System and methods for predicting correct spellings of terms in multiple-term search queries
First Claim
1. A method of predicting a correct spelling of a potentially-misspelled search term within a multiple-term search query, the method comprising:
- identifying at least one matching search term of the multiple-term search query, said matching search term being different from the potentially-misspelled search term;
identifying at least one additional term that, based on an analysis of search query submissions of users, has occurred in combination with the matching search term relatively frequently; and
comparing a spelling of the additional term to a spelling of the potentially-misspelled search term.
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Abstract
A search engine process predicts the correct spellings of search terms within multiple-term search queries. In one embodiment, when a user submits a multiple-term search query that includes a non-matching term and at least one matching term, a table is accessed to look up a set of terms that are “related” to the matching term or terms. A spelling comparison function is then used to determine whether any of these related terms is sufficiently similar in spelling to the non-matching term to be deemed a candidate correctly-spelled replacement. A candidate replacement term may automatically be substituted for the non-matching term, or may be suggested to the user as a replacement. The invention also includes a process for identifying terms that are related to each other based on the relatively high frequencies with which they co-occur within search queries of users, database records, and/or specific database fields.
140 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method of predicting a correct spelling of a potentially-misspelled search term within a multiple-term search query, the method comprising:
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identifying at least one matching search term of the multiple-term search query, said matching search term being different from the potentially-misspelled search term;
identifying at least one additional term that, based on an analysis of search query submissions of users, has occurred in combination with the matching search term relatively frequently; and
comparing a spelling of the additional term to a spelling of the potentially-misspelled search term. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of correcting spelling errors in search queries, the method comprising:
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receiving a multiple-term search query from a user;
identifying a non-matching search term within the multiple-term term search query;
identifying a matching search term within the multiple-term term search query; and
selecting a replacement term that is a candidate correctly-spelled replacement for the non-matching search term, wherein the candidate correctly-spelled replacement term is selected based at least in part upon an identity of the matching search term. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method of predicting a correct spelling of a non-matching search term within a multiple-term search query, the method comprising:
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identifying a plurality of matching search terms within the multiple-term search query, each matching search term being different from the non-matching search term;
for each matching search term, looking up a corresponding set of related terms, to thereby obtain multiple sets of related terms;
combining the multiple sets of related terms to form a related terms set; and
comparing spellings of individual terms in the related terms set to a spelling of the non-matching term. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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Specification