Analysis and reporting of collected search activity data over multiple search engines

• US 8,745,020 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2011
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gula Consulting Limited Liability Company (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: GERE DEV Applications LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Zwicky, Richard Kazimierz, Hooge, Todd William, Dunn, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KIM T
• Application Number:
  US13/272,478
• Publication Number:
  US 20120030191A1
• Time in Patent Office: 964 Days
• Field of Search: 707/706, 707/723
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A tracking system passively tracks and records searches conducted by actual search engine users. The recorded data for each search event preferably includes the search query submitted, the search engine used, the search result item (e.g., web page) selected, the position (e.g., page number) of this item, and the user'"'"'s IP address. The collected data is aggregated and analyzed to generate data regarding the search queries used to locate and access particular destinations (e.g., web pages and sites). This data may be used for various purposes, such as (1) to generate reports showing, e.g., how users reach a particular destination from different search engines and geographic locations, (2) to select content to display on a destination page, such that the content is relevant to search queries commonly used to locate that page, and (3) to update the database of one search engine to reflect searches conducted on other search engines.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining search activity data representative of a plurality of search events, wherein each of the plurality of search events comprises a submission of a search query to one of a plurality of index-type search engines, a resulting set of search results from the one of the plurality of index-type search engines, and a selection of one of a plurality of search destinations, wherein the plurality of search destinations comprises a particular search destination, and wherein each of the plurality of index-type search engines comprises a proprietary index for generating search results;

identifying, from the plurality of search events, a subset of search events associated with the particular search destination, wherein each of the search events in the subset of search events further comprises a selection, from the set of search results, of a search result associated with the particular search destination; and

storing, in computer storage, search activity data for the subset of search events, wherein the search activity data for each search event in the subset of search events comprises at least an indication of the search engine associated with the search event, an indication of the search query associated with the search event, and an indication of a position of the selected search result from the set of search results associated with the search event, and wherein the search activity data comprises indications of a plurality of different search queries.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular search destination is a particular web page.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein obtaining the search activity data comprises obtaining at least a portion of the search activity data via browser-executable code embedded in the particular web page.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the search activity data comprises obtaining at least a portion of the search activity data from at least one of the group consisting of a user computing device, a server associated with the particular search destination, and a search engine log.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the search activity data comprises an indication of a geographic location for each of the plurality of search events.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a search engine comparison report comprising, for each of the plurality of index-type search engines, a plurality of different search queries corresponding to referrals to the particular search destination by the index-type search engines.

7. A computer-readable device having instructions embodied thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions to obtain search activity data representative of a plurality of search events, wherein each of the plurality of search events comprises a submission of a search query to one of a plurality of index-type search engines, a resulting set of search results from the one of the plurality of index-type search engines, and a selection of one of a plurality of search destinations, wherein the plurality of search destinations comprises a particular search destination, and wherein each of the plurality of index-type search engines maintains its own proprietary index and unique database for generating search results;

instructions to identify, from the plurality of search events, a subset of search events associated with the particular search destination, wherein each of the search events in the subset of search events further comprises a selection, from the set of search results, of a search result associated with the particular search destination; and

instructions to store, in computer storage, search activity data for the subset of search events, wherein the search activity data for each search event in the subset of search events comprises at least an indication of the search engine associated with the search event, an indication of the search query associated with the search event and an indication of a position of the selected search result from the set of search results associated with the search event, and wherein the search activity data comprises indications of a plurality of different search queries.

8. The computer-readable device of claim 7, wherein the particular search destination is a particular web page.

9. The computer-readable device of claim 8, wherein the instructions to obtain the search activity data comprise instructions to obtain at least a portion of the search activity data via browser-executable code embedded in the particular web page.

10. The computer-readable device of claim 7, wherein the instructions to obtain the search activity data comprise the instructions to obtain at least a portion of the search activity data from at least one of the group consisting of a user computing device, a server associated with the particular search destination, and a search engine log.

11. The computer-readable device of claim 7, wherein the search activity data comprises an indication of a geographic location for each of the plurality of search events.

12. The computer-readable device of claim 7, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to generate a search engine comparison report comprising, for each of the plurality of index-type search engines, a plurality of different search queries corresponding to referrals to the particular search destination by the index-type search engines.

13. A system, comprising:

one or more computing devices configured to;

obtain search activity data representative of a plurality of search events, wherein each of the plurality of search events comprises a submission of a search query to one of a plurality of index-type search engines, a resulting set of search results from the one of the plurality of index-type search engines, and a selection of one of a plurality of search destinations, wherein the plurality of search destinations comprises a particular search destination, and wherein each of the plurality of index-type search engines maintains its own proprietary index and unique database for generating search results, and

identify, from the plurality of search events, a subset of search events associated with the particular search destination, wherein each of the search events in the subset of search events further comprises a selection, from the set of search results, of a search result associated with the particular search destination; and

one or more memories configured to store, search activity data for the subset of search events, wherein the search activity data for each search event in the subset of search events comprises at least an indication of the search engine associated with the search event, an indication of the search query associated with the search event and an indication of a position of the selected search result from the set of search results associated with the search event, and wherein the search activity data comprises indications of a plurality of different search queries.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the particular search destination is a particular web page.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the search activity data comprises an indication of a geographic location for each of the plurality of search events.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to:

generate a search engine comparison report comprising, for each of the plurality of index-type search engines, a plurality of different search queries corresponding to referrals to the particular search destination by the index-type search engines.

17. A computing system comprising:

means for obtaining, by the computing system, search activity data representative of a plurality of search events, wherein each of the plurality of search events comprises a submission of a search query to one of a plurality of index-type search engines, a resulting set of search results from the one of the plurality of index-type search engines, and a selection of one of a plurality of search destinations, wherein the plurality of search destinations comprises a particular search destination, and wherein each of the plurality of index-type search engines maintains its own proprietary index and unique database for generating search results;

means for identifying, by the computing system, from the plurality of search events, a subset of search events associated with the particular search destination, wherein each of the search events in the subset of search events further comprises a selection, from the set of search results, of a search result associated with the particular search destination; and

means for storing, by the computing system and in computer storage, search activity data for the subset of search events, wherein the search activity data for each search event in the subset of search events comprises at least an indication of the search engine associated with the search event, an indication of the search query associated with the search event and an indication of a position of the selected search result from the set of search results associated with the search event, and wherein the search activity data comprises indications of a plurality of different search queries.

18. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the particular search destination is a particular web page.

19. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the search activity data comprises an indication of a geographic location for each of the plurality of search events.

20. The computing system of claim 17, further comprising:

means for generating a search engine comparison report comprising, for each of the plurality of index-type search engines, a plurality of different search queries corresponding to referrals to the particular search destination by the index-type search engines.