Web engine search preview

• US 8,108,371 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2006
• Issued: 01/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Dharmarajan, Baskaran, Butler, Christopher L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Quader, Fazlul
• Application Number:
  US11/565,216
• Publication Number:
  US 20080134093A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,888 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/705
• US Class Current: 707/705
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Presenting both hyperlinks and thumbnail versions of search engine results is described in this application. More specifically, a graphical user interface (GUI) having multiple display areas is described. One display area is configured for displaying the hyperlinks returned from a search-engine query. Another display area is configured to display thumbnail versions of the one or more web pages related to the search-engine query. The thumbnail versions are retrieved after a search-engine query is submitted and after hyperlinks to relevant web pages are received. Each relevant web page is retrieved on one or more background threads. The retrieved web pages are then stored, and their thumbnail versions are presented along with the hyperlinks.

Claims

1. A graphical user interface embodied on a tangible computer-readable medium and executable on a computer for displaying a search result received in response to a search-engine query, said graphical user interface comprising:

a first display area of a search-results webpage that displays content received by a web browser running on the computer, wherein the content includes a hyperlink of a web page deemed to satisfy the search-engine query;

a second display area of the search-results webpage that displays content retrieved in real time from a web server by another web browser running on a background thread of the web browser,

wherein the content retrieved by the other web browser includes a thumbnail image of the web page displayed next to the hyperlink of the webpage, and

wherein the hyperlink and the thumbnail image are displayed together as part of the search-results webpage; and

a third display area of the search-results webpage that displays a preview-options GUI element, which allows a user to control a presentation of the thumbnail image in the second display area.

2. The graphical user interface of claim 1, wherein the preview-options GUI element provides an option to designate a display size for the one or more thumbnail versions.

3. The graphical user interface of claim 1, wherein the preview-options GUI element provides an option to not display the thumbnail image.

4. The graphical user interface of claim 1, wherein the preview-options GUI element provides an option to display the thumbnail as one or more display tabs.

5. The graphical user interface of claim 1, wherein the thumbnail image is stored on a client computing device in a graphic interchange format (GIF).

6. The graphical user interface of claim 1, wherein the thumbnail image is stored on a client computing device in a tagged image file format (TIFF).

7. The graphical user interface of claim 1, wherein the search-engine query comprises a keyword search on a search engine.

8. The graphical user interface of claim 1, wherein the preview-options GUI element provides an option to display an enlarged version of the web page.

9. The graphical user interface of claim 1, wherein the preview-options GUI element provides an option to present one or more graphical tabs associated with the web page.

10. A method for displaying a set of search results received in response to a search-engine query, the method comprising:

submitting the search-engine query that is input into a field of a web browser running on a computing device, the web browser including a control that enables thumbnails to be presented together with the set of search results;

receiving a plurality of web-page addresses of web pages deemed to satisfy the search-engine query;

without user intervention, creating a set of instances of the control, wherein each instance is associated with a respective web-page address selected from among the plurality of web-page addresses;

simultaneously executing a plurality of web browsers on background threads of the web browser,

wherein each web browser of the plurality of web browsers is associated with a respective instance from among the set of instances and

wherein each web browser executes the respective web-page address of the respective instance associated therewith;

receiving the web pages deemed to satisfy the search-engine query,

wherein the web pages are stored in a cache of the computing device and

wherein, because the plurality of web browsers are executed after submission of the search-engine query, the web pages stored in the cache are current relative to the search-engine query; and

from a web page stored in the cache, creating a thumbnail depicting the web page, wherein the thumbnail is displayed adjacent to a web-page address of the web page.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of web browsers operate in safe mode on a client computing device.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the control includes an ActiveX®

control.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

presenting graphical tabs associated with the web pages; and

incident to a user'"'"'s selection of one of the graphical tabs, presenting a version of the web page.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the web pages are retrieved in a manner that restricts execution of web-page active components.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving an indication from a user to view an enlarged version of the web page; and

presenting the enlarged version.

16. Computer-storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by a computing device, facilitate a method for presenting a search result received in response to a search-engine query, the method comprising:

submitting by the computing device the search-engine query, which was inputted into a web browser;

receiving by the computing device a hyperlink of a web page deemed to satisfy the search-engine query, wherein the hyperlink is received by the web browser running a control;

after receiving the hyperlink, using the control to automatically generate by the computing device a web-browser instance that is executed on a background thread of the web browser and that retrieves from a web server the web page identified by the hyperlink, wherein the web-browser instance operates in safe mode that does not allow controls to be executed;

storing a snapshot of the web page retrieved in real time by the web-browser instance, wherein the snapshot is used to create a thumbnail of the web page; and

presenting the thumbnail together with the hyperlink as part of a search-results webpage.

17. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the thumbnail includes at least one of a graphics interchange format (GIF), tagged image file format (TIFF), portable document format (PDF), or joint photographic experts group (JPEG) file format.

18. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 16, further comprising highlighting one or more search terms from the search-engine query in the thumbnail.