Ranking custom search results

• US 8,930,359 B1
• Filed: 06/30/2011
• Issued: 01/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Mysen, Clarence Christopher, Verma, Naval, Chen, Johnny
• Primary Examiner(s): Shmatov, Alexey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mueller, Kurt
• Application Number:
  US13/174,405
• Time in Patent Office: 1,286 Days
• Field of Search: 707/732, 707/734
• US Class Current: 707/734
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results

Abstract

A system searches a first search index based on a search query to obtain first search results and searches a second search index based on the search query to obtain second search results. The system further ranks the first search results using a first ranking algorithm and one or more first ranking parameters to produce ranked first search results, and ranks the second search results using a second ranking algorithm and one or more second ranking parameters to produce second search results, where the one or more first ranking parameters are different than the one or more second ranking parameters and where the one or more second ranking parameters include at least one of previous user feedback associated with custom content that corresponds to the second search index, annotations of the custom content provided by a user, or usage patterns associated with users previously accessing and searching the custom content. The system also provides the ranked first and second search results to a user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining, in response to searching one or more search indexes based on a query, a ranked set of search results that includes both (i) one or more particular web search results and (ii) one or more particular custom content search results, wherein the one or more particular web search results identify respective web resources that are indexed in the one or more search indices, and wherein the one or more particular custom content search results identify respective custom content resources in a collection of resources that are exposed to a search engine by an owner of the custom content resources and that are indexed in the one or more search indexes;

identifying a presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include one or more web search results and one or more custom content search results, the presentation setting specifying how to visually distinguish the one or more web search results from the one or more custom content search results on a search results page, wherein the presentation setting is specified by the owner that exposed to the search engine the collection of resources that includes the one or more custom content resources that are identified by the one or more particular custom content search results;

generating, based on the presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include one or more web search results and one or more custom content search results, a search results page that includes a subset of the ranked set of search results, the subset including one or more of the particular web search results and one or more of the particular custom content search results, including visually distinguishing the one or more web search results from the one or more custom content search results on the search results page according to the presentation setting; and

providing the search results page for output in response to the query.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the presentation setting specifies a visual format for presenting the one or more custom content search results on the search results page.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein visually distinguishing the one or more custom content search results from the one or more web search results comprises highlighting the one or more custom content search results.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein visually distinguishing the one or more custom content search results from the one or more web search results comprises presenting the one or more custom content search results in a more prominent location than the one or more web search results.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating, based on the presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include one or more web search results and one or more custom content search results, a search results page that includes a subset of the ranked set of search results comprises:

formatting the one or more custom content search results according to the presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include or more web search results and one or more custom content search results; and

combining the formatted custom content search results with the one or more web search results.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the presentation setting specifies the formatting of the one or more custom content search results on the search results page.

6. A system comprising:

one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

obtaining, in response to a search one or more search indexes based on a query, a ranked set of search results that includes both (i) one or more particular web search results and (ii) one or more particular custom content search results, wherein the one or more particular web search results identify respective web resources that are indexed in the one or more search indices, and wherein the one or more particular custom content search results identify respective custom content resources in a collection of resources that are exposed to a search engine by an owner of the custom content resources and that are indexed in the one or more search indexes;

identifying a presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include one or more web search results and one or more custom content search results, the presentation setting specifying how to visually distinguish the one or more web search results from the one or more custom content search results on a search results page, wherein the presentation setting is specified by the owner of the that exposed to the search engine the collection of resources that includes the one or more custom content resources that are identified by the one or more particular custom content search results;

generating, based on the presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include one or more web search results and one or more custom content search results, a search results page that includes a subset of the ranked set of search results, the subset including one or more of the particular web search results and one or more of the particular custom content search results, including visually distinguishing the one or more web search results from the one or more custom content search results on the search results page according to the presentation setting; and

providing the search results page for output in response to the query.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the presentation setting specifies a visual format for presenting the one or more custom content search results on the search results page.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein visually distinguishing the one or more custom content search results from the one or more web search results comprises highlighting the one or more custom content search results.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein visually distinguishing the one or more custom content search results from the one or more web search results comprises presenting the one or more custom content search results in a more prominent location than the one or more web search results.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein generating, based on the presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include one or more web search results and one or more custom content search results, a search results page that includes a subset of the ranked set of search results comprises:

formatting the one or more custom content search results according to the presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include or more web search results and one or more custom content search results; and

combining the formatted custom content search results with the one or more web search results.

17. The system of claim 6, wherein the presentation setting specifies the formatting of the one or more custom content search results on the search results page.

11. A computer program product, encoded on one or more non-transitory computer storage media, comprising instructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

obtaining, in response to a search one or more search indexes based on a query, a ranked set of search results that includes both (i) one or more particular web search results and (ii) one or more particular custom content search results, wherein the one or more particular web search results identify respective web resources that are indexed in the one or more search indices, and wherein the one or more particular custom content search results identify respective custom content resources in a collection of resources that are exposed to a search engine by an owner of the custom content resources and that are indexed in the one or more search indexes;

identifying a presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include one or more web search results and one or more custom content search results, the presentation setting specifying how to visually distinguish the one or more web search results from the one or more custom content search results on a search results page, wherein the presentation setting is specified by the owner of the that exposed to the search engine the collection of resources that includes the one or more custom content resources that are identified by the one or more particular custom content search results;

generating, based on the presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include one or more web search results and one or more custom content search results, a search results page that includes a subset of the ranked set of search results, the subset including one or more of the particular web search results and one or more of the particular custom content search results, including visually distinguishing the one or more web search results from the one or more custom content search results on the search results page according to the presentation setting; and

providing the search results page for output in response to the query.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the presentation setting specifies a visual format for presenting the one or more custom content search results on the search results page.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein visually distinguishing the one or more custom content search results from the one or more web search results comprises highlighting the one or more custom content search results.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein visually distinguishing the one or more custom content search results from the one or more web search results comprises presenting the one or more custom content search results in a more prominent location than the one or more web search results.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein generating, based on the presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include one or more web search results and one or more custom content search results, a search results page that includes a subset of the ranked set of search results comprises:

formatting the one or more custom content search results according to the presentation setting for presenting combined search results that include or more web search results and one or more custom content search results; and

combining the formatted custom content search results with the one or more web search results.

18. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the presentation setting specifies the formatting of the one or more custom content search results on the search results page.