Search result ranking and presentation

• US 10,445,328 B2
• Filed: 07/08/2016
• Issued: 10/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhou, Chen, Ding, Chen, Huynh, David Francois, Lou, JinYu, Huang, Yanlai, Shen, Hongda, Li, Guanghua, Li, Yiming, Chai, Yangyang
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel, Jr., Robert W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Khakhar, Nirav K
• Application Number:
  US15/205,624
• Publication Number:
  US 20160321267A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,194 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24526 Internal representations for queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9024 Graphs; Linked lists G06F16/9027 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9038 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for ranking search results and generating a presentation. In some implementations, a search system generates a presentation based on a search query. In some implementations, a search system ranks search results based on data stored in a knowledge graph. In some implementations, a search system identifies a modifying concept such as a superlative in a received search query, and determines ranking properties based on the modifying concept.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for providing search results, the method comprising:

receiving a search query from a user device;

parsing, using one or more processors, the search query to identify a modifying concept in the search query;

generating, using one or more processors, a query tree based on the search query, wherein the query tree includes at least a root node, an additional node, and an edge that defines a relationship between the root node and the additional node;

retrieving, using one or more processors, search results from a knowledge graph, based at least in part on the query tree, wherein retrieving the search results from the knowledge graph based at least in part on the query tree comprises;

retrieving an entity reference from the knowledge graph based on the entity reference having a relationship, in the knowledge graph, that matches;

the root node of the query tree;

the additional node of the query tree; and

the relationship, between the root node and the additional node, defined by the edge of the query tree, and

determining at least one of the search results based on the retrieved entity reference;

determining, using one or more processors, at least one ranking property based at least on the modifying concept;

ranking, using one or more processors, the search results based at least in part on the at least one ranking property;

generating, using one or more processors, a scrollable display of the search results based on the ranking, each of the search results including a thumbnail in the scrollable display; and

causing to be presented at the user device, using one or more processors, the scrollable display of the search results.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one ranking property includes an ordering direction.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the query tree further comprises:

generating a plurality of query trees based on the search query;

determining a score for each query tree of the plurality of query trees; and

selecting a query tree from the plurality of query trees based at least in part on the score.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying concept is explicit in the search query.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying concept is implicit in the search query.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying concept is objective.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying concept is subjective.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying concept is explicit and wherein generating the query tree based on the search query comprises generating the query tree based on the search query without the modifying concept.

8. A computer implemented method for search, the method comprising:

identifying, using one or more processors, a modifying concept based on parsing a search query from a user device;

determining, using one or more processors, a rule for ranking search results based at least in part on the modifying concept and on a knowledge graph from which at least one of the search results was obtained;

ranking, using one or more processors, search results based at least in part on the rule;

generating, using one or more processors, a first display of the search results based on the ranking and according to a first automatically determined presentation technique; and

causing to be presented at the user device, using one or more processors, the first display of the search results according to the first automatically determined presentation technique, along with a plurality of presentation selector elements, wherein when any one of the presentation selector elements is selected by user input, a corresponding display is provided based on the ranking and according to a corresponding presentation technique that corresponds to the selected one of the presentation selector elements, wherein the corresponding display replaces the first display when the selected one of the presentation selector elements is selected by user input, and

wherein the corresponding presentation techniques for the presentation selector elements include two or more of a map presentation technique, a timeline presentation technique, and a chart presentation technique.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the rule for ranking search results comprises:

identifying in the knowledge graph an entity type associated with the search query; and

retrieving data related to the modifying concept and the entity type, wherein the data comprises at least the rule.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the rule for ranking search results comprises:

identifying, in the knowledge graph, a property associated with the search query; and

retrieving data related to the modifying concept and the property, wherein the data comprises at least the rule.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein identifying the modifying concept comprises identifying at least one desired ranking property from the search query.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the rule for ranking search results comprises:

retrieving a quality score from the knowledge graph for each respective search result of the search results, wherein the quality score is associated with the modifying concept; and

determining the rule for ranking search results based at least in part on the quality score.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the rule for ranking search results comprises determining the frequency of occurrence of the modifying concept in each respective search result of the search results.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the rule comprises:

identifying an entity reference in the knowledge graph based on the search query;

identifying two or more entity types associated with the entity reference;

determining a weight for each of the two or more entity types based at least in part on the relationship of the entity reference with each respective entity type; and

determining data based at least in part on the weight and the two or more entity types, wherein the data comprises at least the rule.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the rule for ranking search results comprises:

identifying a first and second entity reference in a search query;

retrieving, from the knowledge graph, a set of search results based at least in part on the first entity reference;

determining a related entity score for each respective search result of the set of search results, wherein the related entity score is based at least in part on the co-occurrence of data related to the first entity reference and data related to the second entity reference in each respective search result; and

determining at least the rule based on the related entity score.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein the modifying concept comprises a range filter.

17. The method of claim 8, wherein the modifying concept is explicit.

18. The method of claim 8, wherein the modifying concept is implicit.

19. The method of claim 8, wherein the modifying concept is subjective.

20. A system for providing search results, the system comprising:

a database comprising a knowledge graph; and

one or more computers configured to perform operations comprising;

receiving a search query from a user device;

identifying a modifying concept in a search query;

generating a query tree based on the search query, wherein the query tree includes at least a root node, an additional node, and an edge that defines a relationship between the root node and the additional node;

retrieving search results from the knowledge graph, based at least in part on the query tree, wherein retrieving the search results from the knowledge graph based at least in part on the query tree comprises;

retrieving an entity reference from the knowledge graph based on the entity reference having a relationship, in the knowledge graph, that matches;

the root node of the query tree;

the additional node of the query tree; and

the relationship, between the root node and the additional node, defined by the edge of the query tree,

determining at least one of the search results based on the retrieved entity reference;

determining at least one ranking property based at least on the modifying concept;

ranking the search results based at least in part on the at least one ranking property;

generating a display of the search results based on the ranking; and

causing the display of the search results to be presented.