Ranking Search Results Based on the Frequency of Access on the Search Results by Users of a Social-Networking System

• US 20110093460A1
• Filed: 12/22/2010
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Galbreath, Nicholas, Lunt, Christopher, Winner, Jeffrey
• Granted Patent: US 8,874,556 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/727
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/284 Relational databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9024 Graphs; Linked lists G06F16/9027 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9536 Search customisation based on social or collaborative filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0275 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles

Abstract

Particular embodiments access a search query submitted by a first user of a social-networking system; identify one or more web pages in response to the search query; retrieve, from the social-networking system, social-networking information of the first user to identify one or more second users of the social-networking system who are connected to the first user within a predetermined degree of separation within the social-networking system; for each of the one or more web pages, determine a value indicating a number of times that the web page has been accessed by the one or more second users; rank the one or more web pages based on the value determined for each web page; and send a ranked set of hyperlinks for the one or more web pages to a second computing device associated with the first user.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

accessing, by one or more first computing devices, a search query submitted by a first user of a social-networking system;

identifying, by the one or more first computing devices, one or more web pages in response to the search query;

retrieving, by the one or more first computing devices and from the social-networking system, social-networking information of the first user to identify one or more second users of the social-networking system who are connected to the first user within a predetermined degree of separation within the social-networking system;

for each of the one or more web pages, determining, by the one or more first computing devices, a value indicating a number of times that the web page has been accessed by the one or more second users;

ranking, by the one or more first computing devices, the one or more web pages based on the value determined for each web page; and

sending, by the one or more first computing devices, a ranked set of hyperlinks for the one or more web pages to a second computing device associated with the first user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating, by the one or more first computing devices, a visual indicator with each of the one or more web pages whose value satisfies a predetermined threshold;

wherein when the one or more web pages are presented to the first user, for each of the one or more web pages whose value satisfies the predetermined threshold, the visual indicator associated with the web page is presented in close proximity with the web page.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the visual indicator associated with each of the one or more web pages whose value satisfies the predetermined threshold is a clickable icon or word.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving, from the social-networking system, the social-networking information of the first user comprises:

sending, to the social-networking system, a request for the social-networking information of the first user, wherein the request comprises an identifier of the first user and the predetermined degree of separation; and

receiving, from the social-networking system, the social-networking information of the first user comprising one or more identifiers of the one or more second users respectively.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving, from the social-networking system, the social-networking information of the first user comprises:

retrieving, from the social-networking system, a graph structure defining relationships between a plurality of users, the graph structure comprising a plurality of nodes and information defining connections between the plurality of nodes, wherein each node corresponds to a user, and wherein a degree of separation between any two nodes is a minimum number of connection hops required to traverse the graph structure from one node to the other.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining

a first database of a plurality of search queries submitted by a plurality of users, and for each of the plurality of search queries, a list of web pages that have been presented to and accessed by one or more of the plurality of users in connection with the search query,

a second database of a plurality of advertisers, a plurality of keywords bid on by the plurality of advertisers, and a plurality of sponsored links corresponding to the plurality of keywords, and

a third database of a plurality of algorithmic search results.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein for each of the one or more web pages, the value indicating that the web page has been accessed by the one or more second users equals a number of times the web page has been accessed by the one or more second users divided by a number of times the web page has been presented to the one or more second users, and is determined using information in the first database, the second database, and the third database.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more web pages comprise one or more sponsored links and one or more algorithmic search results, further comprising:

ranking the one or more sponsored links further based on a bid received with each sponsored link; and

ranking the one or more algorithmic search results further based on a degree of relevance of each algorithmic search result with respect to the search query.

9. A system comprising:

a memory comprising instructions executable by one or more processors; and

the one or more processors coupled to the memory and operable to execute the instructions, the one or more processors being operable when executing the instructions to;

access a search query submitted by a first user of a social-networking system;

identify one or more web pages in response to the search query;

retrieve, from the social-networking system, social-networking information of the first user to identify one or more second users of the social-networking system who are connected to the first user within a predetermined degree of separation within the social-networking system;

for each of the one or more web pages, determine a value indicating a number of times that the web page has been accessed by the one or more second users;

rank the one or more web pages based on the value determined for each web page; and

send a ranked set of hyperlinks for the one or more web pages to a second computing device associated with the first user.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more processors are further operable when executing the instructions to:

associate a visual indicator with each of the one or more web pages whose value satisfies a predetermined threshold;

wherein when the one or more web pages are presented to the first user, for each of the one or more web pages whose value satisfies the predetermined threshold, the visual indicator associated with the web page is presented in close proximity with the web page.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the visual indicator associated with each of the one or more web pages whose value satisfies the predetermined threshold is a clickable icon or word.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein retrieving, from the social-networking system, the social-networking information of the first user comprises:

send, to the social-networking system, a request for the social-networking information of the first user, wherein the request comprises an identifier of the first user and the predetermined degree of separation; and

receive, from the social-networking system, the social-networking information of the first user comprising one or more identifiers of the one or more second users respectively.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein retrieving, from the social-networking system, the social-networking information of the first user comprises:

retrieve, from the social-networking system, a graph structure defining relationships between a plurality of users, the graph structure comprising a plurality of nodes and information defining connections between the plurality of nodes, wherein each node corresponds to a user, and wherein a degree of separation between any two nodes is a minimum number of connection hops required to traverse the graph structure from one node to the other.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more processors are further operable when executing the instructions to maintain

a first database of a plurality of search queries submitted by a plurality of users, and for each of the plurality of search queries, a list of web pages that have been presented to and accessed by one or more of the plurality of users in connection with the search query,

a second database of a plurality of advertisers, a plurality of keywords bid on by the plurality of advertisers, and a plurality of sponsored links corresponding to the plurality of keywords, and

a third database of a plurality of algorithmic search results.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein for each of the one or more web pages, the value indicating that the web page has been accessed by the one or more second users equals a number of times the web page has been accessed by the one or more second users divided by a number of times the web page has been presented to the one or more second users, and is determined using information in the first database, the second database, and the third database.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more web pages comprise one or more sponsored links and one or more algorithmic search results, and the one or more processors are further operable when executing the instructions to:

rank the one or more sponsored links further based on a bid received with each sponsored link; and

rank the one or more algorithmic search results further based on a degree of relevance of each algorithmic search result with respect to the search query.

17. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software operable when executed by one or more computer systems to:

access a search query submitted by a first user of a social-networking system;

identify one or more web pages in response to the search query;

retrieve, from the social-networking system, social-networking information of the first user to identify one or more second users of the social-networking system who are connected to the first user within a predetermined degree of separation within the social-networking system;

for each of the one or more web pages, determine a value indicating a number of times that the web page has been accessed by the one or more second users;

rank the one or more web pages based on the value determined for each web page; and

send a ranked set of hyperlinks for the one or more web pages to a second computing device associated with the first user.

18. The media of claim 17, wherein the software is further operable when executed by the one or more computer systems to:

associate a visual indicator with each of the one or more web pages whose value satisfies a predetermined threshold;

wherein when the one or more web pages are presented to the first user, for each of the one or more web pages whose value satisfies the predetermined threshold, the visual indicator associated with the web page is presented in close proximity with the web page.

19. The media of claim 18, wherein the visual indicator associated with each of the one or more web pages whose value satisfies the predetermined threshold is a clickable icon or word.

20. The media of claim 17, wherein retrieving, from the social-networking system, the social-networking information of the first user comprises:

send, to the social-networking system, a request for the social-networking information of the first user, wherein the request comprises an identifier of the first user and the predetermined degree of separation; and

receive, from the social-networking system, the social-networking information of the first user comprising one or more identifiers of the one or more second users respectively.