In-context searching

• US 7,962,469 B1
• Filed: 10/09/2007
• Issued: 06/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: desJardins, David, Henzinger, Monika H., Hoelzle, Urs
• Primary Examiner(s): Mofiz; Apu M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pyo; Monica M
• Application Number:
  US11/869,513
• Time in Patent Office: 1,344 Days
• Field of Search: 707999002-999004, 707/708, 707/716, 707/771
• US Class Current: 707/708
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation

Abstract

A system limits search results based on context information. The system obtains the context information and a search query, and obtains a set of references to documents in response to the search query. The system then filters the set of references based on the context information and presents the filtered set of references to a user.

Claims

1. A method performed by one or more devices, comprising:

obtaining, by one or more processors of the one or more devices, a set of one or more addresses, each of the one or more addresses in the set of one or more addresses corresponding to a respective, particular document;

obtaining, by one or more processors of the one or more devices, a search query;

obtaining, by one or more processors of the one or more devices, a set of references to documents in response to the search query, where each of the one or more addresses corresponding to the respective, particular document is obtained independent of the set of references to documents obtained in response to the search query;

filtering, using one or more processors of the one or more devices, the set of references, based on the set of one or more addresses, to identify one or more of the references that are related to the set of one or more addresses by;

determining whether a document, corresponding to one of the references in the set of references, is similar to the respective, particular document, corresponding to an address in the set of one or more addresses, based on whether text from a body of the document is similar to text from a body of the respective, particular document, and

including the one of the references in a filtered set of references when the document is similar to the respective, particular document; and

presenting, by one or more processors of the one or more devices, the filtered set of references.

2. The method of claim 1, where determining whether the document is similar to the particular document includes:

determining whether significant terms within a content of the document are similar to terms within a content of the respective, particular document.

3. The method of claim 1, where determining whether the document is similar to the respective, particular document includes:

determining whether a content of the document is similar to a content of the particular document.

4. The method of claim 1, where obtaining the set of one or more addresses includes:

including an address, associated with a document currently accessed by a user in the set of one or more addresses.

5. The method of claim 1, where obtaining the set of one or more addresses includes:

identifying the set of one or more addresses from addresses associated with a favorites list created by a user, where the favorites list includes addresses associated with favorite web sites recorded by a web browser.

6. The method of claim 1, where obtaining the set of one or more addresses includes:

identifying the set of one or more addresses from a preferences list that is created by a user by;

adding addresses corresponding to on-topic documents to a positive preferences list, and

adding addresses corresponding to off-topic documents to a negative preferences list.

7. The method of claim 6, where filtering the set of references further includes:

including, in the filtered set of references, one of the references corresponding to one of the addresses within the positive preferences list, and

excluding, from the filtered set of references, one of the references corresponding to one of the addresses within the negative preferences list.

8. The method of claim 1, where obtaining the set of one or more addresses includes:

identifying the set of one or more addresses from a category of information.

9. The method of claim 8, where identifying the set of one or more addresses includes:

presenting a hierarchical directory of category listings to a user, each of the category listings including an associated list of addresses,

receiving one or more selections of the category listings from the user, and

including the list of addresses corresponding to each of the one or more selections of the category listings in the set of one or more addresses.

10. The method of claim 9, where receiving the one or more selections of the category listings includes:

permitting the user to add one or more category listings corresponding to on-topic subject matter to a positive preferences list, and

permitting the user to add one or more category listings corresponding to off-topic subject matter to a negative preferences list.

11. The method of claim 10, where filtering the set of references further includes:

including, in the filtered set of references, one of the references corresponding to one of the category listings within the positive preferences list, and

excluding, from the filtered set of references, one of the references corresponding to one of the category listings within the negative preferences list.

12. The method of claim 1, where obtaining the set of references includes:

sending the search query to a search engine, and

receiving the set of references from the search engine.

13. The method of claim 1, where obtaining the set of references includes:

searching a network to locate documents relating to the search query, and

including references to the located documents in the set of references.

14. A method performed by one or more devices, comprising:

obtaining, by one or more processors of the one or more devices, a set of one or more addresses, each of the one or more addresses corresponding to a respective, particular document;

obtaining, by one or more processors of the one or more devices, a search query;

obtaining, by one or more processors of the one or more devices, a set of references to documents in response to the search query, where each of the one or more addresses corresponding to the respective, particular document is obtained independent of the set of references to documents obtained in response to the search query;

filtering, using one or more processors of the one or more devices, the set of references, based on the set of one or more addresses, to identify one or more of the references that are related to the set of one or more addresses by;

determining whether a document, corresponding to one of the references, corresponds to a same topic as the respective, particular document, corresponding to an address in the set of one or more addresses, based on whether text associated with a body of the document corresponds to the same topic as text associated with a body of the respective, particular document, and

including, in a filtered set of references, the one of the references corresponding to the document that is on the same topic as the respective, particular document; and

presenting, by one or more processors of the one or more devices, the filtered set of references.

15. The method of claim 14, where obtaining the set of one or more addresses includes:

including an address associated with a document currently accessed by a user in the set of one or more addresses.

16. The method of claim 14, where obtaining the set of one or more addresses includes:

identifying the set of one or more addresses from a favorites list created by a user, where the favorites list includes addresses associated with favorite web sites recorded by a web browser.

17. The method of claim 14, where obtaining the set of one or more addresses includes:

identifying the set of one or more addresses from a category of information.

18. The method of claim 17, where identifying the set of one or more addresses includes:

presenting a hierarchical directory of category listings to a user, each of the category listings including an associated list of addresses,

receiving one or more selections of the category listings from the user, and

using the associated list of addresses corresponding to each of the one or more selections of the category listings for the set of one or more addresses.

19. The method of claim 18, where receiving the one or more selections of the category listings includes:

permitting the user to add one or more category listings corresponding to on-topic subject matter to a positive preferences list, and

permitting the user to add one or more category listings corresponding to off-topic subject matter to a negative preferences list.

20. The method of claim 19, where filtering the set of references further includes:

including, in the filtered set of references, one of the references corresponding to one of the category listings within the positive preferences list, and

excluding, from the filtered set of references, one of the references corresponding to one of the category listings within the negative preferences list.

21. The method of claim 14, where obtaining the set of references includes:

sending the search query to a search engine, and

receiving the set of references from the search engine.

22. The method of claim 14, where obtaining the set of references includes:

searching a network to locate documents relating to the search query, and

including references to the located documents in the set of references.

23. A system, comprising:

one or more devices comprising;

means for obtaining a set of one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), each of the URLs being associated with a respective, particular document;

means for receiving a search query from a user;

means for obtaining a list of links to documents in response to the search query, where each of the URLs being associated with the respective, particular document is obtained independent of the list of links to documents obtained in response to the search query;

means for filtering the list of links, based on the set of one or more URLs, to identify a subset of the links in the list of links, where the subset of the links includes fewer than all of the links in the list of links; and

means for providing information regarding the subset of the links to the user.

24. The system of claim 23, where the means for obtaining the set of one or more URLs includes:

means for identifying the set of one or more URLs from a preferences list created by a user, the means for identifying including;

means for permitting the user to add URLs corresponding to on-topic documents to a positive preferences list, and

means for permitting the user to add URLs corresponding to off-topic documents to a negative preferences list.

25. The system of claim 24, where the means for filtering the set of links further includes:

means for including, in the subset of the links, one of the links corresponding to one of the URLs within the positive preferences list, and

means for excluding, from the subset of the links, one of the links corresponding to one of the URLs within the negative preferences list.