Word relationship driven search

• US 8,001,138 B2
• Filed: 04/11/2007
• Issued: 08/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cloward, Thomas E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hwa; Shyue Jiunn
• Application Number:
  US11/786,310
• Publication Number:
  US 20080256055A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,588 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/765
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/313 Selection or weighting of terms for indexing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for performing searches based upon word relationships. A search term is received from a user in the form of at least one primary word. A data store is searched to determine if the primary word is associated with any content. If so, at least one reference to primary content that has been pre-defined as being related to the primary word is included in the search result. At least one reference to secondary content is included in the search result, if secondary content is found. Secondary contents are those that contain words that have been pre-defined as being related to the primary word. The search results are displayed to the user, with the primary references displayed along with the secondary references, if applicable, in a hierarchical fashion.

Claims

1. A method for providing a word relationship driven search comprising the steps of:

receiving a search term from a user;

determining in a computer system if the search term was previously assigned to particular content as a primary word by an originator of the content;

if the search term is determined to have been previously assigned to particular content as the primary word by the originator of the content,

including in a search result at least one primary reference to primary content that has been pre-defined as being related to the primary word,

determining a secondary word predefined as related to the primary word,

including in the search result at least one secondary reference to secondary content, the secondary reference containing the secondary word, the search result being generated by accessing a data store to find the at least one primary reference and the at least one secondary reference, the data store being an index of content from a plurality of sources, and

displaying the search result to the user, with the at least one primary reference displayed along with the at least one secondary reference, the search results being displayed in a hierarchy such that the at least one primary reference is shown in a primary reference portion of the hierarchy and the at least one secondary reference is shown in a secondary reference portion of the hierarchy, and the at least one primary reference and the at least one secondary reference being displayed in the form of hyperlinks; and

if the search term is determined to not have been previously assigned to particular content as the primary word by the originator of the content,

informing the user that the search term has not been previously assigned to particular content as the primary word, and

providing the user with one or more suggestions of other words in a same field as the search term.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the search result contains the at least one reference to primary content that has been pre-defined as having the primary word as a most important concept for the primary content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one primary reference is displayed first, followed by the at least one secondary reference.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data store has been generated by a search engine.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a particular one of the hyperlinks can be selected to access content associated with the particular hyperlink.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the primary word is pre-defined by an originator of the primary content.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform steps comprising:

receive a search term from a user;

search a data store and determine if the search term was previously assigned to particular content as a primary word by an originator of the content, the data store being an index of content from a plurality of sources;

if the search term is determined to be previously assigned to particular content as the primary word, then retrieve from the data store one or more primary references to primary content that has been associated with the primary word;

if at least one primary reference is found, determine a secondary word predefined as related to the primary word;

search the data store and retrieve secondary references to secondary content associated with the secondary word, if any exist;

build an output list that includes at least some of the primary references, and at least some of the secondary references if at least one secondary reference was found; and

display the output list to the user in the form of a search result, the output list being displayed in a hierarchy such that the one or more primary references are shown in a primary reference portion of the hierarchy and the secondary references are shown in a secondary reference portion of the hierarchy, and the one or more primary references and the secondary references being displayed in the form of hyperlinks; and

if the search term is determined to not have been previously assigned to particular content as the primary word,

informing the user that the search term has not been previously assigned to particular content as the primary word, and

providing the user with one or more suggestions of other words in a same field as the search term.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the data store is operable to store associations between content and respective primary words along with associations to secondary content that are related to the primary words.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the output list contains at least some of the primary references first, followed by at least some of the secondary references.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein a particular one of the hyperlinks can be selected to access a particular primary content associated with the particular one of the hyperlinks.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the user is notified if the primary word is determined to not be associated with any content.

12. A method for performing a word relationship driven search comprising the steps of:

receiving a search term from a user;

determining in a computer system if the search term was previously assigned to particular content as a primary word by an originator of the content;

if the search term is determined to have been previously assigned to particular content as the primary word by the originator of the content,

performing a search that retrieves one or more primary references to primary content that has been associated with the primary word by the primary content having been pre-defined as being related to the primary word,

if at least one primary reference is found, determining a secondary word predefined as related to the primary word,

retrieving secondary references to secondary content associated with the secondary word, if any,

building an output list that includes at least some of the primary references, and at least some of the secondary references if at least one secondary reference was found, and

displaying the output list to the user in the form of a search result, the search result including fewer results than a traditional key word search because of one or more relationships pre-defined for the primary word, the output list being displayed in a hierarchy such that the one or more primary references are shown in a primary reference portion of the hierarchy and the secondary references are shown in a secondary reference portion of the hierarchy, the search result being generated by accessing a data store to find the one or more primary references and the secondary references, the data store being an index of content from a plurality of sources, and the one or more primary references and the secondary references being displayed in the form of hyperlinks; and

if the search term is determined to not have been previously assigned to particular content as the primary word,

informing the user that the search term has not been previously assigned to particular content as the primary word, and

providing the user with one or more suggestions of other words in a same field as the search term.