Method and apparatus for determining search result demographics

• US 9,026,529 B1
• Filed: 04/22/2010
• Issued: 05/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Netbase Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Netbase Solutions, Inc.
• Inventors: Osofsky, Michael Jacob, Li, Wei, Bhatia, Ranjeet Singh, Tellefsen, Jens Erik
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Yicun
• Application Number:
  US12/765,848
• Time in Patent Office: 1,839 Days
• Field of Search: 707/736, 707/748, 707/765, 704/9, 706/20, 702/181
• US Class Current: 707/736
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Techniques are presented for producing demographics, in an automated fashion, from a search result of computer-accessible content. While the demographics can be determined for a research product that has been produced by any technique, they are particularly useful when applied to an automated frame-based search approach. Frame-based search engines are presented for technology profiling, healthcare-related search and brand research. Determination of a demographic proceeds at two levels: member and population. At the member level, a demographic characteristic can be determined applicable with either total or partial certainty. Each value assigned by a demographic, to a population member, has a confidence level associated with it and the assignments can be represented by a Confidence Distribution. Summarization of a demographic, at the population level, depends upon whether the certainty assignments, at the member level, are total or partial. Declarant Demographics are presented. Approaches, to determining Declarant Demographics, are presented.

Claims

1. A method for frame-based search, performed by computing hardware and programmable memory, comprising the following steps:

receiving a first rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a first frame, wherein the first frame comprises a first input role and a first output role;

receiving a second rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a second frame, wherein the second frame comprises a second input role and a second output role;

receiving a first source corpus;

identifying first and second units of natural language from, respectively, first and second snippets of the first source corpus;

producing a first instance, from the first unit, by application of the first rule, wherein the first instance has a first input value assigned to its first input role and a first output value assigned to its first output role;

producing a second instance, from the second unit, by application of the second rule, wherein the second instance has a second input value assigned to its second input role and a second output value assigned to its second output role;

determining the first and second instances represent a same third frame;

determining a same third value as representative of the first and second input values;

determining a same fourth value as representative of the first and second output values;

producing, as a result of computing hardware and programmable memory, a first result that contains a first result-value and a first result-base, wherein the first result-value is the fourth value and the first result-base contains the first and second snippets;

determining, as a result of computing hardware and programmable memory, a member-level demographic characteristic for each member of the first result-base;

determining, as a result of computing hardware and programmable memory, a first demographic characteristic, for the first result, by combining the member- level demographic characteristics; and

displaying, to a user as part of a search result, the first demographic characteristic as a demographic determined for the first result-value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of determining a member-level demographic characteristic and determining a first demographic characteristic further comprise:

assigning each member, of the first result-base, a value from a range of potential values; and

summarizing the values assigned with a histogram.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the range of potential values represents a demographic characteristic with two values.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the demographic characteristic is gender.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein each value assigned is treated as being totally reliable.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the histogram is normalized.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of determining a member-level demographic characteristic and determining a first demographic characteristic further comprise:

assigning each member, of the first result-base, a confidence distribution, wherein a plurality of values are assigned, each with a confidence level; and

combining the confidence distributions.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein each confidence distribution represents a demographic characteristic with two values.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the demographic characteristic is gender.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the confidence distributions are normalized.

2. A data processing system, made with computing hardware and programmable memory, for frame-based profile generation, comprising the following sub-systems:

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish receiving a first rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a first frame, wherein the first frame comprises a first input role and a first output role;

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish receiving a second rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a second frame, wherein the second frame comprises a second input role and a second output role;

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish receiving a first source corpus;

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish identifying first and second units of natural language from, respectively, first and second snippets of the first source corpus;

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish producing a first instance, from the first unit, by application of the first rule, wherein the first instance has a first input value assigned to its first input role and a first output value assigned to its first output role;

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish producing a second instance, from the second unit, by application of the second rule, wherein the second instance has a second input value assigned to its second input role and a second output value assigned to its second output role;

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish determining the first and second instances represent a same third frame;

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish determining a same third value as representative of the first and second input values;

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish determining a same fourth value as representative of the first and second output values;

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish producing a first result that contains a first result-value and a first result-base, wherein the first result-value is the fourth value and the first result-base contains the first and second snippets;

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish determining a member-level demographic characteristic for each member of the first result-base;

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish determining a first demographic characteristic, for the first result, by combining the member-level demographic characteristics; and

a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish displaying, to a user as part of a search result, the first demographic characteristic as a demographic determined for the first result-value.

13. The data processing system of claim 2, wherein the sub-systems configured to accomplish determining a member-level demographic characteristic and determining a first demographic characteristic further comprise:

a sub-system configured to accomplish assigning each member, of the first result-base, a value from a range of potential values; and

a sub-system configured to accomplish summarizing the values assigned with a histogram.

14. The data processing system of claim 13, wherein the range of potential values represents a demographic characteristic with two values.

15. The data processing system of claim 14, wherein the demographic characteristic is gender.

16. The data processing system of claim 13, wherein each value assigned is treated as being totally reliable.

17. The data processing system of claim 13, wherein the histogram is normalized.

18. The data processing system of claim 2, wherein the a sub-systems configured to accomplish determining a member-level demographic characteristic and determining a first demographic characteristic further comprise:

a sub-system configured to accomplish assigning each member, of the first result-base, a confidence distribution, wherein a plurality of values are assigned, each with a confidence level; and

a sub-system configured to accomplish combining the confidence distributions.

19. The data processing system of claim 18, wherein each confidence distribution represents a demographic characteristic with two values.

20. The data processing system of claim 19, wherein the demographic characteristic is gender.

21. The data processing system of claim 18, wherein the confidence distributions are normalized.

3. A computer program on a computer readable medium, having computer-readable code devices embodied therein, for frame-based profile generation, the computer program comprising:

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish receiving a first rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a first frame, wherein the first frame comprises a first input role and a first output role;

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish receiving a second rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a second frame, wherein the second frame comprises a second input role and a second output role;

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish receiving a first source corpus;

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish identifying first and second units of natural language from, respectively, first and second snippets of the first source corpus;

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish producing a first instance, from the first unit, by application of the first rule, wherein the first instance has a first input value assigned to its first input role and a first output value assigned to its first output role;

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish producing a second instance, from the second unit, by application of the second rule, wherein the second instance has a second input value assigned to its second input role and a second output value assigned to its second output role;

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish determining the first and second instances represent a same third frame;

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish determining a same third value as representative of the first and second input values;

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish determining a same fourth value as representative of the first and second output values;

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish producing a first result that contains a first result-value and a first result-base, wherein the first result-value is the fourth value and the first result-base contains the first and second snippets;

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish determining a member-level demographic characteristic for each member of the first result-base;

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish determining a first demographic characteristic, for the first result, by combining the member-level demographic characteristic; and

computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish displaying, to a user as part of a search result, the first demographic characteristic as a demographic determined for the first result-value.