of the disallowed search result, at least one search term for the group search project, wherein determining a predetermined number of highest ranked search results is based on the at least one search term so received.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the user from whom the at least one search term is received is the manager.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein highest ranked search results comprise search results that are determined to be most relevant to the at least one search term based on an indexing mechanism used by the search tool.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

tracking sets of search results output to users of the search group for the group search project;

outputting to a user of the search group an indication of a plurality of search results included in any of the set of search results along with, for each such search result, at least one of (i) a number of instances in which the search result has been included in a set of search results output to the users of the search group;

(ii) a duration of time a single user of the search group has spent reviewing a content of the search result;

(iii) a total duration of time all users of the search group who had the search result output to them in a set of search results reviewing the content of the search result; and

(iv) a number of instances in which the search results has been selected by a user of the search group.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the duration is an average duration based on a total number of users to whom the search result has been output in a set of search results.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving an indication of a disallowed search result comprises receiving from the user to whom the indication of the plurality of search results is output a selection of one of the search results.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving an indication of a disallowed search result comprises receiving an indication of a search result that appears to be very popular among the plurality of users based on the indications output to the user.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the user to whom the indication of the plurality of search results is output comprises the manager.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

outputting to a user of the search group a menu of search results relevant to the group search project; and

wherein receiving an indication of the at least one disallowed search result comprises receiving from the user a selection of at least one search result from the menu.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the user to whom the menu is output comprises the manager.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication of a rule to use for outputting search results for the group search project, the rule defining a maximum number of times one or more search results is to be included in sets of search results for the group search project; and

wherein receiving an indication of at least one disallowed search result comprises receiving an instruction that a particular search result is to be considered a disallowed search result once the particular search result appears in sets of search results for the group search project the maximum number of times.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein receiving the indication of the rule comprises receiving the indication of the rule from the manager.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of causing the modified set of search results to be output is performed within three seconds of the step of determining a preliminary set of search results.