Personalized information retrieval search with backoff
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer implemented method of retrieving information, comprising:
- receiving a query and user information indicative of a user that initiated the query;
receiving search results based on the query;
utilizing a computer processor that is a component of the computer to apply to the search results a user class model that models a first set of user classes by grouping a plurality of users into multiple classes based on a first portion of an IP address of the plurality of users, said first portion being less than the complete IP address, and wherein applying the user class model to the search results further comprises applying the user class model so as to compare the user information to the first set of user classes so as to determine which of the search results are most likely desired by the user;
applying to the search results a backoff model that models a second set of user classes by grouping the plurality of users into multiple classes based on a second, smaller portion of the IP address of the plurality of users, said second portion being less than the complete IP address, and wherein applying the backoff model to the search results further comprises applying the backoff model so as to compare the user information to the second set of user classes so as to determine which of the search results are most likely desired by the user;
ranking the search results based on said applications of the user class model and the backoff model, wherein ranking the search results comprises ranking the search results not based on a complete indication of the identity of the user as reflected in the complete IP address but instead ranking the search results based on an incomplete indication of the identity of the user as reflected in the user class model and the backoff model; and
returning the ranked search results to the user.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Query logs are accessed to obtain queries, user information that specifies a user from which the query was received, a long with a selected result that was selected by the specified user who authored the query. This query log information is used to identify classes of users that looked for a similar result given a similar query. Those classes can then be used by a search engine in order to rank or provide search results to a user in response to a query input by the user.
-
Citations
14 Claims
-
1. A computer implemented method of retrieving information, comprising:
-
receiving a query and user information indicative of a user that initiated the query; receiving search results based on the query; utilizing a computer processor that is a component of the computer to apply to the search results a user class model that models a first set of user classes by grouping a plurality of users into multiple classes based on a first portion of an IP address of the plurality of users, said first portion being less than the complete IP address, and wherein applying the user class model to the search results further comprises applying the user class model so as to compare the user information to the first set of user classes so as to determine which of the search results are most likely desired by the user; applying to the search results a backoff model that models a second set of user classes by grouping the plurality of users into multiple classes based on a second, smaller portion of the IP address of the plurality of users, said second portion being less than the complete IP address, and wherein applying the backoff model to the search results further comprises applying the backoff model so as to compare the user information to the second set of user classes so as to determine which of the search results are most likely desired by the user; ranking the search results based on said applications of the user class model and the backoff model, wherein ranking the search results comprises ranking the search results not based on a complete indication of the identity of the user as reflected in the complete IP address but instead ranking the search results based on an incomplete indication of the identity of the user as reflected in the user class model and the backoff model; and returning the ranked search results to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A computer implemented method of managing a search engine, comprising:
-
accessing a query log including a record of queries previously executed, when each query in the record was processed, and a search result selected for each query in the record; utilizing a computer processor that is a component of the computer to train a user class model that models a first set of classes by grouping the queries in the record into multiple groups based on when each query was processed; weighting the user class model with weights; utilizing the processor to train a backoff model that models a second set of classes by grouping the queries in the record into multiple groups based on when each query was processed; weighting the backoff model using the weights, wherein weighting the backoff model comprises weighting the backoff model higher than the weighting of the user class model; wherein there are more classes in the first set than the second set such that each class in the first set encompasses queries from a narrower time range than each class in the second set; and configuring the search engine to receive an input query, to receive a time indication indicative of the query, and to apply the user class model and backoff model to the time indication so as to facilitate a scoring of search results that correspond to the input query. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
-
-
8. A computer implemented method of retrieving information, comprising:
-
receiving a user query from a user along with user information indicative of a location from which the user submitted the query; receiving search results based on the user query; utilizing a computer processor that is a component of the computer to apply to the search results a geographic class model that models a first set of geographic classes by grouping a plurality of preexisting queries into multiple geographic classes based on which of a first category of geographic units is assigned to each of the preexisting queries, and wherein applying the geographic class model to the search results further comprises applying the geographic class model so as to compare the user information and the user query to the first set of geographic classes so as to determine which of the search results are most likely desired by the user; applying to the search results a backoff model that models a second set of geographic classes by grouping the plurality of preexisting queries into multiple geographic classes based on which of a second category of geographic units is assigned to each of the plurality of preexisting queries, and wherein applying the backoff model to the search results further comprises applying the backoff model so as to compare the user information to the second set of geographic classes so as to determine which of the search results are most likely desired by the user, and wherein the first category of geographic units is smaller than the second category of geographic units in that a unit of the first geographic category encompasses less geographic space than a unit of the second geographic category; ranking the search results based on said applications of the geographic class model and the backoff model; and returning the search results to the user. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
Specification