System and method for a unified and blended search

• US 7,346,613 B2
• Filed: 01/26/2004
• Issued: 03/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Watson, Eric B., Hurst-Hiller, Oliver, Mays, Eddie L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee; Wilson
• Application Number:
  US10/765,819
• Publication Number:
  US 20050165777A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,513 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1- 10, 707/101, 707/100
• US Class Current: 707/711
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2471 Distributed queries
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/918 Location
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

A system, method, and computer-accessible medium for a unified search of disparate resources are provided. The system and method determine the most relevant disparate resources in which to search and blend the most relevant results from the search for presentation to the user in an integrated manner.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating a search for content from disparate resources, the method comprising:

displaying a unified search entry interface in response to a user request to search for content;

prior to conducting the search, obtaining an automated measurement of relevance for each of a plurality of disparate resources in which to search for occurrences of a search term entered into the unified search entry interface by the user, the automated measurement of relevance being based on quantified user interaction with the disparate resources, quantified user interaction including at least one of the frequency with which the user accesses the resource, the length of time that the user accessed the resource, and what the user did with the resource after access;

determining relevant resources from the plurality of disparate resources in which to search for occurrences of a search term entered in the unified search entry interface, the determination being based on the automated measure of relevance;

normalizing the relevant disparate resources; and

blending disparate results obtained from searching for occurrences of the search term in the normalized relevant disparate resources.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein normalizing the relevant disparate resources comprises:

determining a relative importance of the search term occurring in one location in a first disparate resource versus the search term occurring in another location in a second disparate resource; and

weighing the occurrence of the search term in the disparate resources in accordance with the relative importance.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein blending the disparate results includes ranking the results by the weight of the occurrence of the search term, displaying the ranked results by a category associated with the resource, and displaying the locations in which the search terms occurred in comparable positions within each category.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

capturing a context of the search request; and

wherein determining at least one relevant resource is also based on the context of the search request.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the automated measurement of relevance is a metric that quantifies a user interaction with the resource.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a user preference indicating a preferred resource in which to search;

wherein determining the at least one relevant resource is also based on the preferred resource as indicated in the user preference.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

building an index for the disparate resources; and

searching the index associated with the relevant resource when searching for occurrences of the search term.

8. A computer-accessible medium having computer-executable instructions for conducting a unified search for electronic content, the instructions comprising:

displaying a unified search entry interface in response to a request to search for content;

prior to conducting the unified search, obtaining an automated measurement of relevance for each of a plurality of disparate resources in which to search for occurrences of a search term entered into the unified search entry interface by the user, the automated measurement of relevance being based on quantified user interaction with the disparate resources, quantified user interaction including at least one of the frequency with which the user accesses the resource, the length of time that the user accessed the resource, and what the user did with the resource after access;

determining relevant resources from the plurality of disparate resources in which to search for occurrences of a search term entered in the unified search entry interface, the determination being based on the automated measure of relevance;

normalizing the relevant disparate resources; and

blending disparate results obtained from searching for occurrences of the search term in the normalized relevant disparate resources.

9. The computer-accessible medium of claim 8, wherein the instruction to normalize the relevant disparate resource comprises:

determining a relative importance of the search term occurring in one location in a first disparate resource versus the search term occurring in another location in a second disparate resource; and

weighing the occurrence of the search term in the disparate resources in accordance with the relative importance.

10. The computer-accessible medium of claim 8, wherein the instruction to blend the disparate results includes instructions to rank the results by the weight of the occurrence of the search term, display the ranked results by a category associated with the resource, and display the locations in which the search terms occurred in comparable positions within each category.

11. The computer-accessible medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions further comprise:

capturing a context of the search request; and

determining the at least one relevant resource based on the context of the search request.

12. The computer-accessible medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions further comprise:

obtaining a user preference indicating a preferred resource in which to search; and

determining the at least one relevant resource based on the preferred resource, as indicated in the user preference.