Alternative search query prediction

• US 7,747,639 B2
• Filed: 05/08/2006
• Issued: 06/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jollify Management Limited
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Borkovsky, Arkady, Rabbat, Ralph R., Kasperski, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali; Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): HASAN, SYED HAROON
• Application Number:
  US11/430,487
• Publication Number:
  US 20070050351A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,513 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/765
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Providing an alternative search query to a predicted search query is disclosed herein. A search query is received from a client node. Prior to receiving an indication from the client node that the search query is completely formed, the following steps are performed: 1) a predicted search query is determined by predicting what the search query will be when completed; and 2) an alternative search query that differs from the predicted search query is determined based on the predicted search query. The alternative search query is provided to the client node. The alternative search query may be something that the user search query is unlikely to complete to. For example, in response to the user entering a search query of “brittany sp”, an alternative search query with a spelling suggestion of “britney spears” is determined and provided to the user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:

sending, over a network, a user interface to a client node, wherein the client node;

receives a not-yet-submitted search query from a user, and

determines, prior to receiving an indication from the user that the not-yet-submitted search query is completely formed, whether the not-yet-submitted search query (a) includes a character in a set consisting of non-alphanumeric characters or (b) matches a phrase in a dictionary of pre-defined phrases; and

receiving, over the network, the not-yet-submitted search query from the client node only after the client node determines that the not-yet-submitted search query includes a character in the set or matches a phrase in the dictionary;

prior to receiving an indication from the client node that the not-yet-submitted search query is completely formed, performing the steps of;

determining a predicted search query by predicting what the not-yet-submitted search query will be when completed; and

determining, based on the predicted search query, an alternative search query that differs from the predicted search query;

providing the alternative search query to the client node;

wherein the steps are performed on one or more computing devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the alternative search query comprises determining an alternative spelling for the predicted search query.

3. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 2.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the alternative search query comprises determining a search query that is related to the predicted search query.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the predicted search query comprises an acronym and determining the alternative search query comprises:

forming one or more terms by expanding the acronym; and

including the one or more terms in the alternative search query.

6. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 5.

7. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 4.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative search query comprises one or more characters that lead the not-yet-submitted search query from the client node.

9. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 8.

10. The method of claim 1,, wherein the alternative search query comprises one or more characters inserted into the body of the not-yet-submitted search query from the client node.

11. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 10.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the predicted search query comprises selecting the predicted search query from a set of historic search queries.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the predicted search query is based on a frequency with which ones of the historical search queries were submitted as search queries.

14. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 13.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the predicted search query is based on when ones of the historical search queries were submitted as search queries.

16. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 15.

17. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 12.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprises forming a modified search query from the not-yet-submitted search query from the client node prior to determining the alternative search query, wherein the alternative search query is based on the modified search query.

19. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 18.

20. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 1.

21. A computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:

receiving, at a client node, a not-yet-submitted search query from a user;

prior to receiving an indication from the user that the not-yet-submitted search query is completely formed, determining, at the client node, whether the not-yet-submitted search query (a) includes a character in a set consisting of non-alphanumeric characters or (b) matches a phrase in a dictionary of pre-defined phrases; and

sending the not-yet-submitted search query from the client node to a search engine, to perform a search based on the not-yet-submitted search query, only after determining, at the client node, that the not-yet-submitted search query includes a character in the set or matches a phrase in the dictionary;

wherein the not-yet-submitted query is sent over a network to the search engine;

wherein the search engine, prior to receiving an indication from the client node that the not-yet submitted search query is completely formed, determines;

a predicted search query by predicting what the not-yet-submitted search query will be when completed, and

based on the predicted search query, an alternative search query that differs from the predicted search query;

receiving, at the client node and from the search engine, the alternative search query;

wherein the steps are performed on one or more computing devices.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein:

determining further comprises determining whether a particular length of time has elapsed since the user last entered a character in the not-yet-submitted search query; and

sending further comprising sending the not-yet-submitted search query to the search engine only after determining, at the client node, that the particular length of time has elapsed since the user last entered a character in the not-yet-submitted search query.

23. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 22.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein determining comprises determining whether the not-yet-submitted search query includes a character in the set consisting of non-alphanumeric characters.

25. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 24.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein determining comprises determining whether the not-yet-submitted search query matches a phrase in the dictionary of pre-defined phrases.

27. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 26.

28. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the performance of the method recited in claim 21.