Computer application data in search results

• US 9,582,549 B2
• Filed: 04/14/2015
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: LeBeau, Michael J., Phukan, Prasenjit
• Primary Examiner(s): Trujillo, James
• Assistant Examiner(s): MINA, FATIMA P
• Application Number:
  US14/686,516
• Publication Number:
  US 20150227523A1
• Time in Patent Office: 686 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications

Abstract

A computer-implemented search method includes receiving a registration request from each of one or more computer applications installed on a computing device and registering the applications in response to the request, wherein the registration request indicates an intent by the application to receive search query information from a search application associated with the device. The method also includes receiving user input on the device in the form of a query, providing the query to the one or more registered applications, receiving responses from the one or more registered applications that include data that is managed by the one or more registered applications; integrating the responses into a result set; and presenting the result set with the computing device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented search method, comprising:

receiving, by a search application installed on a user device, a query entered by a user of the user device;

providing, by the search application, the query to a plurality of third-party applications installed on the user device, other than the search application;

receiving, by the search application, a respective set of search results from each of the third-party applications as a respective response to the query, wherein each respective set of search results identifies data managed by the respective third-party application from which the respective set of search results is received, wherein at least one of the respective sets of search results includes multiple search results;

integrating, by the search application, the respective sets of search results from the third-party applications into an integrated result set that includes groups of search results, wherein each group of search results corresponds to a different third-party application among the plurality of third-party applications and includes only the respective set of search results received from the corresponding third-party application;

identifying, for each respective third-party application among the plurality of third-party applications, a respective score that indicates a number of user selections of search results from the respective third-party application that have previously occurred on the user device;

ranking the groups of search results in the integrated result set based on the respective scores for the third-party applications that correspond to the groups of search results; and

presenting, by the search application, the integrated result set on the user device in an arrangement that corresponds to the ranking of the groups of search results in the integrated result set.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising registering the third-party applications, wherein:

registering the third-party applications comprises storing registration information for the registered third-party applications; and

providing the query to the plurality of third-party applications comprises accessing the stored registration information to determine a manner in which to provide the query to each of the registered third-party applications.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the query to the one or more third-party applications comprises providing an updated query automatically to the third-party applications for each character entered by the user of the user device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising providing the query to one or more search services that are remote from the user device.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising suppressing the providing of the query to the one or more search services until the user has entered at least a predetermined amount of information in the query.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the predetermined amount of information comprises a predetermined number of characters in the query.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the user device includes one or more operating system components; and

the method comprises;

providing, by the search application, the query to the one or more operating system components and to one or more remote search services remote from the user device; and

integrating, by the search application, respective sets of search results received from the one or more operating system components and the one or more remote search services with the sets of search results from the third-party applications to form the integrated result set.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

initially ranking groups of search results that correspond to the one or more operating system components or the one or more remote search services higher than groups of search results that correspond to the third-party applications; and

in response to receiving a selection from the user of a search result from a particular third-party application, ranking, in a subsequent search session, a group of search results that corresponds to the particular third-party application higher than groups of search results that correspond to the one or more operating system components or the one or more remote search services.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user selection in the search application of a search result from a particular application among the plurality of third-party applications; and

modifying, in response to receiving the user selection of the search result from the particular application, the respective score for the particular application so as to increase a likelihood that a group of search results corresponding to the particular application will be ranked higher by the search application in an integrated result set for a subsequent search session.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the respective sets of search results received by the search application from one or more of the third-party applications include relevance scores for the search results that indicate a relevance of the search results to the query, the relevance scores having been determined by the respective third-party applications that provided the relevance scores to the search application, and

the groups of search results in the integrated result set are ranked further based on the relevance scores.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of user selections of search results indicated by the respective score for a first of the third-party applications counts user selections of search results from the first of the third-party applications that are different from search results in the respective set of search results received from the first of the third-party applications as a response to the query.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective score for a first third-party application among the plurality of third-party applications indicates a collective number of user selections of multiple different search results from the first application that have previously occurred on the user device.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the query entered by the user of the user device is a first query, and

the respective score for a first third-party application among the plurality of third-party applications indicates a number of user selections of search results returned by the first third-party application in response to one or more queries, including a second query that is different from the first query, that have previously occurred on the user device.

11. One or more non-transitory computer storage devices having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by a search application installed on a user device, a query entered by a user of the user device;

providing, by the search application, the query to a plurality of third-party applications installed on the user device, other than the search application;

receiving, by the search application, a respective set of search results from each of the third-party applications as a respective response to the query, wherein each respective set of search results identifies data managed by the respective third-party application from which the respective set of search results is received, wherein at least one of the respective sets of search results includes multiple search results;

integrating, by the search application, the respective sets of search results from the third-party applications into an integrated result set that includes groups of search results, wherein each group of search results corresponds to a different third-party application among the plurality of third-party applications and includes only the respective set of search results received from the corresponding third-party application;

identifying, for each respective third-party application among the plurality of third-party applications, a respective score that indicates a number of user selections of search results from the respective third-party application that have previously occurred on the user device;

ranking the groups of search results in the integrated result set based on the respective scores for the third-party applications that correspond to the groups of search results; and

presenting, by the search application, the integrated result set on the user device in an arrangement that corresponds to the ranking of the groups of search results in the integrated result set.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer storage devices of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise registering the third-party applications, wherein:

registering the third-party applications comprises storing registration information for the registered third-party applications; and

providing the query to the plurality of third-party applications comprises accessing the stored registration information to determine a manner in which to provide the query to each of the registered third-party applications.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer storage devices of claim 11, wherein providing the query to the one or more third-party applications comprises providing an updated query automatically to the third-party applications for each character entered by the user of the user device.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer storage devices of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise providing the query to one or more remote search services.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer storage devices of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise suppressing the providing of the query to the one or more remote search services until the user has entered at least a predetermined amount of information in the query.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer storage devices of claim 15, wherein the predetermined amount of information comprises a predetermined number of characters in the query.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer storage devices of claim 11, wherein:

the user device includes one or more operating system components;

the operations comprise;

providing, by the search application, the query to the one or more operating system components and to one or more remote search services remote from the user device; and

integrating, by the search application, respective sets of search results received from the one or more operating system components and the one or more remote search services with the sets of search results from the third-party applications to form the integrated result set.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer storage devices of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise:

initially ranking groups of search results that correspond to the one or more operating system components or the one or more remote search services higher than groups of search results that correspond to the third-party applications; and

in response to receiving a selection from the user of a search result from a particular third-party application, ranking, in a subsequent search session, a group of search results that corresponds to the particular third-party application higher than groups of search results that correspond to the one or more operating system components or the one or more remote search services.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer storage devices of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a user selection in the search application of a search result from a particular application among the plurality of third-party applications; and

modifying, in response to receiving the user selection of the search result from the particular application, the respective score for the particular application so as to increase a likelihood that a group of search results corresponding to the particular application will be ranked higher by the search application in an integrated result set for a subsequent search session.

23. A computing device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause performance of operations comprising;

receiving, by a search application installed on the computing device, a query entered by a user of the computing device;

providing, by the search application, the query to a plurality of third-party applications installed on the computing device, other than the search application;

receiving, by the search application, a respective set of search results from each of the third-party applications as a respective response to the query, wherein each respective set of search results identifies data managed by the respective third-party application from which the respective set of search results is received, wherein at least one of the respective sets of search results includes multiple search results;

integrating, by the search application, the respective sets of search results from the third-party applications into an integrated result set that includes groups of search results, wherein each group of search results corresponds to a different third-party application among the plurality of third-party applications and includes only the respective set of search results received from the corresponding third-party application;

identifying, for each respective third-party application among the plurality of third-party applications, a respective score that indicates a number of user selections of search results from the respective third-party application that have previously occurred on the computing device;

ranking the groups of search results in the integrated result set based on the respective scores for the third-party applications that correspond to the groups of search results; and

presenting, by the search application, the integrated result set on the computing device in an arrangement that corresponds to the ranking of the groups of search results in the integrated result set.