Enhanced presentation mode for search results

• US 9,471,649 B1
• Filed: 06/18/2013
• Issued: 10/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Hong, Peter Jin, Zivkovic, Dragan, Matsumoto, Yoshitake
• Primary Examiner(s): Chbouki, Tarek
• Application Number:
  US13/920,255
• Time in Patent Office: 1,218 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for presenting search results. In one aspect, a method includes displaying a search engine results page in a first presentation mode or a second presentation mode, wherein, in the first presentation mode and the second presentation mode, the search engine results page includes (i) a text region that displays textual information relating to one or more search results that are responsive to a search query and (ii) an image region, wherein, in the first presentation mode, the image region displays contextual information relating to two or more of the search results that are responsive to the search query, and wherein, in the second presentation mode, the image region displays contextual information relating to a single search result that is responsive to the search query; and receiving a user input, then switching the search engine results page between the first presentation mode and the second presentation mode.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

providing a search engine results page that includes (i) a text region that displays textual information that relates to a first search result, and (ii) an image region that displays a map that includes one or more icons, the one or more icons including an icon that specifies a location on the map that is associated with the first search result; and

in response to receiving data indicating a user input that causes scrolling of the search engine results page, (i) modifying the text region to display textual information that relates to a second search result that was not presented before scrolling, (ii) modifying the text region to remove the textual information that relates to the first search result, (iii) modifying the image region to display a map that includes an icon that specifies a location on the map that is associated with the second search result, (iv) modifying the image region to remove the icon that specifies the location associated with the first search result, (v) moving the image region containing the map to a particular screen position, and (vi) scrolling the text region while maintaining the image region at the particular screen position.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the map that includes an icon that specifies a location on the map that is associated with the second search result is the same as the map that includes an icon that specifies a location on the map that is associated with a search result.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the map that includes an icon that specifies a location on the map that is associated with the second search result is different than the map that includes an icon that specifies a location on the map that is associated with a search result.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the search engine results page comprises providing a search engine results page having an image region that includes, in addition to the map and the icon that specifies the location on the map that is associated with the first search result, an image that is associated with the first search result.

5. The method of claim 4, comprising:

in response to receiving the data indicating user input, modifying the image that is associated with the first search result and that is co-located in the image region to display a different image that is associated with the second search result.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, receiving, at a mobile device, a resource for a search engine results page that includes multiple search results, wherein providing the search engine results page comprises displaying the search engine results page at the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the search engine results page comprises providing a search engine results page that includes (i) a text region that displays a first set of search results, and (ii) an image region that displays a map that includes an icon for each search result in the first set of search results, each icon specifying a location on the map that is associated with the corresponding search result;

and

wherein modifying the text region comprises modifying the text region to display a second set of search results, the second set of search results including a different number of search results than the first set of search results; and

wherein modifying the image region comprises modifying the image region to display a map that includes an icon for each search result in the second set of search results, the map having a different number of icons than were displayed prior to receiving the data indicating the user input.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the search engine results page comprises providing a search engine results page that includes multiple icons on the map, each of the multiple icons specifying a location associated with a different search result, wherein the multiple icons include at least one icon specifying a location associated with a search result that is not presented in a currently displayed view of the search engine results page.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the search engine results page comprises providing a search engine results page that includes multiple icons in the map, each of the multiple icons specifying a location associated with a different search result;

and

wherein modifying the image region to remove at least one of the one or more icons comprises, in response to receiving data indicating a user input, removing each of the multiple icons except one of the multiple icons that specifies a location associated with a highest-ranking search result displayed after scrolling of the search engine results page.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the search engine results page comprises providing a first view of the search engine results page in which (i) the text region displays textual information that relates to a first subset of search results, and (ii) only one search result has a corresponding icon displayed on the map in the image region;

and

further comprising, after modifying the text region and the image region in response to receiving the data indicating the user input that causes scrolling of the search engine results page, providing a second view of the search engine results in which (i) the text region displays textual information that relates to a second subset of search results that is different from the first subset of search results, and (ii) only one search result has a corresponding icon displayed on the map in the image region and the icon corresponds to a different search result than the icon displayed in the first view of the search engine results page.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the icon displayed in the first view of the search engine results page specifies a location associated with a highest-ranking search result from the first subset of search results, and wherein the icon displayed in the second view of the search engine results page specifies a location associated with a highest-ranking search result from the second subset of search results.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first subset of search results and the second subset of search results share at least one search result.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to receiving the data that causes scrolling of the search engine results page, scrolling the text region and not scrolling the image region.

14. 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;

providing a search engine results page that includes (i) a text region that displays textual information that relates to a first search result, and (ii) an image region that displays a map that includes one or more icons, the one or more icons including an icon that specifies a location on the map that is associated with the first search result; and

in response to receiving data indicating a user input that causes scrolling of the search engine results page, (i) modifying the text region to display textual information that relates to a second search result that was not presented before scrolling, (ii) modifying the text region to remove the textual information that relates to the first search result, (iii) modifying the image region to display a map that includes an icon that specifies a location on the map that is associated with the second search result, (iv) modifying the image region to remove the icon that specifies the location associated with the first search result, (v) moving the image region containing the map to a particular screen position, and (vi) scrolling the text region while maintaining the image region at the particular screen position.

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

providing a search engine results page that includes (i) a text region that displays textual information that relates to a first search result, and (ii) an image region that displays a map that includes one or more icons, the one or more icons including an icon that specifies a location on the map that is associated with the first search result; and

in response to receiving data indicating a user input that causes scrolling of the search engine results page, (i) modifying the text region to display textual information that relates to a second search result that was not presented before scrolling, (ii) modifying the text region to remove the textual information that relates to the first search result, (iii) modifying the image region to display a map that includes an icon that specifies a location on the map that is associated with the second search result, and (iv) modifying the image region to remove the icon that specifies the location associated with the first search result, (v) moving the image region containing the map to a particular screen position, and (vi) scrolling the text region while maintaining the image region at the particular screen position.

16. A computer-implemented method comprising:

providing a search engine results page that includes (i) a text region that displays textual information that relates to a first search result, and (ii) an image region that displays a map that includes multiple icons, each of the multiple icons specifying a location associated with a different search result; and

in response to receiving data indicating a user input that causes scrolling of the search engine results page, (i) modifying the text region to display textual information that relates to a second search result that was not presented before scrolling, (ii) modifying the text region to remove the textual information that relates to the first search result, (iii) modifying the image region to remove each of the multiple icons except one of the multiple icons that specifies a location associated with a highest-ranking search result displayed after scrolling of the search engine results page, and (iv) modifying the image region to remove the icon that specifies the location associated with the first search result.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the image region is disposed at a top of the search engine results page before scrolling in response to the user input and after scrolling in response to the user input.

18. 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;

providing a search engine results page that includes (i) a text region that displays textual information that relates to a first search result, and (ii) an image region that displays a map that includes multiple icons, each of the multiple icons specifying a location associated with a different search result; and

in response to receiving data indicating a user input that causes scrolling of the search engine results page, (i) modifying the text region to display textual information that relates to a second search result that was not presented before scrolling, (ii) modifying the text region to remove the textual information that relates to the first search result, (iii) modifying the image region to remove each of the multiple icons except one of the multiple icons that specifies a location associated with a highest-ranking search result displayed after scrolling of the search engine results page, and (iv) modifying the image region to remove the icon that specifies the location associated with the first search result.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the image region is disposed at a top of the search engine results page before scrolling in response to the user input and after scrolling in response to the user input.

20. A computer-readable storage device storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

providing a search engine results page that includes (i) a text region that displays textual information that relates to a first search result, and (ii) an image region that displays a map that includes multiple icons, each of the multiple icons specifying a location associated with a different search result; and

in response to receiving data indicating a user input that causes scrolling of the search engine results page, (i) modifying the text region to display textual information that relates to a second search result that was not presented before scrolling, (ii) modifying the text region to remove the textual information that relates to the first search result, (iii) modifying the image region to remove each of the multiple icons except one of the multiple icons that specifies a location associated with a highest-ranking search result displayed after scrolling of the search engine results page, and (iv) modifying the image region to remove the icon that specifies the location associated with the first search result.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein the image region is disposed at a top of the search engine results page before scrolling in response to the user input and after scrolling in response to the user input.