Presenting search result items having varied prominence

• US 9,335,883 B2
• Filed: 09/08/2011
• Issued: 05/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Berntson, Alec John, Ahari, Sanaz, McDonald, Kieran Richard, Iqbal, Muhammad Arif
• Primary Examiner(s): Chuang, Jung-Mu
• Application Number:
  US13/228,104
• Publication Number:
  US 20130067364A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,706 Days
• Field of Search: 715/764
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

Computer-readable media, computer systems, and computing devices for facilitating presentation of search result items having varying prominence is provided. The method includes referencing a search result item to be presented within a search results page in response to a search query. Thereafter, a determination is made that a size prominence of the search result item is to be modified. Such a determination can be based on a result attribute(s) associated with the search result item and a result attribute(s) associated with other search result items within the search results page. The size of the search result item is adjusted in accordance with the determination that the size prominence of the search result item is to be modified.

Claims

1. A computing system comprising:

a processor; and

computer storage memory having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the processor, configure the computing system to facilitate presentation of search result items having varied prominence, the processor being operable, when executing the instructions, to;

reference a search result item to be presented within a search results page in response to a search query;

determine that a size prominence of the search result item is to be modified based on a click-through rate associated with the search result item exceeding a threshold value compared to click-through rates associated with one or more other search result items within the search results page, each of the search result item and the one or more other search result items being a different set of components displayed as a group adjacent to one another on the search results page;

select a modified size prominence to which the size prominence is to be adjusted; and

adjust the size of the search result item to the modified size prominence in accordance with the determination that the size prominence of the search result item is to be modified, the adjusting comprising increasing the vertical space allocation and a number of components of the search result item.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the search result item and the one or more other search result items comprise an instant answer or a web result.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the search result item and the one or more other search result items comprise an advertisement.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the search result item and the one or more other search result items comprise a related search item.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the search result item and the one or more other search result items comprise a tab item.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the determination to modify the size prominence dynamically occurs, without user intervention, upon submission of a search query.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more other search result items comprise all of the search result items to be presented on the search result page other than the search result item.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the size prominence comprises a vertical space, a vertical height, a pixel height, a horizontal width, a horizontal space, a number of lines, a character count, a number of components, or a combination thereof.

9. A method of presenting search result items having varied prominence, the method comprising:

presenting a first display area for displaying a first search result item and a second search result item presented on a search results page, the first search result item and the second search result item comprising an instant answer or a web result, each of the first search result item and the second search result item being a different set of components displayed as a group adjacent to one another on the search results page;

identifying result attributes associated with the first search result item and a second search result item, the result attributes being historical data related to the first search result item and a second search result item, the results attributes being updated as historical data is gathered, the result attributes comprising a click-through rate;

determining that the first search result item has a click-through rate exceeding a first threshold relative to a click-through rate associated with at least the second search result item presented on the search results page;

adjusting the size allocation of the first search result item to a first greater predetermined size vertical space allocation; and

increasing a number of components of the first search result item.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the size allocation comprises a vertical space, a vertical height, a pixel height, a horizontal width, a horizontal space, a number of lines, a character count, a number of components, or a combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the click-through rates are continually updated such that a size modification determination of a search result item may differ between queries.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining that the first search result item has a click-through rate exceeding a second threshold relative to a click-through rate associated with at least the second search result item presented on the search results page and adjusting the size allocation of the first search result item to a second greater predetermined size.

13. A computing system comprising:

a processor; and

computer storage memory having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the processor, configure the computing system to facilitate presentation of search result items having varied prominence, the processor being operable, when executing the instructions, to;

reference a set of search result items for display within a search results page that are relevant to a search query, the set including web results and instant answers;

rank the search result items based on relevance to the search query;

determine that a first search result item is to be increased from a first size allocation to a second size allocation that is greater than the first size allocation based on one or more result attributes associated with the search result items indicating that a click-through rate for the first search result item is greater than a click-through rate for at least the second search result item, each of the first search result item and the second search result item being a different set of components displayed as a group adjacent to one another on the search results page;

increase a number of components of the first search result item;

determine that a second search result item is to be modified to accommodate for the increase of the first search result item to the second size allocation such that the search result items may be displayed in accordance with one or more search result constraints; and

present the first search result item having the second size allocation and the second search result item having the first size allocation within the search results page in accordance with the corresponding ranking.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein a cost function is used to determine that the first search result item is to be increased from the first size allocation to the second size allocation.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the second size allocation is selected from among a plurality of predetermined size allocations.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the second size allocation is an increased vertical height, a horizontal width, a character count, a number of components, or a combination thereof, compared to the first size allocation.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the second search result item is modified by decreasing the size allocation of the second search result item.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the second search result item is modified by moving the second search result item out of the initial viewing region or to another search results page that is required to be navigated to.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more search result constraints may include a size constraint, a total size for a particular type of search result items, a number of a particular type of search result items on a page or initial viewing screen, or a number of search result items on a page or initial viewing screen.

20. A hardware device having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to present search result items having varied prominence, the instructions causing the computing device to:

present a first display area for displaying a first search result item and a second search result item presented on a search results page, the first search result item and the second search result item comprising an instant answer or a web result, each of the first search result item and the second search result item being a different set of components displayed as a group adjacent to one another on the search results page;

identify result attributes associated with the first search result item and a second search result item, the result attributes being historical data related to the first search result item and a second search result item, the results attributes being updated as historical data is gathered, the result attributes comprising a click-through rate;

determine that the first search result item has a click-through rate exceeding a first threshold relative to a click-through rate associated with at least the second search result item presented on the search results page;

adjust the size allocation of the first search result item to a first greater predetermined size based on a determination of a number of search result items to be presented on the search results page, the adjusting comprising increasing the vertical space allocation; and

increase a number of components of the first search result item.

21. The hardware device of claim 20, wherein the search result item is one of an image search result item, news search result item, web search result item, or music search result item.