Providing objective and people results for search
First Claim
1. One or more computer-readable storage devices that store executable instructions to provide search results, the executable instructions, when executed by a computer, causing the computer to perform acts comprising:
- receiving a query from a user;
determining that the query is one to be asked to a person in addition to, or instead of, a search engine;
comparing said query to a corpus of information to obtain objective results;
comparing said query to a social graph to identify one or more people whose relationship to said user meets a closeness condition and who have an aspect of relevance to said query;
creating person results that comprise said one or more people and, for each of said one or more people, an explanation of each person'"'"'s relevance to said query, said social graph indicating attributes for people in said social graph, said explanation of a given person'"'"'s relevance comprising an attribute that is indicated in said social graph for said given person, said attribute matching a term in said query; and
providing, to said user, a set of results that comprise said objective results and said person results.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Search results may include both objective results and person results. In one example, a search query is evaluated to determine whether it is the type of query that a user might want to ask to a friend. If the query is of such a type, then the search engine may examine a social graph to determine which friends of the user who entered the query may have information that is relevant to answering the query. If such friends exist, then the friends may be displayed along with objective search results, along with an explanation of each friend'"'"'s relevance to the query. Clicking on a person in the results may cause a conversation to be initiated with that person, thereby allowing the user who entered the query to ask his or her friend about the subject of the query.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. One or more computer-readable storage devices that store executable instructions to provide search results, the executable instructions, when executed by a computer, causing the computer to perform acts comprising:
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receiving a query from a user; determining that the query is one to be asked to a person in addition to, or instead of, a search engine; comparing said query to a corpus of information to obtain objective results; comparing said query to a social graph to identify one or more people whose relationship to said user meets a closeness condition and who have an aspect of relevance to said query; creating person results that comprise said one or more people and, for each of said one or more people, an explanation of each person'"'"'s relevance to said query, said social graph indicating attributes for people in said social graph, said explanation of a given person'"'"'s relevance comprising an attribute that is indicated in said social graph for said given person, said attribute matching a term in said query; and providing, to said user, a set of results that comprise said objective results and said person results. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of providing search results, the method comprising:
using a processor to perform acts, said acts being implemented by instructions that are stored in a memory, said acts comprising; receiving a query from a user; determining that the query is one to be asked to a person in addition to, or instead of, a search engine; obtaining objective results from a corpus of information; using a social graph to identify one or more people who are friends of said user in said social graph, and who have an aspect of relevance to said query; creating person results that comprise said one or more people and, for each of said one or more people, an explanation of each person'"'"'s relevance to said query, said social graph indicating attributes for people in said social graph, said explanation of a given person'"'"'s relevance comprising an attribute that is indicated in said social graph for said given person; and providing, to said user, a set of results that comprise said objective results and said person results, each of said person results being actionable to initiate contact between said user and a person identified in a given result. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for providing search results, the system comprising:
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a memory; a processor; and a component that is stored in said memory, that executes on said processor, that receives a query from a user, that determines that said query is one to be asked to a person in addition to, or instead of, a search engine, that obtains objective results corresponding to the query from a corpus of information, that identifies one or more people in a social graph whose relationship to said user meets a closeness condition and who have an aspect of relevance to said query, that creates person results that comprise a portion of said one or more people, that creates, for each of said one or more people, an explanation of each person'"'"'s relevance to said query, and that provides, to said user, a set of results that comprise said objective results and said person results. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification