Method and system for displaying links to search results with corresponding images

• US 9,043,268 B2
• Filed: 03/07/2008
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AB Inventio LLC
• Original Assignee: AB Inventio LLC
• Inventors: Backer, Alejandro, Polito, Marzia
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Brannon W
• Application Number:
  US12/044,866
• Publication Number:
  US 20080222143A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,636 Days
• Field of Search: 707/706
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5854 using shape and object relationship
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

Methods and systems for displaying search engine results where the file links are displayed with corresponding images of things that fall within a given category are disclosed. Object detection software can be used with a search engine to provide search results to a user that contain specific images found within the result pages (i.e. the pages of the websites returned as the results). For a given class of objects, the user can be presented with images that contain that class of object along with the result hyperlinks, allowing the user to make a more informed choice as to which hyperlink is the most appropriate search result, without being inundated with all of image files present in the result pages. For example, a search engine geared toward searching on the Internet for information about people could be augmented to show images of the people associated with each of the page results, allowing the user to see the faces of the people described in the pages before selecting the hyperlinks and visiting those pages.

Claims

1. A method for displaying to a user links to files on a network, the method comprising:

collecting at least one keyword related to information being sought from the user using a digital interface to a search engine, said search engine being operable for crawling and indexing the network files;

associating the at least one keyword to a class of objects, wherein the class of objects comprises a categorical noun grouping related to one or more of a pre-set object class of the search engine or an object class selected automatically by the search engine in relation to the collecting of the at least one keyword or an object class selected by the user in relation to the collecting of the at least one keyword;

selecting the class of objects based at least on the associating the at least one keyword to the class of objects;

searching the network files based on one or more of the collecting the keyword and the selecting class of objects for at least one file containing information related to the at least one keyword;

upon the searching the network, wherein the searching returns a result comprising the at least one file related to the at least one keyword, the at least one file comprising at least one graphical image, performing an object recognition over the at least one graphical image;

determining, based on the object recognition performed, whether or not the graphical image relates to an object within the selected class of objects;

ranking the results based on a relevance related to one or more of the keyword and the performing the object recognition; and

displaying the results for the user based on the ranking thereof, the displaying the results comprising;

displaying, upon the performing the object recognition and determining that the graphical image relates to the selected class of objects, a representation of the graphical image based thereon; and

displaying, in conjunction with the displayed representation, a hyperlink associated with a Web-based linking to the at least one file;

or

upon the performing the object recognition and determining that the graphical image does not relate to the selected class of objects, displaying the hyperlink associated with the Web-based linking to the at least one file, wherein the displaying the hyperlink comprises presenting the hyperlink independent of an image relating to the selected class of objects,

wherein the displaying the graphical image of an object within the selected class of objects in conjunction with the displayed link indicates that the displayed link has a relevance to the information related to the at least one keyword link, which based on the ranking the relevance, exceeds that of one or more of the hyperlinks presented independent of an image relating to the selected class of objects.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said object is a person and said class of objects is people.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining at least one identification of people referred to in the at least one file containing information related to the at least one keyword;

using the at least one identification to search the network for at least one information specialized website that refers to said people referred to; and

displaying to the user social network links to at least one social network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the links to the at least one information specialized website are links to a member page in a social network, the member page being designated for one of said people referred to.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein displaying links corresponding to each of at least one file to the user, displaying said at least one graphical image to the user, and displaying to the user social network links to the at least one social network includes placing said links corresponding to each of at least one file, said at least one graphical image, and said social network links in a report file to be presented to the user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the user inputs the keywords via text messaging from a mobile telephonic device and all displaying is performed on said mobile telephonic device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the links to each of said at least one file are prioritized by relevance.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining which of said at least one graphical image is an image of an object within a class of objects further includes analyzing the text of the markup language tag for said image.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying links corresponding to each of at least one file to the user and displaying said at least one graphical image to the user includes placing said links and said at least one graphical image in a report file to be presented to the user.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the class of objects is pre-set in a search engine or separately selected by the user.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein searching the network for at least one file containing information related to the at least one keyword includes searching for text and images.

11. A system for displaying to a user links to files on a network, the system comprising:

a web server adapted for collecting at least one keyword from the user related to information being sought from the user, associating said at least one keyword to a class of objects, wherein the class of objects is a categorical noun grouping and selecting such class of objects;

a computer adapted for searching the network within said class of objects for at least one file containing information related to the at least one keyword;

an object recognition engine, capable of determining if an image file referenced by the at least one file is an image of an object within the predetermined class of objects; and

a computer and/or web server adapted for displaying text, links, and/or images related to each of said at least one file to the user, only if the images are the images of an object within the predetermined class of objects, wherein a displayed image of an object within the predetermined class of objects in conjunction with the file indicates that the link is relevant to what the user is searching for, wherein the system is operable for a process for displaying to a user links to files on a network, the process comprising the steps of;

collecting at least one keyword related to information being sought from the user using a digital interface to a search engine operable for crawling and indexing the network files;

associating the at least one keyword to a class of objects, wherein the class of objects comprises a categorical noun grouping related to one or more of a pre-set object class of the search engine or an object class selected automatically by the system or manually by the user in relation to the collecting step;

selecting the class of objects based at least on the associating step;

searching the network files based on one or more of the collecting step and the selecting step for at least one file containing information related to the at least one keyword;

upon the searching step, wherein the searching returns a result comprising the at least one file related to the at least one keyword, the at least one file comprising at least one graphical image, performing an object recognition over the at least one graphical image with the object recognition engine;

determining, based on the object recognition step performed, whether or not the graphical image relates to an object within the selected class of objects;

ranking the results based on a relevance related to one or more of the keyword and the performing the object recognition step; and

displaying the results based on the ranking thereof, the displaying the results comprising;

displaying, upon the performing the object recognition with the object recognition engine and determining that the graphical image relates to the selected class of objects, a representation of the graphical image based thereon; and

displaying, in conjunction with the displayed representation, a hyperlink associated with a Web-based linking to the at least one file;

or

upon the performing the object recognition with the object recognition engine and determining that the graphical image does not relate to the selected class of objects, displaying the hyperlink associated with the Web-based linking to the at least one file, wherein the displaying the hyperlink comprises presenting the hyperlink independent of an image relating to the selected class of objects.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the displaying text, links, and/or images related to relevant files in priority is performed by exclusively showing text, links, and/or images related to relevant files.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein said computers and said web servers are incorporated as a single device.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the object recognition engine is an object detection engine.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer is adapted for searching text and images.