ORDERING SEARCH RESULTS BASED ON A KNOWLEDGE LEVEL OF A USER PERFORMING THE SEARCH

• US 20170132227A1
• Filed: 11/10/2015
• Published: 05/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: BOSTICK, James E., RAKSHIT, Sarbajit K., TRIM, Craig M., GANCI, JR., John M.
• Granted Patent: US 10,380,207 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

Systems and methods for ranking search results according to a knowledge level of a user. A computer-implemented method includes: receiving, by a computing device, a search query from a user via a user computer device; determining, by the computing device, a plurality of results based on the search query; determining, by the computing device, a respective expertise level for each of the plurality of results; ranking, by the computing device, the plurality of results based on a knowledge level of the user and the respective expertise level for each of the plurality of results; and outputting, by the computing device, the ranked plurality of results to the user computer device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving an initial search query for a topic;

generating search results for the initial search query; and

determining read web pages in a sequence of web pages accessed by a user by;

determining a dwell time for each page in the sequence of web pages;

determining a page length of each page in the sequence of web pages;

determining a ratio of the dwell time to the page length for each page in the sequence of web pages;

comparing the ratio, for each page in the sequence of web pages, to a threshold value;

determining the user read a particular web page when the ratio is greater than the threshold value; and

determining the user did not read the particular web page when the ratio is greater than the threshold value;

determining a respective expertise level of each read web page in the sequence of web pages;

determining a knowledge level of the user based on only a highest expertise level of each read web page in the sequence of web pages, wherein the total number of read web pages is less than the total number of web pages in the sequence of web pages;

receiving, by a computing device, a subsequent search query from the user via a user computer device;

determining, by the computing device, a plurality of subsequent results based on the subsequent search query;

determining, by the computing device, a respective expertise level for each of the plurality of subsequent results;

ranking, by the computing device, the plurality of subsequent results based on the knowledge level of the user and the respective expertise level for each of the plurality of subsequent results; and

outputting, by the computing device, the ranked plurality of subsequent results to the user computer device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the knowledge level of the user is further determined based on a data source.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the data source comprises analyzed social media discussions of the user.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the respective expertise level for each of the plurality of results comprises one of:

determining a defined expertise level of a web page; and

deriving an expertise level of the web page by analyzing content of the web page using natural language processing.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring activity of the user with the ranked plurality of results; and

adjusting the knowledge level of the user based on the monitoring.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting the knowledge level of the user to the user computer device for display on the user computer device.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving input from the user to change the knowledge level of the user;

re-ranking the plurality of results based on the changed knowledge level of the user and the respective expertise level for each of the plurality of results; and

outputting the re-ranked plurality of results to the user computer device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computing device.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein steps of claim 1 are provided by a service provider on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

tracking the user'"'"'s sequence of reading read web pages in the sequence of web pages accessed by the user during a previous search query to establish relationship data; and

storing the relationship data as metadata for web page links.

2-8. -8. (canceled)

17. A computer program product for ranking search results according to a knowledge level of a user, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to:

receive a search query from a user via a user computer device;

determine a plurality of web pages based on the search query;

determine a respective expertise level for each of the plurality of web pages;

determine a dwell time of a user for each page in a sequence of web pages accessed by the user;

determine a page length of each page in the sequence of web pages;

determine a ratio of the dwell time to the page length for each page in the sequence of web pages;

compare the ratio, for each page in the sequence of web pages, to a threshold value to determine the read web pages in the sequence of web pages, wherein less than the total number of web pages in the sequence of web pages is determined to be read;

rank the plurality of web pages based on a knowledge level of the user and the respective expertise level for each of the plurality of web pages, wherein the knowledge level of the user is determined from the expertise level of only read web pages in the sequence of web pages; and

output the ranked plurality of web pages to the user computer device.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the outputting comprises outputting the respective expertise level for each of the plurality of web pages and the knowledge level of the user to the user computer device for display on the user computer device.

22. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the program instructions executable by the computing device further cause the computing device to:

track the user'"'"'s sequence of reading read web pages in the sequence of web pages accessed by the user during a previous search query to establish relationship data; and

store the relationship data as metadata for web page links.

19. A system for ranking search results according to a knowledge level of a user, comprising:

a CPU, a computer readable memory and a computer readable storage medium associated with a computing device;

program instructions to receive a search query from a user via a user computer device;

program instructions to determine a plurality of web pages based on the search query;

program instructions to determine a respective expertise level for each of the plurality of web pages;

program instructions to rank the plurality of web pages based on a knowledge level of the user and the respective expertise level for each of the plurality of web pages;

program instructions to output the ranked plurality of web pages to the user computer device; and

program instructions to determine the knowledge level of the user by;

determining a sequence of web pages accessed by the user during a previous search query, wherein the sequence constitutes web pages accessed in sequence starting with a first web page selecting from a search results page;

determining a respective expertise level of each web page in the sequence of web pages;

determining read web pages in the sequence of web pages, wherein less than the total number of web pages in the sequence of web pages is determined to be read; and

equating the knowledge level of the user to the expertise level of only the read web pages in the sequence of web pages;

wherein the program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium for execution by the CPU via the computer readable memory.

24. A system of claim 19, further comprising:

program instructions to track the user'"'"'s sequence of reading read web pages in the sequence of web pages to establish relationship data; and

program instructions to store the relationship data as metadata for web page links.

25. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

program instructions to determine a dwell time for each page in the sequence of web pages;

program instructions to determine a page length of each page in the sequence of web pages;

program instructions to determine a ratio of the dwell time to the page length for each page in the sequence of web pages; and

program instructions to compare the ratio, for each page in the sequence of web pages, to a threshold value to determine the read web pages in the sequence of web pages.

20. (canceled)

23. (canceled)