Systems and methods for generating multiple implicit search queries

• US 7,664,734 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2004
• Issued: 02/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Wang, Niniane, Lawrence, Stephen R.
• Primary Examiner(s): AL HASHEMI, SANA A
• Application Number:
  US10/814,908
• Publication Number:
  US 20080077558A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,148 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707100-102
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/131 Fragmentation of text files, e.g. creating reusable text-blocks; Linking to fragments, e.g. using XInclude; Namespaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/279 Recognition of textual entities
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

Systems and methods for generating multiple implicit search queries are described. In one described system, a query system receives a user context attribute and generates a plurality of implicit search queries based at least in part on the user context attribute. The query system then receives result sets associated with each of the plurality of implicit search queries and combines the results for display to a user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for generating multiple implicit search queries comprising:

identifying a plurality of events responsive to monitoring real-time user interactions with a client device;

identifying a plurality of user-context attributes based at least in part on the plurality of events, wherein the plurality of user-context attributes indicate aspects of the real-time user interactions with the client device;

generating a plurality of implicit search queries comprising terms, wherein the terms are based at least in part on the plurality of user-context attributes;

receiving a plurality of search results generated responsive to the plurality of implicit search queries; and

updating a display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the real-time user interactions with a client device comprise changes in a position of a cursor on the client device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the real-time user interactions with a client device comprise user interactions with applications on the client device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring user interactions with the client device further comprises monitoring multiple types of real-time user interactions with the client device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a first event of the plurality of events comprises one or more words and identifying the plurality of user-context attributes further comprises extracting a term from the one or more words.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein extracting the term from the one or more words comprises identifying content unique to the first event based on the one or more words and extracting the term from the one or more words based on the unique content.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein extracting the term from the one or more words comprises identifying a part of speech associated with the term based on analysis of the one or more words.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein identifying the plurality of user-context attributes further comprises generating a term measure based on at least a first frequency that the extracted term occurs in at least one of the one or more words and an index of content.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein generating the plurality of implicit search queries comprising terms further comprises generating a plurality of implicit search queries comprising terms selected responsive at least in part to the term measure.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the plurality of implicit search queries comprising terms further comprises:

identifying for a user, a user profile comprised of a plurality of user attributes;

identifying a search term based at least in part on the plurality of user attributes; and

generating an implicit search query based at least in part on the search term.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the user-context attributes, and wherein identifying the plurality of user-context attributes further comprises identifying a stored previous user-context attribute.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the plurality of search results generated responsive to the plurality of implicit search queries further comprises receiving the plurality of search results responsive to a plurality of searches, each search of the plurality of searches directed to at least one of a local index of content stored on the client device and a global index of content on a network.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the search results comprise a first search result set and updating a display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results further comprises combining the first result set with a second result set, the second result set comprised of results from previously generated search queries.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining a search result filter specifying restrictions for displaying search results, the restrictions based on at least one of query syntax, type of article displayed, Uniform Resource Locator, web site from which an article was retrieved, date on which an article was cached and a user-defined relevance metric.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein updating the display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results further comprises filtering the display of search results based on the search result filter.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results further comprises ranking the search results based at least in part on a history of user interactions with previously-displayed search results.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein ranking the search results further comprises ranking the search results based on the user-context attributes.

41. The method of claim 1, wherein the event comprises receiving a text buffer and the user-context attribute is the current word in the text buffer.

42. The method of claim 1, wherein the event comprises receiving a text buffer and the user-context attribute comprises one or more words in the text buffer, wherein the one or more words are near a position of a cursor.

43. The method of claim 1, wherein the event comprises receiving a text buffer and the user-context attribute comprises one or more words last input to the text buffer by a user.

44. The method of claim 1, wherein the event comprises receiving a text buffer and the user-context attribute comprises one or more words selected by a user from the text buffer.

18. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with executable computer program code for generating multiple implicit search queries, the program code comprising:

program code for identifying a plurality of events responsive to monitoring real-time user interactions with a client device;

program code for identifying a plurality of user-context attributes based at least in part on the plurality of events, wherein the plurality of user-context attributes indicate aspects of the real-time user interactions with the client device;

program code for generating a plurality of implicit search queries comprising terms, wherein the terms are based at least in part on the plurality of user-context attributes;

program code for receiving a plurality of search results generated responsive to the plurality of implicit search queries; and

program code for updating a display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the program code for monitoring real-time user interactions with the client device further comprises program code for monitoring multiple types of real-time user interactions with the client device.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein at least a first event of the plurality of events comprises one or more words and the program code for identifying the plurality of user-context attributes further comprises program code for extracting a term from the one or more words.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the program code for extracting the term from the one or more words comprises program code for identifying content unique to the one or more words and extracting the term from the unique content.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the program code for identifying the plurality of user-context attributes further comprises program code for generating a term measure based on at least a first frequency that the extracted term occurs in at least one of the one or more words and an index of content.

23. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the program code for generating the plurality of implicit search queries comprising terms further comprises program code for generating a plurality of implicit search queries comprising terms selected responsive at least in part to the term measure.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the program code for generating the plurality of implicit search queries comprising terms further comprises:

program code for identifying for a user, a user profile comprised of a plurality of user attributes;

program code for identifying a search term based at least in part on the plurality of user attributes; and

program code for generating an implicit search query based at least in part on the search term.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the program code for receiving the plurality of implicit search results generated responsive to the plurality of search queries further comprises program code for receiving the plurality of implicit search results responsive to a search of at least one of a local index of content stored on a client device and a global index of content on a network.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the search results comprise a first search result set and the program code for updating a display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results further comprises program code for combining the first result set with a second result set, the second result set comprised of results from previously generated search queries.

27. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, further comprising program code for defining a search result filter specifying restrictions for displaying search results, the restrictions based on at least one of query syntax, type of article displayed, Uniform Resource Locator, web site from which an article was retrieved, date on which an article was cached and a user-defined relevance metric.

28. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein the program code for updating the display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results further comprises program code for filtering the display of search results based on the search result filter.

29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the program code for updating the display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results further comprises program code for ranking the search results based at least in part on a history of user interactions with previously-displayed search results.

30. A computer system for generating multiple implicit search queries, comprising:

a memory;

a processor;

a monitoring module stored in the memory and executable by the processor to identify a plurality of events responsive to monitoring real-time user interactions with a client device;

a user-context attributes module stored in the memory and executable by the processor to identify a plurality of user-context attributes based at least in part on the plurality of events, wherein the plurality of user-context attributes indicate aspects of real-time user interactions with the client device;

a search query module stored in the memory and executable by the processor to generate implicit search queries comprising terms, wherein the terms are based at least in part on the plurality of user-context attributes;

a search results module stored in the memory and executable by the processor to receive a plurality of search results generated responsive to the plurality of implicit search queries; and

a display module stored in the memory and executable by the processor to update a display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the monitoring module is further executable to monitor multiple types of real-time user interactions with the client device.

32. The system of claim 30, wherein at least a first event of the plurality of events comprises one or more words and the user-context attributes module for identifying the plurality of user-context attributes is adapted to extract a term from the one or more words.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the user-context attributes module for identifying the plurality of user-context attributes is adapted to generate a term measure based on at least a first frequency that the extracted term occurs in at least one of the one or more words and an index of content.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the search query module for generating a plurality of implicit search queries comprising terms is further executable to generate a plurality of implicit search queries comprising terms selected responsive at least in part to the term measure.

35. The system of claim 30, wherein the search query module for generating a plurality of implicit search queries comprising terms is executable to:

identify for a user, a user profile comprised of a plurality of user attributes;

identify a search term based at least in part on the plurality of user attributes; and

generate an implicit search query based at least in part on the search term.

36. The system of claim 30, wherein the search results module for receiving the plurality of search results generated responsive to the plurality of search queries is executable to receive the plurality of search results responsive to a search of at least one of a local index of content stored on a client device and a global index of content on a network.

37. The system of claim 30, wherein the search results comprise a first search result set and the display module for updating a display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results is adapted to combine the first result set with a second result set, the second result set comprised of results from previously generated search queries.

38. The system of claim 30, further comprising a filter module for defining a search result filter specifying restrictions for displaying search results, the restrictions based on at least one of query syntax, type of article displayed, Uniform Resource Locator, web site from which an article was retrieved, date on which an article was cached and a user-defined relevance metric.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the display module for updating the display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results is adapted to filter the display of search results based on the search result filter.

40. The system of claim 30, wherein the display module for updating the display of search results responsive to receiving the plurality of search results is adapted to rank the search results based at least in part on a history of user interactions with previously-displayed search results.