AUTO-REFINEMENT OF SEARCH RESULTS BASED ON MONITORED SEARCH ACTIVITIES OF USERS
First Claim
1. A method of collecting search data from a plurality of user computing devices, the method comprising:
- sending, by one or more first computing devices to a second computing device, a browser-executable component, wherein the browser-executable component is configured to be executed in response to a browser accessing a search engine, wherein the browser-executable component is further configured to obtain usage data corresponding to a search query;
receiving, by the one or more first computing devices, a search record, wherein the search record includes the usage data obtained by the browser-executable component, the search record including one or more of a code corresponding to an instance of execution of the browser-executable code, location information, or a selected parameter; and
storing, by the one or more first computing devices, search activity data as a collection of search records that includes the search record, wherein the search records in the search activity data are indexed in a manner that does not identify a user of the second computing device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A tracking system passively tracks and records searches conducted by actual search engine users. The recorded data for each search event preferably includes the search query submitted, the search engine used, the search result item (e.g., web page) selected, the position (e.g., page number) of this item, and the user'"'"'s IP address. The collected data is aggregated and analyzed to generate data regarding the search queries used to locate and access particular destinations (e.g., web pages and sites). This data may be used for various purposes, such as (1) to generate reports showing, e.g., how users reach a particular destination from different search engines and geographic locations, (2) to select content to display on a destination page, such that the content is relevant to search queries commonly used to locate that page, and (3) to update the database of one search engine to reflect searches conducted on other search engines.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of collecting search data from a plurality of user computing devices, the method comprising:
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sending, by one or more first computing devices to a second computing device, a browser-executable component, wherein the browser-executable component is configured to be executed in response to a browser accessing a search engine, wherein the browser-executable component is further configured to obtain usage data corresponding to a search query; receiving, by the one or more first computing devices, a search record, wherein the search record includes the usage data obtained by the browser-executable component, the search record including one or more of a code corresponding to an instance of execution of the browser-executable code, location information, or a selected parameter; and storing, by the one or more first computing devices, search activity data as a collection of search records that includes the search record, wherein the search records in the search activity data are indexed in a manner that does not identify a user of the second computing device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer storage device having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for collecting search data from a plurality of user computing devices, wherein the instructions, in response to being executed by a first computing device, cause the first computing device to:
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send, to a second computing device, a browser-executable component, wherein the browser-executable component is configured to be executed in response to a browser accessing a search engine, wherein the browser-executable component is further configured to obtain usage data corresponding to a search query; receive a search record, wherein the search record includes the usage data obtained by the browser-executable component, the search record including one or more of a code corresponding to an instance of execution of the browser-executable code, location information, or a selected parameter; and store search activity data as a collection of search records that includes the search record, wherein the search records in the search activity data are indexed in a manner that does not identify a user of the second computing device. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computing device capable of collecting search data from a plurality of user computing devices, the computing device comprising:
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a processor configured to execute instructions that cause the computing device to; send, to another computing device, a browser-executable component, wherein the browser-executable component is configured to be executed in response to a browser accessing a search engine, wherein the browser-executable component is further configured to obtain usage data corresponding to a search query, and receive a search record, wherein the search record includes the usage data obtained by the browser-executable component, the search record including one or more of a code corresponding to an instance of execution of the browser-executable code, location information, or a selected parameter; and one or more memories configured to store search activity data as a collection of search records that includes the search record, wherein the search records in the search activity data are indexed in a manner that does not identify a user of the other computing device. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification