Scalable search system using human searchers

• US 8,065,286 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2006
• Issued: 11/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ChaCha Search, Inc.
• Original Assignee: ChaCha Search, Inc.
• Inventors: Jones, Scott A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vital, Pierre
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee, Rachel J
• Application Number:
  US11/336,928
• Publication Number:
  US 20070174244A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,129 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3326 using relevance feedback from the user, e.g. relevance feedback on documents, documents sets, document terms or passages

Abstract

A system allowing a query to be submitted to a server that locates a human searcher to perform a search. The searcher performs a search including using conventional tools, browser, and provides results to the user. A searcher who produces result(s) accepted by the user is rewarded and the results can be used when a similar query is submitted by another user. The searcher is located by comparing keywords of the query to keywords for which the searcher has registered and a high ranking searcher may be chosen by the system based on various factor(s). While the search is performed, information including videos, games, advertisements, etc., may be provided to the user based on keywords of the query and selection by the searcher. The reward for the searchers can be based on revenue from advertisements.

Claims

1. A method of performing a search, comprising:

receiving a query from a query source;

selectively including a keyword among a plurality of keywords based on a predetermined frequency of the keyword in a corpus;

registering, by a searcher, for the keyword;

selecting the searcher based on a ranking of the searcher among searchers registered for the keyword when determining that the keyword is a highest ranking keyword of the query;

selecting the searcher based on a generalist ranking of the searcher when determining that the query does not indicate a keyword registered by at least one searcher;

conducting the search by the searcher using a resource ranked highest by the searcher for conducting searches;

presenting search results to the searcher from a plurality of resources selected based on the searcher, the searcher reviewing the search results from the resource ranked highest and the plurality of resources and selecting a result considered optimal for the query; and

supplying the result to the query source subsequent to said reviewing by the searcher.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said receiving, selecting, conducting and supplying are performed in real-time.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said selecting comprises searching a database for a searcher matching the query.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, comprising:

associating searchers with the plurality of keywords where said registering comprises comparing popularity of keywords of the searcher to popularity of keywords associated with other searchers.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

ranking the searchers responsive to effectiveness and said selecting of the searcher is based on the ranking responsive to the effectiveness.

7. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein said selecting comprises identifying plural searchers and said presenting comprises presenting a notification of the query to the plural searchers in an order based on a ranking of the plural searchers for the query.

8. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein said selecting comprises identifying a first single searcher and said presenting comprises presenting the query to the first single searcher.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein said selecting comprises identifying a second single searcher after the first single searcher discontinued a search.

10. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein a first searcher to respond to the notification is exclusively allowed to perform the search.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the results comprise one of a voice message, a text message, a graphics message and a uniform resource locator.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the query has been previously searched; and

providing previous search results responsive to the determining.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein said determining comprises:

comparing keywords of the query with keywords of previous queries;

presenting a user with the previous queries having like keywords; and

allowing the user to select one of the previous queries.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the comparing comprises a fuzzy match.

15. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the comparing comprises a partial match.

16. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the query source comprises one of a user computer system, a digital query source, a user application, a telephone, an automated query source, a translation system and a speech query source.

17. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising transcribing a speech query into a text query.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, further comprising providing a voice message as the search results.

19. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the query source comprises a cellular telephone and the query comprises a text message.

20. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein the results comprises a text message displayed by the cellular telephone.

21. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the query source comprises a cellular telephone and the results comprise one of a text message, graphics and a uniform resource locator displayed by the cellular telephone.

22. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the query comprises a voice query and the selecting selects responsive to spoken keywords.

23. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising transmitting messages between a user and a searcher concerning the query.

24. The method as recited in claim 23, further comprising providing a chat area for the messages.

25. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein the messages comprise voice messages.

26. The method as recited in claim 25, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting via a voice over internet protocol channel.

27. The method as recited in claim 23, further comprising presenting an advertisement during the transmitting.

28. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein either the user or the searcher can modify the query during the search process.

29. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising presenting an advertisement to a user during a time that the search is being performed.

30. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising presenting one of an analog or digital advertisement to a user during a time that the search is being performed.

31. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein the analog advertisement is a spoken message.

32. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising presenting an advertisement to a user during the receiving, selecting, presenting and supplying.

33. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein a searcher accepting a search query designates the advertisement.

34. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein advertisers may bid for position and placement and timing of advertisements associated with keywords on a user'"'"'s GUI.

35. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein advertisers may bid for position and placement and timing of an advertisement associated with the keyword on a GUI used by the searcher to perform the search and the searcher can optionally pick which advertisement is presented to the query source.

36. The method as recited in claim 1, providing a reward to the searcher when determining that the result is accepted by a user.

37. The method as recited in claim 1, providing a reward to the searcher when determining that the result is not rejected by a user.

38. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the selecting locates plural searchers for the search, the presenting presents plural searchers with the query, and the supplying supplies a first of the searchers'"'"' search results to the user.

39. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

locating additional searchers when the result is rejected by the user; and

allowing the additional searchers to perform the search.

40. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the searcher ranking is stored in a database and determines how the searcher will be utilized in future searches.

41. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising allowing the searcher to transfer the query to a second searcher.

42. The method as recited in claim 41, wherein the transfer comprises designating another keyword of the query and the second searcher is a highest ranked searcher for the other keyword.

43. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein searcher ranking for a particular user can be set by the particular user.

50. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein the presenting presents a video advertisement.

51. The method as recited in claim 50, further comprising allowing uploading video advertisements based on keywords.

52. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the searcher performing a search of a local hard drive, a bookshelf and a non-public source.

53. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

providing the search results in a designated web site; and

providing the user with a pointer to the designated web site.

5. A method of performing a search, comprising:

associating human searchers with keywords and ranking the keywords based on a count of the human searchers registered per keyword;

ranking a first human searcher among the human searchers for the keywords registered by the first human searcher;

receiving a query from a query source;

selecting a first human searcher ranked highest for a highest ranking keyword of the query when determining that the keyword is the highest ranking keyword of the query;

selecting the first human searcher based on a generalist ranking of the first human searcher when determining that the query does not indicate a keyword registered by at least one human searcher;

presenting the query to the first human searcher;

selecting, by the first human searcher, a lower ranking keyword of the query;

selecting a second human searcher ranked highest for the lower ranking keyword;

selecting the second human searcher based on a generalist ranking of the second human searcher when determining that the query does not indicate a keyword registered by at least one human searcher;

presenting the query to the second human searcher to perform a search for the query and produce a search result;

obtaining a plurality of search results for the query from search resources configured for the lower ranking keyword, the second human searcher selecting an optimal result of said plurality of search results;

supplying the optimal search result to the query source; and

increasing a rank of the lower ranking keyword in accordance with the selecting by the first human searcher.

44. A method of ranking keywords, comprising:

determining a count of searchers signed up to conduct searches responsive to receipt of queries associated with a first keyword;

ranking the first keyword based on the count of searchers;

presenting a query to a first searcher;

determining a highest ranked keyword of the query;

selecting a highest ranked generalist searcher as the first searcher when determining that no searcher is associated with any keyword of the query;

selecting a highest ranked searcher for the first keyword as the first searcher when determining that the first keyword is the highest ranked keyword of the query;

selecting, by the first searcher, a second keyword of the query;

selecting a second searcher based on a rank of the second searcher for the second keyword;

presenting the query to the second searcher to perform a search for the query and produce a search result;

supplying the search result to a query source of the query; and

adjusting a rank of the first keyword when determining that the first keyword is the highest ranked keyword or the second keyword.

45. A method, comprising:

presenting a searcher with a query and allowing the searcher to produce search results for the query based on a search conducted by the searcher,

selecting an available searcher ranked highest for a highest ranking keyword of the query as the highest ranking searcher;

selecting an available searcher ranked highest as a generalist searcher as the highest ranking searcher when determining that a searcher is not available for any keywords of the query;

providing the query to the highest ranking searcher;

selecting, by the highest ranking searcher, an alternate keyword of the query;

selecting another searcher ranked highest for the alternate keyword as the searcher;

providing the search results using a resource associated with a subject matter of the query by the searcher, the searcher reviewing the search results prior to delivery and selecting a result considered optimal for the query from among said search results and the searcher ranking the search results based on relevance to the query;

increasing the ranking of the alternate keyword relative to the highest ranking keyword in a future query; and

rewarding the searcher for accepted search results.

46. The method as recited in claim 45, wherein the reward is a pyramid reward.

47. The method as recited in claim 45, wherein the reward includes a graduated payment.

48. The method as recited in claim 45, wherein the reward is determined responsive to searcher performance.

49. The method as recited in claim 45, wherein a searcher ranking is lowered responsive to non-accepted results.

54. A system, comprising:

a search system including a memory and a processor, the search system receiving a query from a query source, selectively including a keyword among a plurality of keywords based on a predetermined frequency of the keyword in a corpus, registering a searcher for the keyword, selecting the searcher based on a ranking of the searcher among searchers registered for the keyword when determining that the keyword is a highest ranking keyword of the query, selecting the searcher based on a generalist ranking of the searcher when determining that the query does not indicate a keyword registered by at least one searcher conducting the search by the searcher using a resource ranked highest by the searcher for conducting searches, presenting search results to the searcher from a plurality of resources selected based on the searcher, the searcher reviewing the search results from the resource ranked highest and the plurality of resources and selecting a result considered optimal for the query and supplying the result to the query source subsequent to said reviewing by the searcher.

55. A system, comprising:

a search system including a memory and a processor, the search system associating human searchers with keywords and ranking the keywords based on a count of the human searchers registered per keyword, ranking a first human searcher among the human searchers for the keywords registered by the first human searcher, receiving a query from a query source, selecting a first human searcher ranked highest for a highest ranking keyword of the query when determining that the keyword is the highest ranking keyword of the query, selecting the first human searcher based on a generalist ranking of the first human searcher when determining that the query does not indicate a keyword registered by at least one human searcher, presenting the query to the first human searcher, receiving a selection by the first human searcher of a lower ranking keyword of the query, selecting a second human searcher ranked highest for the lower ranking keyword, selecting the second human searcher based on a generalist ranking of the second human searcher when determining that the query does not indicate a keyword registered by at least one human searcher, presenting the query to the second human searcher to perform a search for the query and produce a search result, obtaining a plurality of search results for the query from search resources configured for the lower ranking keyword, the second human searcher selecting an optimal result of said plurality of search results, supplying the optimal search result to the query source, and increasing a rank of the lower ranking keyword in accordance with the selection by the first human searcher.

56. A system, comprising:

a search system including a memory and a processor, the search system determining a count of searchers signed up to conduct searches responsive to receipt of queries associated with a first keyword, ranking the first keyword based on the count of searchers, presenting a query to a first searcher, determining a highest ranked keyword of the query, selecting a highest ranked generalist searcher as the first searcher when determining that no searcher is associated with any keyword of the query, selecting a highest ranked searcher for the first keyword as the first searcher when determining that the first keyword is the highest ranked keyword of the query, receiving a selection by the first searcher of a second keyword of the query, selecting a second searcher based on a rank of the second searcher for the second keyword, presenting the query to the second searcher to perform a search for the query and produce a search result, supplying the search result to a query source of the query, and adjusting a rank of the first keyword when determining that the first keyword is the highest ranked keyword or the second keyword.

57. A system, comprising:

a search system including a memory and a processor, the search system presenting a searcher with a query and allowing the searcher to produce search results for the query based on a search conducted by the searcher, selecting an available searcher ranked highest for a highest ranking keyword of the query as the highest ranking searcher, selecting an available searcher ranked highest as a generalist searcher as the highest ranking searcher when determining that a searcher is not available for any keywords of the query, providing the query to the highest ranking searcher, receiving a selection by the highest ranking searcher of an alternate keyword of the query, selecting another searcher ranked highest for the alternate keyword as the searcher, providing the search results using a resource associated with a subject matter of the query by the searcher, increasing the ranking of the alternate keyword relative to the highest ranking keyword in a future query, and rewarding the searcher for accepted search results; and

a searcher system including a memory and a processor, the searcher system reviewing the search results prior to delivery, selecting a result considered optimal for the query from among said search results, and ranking the search results based on relevance to the query.