Method for enhancing search results

• US 7,941,428 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2007
• Issued: 05/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jan W. Huston
• Original Assignee: Jan W. Huston
• Inventors: Huston, Jan W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Coby; Frantz
• Application Number:
  US11/763,520
• Publication Number:
  US 20080313144A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,425 Days
• Field of Search: 707706-707, 707722-723, 707/737, 707748-752
• US Class Current: 707/722
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Disclosed in this specification is a software and browser application for monitoring submissions to a third-party search engine. When the third-party search engine returns a list of results, the list may be compared to a list of rated websites located in a rating database. For each website in the list of rated websites, one or more experts has entered a rating value and text evaluation. The rating value for each of the websites in the list of results is then displayed to the user upon request. Additionally, metadata may also be displayed for each of the websites. In this manner, the list of results that was provided by the third-party search engine has been enhanced so as to permit the user to more easily find reliable, relevant information.

Claims

1. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by machine to perform the method steps for enhancing search results comprising the steps of:

identifying a third-party search engine from a plurality of search engines;

loading a communication protocol that is selected from a plurality of communication protocols, wherein the selected communication protocol is selected to properly interpret the communication from the identified third-party search engine;

receiving a list of results from the third-party internet search engine in a first rank order in response to a submission of a search term to the search engine,

comparing the list of results to a list of websites in a database, wherein the database includes a rating value for each website in the list of websites in the database,

determining the rating value for each result in the list of results which was found in the list of websites in the database, wherein the rating value was determined by an evaluator that evaluates a plurality of predetermined criteria, the criteria being weighed such that not all criteria contribute equally to the determination of the rating value, such weighing being established by the evaluator of the website and the same criteria weighing being applied to all websites evaluated by the evaluator who determined the rating value,

assigning a null value to the rating value for each result in the list of results which was not found in the list of websites in the database,

displaying the rating value for each result while maintaining the first rank order that was established by the third-party search engine.

2. The program storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the search term is submitted to the third-party internet search engine through a web browser.

3. The program storage device as recited in claim 2, wherein the rating value is displayed in a toolbar integrated with the web browser.

4. The program storage device as recited in claim 3, wherein the toolbar is comprised of a request button, which toggles the appearance of an expanded toolbar.

5. The program storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the rating value is displayed in a rating display box.

6. The program storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the rating value is a numeric rating value.

7. The program storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the rating value is depicted graphically.

8. The program storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the search engine is hosted on a first server and the database is hosted on a second server.

9. The program storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein the database includes metadata for at least one website in the database.

10. The program storage device as recited in claim 9, wherein the metadata includes a topic category for at least one website in the database.

11. The program storage device as recited in claim 9, wherein the method further comprises the step of comparing the search term to the metadata, thus producing a list of related web sites.

12. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions in the form of an internet browser application executable by machine to perform the method steps for enhancing search results comprising the steps of

identifying a third-party search engine from a plurality of search engines;

loading a communication protocol that is selected from a plurality of communication protocols, wherein the selected communication protocol is selected to properly interpret the communication from the identified third-party search engine;

receiving a list of results from the third-party search engine,

comparing the list of results to a list of websites in a database, wherein the database includes a rating value for each website in the database,

determining the rating value for each result in the list of results which was found in the list of websites in the database, wherein the rating value is determined by evaluating a plurality of predetermined criteria, the criteria being weighed such that not all criteria contribute equally to the determination of the rating value, such weighing being established by an evaluator of the website and the same criteria weighing being applied to all websites evaluated by the evaluator who determined the rating value,

assigning a null value to the rating value for each result in the list of results which was not found in the list of websites in the database,

displaying the rating value for at least one result in the list of results in a rating display box of the browser such that the rating value is displayed proximal to the at least one result without changing the rank order of the list of results from the third-party search engine.

13. The program storage device as recited in claim 12, wherein the rating value is determined by evaluating the criteria which are not assigned by a computer algorithm.

14. The program storage device as recited in claim 12, wherein the database includes metadata for at least one website in the database.

15. The program storage device as recited in claim 14, wherein the method further comprises the step of comparing a search term that was submitted to the search engine to the metadata, thus producing a list of related websites.

16. The program storage device as recited in claim 15, wherein the method further comprises the step of determining an order value for each website in the list of the related websites which was found in the database.

17. The program storage device as recited in claim 12, wherein the database includes a topic category for at least one website in the database.

18. The program storage device as recited in claim 12, wherein the list of results was received from the third-party search engine in response to the submission of a search term by a submitter, wherein the submitter cannot alter the rating value.

19. A method for enhancing search results comprising the steps of:

selecting, from a plurality of individuals, at least one individual to serve as an evaluator,

weighing a plurality of predetermined criteria, by each evaluator, such that at least one of the plurality of predetermined criteria contributes more to the determination of a compilation rating value than the other plurality of predetermined criteria, thus producing a weighed plurality of predetermined criteria,

providing an opportunity for each individual evaluator to evaluate a plurality of internet websites according to the weighed plurality of predetermined criteria established by each individual evaluator,

providing an opportunity for the evaluator to rate at least one of the plurality of internet websites based on the weighed plurality of predetermined criteria, thus producing a weighed criteria rating value for each of the weighed plurality of predetermined criteria, wherein the individuals who are not selected to serve as an evaluator are not permitted to rate the websites,

storing the weighed criteria rating value in a rating database, the rating database being hosted on a computer,

determining the compilation rating value for each website in the plurality of internet websites based upon the weighed criteria rating values,

storing the compilation rating values in the rating database such that web compilation rating value is correlated to each website in the plurality of internet websites,

receiving a list of results from a third-party internet search engine in a first rank order in response to a submission of a search term to the search engine,

comparing the list of results to the plurality of websites in the database,

assigning a null value to the compilation rating value for each result in the list of results which was not found in the list of websites,

display the list of results from the third-party search engine while maintaining the first rank order that was established by the third-party search engine,

displaying the compilation rating value for each result.

20. The method as recited in claim 19, further comprising the step of providing an opportunity for a submitter of the search term to provide input concerning the compilation rating value, wherein the input is selected from the group consisting of agreeing and disagreeing with the compilation rating value, wherein the submitter cannot change the compilation rating value.

21. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions in the form of an internet browser application executable by machine to perform the method steps for enhancing search results comprising the steps of

a. receiving a list of results from a third-party search engine in a first rank order,

b. comparing the list of results to a list of websites in a database, wherein the database includes a rating value for each website in the database,

c. determining the rating value for each result in the list of results which was found in the list of websites in the database, wherein the rating value is determined by evaluating a plurality of predetermined criteria wherein the plurality of predetermined criteria are weighed such that not all criteria contribute equally to the determination of the rating value, such weighing being established by an evaluator of the website and the same criteria weighing being applied to all websites evaluated by the evaluator who determined the rating value,

d. assigning a null value to the rating value for each result in the list of results which was not found in the list of websites in the database,

e. displaying the rating value for at least one result in the list of results in a toolbar of the browser while maintaining the first rank order that was established by the third-party search engine.

22. The program storage device as recited in claim 21, wherein the method further comprises the step of displaying the list of related websites in the toolbar of the browser, ordered by the order value.