Techniques for inline searching in an instant messenger environment

• US 20050234883A1
• Filed: 04/19/2004
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Szeto, Christopher, Tam, Raymond Chung-Man
• Granted Patent: US 7,363,295 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90344 by using string matching techniques
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/915 Image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

Techniques for performing inline searches in an instant messaging environment are provided. A user can implement a web search in an instant messaging window by entering a search query. A search query can be preceded by a predefined search trigger to identify the associated text as the search query. The search query is sent to an Internet search server, which processes the query and gathers search results. One or more of the search results is displayed inline in the instant messaging window to the sender and the recipient. The search result can be in XML or HTML format and can include graphics and hyperlinks.

Claims

1. A method for searching the Internet in an instant messaging environment, the method comprising:

recognizing at least a portion of an instant message entered into an instant messaging application on a first client computer as a search query;

displaying the search query to the first user inline in an instant messaging window on the first client computer;

transmitting the search query to a search server, wherein the search server performs a web search based on the search query and retrieves search results; and

displaying at least one of the search results inline in the instant messaging window on the first client computer.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:

transmitting the instant message to a second client computer;

recognizing at least a portion of the instant message as a search query on the second client computer;

displaying the search query inline in a second instant messaging window on the second client computer; and

displaying the at least one search result inline in the second instant messaging window.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein recognizing the instant message entered by the first user further comprises identifying a character string in the instant message as a search trigger.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the select search result includes an image.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the selected search result includes a hyperlink to a web page.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein displaying the at least one search result further comprises:

selecting one of the search results retrieved in the web search that is most relevant to the search query, and displaying the selected search result.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein displaying the at least one search result further comprises:

selecting a link to a sponsor web site from among the search results retrieved in the web search, and displaying the selected search result.

8. A computer system that is configured to search the Internet in an instant messaging environment, the computer system comprising:

a first instant messaging (IM) client that recognizes an instant message as including a search query and displays the search query inline in a first instant messaging window; and

an instant messaging (IM) server that transmits the search query received from the first IM client to a second IM client for display inline in a second instant messaging window on the second IM client,

wherein a search server receives the search query, executes a search based on the search query, and retrieves search results, and

wherein at least one of the search results is transmitted to the first IM client for display inline in the first instant messaging window, and to the second IM client for display inline in the second instant messaging window.

9. The computer system according to claim 8 wherein the first IM client recognizes the instant message as including a search query by identifying a search trigger in the instant message.

10. The computer system according to claim 8 wherein the IM server selects a sponsor web site from among the search results and transmits the selected search result to the first and the second client computers.

11. The computer system according to claim 8 wherein the at least one search result includes an image.

12. The computer system according to claim 8 wherein the at least one search result includes a hyperlink.

13. The computer system according to claim 8 wherein the IM server receives the search query from the first IM client, transmits the search query to the search server, and delivers the at least one search result to the first and the second IM clients.

14. The computer system according to claim 8 wherein the first IM client transmits the search query to the search server, and receives the at least one search result directly from the search server.

15. The computer system according to claim 8 wherein the second IM client transmits the search query to the search server, and receives the at least one search result directly from the search server.

16. A computer program product for performing web searches in an instant messaging environment, the computer program product comprising:

code for recognizing that an instant message entered by a first user into a first instant messaging application on a first client computer includes a search query;

code for displaying the search query inline in a first instant messaging window on the first client computer;

code for transmitting the search query to a search server, wherein the search server performs a search based on the search query and returns search results; and

code for displaying one or more of the search results inline in the first instant messaging window on the first client computer; and

a computer readable medium for storing the codes.

17. The computer program product according to claim 16 further comprising:

code for recognizing that the instant message includes the search query when the instant message is sent to a second instant messaging application on a second client computer;

code for displaying the search query inline in a second instant messaging window on the second client computer; and

code for displaying one or more of the search results inline in the second instant messaging window on the second client computer.

18. The computer program product according to claim 16 wherein the code for transmitting the search query to the search server further comprises code on an instant messaging server that receives the search query and transmits the search query to the search server.

19. The computer program product according to claim 16 wherein the code for transmitting the search query to the search server further comprises code on first client computer transmits the search query to the search server.

20. The computer program product according to claim 16 further comprises:

code for selecting a sponsor web site from among the search results, wherein the code for displaying displays the sponsor web site inline in the first instant messaging window.