Automatic generation of snippets based on context and user interest

• US 9,235,626 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2013
• Issued: 01/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Liu, Sean, Erkan, Gunes, Sherrets, Doug, Ventilla, Max, Haugen, Frances Bordwell
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Hung Q
• Application Number:
  US13/801,163
• Publication Number:
  US 20150161130A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,035 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24575 using context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/34 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• 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: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing

Abstract

A system obtains a document that is responsive to a user query. The system determines an interest of the user based on stored data associated with the user, and determines that a portion of the document relates to the interest of the user. The system generates a first snippet for the document based on the portion of the document that relates to the interest of the user, and provides the first snippet for the document as part of a result list.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform operations of;

obtaining a document that is responsive to a user query,

determining an interest of the user based on stored data associated with the user, wherein the interest of the user is determined based on a search history associated with the user, and wherein the search history is limited to within a predetermined period of time from the user query,

determining that a portion of the document relates to the interest of the user,

generating a first snippet for the document based on the portion of the document that relates to the interest of the user, and

providing the first snippet for the document as part of a result list.

2. The system of claim 1, the instructions causing the system to further perform the operations of:

refining the generated first snippet for the document prior to providing the first snippet.

3. The system of claim 1, the instructions causing the system to further perform the operations of:

analyzing text within the document to identify entities in the document related to the interest of the user;

comparing to the generated first snippet the entities in the text; and

generating a second snippet for the document based on the comparing.

4. The system of claim 3, the instructions causing the system to further perform the operations of:

ranking the generated first snippet and the second snippet using a set of entities in the document that are related to a previous user query; and

determining that the generated first snippet ranks higher than the second snippet.

5. The system of claim 1, the instructions causing the system to further perform the operations of:

generating a second snippet for the document based on the user query; and

providing the second snippet in addition to providing the first snippet as part of the result list.

6. The system of claim 5, the instructions causing the system to further perform the operations of:

providing a control that allows the user to toggle between a first view of the first snippet and a second view of the second snippet.

7. The system of claim 1, the instructions causing the system to further perform the operations of:

providing the first snippet in a callout.

8. The system of claim 1, the instructions causing the system to further perform the operations of:

annotating the first snippet to visually indicate the interest.

9. The system of claim 1, the instructions causing the system to further perform the operations of:

scoring the first snippet by weighting an amount of overlap between the user query and the snippet.

10. The system of claim 1, the instructions causing the system to further perform the operations of:

scoring the generated first snippet by weighting an amount of overlap between the interest and the snippet.

11. A method comprising:

obtaining, by searching a set of documents using a processor of a computing device, a document that is responsive to a user query;

determining an interest of the user based on stored data associated with the user;

determining that a portion of the document relates to the interest of the user;

generating a first snippet for the document based on the portion of the document that relates to the interest of the user; and

providing the first snippet for the document as part of a result list, wherein the first snippet is provided in a format to be displayed in a callout upon detecting a cursor hover over a specific portion of the result list associated with the first snippet.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

generating a second snippet for the document based on the user query; and

providing the second snippet in addition to providing the first snippet as part of the result list.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

providing a control that allows the user to toggle between a first view of the provided first snippet and a second view of the provided second snippet.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions that when executed cause a system to:

obtain a document that is responsive to a user query;

determine an interest of the user based on stored data associated with the user;

determine that a portion of the document relates to the interest of the user;

generate a first snippet for the document based on the portion of the document that relates to the interest of the user;

generate a second snippet for the document based on the user query;

provide the first snippet and the second for the document as part of a result list; and

provide a control that allows the user to toggle between a first view of the first snippet and a second view of the second snippet.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, the instructions further including instructions that when executed cause the system to:

annotate the first snippet to visually indicate the interest.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, the instructions further including instructions that when executed cause the system to:

score the first snippet by weighting an amount of overlap between the interest and the snippet.