Browseable fact repository

• US 7,774,328 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2006
• Issued: 08/10/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Betz, Jonathan T., Hogue, Andrew W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vital; Pierre M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Loan T
• Application Number:
  US11/356,851
• Publication Number:
  US 20070198503A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,635 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/705
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24522 Translation of natural language queries to structured queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/334 Query execution G06F16/335 takes precedence

Abstract

A fact repository supports searches of facts relevant to search queries comprising keywords and phrases. A service engine retrieves the objects that are associated with facts relevant to the query. The objects are displayed on a search results page. Each object is displayed with selection of the facts associated with the object. The selected facts are ordered according to their relevance to the query.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of enabling browsing of a fact repository comprising a plurality of facts, associated with objects, the method comprising:

at a computer system including one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of;

receiving a search query;

retrieving in response to the search query a plurality of retrieved objects from the fact repository relevant to the search query, a respective retrieved object including a multiplicity of facts of the fact repository, wherein the fact repository includes facts that have been extracted from documents, and wherein the facts are associated with the plurality of retrieved objects from the fact repository;

displaying the plurality of retrieved objects rank-ordered by relevance to the search query; and

displaying for the respective retrieved object;

a plurality of facts, of the multiplicity of facts, the displayed facts rank-ordered by relevance to the search query;

a link to at least one object detail page for the respective retrieved object, the object detail page containing a plurality of additional facts included with the respective retrieved object of the fact repository; and

a search link associated with a search query to execute by a service engine when selected by a user, wherein the search query includes at least one search query term derived from the plurality of facts associated with the at least one retrieved object.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each fact is stored as a separate item of data in the fact repository.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying for each retrieved object, a name fact of the retrieved object.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying for each retrieved object a label indicating a category of the retrieved object, the label derived from a fact associated with the retrieved object.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying for each retrieved object an attribute search link, the attribute search link associated with a search query comprising an attribute of the retrieved object, and adapted to be executed by the service engine in response to a user selection of the search link;

responsive to receiving a selection of the search link, providing the search query to the service engine for retrieving objects having facts matching the attribute of the search link;

receiving from the service engine at least one search result including an object having at least one fact matching the attribute of the search link; and

displaying the object and the at least one fact.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying for each retrieved object a value search link, the value search link associated with a search query comprising a value of the retrieved object, and adapted to be executed by the service engine in response to a user selection of the search link;

responsive to receiving a selection of the search link, providing the search query to the service engine for retrieving objects having facts matching the value of the search link;

receiving from the service engine at least one search result including an object having at least one fact matching the value of the search link; and

displaying the object and the at least one fact.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying for each retrieved object an attribute-value search link, the attribute-value search link associated with a search query comprising an attribute of the retrieved object and a value of the attribute, and adapted to be executed by the service engine in response to a user selection of the search link;

responsive to receiving a selection of the search link, providing the search query to the service engine for retrieving objects having facts matching the attribute of the search link and having a value matching the value of the search link;

receiving from the service engine at least one search result including an object having at least one fact matching the attribute of the search link and the value of the attribute; and

displaying the object and the at least one fact.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for at least one fact of at least one retrieved object, displaying a source link to a source of the fact.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the source link includes anchor text, and the anchor text is Uniform Resource Locator or a portion thereof of the source of the fact.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the source link includes anchor text, and the anchor text is a name of source of the fact.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for at least one retrieved object, displaying a media link to a media file associated with the retrieved object.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for at least one retrieved object, displaying a media link to a system from which a media file associated with the retrieved object can be purchased.

13. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

at a client computer system including one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of;

in response to receiving a search query for a fact repository from a user of the client computer system, transmitting the search query to the fact repository, wherein the fact repository includes objects and associated facts, and wherein the facts have been extracted from documents;

receiving a search results page including object links for objects in the fact repository, and facts included with the objects from the fact repository, and search links, wherein the object links are ranked in accordance to the search query, and wherein for a respective object link for an object, a multiplicity of facts included with the object are ranked in accordance to the search query, and wherein a respective search link is associated with a search query to execute by a service engine when selected by a user, wherein the search query includes at least one search query term derived from the plurality of facts associated with the at least one retrieved object; and

displaying the search results page on a user interface of the client computer system.

14. A computer implemented method of enabling browsing of a fact repository comprising a plurality of facts, associated with objects, the method comprising:

at a server including one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of;

receiving a search query from a requestor;

retrieving in response to the search query a plurality of retrieved objects from the fact repository relevant to the search query, a respective retrieved object including a multiplicity of facts of the fact repository, wherein the fact repository includes facts that have been extracted from documents, and wherein the facts are associated with the a plurality of retrieved objects from the fact repository;

displaying the plurality of retrieved objects rank-ordered by relevance to the search query; and

returning the respective retrieved object to the requestor, the respective retrieved object including;

a plurality of facts, of the multiplicity of facts, the displayed facts rank-ordered by relevance to the search query;

a link to at least one object detail page for the respective retrieved object, the object detail page containing a plurality of additional facts included with the respective retrieved object of the fact repository; and

a search link associated with a search query to execute by a service engine when selected by a user, wherein the search query includes at least one search query term derived from the plurality of facts associated with the at least one retrieved object.