In-context searching

• US 9,111,000 B1
• Filed: 10/20/2014
• Issued: 08/18/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Hoelzle, Urs, Henzinger, Monika H., Desjardins, David
• Primary Examiner(s): PYO, MONICA M
• Application Number:
  US14/518,708
• Time in Patent Office: 302 Days
• Field of Search: 707/723, 707/728, 707/729, 707/713
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation

Abstract

A system limits search results based on context information. The system obtains the context information and a search query, and obtains a set of references to documents in response to the search query. The system then filters the set of references based on the context information and presents the filtered set of references to a user.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing, by one or more devices, a user interface that is accessible via a browser on a client device,

the user interface including;

a first field to receive a first search term that is to be included in documents included within a set of search results, and

a plurality of;

a second field to receive a second search term that is to be excluded from the documents within the set of search results,

a third field to receive information regarding a web site or a domain to which the set of search results will be restricted,

a fourth field to receive information regarding a language to which the set of search results will be restricted;

receiving, by the one or more devices and from the client device, input including the first search term within the first field;

receiving, by the one or more devices and from the client device, inputs including a plurality of;

input including the second search term within the second field,

input including the information regarding the web site or the domain within the third field, or

input including the information regarding the language within the fourth field;

identifying, by the one or more devices, a set of documents;

filtering, by the one or more devices, the set of documents to obtain a filtered set of documents,

documents in the filtered set of documents;

including the first search term,

excluding the second search term when the input including the second search term is received,

being associated with the web site or the domain when the input including the information regarding the web site or the domain is received, or

containing text in the language when the input including the information regarding the language is received;

generating, by the one or more devices, a list of links that point to the documents in the filtered set of documents; and

providing, by the one or more devices, the list of links to the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, where the user interface further includes a fifth field to receive information regarding a particular category of a plurality of categories,

where the method further comprises:

receiving, from the client device, input including the information regarding the particular category, and

where the documents, in the filtered set of documents, are associated with the particular category.

3. The method of claim 2, where the plurality of categories corresponds to categories within a hierarchical directory, and

where the method further comprises:

periodically crawling a network, associated with the one or more devices, to maintain the hierarchical directory.

4. The method of claim 2, where the particular category identifies a list of Uniform Resource Locators and additional information corresponding to the particular category.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing context information that includes information identifying one or more Uniform Resource Locators and information identifying one or more categories,

the context information being provided by the one or more devices without input from the client device,

where the documents, in the filtered set of documents, are associated with the context information.

6. The method of claim 1, where the user interface includes the first field, the second field, and at least one of the third field or the fourth field, and

where receiving the inputs includes:

receiving the input including the second search term within the second field and at least one of;

the input including the information regarding the web site or the domain within the third field, or

the input including the information regarding the language within the fourth field.

7. The method of claim 1, where the user interface includes the first field, the second field, the third field, and the fourth field, and

where receiving the inputs includes:

receiving the input including the second search term within the second field, the input including the information regarding the web site or the domain within the third field, and the input including the information regarding the language within the fourth field.

8. A system comprising:

one or more devices to;

provide a user interface to a client device,

the user interface including;

a first field to receive a first search term that is to be included in documents included within a set of search results, and

a plurality of;

 

a second field to receive a second search term that is to be excluded from the documents within the set of search results,

 

a third field to receive information regarding a web site or a domain to which the set of search results will be restricted,

 

a fourth field to receive selection of information regarding a language to which the set of search results will be restricted;

receive, from the client device, input including the first search term within the first field;

receive, from the client device, inputs including a plurality of;

input including the second search term within the second field,

input including the information regarding the web site or the domain within the third field, or

input including the information regarding the language selected via the fourth field;

identify a set of documents;

filter the set of documents to obtain a filtered set of documents,

documents in the filtered set of documents including the first search term and;

excluding the second search term when the input including the second search term is received,

being associated with the web site or the domain when the input including the information regarding the web site or the domain is received, or

containing text in the language when the input including the information regarding the language is received; and

provide information identifying the documents in the filtered set of documents.

9. The system of claim 8, where the one or more devices are further to:

provide context information that includes at least one of information identifying a link or information identifying a category,

the context information being provided by the one or more devices without input from the client device,

where the documents in the filtered set of documents are associated with the context information.

10. The system of claim 9, where the context information includes one or more links.

11. The system of claim 8, where the user interface includes the first field, the third field, and at least one of the second field or the fourth field, and

where, when receiving the inputs, the one or more devices are to:

receive the input including the information regarding the web site or the domain within the third field and at least one of;

the input including the second search term within the second field, or

the input including the information regarding the language within the fourth field.

12. The system of claim 8, where the user interface includes the first field, the fourth field, and at least one of the second field or the third field, and

where, when receiving the inputs, the one or more devices are to:

receive the input including the information regarding the language within the fourth field and at least one of;

the input including the second search term within the second field, or

the input including the information regarding the web site or the domain within the third field.

13. The system of claim 8, where the user interface further includes a fifth field to receive selection of information regarding a particular category of a plurality of categories,

where the one or more devices are further to:

receive, from the client device, input including the information regarding the particular category selected via the fifth field, and

where the documents, in the filtered set of documents, are associated with the particular category.

14. The system of claim 13, where the plurality of categories corresponds to categories within a hierarchical directory, and

where the one or more devices are further to:

periodically crawl a network, associated with the one or more devices, to maintain the hierarchical directory.

15. The system of claim 13, where the particular category identifies one or more links and additional information corresponding to the particular category.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more devices, cause the one or more devices to;

provide a user interface,

the user interface including;

a first field to receive a first search term that is to be included in documents included within a set of search results, and

a plurality of;

 

a second field to receive a second search term that is to be excluded from the documents included within the set of search results,

 

a third field to receive information regarding a web site or a domain to which the set of search results will be restricted,

 

a fourth field to receive selection of information regarding a language to which the set of search results will be restricted;

receive the first search term within the first field;

receive a plurality of;

the second search term within the second field,

the information regarding the web site or the domain within the third field, or

the information regarding the language within the fourth field;

identify a set of documents;

filter the set of documents to obtain a filtered set of documents,

documents in the filtered set of documents including the first search term and;

excluding the second search term when the second search term is received,

being associated with the web site or the domain when the information regarding the web site or the domain is received, or

containing text in the language when the information regarding the language is received; and

provide information identifying the documents in the filtered set of documents.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, where the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions to receive context information that includes at least one of information identifying a link or information identifying a category,

where the documents, in the filtered set of documents, are associated with the context information.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, where the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions to receive information regarding a particular category of a plurality of categories, and

where the documents, in the filtered set of documents, are associated with the particular category.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, where the particular category identifies links and additional information corresponding to the particular category.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, where the plurality of categories corresponds to categories within a hierarchical directory, and

where the instructions further include:

one or more instructions to periodically crawl a network, associated with the one or more devices, to maintain the hierarchical directory.