Time based ordering of provided mobile content

• US 8,812,511 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2012
• Issued: 08/19/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Maghoul, Farzin, Ramamurthi, Shiv
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, BAI DUC
• Application Number:
  US13/401,515
• Publication Number:
  US 20120150868A1
• Time in Patent Office: 910 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/746
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

A method, system, and apparatus are directed to providing information over a network. A search query may be received. If the search query includes at least one keyword matching a pattern associated with a specific search engine, a plurality of search results is retrieved from the specific search engine based on the keyword, and the plurality of search results is provided. A plurality of potential search or source engines may be determined based on a current time information. At least one of the potential search or source engines may be a personalized source engine. At least one plurality of results may be retrieved from at least one of the potential search or source engines. The result may be based on the search query. An aggregated result may be determined based on a time rule and/or the current time information. The aggregated result may comprise the plurality of results.

Claims

1. A computing device, comprising:

a memory device for storing computer instructions; and

a processor that executes computer instructions to perform actions, comprising;

receiving a search query from a client device;

determining a time rule that maps at least received time information to at least one action; and

when it is determined that the search query fails to include at least one pattern keyword, then performing actions, comprising;

selecting a plurality of search engines based on the time rule, wherein at least one of the plurality of search engines is directed to search a different type of content from the plurality of search engines;

aggregating search results from the plurality of search engines based on the time rule by at least removing duplicate search results, and grouping the search results based on at least one criterion; and

communicating for display at the client device, at least a portion of the aggregated search results.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor performs actions further comprising:

customizing the time rule to include at least one action that modifies the aggregated search results.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the at least one criterion for grouping the search results includes at least one of grouping the search results based on a time included within the received time information, a search result type, or a search engine.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein aggregating search results from the plurality of search engines based on the time rule further comprises ordering the search results using the time rule.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the received time information further comprises geographic information associated with at least one of a time zone or a network address associated with the client device.

6. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the time rule is further associated with at least one of a specific profession, city, hobby, sport, or interest of a user of the client device.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the displayed search results is tagged based on the time rule, the tag being displayed with the tagged search results.

8. A network device, comprising:

a transceiver for receiving and sending data; and

one or more processors that operates on the data to perform actions, comprising;

receiving a search query from a client device;

determining a time rule that maps at least received time information to at least one action; and

when it is determined that the search query fails to include at least one pattern keyword, then performing actions, comprising;

selecting a plurality of search engines based on the time rule, wherein at least one of the plurality of search engines is directed to search a different type of content from the plurality of search engines;

aggregating search results from the plurality of search engines based on the time rule by at least removing duplicate search results, and grouping the search results based on at least one criterion; and

communicating for display at the client device, at least a portion of the aggregated search results.

9. The network device of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors perform actions, further comprising:

when it is determined that the search query includes at least one pattern keyword;

determining a specific search engine based on the at least one pattern keyword;

employing the specific search engine to obtain a plurality of search results; and

communicating the plurality of search results to the client device.

10. The network device of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors perform actions, further comprising:

customizing the time rule to include at least one action that modifies the aggregated search results.

11. The network device of claim 8, wherein the at least one criterion for grouping the search results includes at least one of grouping the search results based on a time included within the received time information, a search result type, or a search engine.

12. The network device of claim 8, wherein aggregating search results from the plurality of search engines based on the time rule further comprises ordering the search results using the time rule.

13. The network device of claim 8, wherein the received time information further comprises geographic information associated with at least one of a time zone or a network address associated with the client device.

14. The network device of claim 8, wherein the time rule is further associated with at least one of a specific profession, city, hobby, sport, or interest of a user of the client device.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device that stores computer-executable instructions thereon that when installed into a computing device performs actions, comprising:

receiving a search query from a client device;

determining a time rule that maps at least received time information to at least one action; and

when it is determined that the search query fails to include at least one pattern keyword, then performing actions, comprising;

selecting a plurality of search engines based on the time rule, wherein at least one of the plurality of search engines is directed to search a different type of content from the plurality of search engines;

aggregating search results from the plurality of search engines based on the time rule by at least removing duplicate search results, and grouping the search results based on at least one criterion; and

communicating for display at the client device, at least a portion of the aggregated search results.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the actions, further comprising:

when it is determined that the search query includes at least one pattern keyword;

determining a specific search engine based on the at least one pattern keyword;

employing the specific search engine to obtain a plurality of search results; and

communicating the plurality of search results to the client device.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein when it is determined that the search query fails to include at least one pattern keyword, then performing actions, comprising:

modifying the search query based on the time rule that maps at least the received time information to at least one action that includes an aggregated search result determination and search engine determination.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein at least one of the displayed search results is tagged based on the time rule, the tag being displayed with the tagged search results.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the actions, further comprising:

customizing the time rule to include at least one action that modifies the aggregated search results.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the at least one criterion for grouping the search results includes at least one of grouping the search results based on a time included within the received time information, a search result type, or a search engine.