Using structured data for online research

• US 8,429,185 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2007
• Issued: 04/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Kim, Jane, Lyndersay, Sean, Pavlicic, Miladin, Vonkoch, Walter, Truelove, Benjamin N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Khanh
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHEEMA, AZAM M
• Application Number:
  US11/705,350
• Publication Number:
  US 20080195629A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,262 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]

Abstract

Various embodiments utilize structured data contained within a resource, such as a web page, to enable a user to define collections of data. Individual constituent parts of a collection or “links” are collected within a collection. In one or more embodiments, a full page viewing experience can be provided which enables users to not only view more details for a given link, but to view multiple different links at a time. Other viewing options and collection interactions are provided.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a resource having structured data, the structured data described using one or more data types;

identifying structured data associated with the resource by examining a markup language associated with the resource for one or more descriptions of the structured data contained within the markup language;

rendering the resource having structured data;

presenting a visual indicator that indicates that a link associated with the structured data can be added to a collection, wherein the act of presenting a visual indicator comprises displaying the visual indicator with the rendered resource;

enabling display of a collection that has links associated with structured data and links that are not associated with structured data; and

enabling selection of an option to view one or more collections in multiple different ways, wherein at least one of the ways that a collection can be viewed is a full page view that includes a summary of information from individual links, the full page view configured to enable a side-by-side comparison of items in a link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource comprises a web page.

3. The method of claim 1, examining a markup language comprising examining HyperText Markup Language (HTML) associated with the resource.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

ascertaining whether a user has opted to add the link to a collection; and

responsive to the user opting to add the link to the collection, adding the link to the collection.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the visual indicator comprises a button or tab, and the act of ascertaining is performed by ascertaining whether the user has clicked on the button or tab.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the visual indicator with the resource rendered comprises automatically displaying the visual indicator when the resource is rendered.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the visual indicator with the resource rendered comprises selectively displaying the visual indicator when the user hovers their cursor over or near the structured data.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising presenting the user with an option to view one or more collections in multiple different ways.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of receiving, identifying and presenting are performed by a web browser.

10. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more computer-readable storage media;

computer-readable instructions on the one or more computer-readable storage media which, when executed by the one or more processors, implement a web browser configured to;

provide one or more collections, wherein at least one of the collections includes a link that is associated with structured data that describes at least one data type of data associated with the link;

display a search box configured to enable a user to enter a search term;

receive a search term via the search box;

enable a search of the one or more collections based, at least in part, on the received search term;

enable display of information associated with one or more links from the one or more collections that match the received search term;

provide a collection that has links associated with structured data and links that are not associated with structured data; and

present the user with an option to view one or more collections in multiple different ways, wherein at least one of the ways that a collection can be viewed is a full page view that includes a summary of information from individual links, the summary of information including, for at least some links, a title, an image, and one or more properties associated with the link, wherein the full page view is configured to enable a side-by-side comparison of items in a link.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein links in a collection can come from different types of sources.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein one of the ways in which a collection can be viewed is through a title view.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the web browser is configured to search both collections and sources other than collections and present results from both.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein ways in which a collection can be viewed include a title view and a detailed view.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the web browser is configured to enable a user to flag or comment on a particular link.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein one of the ways in which a collection can be viewed is through a custom view that is based on a data type.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the search based, at least in part, on the received search term further comprises a search of a history of one or more past links that have been navigated to, independent of whether the one or more past links are included in the one or more collections.

18. The system of claim 10, the system further configured to present one or more visual indications when content associated with the link included in the at least one collection has changed.