Custom search

• US 8,082,242 B1
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Issued: 12/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Mysen, Clarence Christopher, Verma, Naval, Chen, Johnny
• Primary Examiner(s): Leroux, Etienne
• Assistant Examiner(s): RAHMAN, MOHAMMAD N
• Application Number:
  US11/618,461
• Time in Patent Office: 1,817 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1- 4, 7079991- 3, 707/711
• US Class Current: 707/711
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9562 Bookmark management

Abstract

A system may receive selection of one or more of a set of custom content groups, where each of the custom content groups is associated with a custom search index that is different from a web search index and a custom search index associated with another one of the custom content groups. The system may receive a search query from a user, perform a search of the web search index based on the search query to identify web search results, perform a search of one or more custom search indexes associated with the selected one or more the custom content groups to identify custom search results, generate a search result document that includes the web search results and the custom search results; and provide the search result document.

Claims

1. A method performed by one or more server devices, comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices and independent of any search query, a selection from a first user of one or more documents, where the one or more documents are used to form a plurality of custom content groups;

indexing, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices, the one or more documents to form a custom search index for each of the plurality of custom content groups, where each custom search index is different from a web search index and any other custom search index associated with the plurality of content groups;

receiving, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices and from a second, different user, a selection of one or more of the plurality of custom content groups;

receiving, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices and from a client device associated with the second user, a search query;

performing, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices and based on the search query, a search of the web search index to identify web search results;

performing, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices and based on the search query, a search of one or more of the custom search indexes associated with the selected one or more custom content groups to identify custom search results;

generating, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices, a search result document that includes the web search results, the custom search results, and a plurality of advertisements presented within at least a first area and a second area of the search result document, where the first area is distinct from the second area within the search result document, where the web search results and one or more of the custom search results are included within the first area, and where the advertisements and another one or more of the custom search results are included within the second area; and

providing, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices, the search result document to the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, where receiving the selection of the one or more custom content groups includes:

determining at least one of the plurality of custom content groups that the second user is permitted to access, and

automatically selecting the at least one custom content group that the second user is permitted to access.

3. The method of claim 2, where determining the at least one custom content group that the second is permitted to access includes:

identifying a first set, of the plurality of custom content groups, that is freely available to all users,

identifying a second set, of the plurality of custom content groups, to which the second user has subscribed, and

determining that the second user is permitted to access the first set and second set of plurality of custom content groups.

4. The method of claim 1, where receiving the selection of the one or more custom content groups includes:

providing the second user with a user interface, and

receiving, from the second user and via the user interface, an identifier that identifies the one or more custom content groups.

5. The method of claim 1, where receiving the selection of the one or more custom content groups includes:

providing, to the second user, a list of available ones of the plurality of custom content groups, and

receiving the selection of the one or more custom content groups from the list.

6. The method of claim 5, where the list is provided via a toolbar of a browser application associated with the client device.

7. The method of claim 6, where providing the list of available ones of the plurality of custom content groups includes:

receiving a data feed that includes the list, and

providing, via the toolbar, the data feed.

8. The method of claim 5, where providing the list of available ones of the plurality of custom content groups includes:

providing a list of only those of the custom content groups that the second user is permitted to access.

9. The method of claim 1, where one of the custom search results includes a for-pay search result that requires payment of a fee for accessing the for-pay search result;

and

where the method further comprises;

providing information, in association with the for-pay search result, that indicates the fee for accessing the for-pay search result.

10. The method of claim 1, where the custom search results include:

for-pay search results that require payment of a fee for accessing the for-pay search results, and

other search results not requiring payment of a fee for accessing the other search results; and

where generating the search result document includes;

providing the other search results with the web search results in the first area of the search result document, and

providing the for-pay search results with the advertisements in the second area of the search result document.

11. A device comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a processor to execute the instructions to;

receive, independent of any search query and from a first user, a selection of one or more documents, where the one or more documents are used to form a plurality of custom content groups,

index the one or more documents to form a custom search index for each of the plurality of custom content groups, where each custom search index is different from a web search index and any other custom search index associated with the plurality of content groups,

receive, from a second, different user, a selection of one or more of the plurality of custom content groups,

receive, from a client device associated with the second user, a search query,

perform, based on the search query, a search of the web search index to identify web search results,

perform, based on the search query, a search of one or more of the custom search indexes associated with the selected one or more custom content groups to identify custom search results,

generate a search result document that includes the web search results, the custom search results, and a plurality of advertisements presented within at least a first area and a second area of the search result document, where the first area is distinct from the second area within the search result document, where the web search results and one or more of the custom search results are included within the first area, and where the advertisements and another one or more of the custom search results are included within the second area, and

provide, to the client device, the search result document.

12. The device of claim 11, where the processor, when receiving the selection of the one or more custom content groups, is further to:

determine at least one of the plurality of custom content groups that the second user is permitted to access, and

automatically select the at least one custom content group that the second user is permitted to access.

13. The device of claim 12, where the processor, when determining the at least one custom content group that the second is permitted to access, is further to:

identify a first set, of the plurality of custom content groups, that is freely available to all users,

identify a second set, of the plurality of custom content groups, to which the second user has subscribed, and

determine that the second user is permitted to access the first set and second set of plurality of custom content groups.

14. The device of claim 11, where the processor, when receiving the selection of the one or more custom content groups, is further to:

provide the second user with a user interface, and

receive, from the second user and via the user interface, an identifier that identifies the one or more custom content groups.

15. The device of claim 11, where the processor, when receiving the selection of the one or more custom content groups, is further to:

provide, to the second user, a list of available ones of the plurality of custom content groups, and

receive, from the second user, the selection of the one or more custom content groups from the list.

16. The device of claim 15, where processor, when providing the list, is further to:

provide the list via a toolbar of a browser application associated with the client device.

17. The device of claim 16, where the processor, when providing the list of available ones of the plurality of custom content groups, is further to:

receive a data feed that includes the list, and

provide, via the toolbar, the data feed.

18. The device of claim 15, where the processor, when providing the list of available ones of the plurality of custom content groups, is further to:

provide a list of only those of the custom content groups that the second user is permitted to access.

19. The device of claim 11, where one of the custom search results includes a for-pay search result that requires payment of a fee for accessing the for-pay search result;

and

where the processor is further to;

provide information, in association with the for-pay search result, that indicates the fee for accessing the for-pay search result.

20. The device of claim 11, where the custom search results include:

for-pay search results that require payment of a fee for accessing the for-pay search results, and

other search results not requiring payment of a fee for accessing the other search results; and

where the processor, when generating the search result document, is further to;

provide the other search results with the web search results in the first area of the search result document, and

provide the for-pay search results with the advertisements in the second area of the search result document.

21. A memory device to store instructions that are executable by a processor of a network device, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions to receive, independent of any search query and from a first user, a selection of one or more documents, where the one or more documents are used to form a plurality of custom content groups;

one or more instructions to index the one or more documents to form a custom search index for each of the plurality of custom content groups, where each custom search index is different from a web search index and any other custom search index associated with the plurality of content groups;

one or more instructions to receive, from a second, different user, a selection of one or more of the plurality of custom content groups;

one or more instructions to receive, from a client device associated with the second user, a search query;

one or more instructions to perform, based on the search query, a search of the web search index to identify web search results;

one or more instructions to perform, based on the search query, a search of one or more of the custom search indexes associated with the selected one or more custom content groups to identify custom search results;

one or more instructions to generate a search result document that includes the web search results, the custom search results, and a plurality of advertisements presented within at least a first area and a second area of the search result document, where the first area is distinct from the second area within the search result document, where the web search results and one or more of the custom search results are included within the first area, and where the advertisements and another one or more of the custom search results are included within the second area; and

one or more instructions to provide, to the client device, the search result document.

22. The device of claim 21, where the one or more instructions to receive the selection of the one or more custom content groups further include:

one or more instructions to determine at least one of the plurality of custom content groups that the second user is permitted to access, and

one or more instructions to automatically select the at least one custom content group that the second user is permitted to access.

23. The device of claim 22, where the one or more instructions to determine the at least one custom content group that the second is permitted to access further include:

one or more instructions to identify a first set, of the plurality of custom content groups, that is freely available to all users,

one or more instructions to identify a second set, of the plurality of custom content groups, to which the second user has subscribed, and

one or more instructions to determine that the second user is permitted to access the first set and second set of plurality of custom content groups.

24. The device of claim 21, where the one or more instructions to receive the selection of the one or more custom content groups further include:

one or more instructions to provide the second user with a user interface, and

one or more instructions to receive, from the second user and via the user interface, an identifier that identifies the one or more custom content groups.

25. The device of claim 21, where the one or more instructions to receive the selection of the one or more custom content groups further include:

one or more instructions to provide, to the second user, a list of available ones of the plurality of custom content groups, and

one or more instructions to receive, from the second user, the selection of the one or more custom content groups from the list.

26. The device of claim 25, where the one or more instructions to provide the list further include:

one or more instructions to provide the list via a toolbar of a browser application associated with the client device.

27. The device of claim 26, where the one or more instructions to provide the list of available ones of the plurality of custom content groups further include:

one or more instructions to receive a data feed that includes the list, and

one or more instructions to provide, via the toolbar, the data feed.

28. The device of claim 25, where the one or more instructions to provide the list of available ones of the plurality of custom content groups further include:

one or more instructions to provide a list of only those of the custom content groups that the second user is permitted to access.

29. The device of claim 21, where one of the custom search results includes a for-pay search result that requires payment of a fee for accessing the for-pay search result;

and

where the instructions further include;

one or more instructions to provide information, in association with the for-pay search result, that indicates the fee for accessing the for-pay search result.

30. The device of claim 21, where the custom search results include:

for-pay search results that require payment of a fee for accessing the for-pay search results, and

other search results not requiring payment of a fee for accessing the other search results; and

where the one or more instructions to generate the search result document further include;

one or more instructions to provide the other search results with the web search results in the first area of the search result document, and

one or more instructions to provide the for-pay search results with the advertisements in the second area of the search result document.