Context-based ranking of search results

• US 8,909,637 B2
• Filed: 06/03/2011
• Issued: 12/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Patterson, Ryan, Johnson, Michael Dudley, Tseng, Erick
• Primary Examiner(s): Ahn, Sangwoo
• Application Number:
  US13/152,614
• Publication Number:
  US 20120310929A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,285 Days
• US Class Current: 707/734
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9536 Search customisation based on social or collaborative filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15

Abstract

In one embodiment, a computing device may access a search query provided by a user; identify a set of search results in response to the search query, wherein one or more search results in the set are associated with a feature of a social-networking system; rank the set of search results based on one or more factors; boost one or more ranks of the one or more search results associated with the feature to bring the feature to the user'"'"'s attention; and present the set of search results to the user in order of its ranking.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

by one or more computing devices, receiving a search query provided by a user;

by one or more computing devices, identifying a set of search results in response to the search query, wherein one or more of the search results are associated with one or more features of a social-networking system, wherein at least one of the features is the user'"'"'s ability to form a friend connection with other users of the social-networking system;

by one or more computing devices, ranking the set of search results based on a location of the user in combination with historical behavior of the user at the location in selecting one or more prior search results;

by one or more computing devices, boosting, based on a business objective of the social-networking system, one or more ranks of one or more of the search results that are associated with the feature based on a level of the user'"'"'s interaction with the feature such that the lower level of interaction the user has with the feature, the higher the one or more ranks of the one or more search results associated with the feature are boosted; and

by one or more computing devices, presenting the set of search results to the user according to the ranking and boosting.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the business objective is associated with the feature.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the business objective comprises encouraging users to use the feature.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more features further comprise an ability to:

form a social group;

organize an event;

upload a photo;

read a digest comprising at least one social-media update;

interact with a new function recently implemented by the social-networking system;

or

play an online game supported by the social-networking system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein boosting the rankings based on the level of the user'"'"'s interaction with the feature comprises boosting the ranking of the search results to bring the feature to the user'"'"'s attention.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein ranking and boosting comprise:

computing a ranking score for each search result in the set based at least on;

a level of content relevance of the search result to the search, query;

a level of social relevance of the search result to the search query or the user;

or

a boosting coefficient determined for the search result based on the user'"'"'s level of interaction with the feature.

7. A system comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory and configured to perform operations comprising;

receiving a search query provided by a user;

identifying a set of search results in response to the search query, wherein one or more of the search results are associated with one or more features of a social-networking system, wherein at least one of the features is the user'"'"'s ability to form a friend connection with other users of the social-networking system;

ranking the set of search results based on a location of the user in combination with historical behavior of the user at the location in selecting one or more prior search results;

boosting, based on a business objective of the social-networking system, one or more ranks of one or more of the search results that are associated with the feature based on a level of the user'"'"'s interaction with the feature such that the lower level of interaction the user has with the feature, the higher the one or more ranks of the one or more search results associated with the feature are boosted; and

presenting the set of search results to the user according to the ranking and boosting.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the business objective is associated with the feature.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the business objective comprises encouraging users to use the feature.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more features further comprise an ability to:

form a social group;

organize an event;

upload a photo;

read a digest comprising at least one social-media update;

interact with a new function recently implemented by the social-networking system;

or

play an online game supported by the social-networking system.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein boosting the rankings based on the level of the user'"'"'s interaction with the feature comprises boosting the ranking of the search results to bring the feature to the user'"'"'s attention.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to rank and boost by:

computing a ranking score for each search result in the set based at least on;

a level of content relevance of the search result to the search query;

a level of social relevance of the search result to the search query or the user;

or

a boosting coefficient determined for the search result based on the user'"'"'s level of interaction with the feature.

13. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software instructions that, when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

receiving a search query provided by a user;

identifying a set of search results in response to the search query, wherein one or more of the search results are associated with one or more features of a social-networking system, wherein at least one of the features is the user'"'"'s ability to form a friend connection with other users of the social-networking system;

ranking the set of search results based on a location of the user in combination with historical behavior of the user at the location in selecting one or more prior search results;

boosting, based on a business objective of the social-networking system, one or more ranks of one or more of the search results that are associated with the feature based on a level of the user'"'"'s interaction with the feature such that the lower level of interaction the user has with the feature, the higher the one or more ranks of the one or more search results associated with the feature are boosted; and

presenting the set of search results to the user according to the ranking and boosting.

14. The media of claim 13, wherein the business objective is associated with the feature.

15. The media of claim 14, wherein the business objective comprises encouraging users to use the feature.

16. The media of claim 13, wherein the one or more features further comprise an ability to:

form a social group;

organize an event;

upload a photo;

read a digest comprising at least one social-media update;

interact with a new function recently implemented by the social-networking system;

or

play an online game supported by the social-networking system.

17. The media of claim 13, wherein boosting the rankings based on the level of the user'"'"'s interaction with the feature comprises boosting the ranking of the search results to bring the feature to the user'"'"'s attention.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software instructions, when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more computers further to rank and boost by:

computing a ranking score for each search result in the set based at least on;

a level of content relevance of the search result to the search query;

a level of social relevance of the search result to the search query or the user;

or

a boosting coefficient determined for the search result based on the user'"'"'s level of interaction with the feature.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the social-networking system is associated with a social graph;

the social graph comprises one or more nodes and one or more edges, each node representing an entity, each edge connecting two nodes and representing a relationship between the two entities respectively represented by the two nodes; and

ranking the set of search results is further based on, for each search result, a distance between a first node representing the search result and a second node representing the user within the social graph.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the set of search results is identified from a plurality of information sources both local and remote to an electronic device through which the user provides the search query;

specific search results in the set become available on the electronic device at different times; and

each search result in the set is displayed on the electronic device for presentation to the user as soon as it becomes available on the electronic device, without waiting for the complete set of search results becoming available on the electronic device, while maintaining ranking for the complete set of search results.