Assignment of a display order to images selected by a search engine
First Claim
1. A method of assigning, to each of a plurality of images within different collections in a group of images selected by a search engine, a position within an order in which the images are to be displayed for viewing on a display, the method comprising the following steps:
- a) assigning an initial handicap value to each collection of images in the group, each collection comprising at least one image of a common origin;
b) calculating a combined ranking score for each image in each collection by combining the handicap value of the collection containing the image and a ranking value for the image;
c) selecting, for display in a first position in the order, an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images in the group;
d) after such image selection step, adjusting the handicap value assigned to the collection from which the selected image has been taken to adjust the combined ranking score for each of the remaining images in said collection; and
e) after such handicap value adjustment step, selecting, for display in a next available position in the order, an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images remaining in the group,wherein, following the image selection step e), the handicap value assigned to the collection from which the image has been selected in the image selection step e) is adjusted in a same sense as how the handicap value was adjusted in the adjustment step d) to adjust the combined ranking score for each image in said collection, and an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images remaining in the group is selected for display in the next available position in the order.
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Abstract
A method is provided for assigning, to each of a plurality of images within different collections in a group of images selected by a search engine, a position within an order in which the images are to be displayed for viewing. The method comprises assigning an initial handicap value to each collection of images in the group, each collection comprising at least one image of a common origin; calculating a combined ranking score for each image in the group by combining the handicap value of the collection containing the image and a ranking value for the image; selecting, for display in the first position in the order, an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images in the group; after such image selection step, adjusting the handicap value assigned to the collection from which the selected image has been taken so as to adjust the combined ranking score for each of the remaining images in said collection; and, after such handicap value adjustment step, selecting, for display in the next available position in the order, an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images remaining in the group. This avoids too many similar looking images being presented in a set of search results and has the effect of spacing out images of the same supplier. This is of benefit to both customers and suppliers in that (i) customers can see images from a wide range of sources whilst any single supplier is prevented from dominating the results, and (ii) suppliers of reasonably equal ranking get a fair chance of having their images displayed in the results.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method of assigning, to each of a plurality of images within different collections in a group of images selected by a search engine, a position within an order in which the images are to be displayed for viewing on a display, the method comprising the following steps:
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a) assigning an initial handicap value to each collection of images in the group, each collection comprising at least one image of a common origin; b) calculating a combined ranking score for each image in each collection by combining the handicap value of the collection containing the image and a ranking value for the image; c) selecting, for display in a first position in the order, an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images in the group; d) after such image selection step, adjusting the handicap value assigned to the collection from which the selected image has been taken to adjust the combined ranking score for each of the remaining images in said collection; and e) after such handicap value adjustment step, selecting, for display in a next available position in the order, an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images remaining in the group, wherein, following the image selection step e), the handicap value assigned to the collection from which the image has been selected in the image selection step e) is adjusted in a same sense as how the handicap value was adjusted in the adjustment step d) to adjust the combined ranking score for each image in said collection, and an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images remaining in the group is selected for display in the next available position in the order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus for assigning, to each of a plurality of images within different collections in a group of images selected by a search engine, a position within an order in which the images are to be displayed for viewing, the apparatus comprising:
a processor, the processor comprising; a) handicap assignment means for assigning an initial handicap value to each collection of images in the group, each collection comprising at least one image of a common origin; b) calculating means for calculating a combined ranking score for each image in each collection by combining the handicap value of the collection containing the image and a ranking value for the image; c) selection means for selecting, for display in a first position in the order, an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images in the group; d) handicap assignment means for adjusting the handicap value assigned to the collection from which the selected image has been taken, after such image selection, to adjust the combined ranking score for each of the remaining images in said collection; and e) further selection means for selecting, after such handicap value adjustment and for display in a next available position in the order, an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images remaining in the group, wherein, following the image selection step e), the handicap value assigned to the collection from which the image has been selected in the image selection step e) is adjusted in a same sense as how the handicap value was adjusted in the adjustment step d) to adjust the combined ranking score for each image in said collection, and an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images remaining in the group is selected for display in the next available position in the order.
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13. A computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program that when executed by a processor performs a method of assigning, to each of a plurality of images within different collections in a group of images selected by a search engine, a position within an order in which the images are to be displayed for viewing on a display, the method the following steps:
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a) assigning an initial handicap value to each collection of images in the group, each collection comprising at least one image of a common origin; b) calculating a combined ranking score for each image in each collection by combining the handicap value of the collection containing the image and a ranking value for the image; c) selecting, for display in a first position in the order, an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images in the group; d) after such image selection step, adjusting the handicap value assigned to the collection from which the selected image has been taken to adjust the combined ranking score for each of the remaining images in said collection; and e) after such handicap value adjustment step, selecting, for display in a next available position in the order, an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images remaining in the group, wherein, following the image selection step e), the handicap value assigned to the collection from which the image has been selected in the image selection step e) is adjusted in a same sense as how the handicap value was adjusted in the adjustment step d) to adjust the combined ranking score for each image in said collection, and an image having an optimum combined ranking score relative to the combined ranking scores of the other images remaining in the group is selected for display in the next available position in the order.
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Specification