Resource search operations

• US 8,392,449 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2010
• Issued: 03/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Pelenur, Matias, Rohrs, Christopher H., Keshava, Samarth, Silber, Jeremy
• Primary Examiner(s): Uddin, Mohammed R
• Application Number:
  US12/839,721
• Publication Number:
  US 20110137933A1
• Time in Patent Office: 959 Days
• Field of Search: 707/769, 707/722, 707/760, 707/999.003
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for identifying query-relevant content in a resource identified by a search result in response to the query. In one aspect, a method includes identifying resource search tidbits for a resource, each resource search tidbit being eligible for a resource search operation for the resource. The resource search tidbits are provided with search results to a client device. In response to a user selecting a resource identified by a search result, the client device identifies text in the resource matching the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit and performs a resource search operation on the resource if the identified text meets a search operation threshold condition.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method performed by data processing apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving a query, the query including one or more query terms;

receiving, for each of a plurality of resources identified as being relevant to the query, one or more tidbits, each tidbit being query-relevant text extracted from the resource;

for each tidbit extracted from each resource;

determining whether the tidbit is eligible for a resource search operation that occurs in response to the resource being rendered on a client device; and

in response to determining that the tidbit is eligible for a resource search operation, marking the tidbit as being a resource search tidbit;

providing to a client device, for each of the plurality of resources, a corresponding search result responsive to the query, each search result including a resource locator that specifies the location of the resource, wherein at least one search result includes resource search tidbits, each of which are not rendered on the client device as part of the search result;

wherein a selection of the at least one search result at the client device causes the client device to perform operations comprising;

rendering the resource referenced by the search result;

selecting only resource search tidbits for which a portion of text in the resource that matches query-relevant text of a resource search tidbit is not within a viewport of the client device when the resource is initially rendered on the client device; and

only for the selected resource search tidbits performing a resource search operation comprising displaying with the rendered resource a selection environment that includes a respective selection environment option for each selected resource search tidbit, and wherein a selection of each respective selection environment option causes the client device to navigate to a portion of resource that includes the identified portion of the text matching the respectively selected resource search tidbit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

each search result includes a snippet, the snippet being query-relevant text extracted from the resource specified by the resource locator of the search result, and the snippet is rendered on the client device as part of the search result; and

the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit included in the search result is a subset of the query-relevant text of the snippet included in the search result.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

each search result includes a snippet, the snippet being query-relevant text extracted from the resource specified by the resource locator of the search result, and the snippet is rendered on the client device as part of the search result;

the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit included in the search result is independent of the query-relevant text of the snippet included in the search result.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the tidbit is eligible for a resource search operation that occurs in response to the resource being rendered on a client device comprises:

identifying query terms in a title section of the resource;

identifying query terms in the tidbit; and

determining that the tidbit is eligible for the resource search operation if there is at least one query term identified in the tidbit that is not identified in the title section of the resource.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

identifying query terms in a title section of the resource comprises identifying query terms in the title section of the resources and synonyms of the query terms identified in the title section;

identifying query terms in the tidbit comprises identifying query terms in the tidbit and synonyms of the query terms in the tidbit as identified query terms; and

determining that the tidbit is eligible for the resource search operation comprises determining that the tidbit is eligible for the resource search operation if there is at least one identified query term in the tidbit that is not identified in the title section of the resource.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the tidbit is eligible for a resource search operation that occurs in response to the resource being rendered on a client device comprises:

identifying query terms in a title section of the resource and the resource locator specifying the location of the resource;

identifying query terms in the tidbit; and

determining that the tidbit is eligible for the resource search operation if there is at least one query term identified in the tidbit that is not identified in either of the title section of the resource and the resource locator specifying the location of the resource.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the tidbit is eligible for a resource search operation that occurs in response to the resource being rendered on a client device comprises determining that the tidbit is eligible for the resource search operation if all of the query terms are included in the tidbit.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the query-relevant text of each tidbit is a contiguous portion of text extracted from the resource.

9. A computer-implemented method performed by a client device, the method comprising:

receiving, in response to a query including one or more query terms, a search results page including search results responsive to the query, each search result including a resource locator that specifies the location of a resource identified as being relevant to the query, and wherein at least one search result includes resource search tidbits, each of the resource search tidbits being query-relevant text extracted from the resource and eligible for a research search operation in response to the resource specified by the resource locator of the at least one search result being rendered on the client device;

receiving a selection of the at least one search result at the client device;

receiving, in response to the selection, the resource specified by the resource locator of the at least one search result;

rendering the resource at the client device;

for each resource search tidbit;

identifying a portion of text in the resource that matches the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit; and

determining whether the identified portion of the text matching the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit is not within a viewport of the client device when the resource is initially rendered on the client device; and

only for each resource search tidbit determined to not be within the viewport of the client device when the resource is initially rendered on the client device, performing a resource search operation comprising displaying with the rendered resource a selection environment that includes a selection environment option that corresponds to the resource search tidbit, and wherein a selection of the selection environment option causes the client device to navigate to a portion of resource that includes the identified portion of the text matching the resource search tidbit.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein identifying a portion of text in the resource that matches the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit comprises:

searching for a portion of text in the resource that exactly matches the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit;

if a portion of text in the resource that exactly matches the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit is found from the search, identifying the portion of text as matching the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit; and

if no portion of text in the resource that exactly matches the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit is found from the search, identifying a portion of text in the resource that most closely matches the query-relevant text of the resource tidbit as matching the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein identifying the portion of text in the resource that most closely matches the query-relevant text of the resource tidbit comprises identifying the portion of the text in the resource that has a minimum edit distance from the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit relative to other portions of the text in the resource.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein each resource search tidbit includes at least one query term that is not included in a title section of the resource.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein each resource search tidbit includes at least one query term that is not included in either of a title section of the resource and the resource locator specifying the location of the resource.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising automatically highlighting the portion of text in the resource that matches the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit in response to navigating to the portion of the text.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

associating, from a document object model of the search results page, the resource search tidbit of the at least one search result with the resource locator of the at least one search result;

storing the association in a computer memory; and

accessing the association in the computer memory in response to a selection of a search result from the search results page;

wherein identifying the portion of text in the resource that matches the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit comprises identifying the portion of text in the resource that matches the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit associated with the resource locator of the at least one search result that matches the resource locator of the resource.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein:

each search result includes a snippet, the snippet being query-relevant text extracted from the resource specified by the resource locator of the search result, and the snippet is rendered on the client device as part of the search result; and

the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit included in the at least one search result is a subset of the query-relevant text of the snippet included in the at least one search result.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein:

each search result includes a snippet, the snippet being query-relevant text extracted from the resource specified by the resource locator of the search result, and the snippet is rendered on the client device as part of the search result;

the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit included in the at least one search result is independent of the query-relevant text of the snippet included in the at least one search result.

18. A system, comprising:

a data processing apparatus comprising one or more computers; and

a data store in data communication with the data processing apparatus and storing instructions executable by a data processing apparatus and that upon execution cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising;

receiving a query, the query including one or more query terms;

receiving, for each of a plurality of resources identified as being relevant to the query, one or more tidbits, each tidbit being query-relevant text extracted from the resource;

for each tidbit extracted from each resource;

determining whether the tidbit is eligible for a resource search operation that occurs in response to the resource being rendered on a client device; and

in response to determining that the tidbit is eligible for a resource search operation, marking the tidbit as being a resource search tidbit;

providing to a client device, for each of the plurality of resources, a corresponding search result responsive to the query, each search result including a resource locator that specifies the location of the resource, and wherein at least one search result includes resource search tidbits, each of which are not rendered on the client device as part of the search result;

wherein a selection of the at least one search result at the client device causes the client device to perform operations comprising;

rendering the resource referenced by the search result;

selecting only resource search tidbits for which a portion of text in the resource that matches query-relevant text of a resource search tidbit is not within a viewport of the client device when the resource is initially rendered on the client device; and

only for the selected resource search tidbits performing a resource search operation comprising, displaying with the rendered resource a selection environment that includes a respective selection environment option for each selected resource search tidbit, and wherein a selection of each respective selection environment option causes the client device to navigate to a portion of resource that includes the identified portion of the text matching the respectively selected resource search tidbit.

19. A system, comprising:

a data processing apparatus comprising one or more computers; and

a data store in data communication with the data processing apparatus and storing instructions executable by a data processing apparatus and that upon execution cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising;

receiving, in response to a query including one or more query terms, a search results page including search results responsive to the query, each search result including a resource locator that specifies the location of a resource identified as being relevant to the query, and wherein at least one search result includes a resource search tidbit, the resource search tidbit being query-relevant text extracted from the resource and eligible for a research search operation in response to the resource specified by the resource locator of the at least one search result being rendered on the client device;

receiving a selection of the at least one search result at the client device;

receiving, in response to the selection, the resource specified by the resource locator of the at least one search result;

rendering the resource at the client device;

for each resource search tidbit;

identifying a portion of text in the resource that matches the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit; and

determining whether the identified portion of the text matching the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit is not within a viewport of the client device when the resource is initially rendered on the client device; and

only for each resource search tidbit determined to not be within the viewport of the client device when the resource is initially rendered on the client device, performing a resource search operation comprising displaying with the rendered resource a selection environment that includes a selection environment option that corresponds to the resource search tidbit, and wherein a selection of the selection environment option causes the client device to navigate to a portion of resource that includes the identified portion of the text matching the resource search tidbit.

20. Software stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage device comprising instructions executable by a data processing apparatus and that upon execution cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving, in response to a query including one or more query terms, a search results page including search results responsive to the query, each search result including a resource locator that specifies the location of a resource identified as being relevant to the query, and wherein at least one search result includes a resource search tidbit, the resource search tidbit being query-relevant text extracted from the resource and eligible for a research search operation in response to the resource specified by the resource locator of the at least one search result being rendered on the client device;

receiving a selection of the at least one search result at the client device;

receiving, in response to the selection, the resource specified by the resource locator of the at least one search result;

rendering the resource at the client device;

for each resource search tidbit;

identifying a portion of text in the resource that matches the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit; and

determining whether the identified portion of the text matching the query-relevant text of the resource search tidbit is not within a viewport of the client device when the resource is initially rendered on the client device; and

only for each resource search tidbit determined to not be within the viewport of the client device when the resource is initially rendered on the client device, performing a resource search operation comprising displaying with the rendered resource a selection environment that includes a selection environment option that corresponds to the resource search tidbit, and wherein a selection of the selection environment option causes the client device to navigate to a portion of resource that includes the identified portion of the text matching the resource search tidbit.