Metasearch engine for ordering at least one travel related item returned in combined search results and database results using at least one unstructured query and at least one structured query on multiple unique hosts and at least one database query on at least one database

• US 9,002,934 B1
• Filed: 01/05/2015
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Harvey Lunenfeld
• Original Assignee: Harvey Lunenfeld
• Inventors: Lunenfeld, Harvey
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrell, Robert B
• Application Number:
  US14/589,030
• Publication Number:
  US 20150120448A1
• Time in Patent Office: 92 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/17306 Intercommunication techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0625 Directed, with specific intent or strategy
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0627 using item specifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A process for metasearching, comprising: receiving a request from a client device by a metasearch engine to send at least one search query to a plurality of unique hosts, the request associated with at least one travel related item that may be ordered; transforming the request into at least one unstructured query, at least one structured query, and at least one database query; sending each, respectively, to at least one unstructured data host, at least one structured data host, and at least one storage device comprising at least one database; receiving and combining search results from the plurality of unique hosts and at least one database result from the storage device; incorporating the combined results into a response; communicating the response from the metasearch engine to the client device; receiving another request from the client device for placing an order for the at least one item; processing the order.

Claims

1. A process for metasearching on the Internet, wherein the steps of the process are performed by a metasearch engine executing on a server device, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device a Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from a client device for the metasearch engine to send at least one search query from the server device to a plurality of unique hosts that provide access to information to be searched, wherein the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device is associated with at least one travel related item that may be ordered from a plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(b) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into at least one unstructured query and at least one structured query and sending by the metasearch engine from the server device the at least one unstructured query to at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured query to at least one structured data host in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device;

(c) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into at least one database query and sending by the metasearch engine via the server device the at least one database query to at least one storage device comprising at least one database in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device, wherein the at least one database comprises stored information related to the plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(d) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device search results from the at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured data host;

(e) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device at least one database result from the at least one storage device in response to the at least one database query sent to the at least one storage device, wherein the at least one database result comprises at least a portion of the stored information, which is related to the at least one travel related item that may be ordered;

(f) combining by the metasearch engine at the server device the received search results with the at least one database result into combined search results;

(g) incorporating by the metasearch engine at the server device the combined search results into a response;

(h) causing at least one advertisement associated with the at least one travel related item that may be ordered to be displayed in the response;

(i) communicating by the metasearch engine from the server device the response from the metasearch engine to the client device;

(j) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device another Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device for the metasearch engine to place an order via the server device for the at least one travel related item;

(k) processing the order by the metasearch engine via the server device.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising a timeout that limits response time for receiving the search results from the plurality of unique hosts in response to the at least one search query sent to the plurality of unique hosts to a maximum of one second.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein the other Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device for the metasearch engine to place the order via the server device for the at least one travel related item of step (j) comprises a request to purchase the at least one travel related item;

step (k) comprises processing the request to purchase the at least one travel related item by the metasearch engine via the server device.

4. A process for metasearching on the Internet, wherein the steps of the process are performed by a metasearch engine executing on a server device, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device a Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from a client device for the metasearch engine to send at least one search query from the server device to a plurality of unique hosts that provide access to information to be searched, wherein the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device is associated with at least one travel related item that may be ordered from a plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(b) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into at least one unstructured query and at least one structured query and sending by the metasearch engine from the server device the at least one unstructured query to at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured query to at least one structured data host in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device;

(c) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into at least one database query and sending by the metasearch engine via the server device the at least one database query to at least one storage device comprising at least one database in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device, wherein the at least one database comprises stored information related to the plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(d) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device search results from the at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured data host;

(e) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device at least one database result from the at least one storage device in response to the at least one database query sent to the at least one storage device, wherein the at least one database result comprises at least a portion of the stored information, which is related to the at least one travel related item that may be ordered;

(f) combining by the metasearch engine at the server device the received search results with the at least one database result into combined search results;

(g) incorporating by the metasearch engine at the server device the combined search results into a response;

(h) causing at least one advertisement associated with the at least one travel related item that may be ordered to be displayed in the response;

(i) communicating by the metasearch engine from the server device the response from the metasearch engine to the client device;

(j) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device another Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device for the metasearch engine via the server device to purchase the at least one travel related item;

(k) processing the purchase by the metasearch engine via the server device.

5. The process of claim 4, further comprising a timeout that limits response time for receiving the search results from the plurality of unique hosts in response to the at least one search query sent to the plurality of unique hosts to a maximum of one second.

6. A process for metasearching on the Internet, wherein the steps of the process are performed by a metasearch engine executing on a server device, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device a Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from a client device for the metasearch engine to send at least one search query from the server device to a plurality of unique hosts that provide access to information to be searched, wherein the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device is associated with at least one travel related item that may be ordered from a plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(b) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into at least one unstructured query and at least one structured query and sending by the metasearch engine from the server device the at least one unstructured query to at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured query to at least one structured data host in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device;

(c) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device search results from the at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured data host;

(d) incorporating by the metasearch engine at the server device the received search results into a response;

(e) causing at least one advertisement associated with the at least one travel related item that may be ordered to be displayed in the response;

(f) communicating by the metasearch engine from the server device the response from the metasearch engine to the client device;

(g) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device another Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device for the metasearch engine to place an order via the server device for the at least one travel related item;

(h) processing the order by the metasearch engine via the server device.

7. The process of claim 6, further comprising a timeout that limits response time for receiving the search results from the plurality of unique hosts in response to the at least one search query sent to the plurality of unique hosts to a maximum of one second.

8. The process of claim 6, wherein the other Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device for the metasearch engine to place the order via the server device for the at least one travel related item of step (g) comprises a request to purchase the at least one travel related item;

step (h) comprises processing the request to purchase the at least one travel related item by the metasearch engine via the server device.

9. A process for metasearching on the Internet, wherein the steps of the process are performed by a metasearch engine executing on a server device, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device a Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from a client device for the metasearch engine to send at least one search query from the server device to a plurality of unique hosts that provide access to information to be searched, wherein the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device is associated with at least one travel related item that may be ordered from a plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(b) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into at least one unstructured query and at least one structured query and sending by the metasearch engine from the server device the at least one unstructured query to at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured query to at least one structured data host in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device;

(c) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device search results from the at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured data host;

(d) incorporating by the metasearch engine at the server device the received search results into a response;

(e) causing at least one advertisement associated with the at least one travel related item that may be ordered to be displayed in the response;

(f) communicating by the metasearch engine from the server device the response from the metasearch engine to the client device;

(g) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device another Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device for the metasearch engine via the server device to purchase the at least one travel related item;

(h) processing the purchase by the metasearch engine via the server device.

10. The process of claim 9, further comprising a timeout that limits response time for receiving the search results from the plurality of unique hosts in response to the at least one search query sent to the plurality of unique hosts to a maximum of one second.

11. A process for metasearching on the Internet, wherein the steps of the process are performed by a metasearch engine executing on a server device, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device a Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from a client device for the metasearch engine to send a plurality of search queries from the server device to a plurality of unique hosts that provide access to information to be searched, wherein the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device is associated with at least one travel related item that may be ordered from a plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(b) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into a plurality of unstructured queries and a plurality of structured queries and sending by the metasearch engine from the server device the plurality of unstructured queries to at least one unstructured data host and the plurality of structured queries to at least one structured data host in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device;

(c) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into at least one database query and sending by the metasearch engine via the server device the at least one database query to at least one storage device comprising at least one database in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device, wherein the at least one database comprises stored information related to the plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(d) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device search results from the at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured data host;

(e) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device at least one database result from the at least one storage device in response to the at least one database query sent to the at least one storage device, wherein the at least one database result comprises at least a portion of the stored information, which is related to the at least one travel related item that may be ordered;

(f) combining by the metasearch engine at the server device the received search results with the at least one database result into combined search results;

(g) incorporating by the metasearch engine at the server device the combined search results into a response;

(h) causing at least one advertisement associated with the at least one travel related item that may be ordered to be displayed in the response;

(i) communicating by the metasearch engine from the server device the response from the metasearch engine to the client device;

(j) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device another Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device for the metasearch engine to place an order via the server device for the at least one travel related item;

(k) processing the order by the metasearch engine via the server device.

12. The process of claim 11, further comprising a timeout that limits response time for receiving the search results from the plurality of unique hosts in response to the plurality of search queries sent to the plurality of unique hosts to a maximum of one second.

13. The process of claim 11, wherein the other Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device for the metasearch engine to place the order via the server device for the at least one travel related item of step (j) comprises a request to purchase the at least one travel related item;

step (k) comprises processing the request to purchase the at least one travel related item by the metasearch engine via the server device.

14. A process for metasearching on the Internet, wherein the steps of the process are performed by a metasearch engine executing on a server device, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device a Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from a client device for the metasearch engine to send a plurality of search queries from the server device to a plurality of unique hosts that provide access to information to be searched, wherein the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device is associated with at least one travel related item that may be ordered from a plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(b) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into a plurality of unstructured queries and a plurality of structured queries and sending by the metasearch engine from the server device the plurality of unstructured queries to at least one unstructured data host and the plurality of structured queries to at least one structured data host in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device;

(c) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into at least one database query and sending by the metasearch engine via the server device the at least one database query to at least one storage device comprising at least one database in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device, wherein the at least one database comprises stored information related to the plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(d) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device search results from the at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured data host;

(e) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device at least one database result from the at least one storage device in response to the at least one database query sent to the at least one storage device, wherein the at least one database result comprises at least a portion of the stored information, which is related to the at least one travel related item that may be ordered;

(f) combining by the metasearch engine at the server device the received search results with the at least one database result into combined search results;

(g) incorporating by the metasearch engine at the server device the combined search results into a response;

(h) causing at least one advertisement associated with the at least one travel related item that may be ordered to be displayed in the response;

(i) communicating by the metasearch engine from the server device the response from the metasearch engine to the client device;

(j) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device another Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device for the metasearch engine via the server device to purchase the at least one travel related item;

(k) processing the purchase by the metasearch engine via the server device.

15. The process of claim 14, further comprising a timeout that limits response time for receiving the search results from the plurality of unique hosts in response to the plurality of search queries sent to the plurality of unique hosts to a maximum of one second.

16. A process for metasearching on the Internet, wherein the steps of the process are performed by a metasearch engine executing on a server device, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device a Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from a client device for the metasearch engine to send a plurality of search queries from the server device to a plurality of unique hosts that provide access to information to be searched, wherein the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device is associated with at least one travel related item that may be ordered from a plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(b) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into a plurality of unstructured queries and a plurality of structured queries and sending by the metasearch engine from the server device the plurality of unstructured queries to at least one unstructured data host and the plurality of structured queries to at least one structured data host in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device;

(c) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device search results from the at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured data host;

(d) incorporating by the metasearch engine at the server device the received search results into a response;

(e) causing at least one advertisement associated with the at least one travel related item that may be ordered to be displayed in the response;

(f) communicating by the metasearch engine from the server device the response from the metasearch engine to the client device;

(g) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device another Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device for the metasearch engine to place an order via the server device for the at least one travel related item;

(h) processing the order by the metasearch engine via the server device.

17. The process of claim 16, further comprising a timeout that limits response time for receiving the search results from the plurality of unique hosts in response to the plurality of search queries sent to the plurality of unique hosts to a maximum of one second.

18. The process of claim 16, wherein the other Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device for the metasearch engine to place the order via the server device for the at least one travel related item of step (g) comprises a request to purchase the at least one travel related item;

step (h) comprises processing the request to purchase the at least one travel related item by the metasearch engine via the server device.

19. A process for metasearching on the Internet, wherein the steps of the process are performed by a metasearch engine executing on a server device, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device a Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from a client device for the metasearch engine to send a plurality of search queries from the server device to a plurality of unique hosts that provide access to information to be searched, wherein the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device is associated with at least one travel related item that may be ordered from a plurality of travel related items that may be ordered;

(b) transforming by the metasearch engine at the server device the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device into a plurality of unstructured queries and a plurality of structured queries and sending by the metasearch engine from the server device the plurality of unstructured queries to at least one unstructured data host and the plurality of structured queries to at least one structured data host in response to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol request received from the client device;

(c) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device search results from the at least one unstructured data host and the at least one structured data host;

(d) incorporating by the metasearch engine at the server device the received search results into a response;

(e) causing at least one advertisement associated with the at least one travel related item that may be ordered to be displayed in the response;

(f) communicating by the metasearch engine from the server device the response from the metasearch engine to the client device;

(g) receiving by the metasearch engine at the server device another Hypertext Transfer Protocol request from the client device for the metasearch engine via the server device to purchase the at least one travel related item;

(h) processing the purchase by the metasearch engine via the server device.

20. The process of claim 19, further comprising a timeout that limits response time for receiving the search results from the plurality of unique hosts in response to the plurality of search queries sent to the plurality of unique hosts to a maximum of one second.