Interface for a universal search

• US 8,301,656 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2008
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Taylor, Bret, Mayer, Marissa, Buyukkokten, Orkut
• Primary Examiner(s): Kerzhner, Aleksandr
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bullock, Joshua
• Application Number:
  US12/200,601
• Publication Number:
  US 20090063425A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,524 Days
• Field of Search: 707/771, 707/749, 707/738
• US Class Current: 707/771
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/35 Clustering; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A search engine may perform a search for a user search query over a number of possible search categories. For example, the search query may be performed for general web documents, images, and news documents. The search engine ranks categories based on the search query and/or the documents returned for each category and presents the search results to the user by category. Higher ranking categories may be presented more prominently than lower ranking categories.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more server devices, a first list of search results and a second list of search results, the first list being associated with a first category, the second list being associated with a second category that differs from the first category, the first category being higher ranked than the second category based on respective relevances of search results in the first list and search results in the second list to a search query;

generating, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices, a document providing information associated with the first list and the second list, where the document includes a first area and a second area, the first area being more prominently presented, within the document, than the second area when the document is rendered,

where the first area of the document is associated with the first list, where the first area presents information associated with at least one search result of the first list, the information presented in the first area including at least one snippet associated with, respectively, the at least one search result of the first list, and

where the second area of the document is associated with the second list, where the second area presents information associated with at least one search result of the second list, and where the information presented in the second area does not include a textual snippet associated with any of the at least one search result of the second list; and

outputting, by the one or more server devices, the document.

2. The method of claim 1, where one or more of the first area or the second area include a thumbnail image associated with one of the at least one search result of the first list or the at least one search result of the second list.

3. The method of claim 2, where the second area includes the thumbnail image.

4. The method of claim 1, where the first area corresponds to the first category associated with the first list, and

where the second area impend corresponds to the second category associated with the second list.

5. The method of claim 1, where the first area includes a plurality of search results of the first list, and

where the first area includes a respective textual snippet for each of the plurality of search results of the first list.

6. The method of claim 1, where the first category is a highest ranking category of a plurality of categories associated with, respectively, a plurality of lists of results that are relevant to the search query.

7. The method of claim 1, where generating the document further includes:

providing, in the document, a link to one or more search results, of the first list, that are not identified in the information presented in the first area.

8. The method of claim 1, where the first area is larger than the second area when the document is rendered.

9. A method comprising:

receiving, by a processor in a computer system, results that are relevant to a search query, the results including a first plurality of search results and a second plurality of search results, the first plurality of search results being associated with a first document category, the second plurality of search results being associated with a second document category that differs from the first document category, the first document category being more relevant to the search query than the second document category;

providing, by a processor in the computer system and for presentation on a display, information associated with the results, the providing of the information including;

providing, for presentation in a first display area of the display, information associated with the first plurality of search results, and

providing, for presentation in a second display area of the display, information associated with the second plurality of search results, the first display area being more prominently presented on the display than the second display area,

where the first display area presents a snippet associated with, respectively, each displayed one of the first plurality of search results, and

where the second display area does not include a snippet associated with any of the second plurality of search results.

10. The method of claim 9, where providing the information associated with the first plurality of search results includes:

identifying a document associated with a particular search result of the first plurality of search results;

identifying a particular textual snippet associated with the particular search result and derived from the document; and

providing, in the first display area, the particular textual snippet in connection with the particular search result.

11. The method of claim 9, where providing the information associated with the first plurality of search results includes:

providing, in the first display area, a respective title for each of the first plurality of search results.

12. The method of claim 9,

where first display area is larger than the second display area.

13. The method of claim 12, where a horizontal dimension of the first display area is larger than a horizontal dimension of the second display area.

14. A system comprising:

one or more server devices to;

receive a first list of search results and a second list of search results, the first list being associated with a first category, the second list being associated with a second category that differs from the first category, the first category being higher ranked than the second category based on respective relevances of search results in the first list and search results in the second list to a search query;

generate a document that provides information associated with the first list and the second list, where the document includes a first area and a second area, the first area being larger and more prominently presented, within the document, than the second area when the document is rendered,

where the first area of the document is associated with the first list, where the first area presents information associated with at least one search result of the first list, the information presented in the first area including at least one snippet associated with, respectively, the at least one search result of the first list, and

where the second area of the document is associated with the second list, where the second area presents information associated with at least one search result of the second list, and where the information presented in the second area does not include a textual snippet associated with any of the at least one search result of the second list; and

output the document.

15. The system of claim 14, where the one or more server devices, when generating the document, are further to:

include, in one or more of the first area or the second area, a thumbnail image associated with one of the at least one search result of the first list or the at least one search result of the second list.

16. The system of claim 15, where the one or more server devices, when generating the document, are further to:

include, in the second area, the thumbnail image, the first area not including the thumbnail image.

17. The system of claim 14, where the first area corresponds to the first category associated with the first list, and

where the second area corresponds to the second category associated with the second list.

18. The system of claim 14, where the one or more server devices, when generating the document, are further to:

include, in the first area, information associated with a plurality of search results of the first list, and

where the information associated with the plurality of search results of the first list includes a respective textual snippet for each of the plurality of search results of the first list.

19. The system of claim 14, where the first category is a highest ranking category of a plurality of categories associated with, respectively, a plurality of lists of results that are relevant to the search query.

20. The system of claim 14, where the one or more server devices, when generating the document, are further to:

include, in the document, a link to one or more search results, of the first list, that are not identified in the information presented in the first area.