Interleaving search results

• US 8,086,600 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2007
• Issued: 12/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Bailey, David R., Effrat, Jonathan J., Singhal, Amit
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Leslie
• Application Number:
  US11/952,078
• Publication Number:
  US 20080140647A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,482 Days
• Field of Search: 707/706, 707/723, 707/999.01, 707/999.007, 707/999.003, 707/999.107, 709/203, 709/219
• US Class Current: 707/723
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for interleaving search results. A method includes presenting multiple first search results received from a first search engine. The first search results satisfy a search query directed to the first search engine and are presented in an order. A second search result from a second search engine is inserted at a position between two otherwise adjacent first search results. The second search result is received from a second search engine in response to the search query.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a plurality of first search results in a first presentation format, the first search results received from a first search engine, the first search results identified for a search query directed to the first search engine, the first search results having an associated order indicative of respective first quality scores that are used to rank the first search results;

receiving one or more second search results in a second presentation format different from the first presentation format, the second search results received from a second search engine, the second search results identified for the search query directed to the second search engine, wherein the first search engine searches a first corpus of first resources, wherein the second search engine searches a second corpus of second resources, and wherein the first search engine and the second search engines are distinct from each other;

obtaining a respective first quality score for a plurality of the first search results, the respective first quality score determined in relation to the corpus of first resources and obtaining a respective second quality score for each of the one or more second search results, each respective second quality score determined in relation to the corpus of second resources; and

inserting one or more of the second search results into the order including decreasing one or more of the respective first quality scores by reducing a contribution of a scoring feature unique to the first search results and distinct from scoring features of the second search results so that the inserted second search results occur within a number of top-ranked search results in the order.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of first search results comprises an ordered list of search results, and wherein the plurality of first search results is a number of highest-quality search results provided by the first search engine that are identified as responsive to the search query.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a third search result, the third search result received from a third search engine, wherein the third search engine searches a corpus of third resources, and wherein the third search engine is distinct from the first search engine and the second search engine; and

inserting the third search result into the order.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first resources are generic web pages and the second resources are video resources.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first resources are generic web pages and the second resources are news resources.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving a third search result from the second search engine; and

inserting the third search result at a position between two otherwise adjacent first search results in the order, the position not being adjacent to the inserted one or more second search results.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the number is a predetermined number of top-ranked results.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

a second quality score in the second quality scores is based on a publication date of a resource corresponding to a respective one of the second search results.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first resources are generic web pages and the second resources are image resources.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing two or more of the second search results in a group.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

providing an image adjacent to the group of two or more second search results.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the search query; and

providing a number of top-ranked first search results and the inserted one or more second search results in response to the received search query.

13. A system comprising:

one or more computers; and

a computer-readable storage device having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

receiving a plurality of first search results in a first presentation format, the first search results received from a first search engine, the first search results identified for a search query directed to the first search engine, the first search results having an associated order indicative of respective first quality scores that are used to rank the first search results;

receiving one or more second search results in a second presentation format different from the first presentation format, the second search results received from a second search engine, the second search results identified for the search query directed to the second search engine, wherein the first search engine searches a first corpus of first resources, wherein the second search engine searches a second corpus of second resources, and wherein the first search engine and the second search engines are distinct from each other;

obtaining a respective first quality score for a plurality of the first search results, the respective first quality score determined in relation to the corpus of first resources and obtaining a respective second quality score for each of the one or more second search results, each respective second quality score determined in relation to the corpus of second resources; and

inserting one or more of the second search results into the order including decreasing one or more of the respective first quality scores by reducing a contribution of a scoring feature unique to the first search results and distinct from scoring features of the second search results so that the inserted second search results occur within a number of top- ranked search results in the order.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of first search results comprises an ordered list of search results, and wherein the plurality of first search results is a number of highest-quality search results provided by the first search engine that are identified as responsive to the search query.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a third search result, the third search result received from a third search engine, wherein the third search engine searches a corpus of third resources, and wherein the third search engine is distinct from the first search engine and the second search engine; and

inserting the third search result into the order.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the first resources are generic web pages and the second resources are video resources.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the first resources are generic web pages and the second resources are news resources.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a third search result from the second search engine; and

inserting the third search result at a position between two otherwise adjacent first search results in the order, the position not being adjacent to the inserted one or more second search results.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the number is a predetermined number of top-ranked results.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein:

a second quality score in the second quality scores is based on a publication date of a resource corresponding to a respective one of the second search results.

21. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the first resources are generic web pages and the second resources are image resources.

22. The system of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

providing two or more of the second search results in a group.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the operations further comprise:

providing an image adjacent to the group of two or more second search results.

24. The system of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the search query; and

providing a number of top-ranked first search results and the inserted one or more second search results in response to the received search query.

25. A computer-readable storage device having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

receiving a plurality of first search results in a first presentation format, the first search results received from a first search engine, the first search results identified for a search query directed to the first search engine, the first search results having an associated order indicative of respective first quality scores that are used to rank the first search results;

receiving one or more second search results in a second presentation format different from the first presentation format, the second search results received from a second search engine, the second search results identified for the search query directed to the second search engine, wherein the first search engine searches a first corpus of first resources, wherein the second search engine searches a second corpus of second resources, and wherein the first search engine and the second search engines are distinct from each other;

obtaining a respective first quality score for a plurality of the first search results, the respective first quality score determined in relation to the corpus of first resources and obtaining a respective second quality score for each of the one or more second search results, each respective second quality score determined in relation to the corpus of second resources; and

inserting one or more of the second search results into the order including decreasing one or more of the respective first quality scores by reducing a contribution of a scoring feature unique to the first search results and distinct from scoring features of the second search results so that the inserted second search results occur within a number of top-ranked search results in the order.

26. The storage device of claim 25, wherein the plurality of first search results comprises an ordered list of search results, and wherein the plurality of first search results is a number of highest-quality search results provided by the first search engine that are identified as responsive to the search query.

27. The storage device of claim 25, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a third search result, the third search result received from a third search engine, wherein the third search engine searches a corpus of third resources, and wherein the third search engine is distinct from the first search engine and the second search engine; and

inserting the third search result into the order.

28. The storage device of claim 25, wherein:

the first resources are generic web pages and the second resources are video resources.

29. The storage device of claim 25, wherein:

the first resources are generic web pages and the second resources are news resources.

30. The storage device of claim 28, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a third search result from the second search engine; and

inserting the third search result at a position between two otherwise adjacent first search results in the order, the position not being adjacent to the inserted one or more second search results.

31. The storage device of claim 25, wherein:

the number is a predetermined number of top-ranked results.

32. The storage device of claim 25, wherein:

a second quality score in the second quality scores is based on a publication date of a resource corresponding to a respective one of the second search results.

33. The storage device of claim 25, wherein:

the first resources are generic web pages and the second resources are image resources.

34. The storage device of claim 25, wherein the operations further comprise:

providing two or more of the second search results in a group.

35. The storage device of claim 34, wherein the operations further comprise:

providing an image adjacent to the group of two or more second search results.

36. The storage device of claim 25, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the search query; and

providing a number of top-ranked first search results and the inserted one or more second search results in response to the received search query.