Search filtering

• US 8,032,527 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2007
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Tansuwan, Justin J., Ahn, Jungho, Lee, Junyoung
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali; Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): HASAN, SYED HAROON
• Application Number:
  US11/847,114
• Publication Number:
  US 20090063452A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,497 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/732
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/435 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/735 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6227 where protection concerns the structure of data, e.g. records, types, queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices

Abstract

Apparatus, systems and methods for search filtering are disclosed. A search instance associated with a user device is identified, and a determination is made as to whether the search instance includes a filtering term. If the search instance is determined to include a filtering term, then filtered content items in the search instance are identified, and the filtered content items and access to a verification service that provides access approval or access denial for unfiltered content items in the search instance are provided to the user device. Conversely, if the search instance is determine not to include a filtering term, then the unfiltered content items are provided to the user device.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving a query from a user device;

determining that the query includes a filtering term and in response to the determination;

identifying content items that are responsive to the query as unfiltered content items;

identifying filtered content items based on the query and the filtering term;

providing search results for the filtered content items to the user device, each search result referencing a filtered content item;

providing the user device access to a verification service that provides access approval or access denial for search results for the unfiltered content items that are responsive to the query,

determining whether access approval or access denial is received from the verification service in response to user identification data provided to the verification service;

if access approval is received from the verification service, then providing search results for the unfiltered content items to the user device; and

if access denial is received from the verification service, then precluding the provisioning of search results for the unfiltered content items to the user device;

wherein determining that the query includes a filtering term comprises;

segmenting the query into query components;

comparing the query components to a keyword hash map, each component having a corresponding level and a corresponding status, wherein each level corresponds to a position of its corresponding component in a query, and wherein each status designates its corresponding component in the hash map as one of a filtered or unfiltered term; and

determining that the query includes the filtering term when the query components map to components in the keyword hash map for which a last query component of a word in the query maps to a component in the keyword hash map having a status of a filtered term.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the user device access to a verification service comprises providing a link to an age verification service landing page.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the user device access to a verification service comprises providing a user identification data input interface to the user device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

providing user identification data received from the user device through the user identification data input interface to the verification service.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

instantiating a device session for the user device;

classifying the device session as an approved device session in response to receiving access approval from the verification service; and

automatically providing the unfiltered content items to the user device for the duration of the device session.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein instantiating a device session for the user device comprises verifying a user login to a user account from the user device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein classifying the device session as an approved device session in response to receiving access approval from the verification service comprises:

associating the user account with access approval; and

automatically classifying the device session as an approved device session upon each subsequent verification of the user login.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying filtered content items based on the query and the filtering term comprises:

initiating a search of an information corpus for content items that are responsive to the query;

identifying the content items that are responsive to the query as the unfiltered content items;

filtering the content items that are responsive to the query by the filtering term to exclude some of the content items that are responsive to the query; and

identifying the non-excluded content items as the filtered content items.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying filtered content items based on the query and the filtering term comprises:

generating a revised query based on the filtering term;

initiating a search of an information corpus for content items that are responsive to the revised query; and

identifying the content items that are responsive to the revised query as the filtered content items.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein generating a revised query based on the filtering term comprises removing the filtering term from the query when the query includes the filtering term and one or more other terms that are not filtering terms.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein generating a revised query based on the filtering term comprises generating a negative Boolean term based on the filtering term.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the query includes or is associated with a filtering term comprises:

comparing the query to a list of filtering terms; and

determining if the query includes or is associated with one or more of the filtering terms.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining that the query includes a filtering term comprises:

determining a query context of the filtering term; and

determining that the query includes the filtering term if the query context of the filtering term is not an approved query context.

14. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a search query from a user device;

identifying content items that are responsive to the query as unfiltered content items;

determining if the search query includes a filtering term;

if the search query is determined to include a filtering term, then;

identifying filtered content items that do not include the filtering term in the search query as filtered content items;

providing search results for the filtered content items to the user device;

providing the user device access to a verification service that provides access approval or access denial for search results for unfiltered content items in the search query;

determining whether access approval or access denial is received from the verification service in response to user identification data provided to the verification service;

if access approval is received from the verification service, then providing search results for the unfiltered content items to the user device; and

if access denial is received from the verification service, then precluding the provisioning of search results for the unfiltered content items to the user device; and

if the search query is determined not to include the filtering term, then providing the user device with search results for the unfiltered content items;

wherein;

determining if the search instance includes a filtering term comprises;

segmenting the query into query components;

comparing the query components to a keyword hash map, each component having a corresponding level and a corresponding status, wherein each level corresponds to a position of its corresponding component in a query, and wherein each status designates its corresponding component in the hash map as one of a filtered or unfiltered term;

determining that the query includes the filtering term when the query components map to components in the keyword hash map for which a last query component of a word in the query maps to a component in the keyword hash map having a status of a filtered term.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the filtered content items are a subset of the unfiltered content items, and the unfiltered content items are content items that are identified in an information corpus for the search query.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein identifying filtered content items comprises:

filtering the content items that are responsive to the query by the filtering term to exclude some of the content items that are responsive to the query; and

identifying the non-excluded content items as the unfiltered content items.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein providing the user device access to a verification service comprises providing a link to an age verification service landing page.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein providing the user device access to a verification service comprises providing a user identification data input interface to the user device.

19. A system, comprising:

search access instructions stored in a computer readable medium and operable to be executed by a processing device, and upon such execution configure the processing device to;

identify a search query received a user device;

identify content items that are responsive to the query as unfiltered content items;

determine if the search query includes a filtering term;

in response to determining that the search query includes a filtering term;

identify content items that do not include the filtering term as filtered content items; and

provide search results for the filtered content items to the user device; and

in response to determining that the search query does not include a filtering term, provide the unfiltered content item to the user device; and

verification service access instructions stored in a computer readable medium and operable to be executed by a processing device, and upon such execution configure the processing device to;

provide the user device access to a verification service in response to the processing device executing the search access instruction determining that the search instance includes a filtering term;

determine whether access approval or access denial is received from the verification service in response to user identification data provided to the verification service;

if access approval is received from the verification service, then provide search results for the unfiltered content items to the user device; and

if access denial is received from the verification service, then preclude the provisioning of search results for the unfiltered content items to the user device;

wherein the search access instructions include instructions that upon execution configure the processing device to;

segment the query into query components;

compare the query components to a keyword hash map, each component having a corresponding level and a corresponding status, wherein each level corresponds to a position of its corresponding component in a query, and wherein each status designates its corresponding component in the hash map as one of a filtered or unfiltered term;

determine that the query includes the filtering term when the query components map to components in the keyword hash map for which a last query component of a word in the query maps to a component in the keyword hash map having a status of a filtered term.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the verification service access instructions include instructions that upon execution configure the processing device to provide the user device a link to an age verification service landing page.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the verification service access instruction include instructions that upon execution configure the processing device to provide a user identification data input interface to the user device.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the filtered content items are a subset of the unfiltered content items, and the unfiltered content items are content items that are identified in an information corpus for the search query.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the search access instructions include instructions that upon execution configure the processing device to:

filter the content items that are responsive to the query by the filtering term to exclude some of the content items that are responsive to the query; and

identify the non-excluded content items as the filtered content items.