Providing images of named resources in response to a search query

• US 9,189,554 B1
• Filed: 05/04/2015
• Issued: 11/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Bau, David, Erkan, Gunes, Osman, Osman Ahmed, Safier, Scott A., Lo, Ching Yu Conrad
• Primary Examiner(s): Corrielus, Jean M
• Application Number:
  US14/702,851
• Time in Patent Office: 197 Days
• Field of Search: 707/706, 707/722, 707/758, 707/770
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/583 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5838 using colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5854 using shape and object relationship
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5866 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, manually generated location and time information
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/172 Classification, e.g. identification

Abstract

Systems, computer program products, apparatus, and methods are described that perform operations including receiving a search query that includes a name, receiving multiple resources that have been identified by a search engine as best satisfying the search query, wherein the identified multiple resources include a resource including a plurality of images. The operations include identifying an image of the plurality of images displaying a face of the person. The image is identified based on a description associated with the image. The description is based at least in part on one or more resources included in the search results. The operations further include providing the identified image with the search results. The search results are provided as a plurality of links. Each link identifies a corresponding resource of the identified plurality of resources.

Claims

1. A method performed by one or more computers, the method comprising:

receiving a query from a device, the query including a name of a person;

identifying a set of documents responsive to the query;

ranking the identified documents;

selecting one or more face images of the person from a highest-ranking subset of the identified documents; and

providing, for display at the device and in a response to the query, a web page that includes (i) the one or more face images selected from the highest-ranking subset, and (ii) search results corresponding to different documents of the identified documents.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a web page that includes search results that each reference a different document in the set of documents, wherein for one or more of the search results, the search result includes an image that is (i) an image of the face of the person, and (ii) is selected from among images in the document referenced by the search result;

wherein providing the web page comprises providing the generated web page in a response to the query.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the web page comprises generating a web page that includes multiple search results that each include a different image of the face of the person, wherein each of the different images is selected from the document referenced by the search result that includes the image.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying a set of documents responsive to the query comprises identifying a set of multiple web pages responsive to the query.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting face images of the person for the highest-ranking subset of the identified documents comprises:

accessing information relating to face images in a computer-searchable index; and

for one or more of the documents in the highest-ranking subset, selecting a face image that is included in the one or more documents based on the accessed information from the computer-searchable index.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting face images of the person for the highest-ranking subset of the identified documents comprises:

accessing one or more of the selected face images from a repository of images extracted from a collection of documents, the repository of images being created prior to receiving the query from the device.

7. A system comprising:

one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

receiving a query from a device, the query including a name of a person;

identifying a set of documents responsive to the query;

ranking the identified documents;

selecting one or more face images of the person from a highest-ranking subset of the identified documents; and

providing, for display at the device and in a response to the query, a web page that includes (i) the one or more face images selected from the highest-ranking subset, and (ii) search results corresponding to different documents of the identified documents.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise generating a web page that includes search results that each reference a different document in the set of documents, wherein for one or more of the search results, the search result includes an image that is (i) an image of the face of the person, and (ii) is selected from among images in the document referenced by the search result;

wherein providing the web page comprises providing the generated web page in a response to the query.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein generating the web page comprises generating a web page that includes multiple search results that each include a different image of the face of the person, wherein each of the different images is selected from the document referenced by the search result that includes the image.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein identifying a set of documents responsive to the query comprises identifying a set of multiple web pages responsive to the query.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein selecting face images of the person for the highest-ranking subset of the identified documents comprises:

accessing information relating to face images in a computer-searchable index; and

for one or more of the documents in the highest-ranking subset, selecting a face image that is included in the one or more documents based on the accessed information from the computer-searchable index.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein selecting face images of the person for the highest-ranking subset of the identified documents comprises:

accessing one or more of the selected face images from a repository of images extracted from a collection of documents, the repository of images being created prior to receiving the query from the device.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

receiving a query from a device, the query including a name of a person;

identifying a set of documents responsive to the query;

ranking the identified documents;

selecting one or more face images of the person from a highest-ranking subset of the identified documents; and

providing, for display at the device and in a response to the query, a web page that includes (i) the one or more face images selected from the highest-ranking subset, and (ii) search results corresponding to different documents of the identified documents.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise generating a web page that includes search results that each reference a different document in the set of documents, wherein for one or more of the search results, the search result includes an image that is (i) an image of the face of the person, and (ii) is selected from among images in the document referenced by the search result;

wherein providing the web page comprises providing the generated web page in a response to the query.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein generating the web page comprises generating a web page that includes multiple search results that each include a different image of the face of the person, wherein each of the different images is selected from the document referenced by the search result that includes the image.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein identifying a set of documents responsive to the query comprises identifying a set of multiple web pages responsive to the query.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein selecting face images of the person for the highest-ranking subset of the identified documents comprises:

accessing information relating to face images in a computer-searchable index; and

for one or more of the documents in the highest-ranking subset, selecting a face image that is included in the one or more documents based on the accessed information from the computer-searchable index.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein selecting face images of the person for the highest-ranking subset of the identified documents comprises:

accessing one or more of the selected face images from a repository of images extracted from a collection of documents, the repository of images being created prior to receiving the query from the device.