Personalized search

• US 9,519,715 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2006
• Issued: 12/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Excalibur IP, LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Inventors: Dedhia, Harshal D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Peng, Huawen A
• Application Number:
  US11/556,068
• Publication Number:
  US 20080109422A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,694 Days
• Field of Search: 707/5
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

Systems and methods have been developed for performing an advanced or detailed search based on information previously collected about a searcher'"'"'s interests. In response to a search request, the searcher'"'"'s interests are retrieved and inspected. In an embodiment, the interests may be obtained from multiple systems including those not associated with the search system. Based on the searcher'"'"'s interests, the search request may be limited or otherwise modified from the actual request received. The results of the limited search may then presented to the searcher as the results of the requested search.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, using a computing device, a first search query from a client, the first search query comprising a first search term and being a command to search an index for entries matching the first search term;

retrieving, using the computing device, historical client interest data associated with the client, the historical client interest data comprising information passively collected from the client based on the client'"'"'s past actions;

identifying at least one interest category of the first search query by comparing the first search term with the historical client interest data;

generating a relevancy score for the at least one interest category of the first search query;

dynamically selecting, using the computing device, one or more client limitations from the at least one interest category, the selecting of the one or more client limitations based on the historical client interest data associated with the client, on the relevance of the historical client interest data to the first search term, and on the relevancy score of the at least one interest category;

generating a second search query, using the computing device, the second search query comprising the first search term and the one or more client limitations;

identifying a first search result by searching, using the computing device, the index for entries matching the first search query;

identifying a second search result by searching, using the computing device, the index for entries matching the second search query;

transmitting, using the computing device, the second search results and a text representation of the one or more client limitations to the client; and

transmitting, using the computing device, to the client, an indication that the first search results are available for transmission to the client.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein searching further comprises:

receiving, using the computing device, an indication the user wishes to view the first search results;

transmitting, using the computing device, the first search results to the client.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the historical client interest data associated with the client is selected from a client search history, a client consumption history and a client purchase history.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

monitoring actions performed by the client over time to generate historical client interest data; and

receiving a command from the client to return limited search results based on the historical client interest data.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

comparing the limited search results to one or more criteria; and

if the limited search results do not meet at least one of the criteria, transmitting full search results to the client, the full search results identifying the entries matching the first search term.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein each client limitation corresponds to a different predetermined category associated with a different subset of entries in the index.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

searching the index for entries matching the first search term;

receiving a request from the client to display results indicative of all entries; and

transmitting full search results to the client, the full search results identifying the entries matching the first search term.

8. A method comprising:

maintaining, using a computing device, information indicative of a searcher'"'"'s prior interests;

in response to a search request from the searcher with known prior interests, comparing, by the computing device, the search request to the known prior interests;

searching, using the computing device, an index;

generating, by the computing device, a full results set of entries matching the search request;

identifying at least one interest category of the search request;

generating a relevancy score for the at least one interest category with the search request;

selecting one or more prior interest search parameters from the at least one interest category and based on a relevancy between the search request and the known prior interests and on the relevancy score of the at least one interest category;

modifying, using the computing device, the full results set, using the full results set as input, to create a modified results set using the selected one or more prior interest search parameters; and

transmitting, using the computing device, the modified results set and the prior interest search parameters to the searcher.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

indicating to the searcher that the modified results set is not the full results set that would have been generated from the search request.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

searching the full results set for entries matching the one or more prior interest search parameters.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

generating the modified results set by removing entries from the full results set that do not match the one or more prior interest search parameters.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

generating the modified results set by changing how entries from the full results set that do not match the one or more prior interest search parameters are displayed relative to entries from the full results set that do match the one or more prior interest search parameters.

13. A system comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory storage medium for tangibly storing thereon computer instructions for execution by the processor;

a searchable index of entries;

a search module, at least partially implemented as coded instructions and executed by the processor from the non-transitory storage medium, configured to search for entries matching search terms and search parameters;

a personalization module, at least partially implemented as coded instructions and executed by the processor from the non-transitory storage medium, configured to receive a search request from a client and, if the search request is from a client with known interests, to create a limited search request from the received search request and transmit the limited search request to the search module, and wherein the personalization module further comprises a relevancy module, at least partially implemented as coded instructions and executed by the processor from the non-transitory storage medium, adapted to compare a received search request with the known interests of a client and to select one or more client search terms or client search parameters based on the comparison and based on a relevancy score of at least one interest category of the search request;

a communication module executed by the processor from the non-transitory storage medium, configured to transmit search results to the client and being further adapted to transmit a text representation of the one or more of the client terms or client search parameters indicating to the client that the transmitted search results were generated by a limited search request; and

a client interest datastore on the non-transitory storage medium containing known interests of clients.

14. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, a basic search request from a client, the basic search request including search terms;

generating, using the computing device, advanced search parameters for the client based on known interests of the client and on the search terms;

identifying a relevancy score for at least one interest category of the basic search request by comparing the search terms with the known interests of the client;

performing, using the computing device, an advanced search based on the relevancy score of the at least one interest category using the advanced search parameters and the search terms;

returning, using the computing device, a limited results set generated by the advanced search as the results of the basic search request; and

indicating to the client that the limited results set is not the results of the basic search request by returning to the client a text representation of the advanced search parameters.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

wherein the known interests are derived from prior searches performed by the client.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

wherein the known interests are derived from client identification information previously provided by the client.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein performing further comprises:

determining a relevancy between the search terms and the known interests of the client.