U.S. patent application number 12/179478 was filed with the patent office on 2009-09-24 for apparatus and method for displaying search results with configurable columns and textual summary lengths.
This patent application is currently assigned to CUILL, INC.. Invention is credited to Tomas Costello, Edward Lau.
Application Number | 20090241018 12/179478 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41089876 |
Filed Date | 2009-09-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090241018 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Costello; Tomas ; et
al. |
September 24, 2009 |
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING SEARCH RESULTS WITH
CONFIGURABLE COLUMNS AND TEXTUAL SUMMARY LENGTHS
Abstract
A graphical user interface includes configurable parameters to
format search results. The configurable parameters include
configurable parameters to specify column configuration and textual
summary length.
Inventors: |
Costello; Tomas; (Saratoga,
CA) ; Lau; Edward; (San Jose, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
COOLEY GODWARD KRONISH LLP;ATTN: Patent Group
Suite 1100, 777 - 6th Street, NW
Washington
DC
20001
US
|
Assignee: |
CUILL, INC.
Menlo Park
CA
|
Family ID: |
41089876 |
Appl. No.: |
12/179478 |
Filed: |
July 24, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61037676 |
Mar 18, 2008 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/227 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/9535 20190101;
G06Q 30/0256 20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/227 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/00 20060101
G06F017/00 |
Claims
1. A graphical user interface, comprising: configurable parameters
to format search results, wherein the configurable parameters
include configurable parameters to specify column configuration and
textual summary length.
2. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the column
configuration is configured in response to the quantity of search
results.
3. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the textual
summary length is configured in response to the quantity of search
results.
4. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the column
configuration is configured based upon the type of browser.
5. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the textual
summary length is configured based upon the type of browser.
6. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the column
configuration is configured based upon browser window size.
7. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the textual
summary length is configured based upon browser window size.
8. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the textual
summary length is specified by a user.
9. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the amount of
text displayed is based upon the column configuration.
10. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the amount of
text displayed is based upon the textual summary length.
11. The graphical user interface of claim 1 wherein the column
configuration is selectable by a user.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application Ser. No. 61/037,676, filed Mar. 18, 2008, entitled,
"Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Result Content and
Associated Advertising", the contents of which are incorporated
herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to displaying search
results. More particularly, the present invention relates to
techniques for displaying search result content and associated
advertising.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Existing search engines typically display a list of search
results associated with a search query as a list of relevant web
pages. This list may include web pages with identical or similar
content. For example, when a search query matches a particular
section of a web page, a user is typically exposed to many copies
of the same or similar information. Some existing approaches
involve summarizing a single document, for example, by choosing
particular sentences from the document, rather than by presenting
the information as a whole from a set of documents. It would be
desirable to develop a technique by which results of a search query
can be grouped efficiently so that the duplicate content appearing
to the user is minimized.
[0004] Further, existing approaches to refine a search associated
with a search query typically involve entering a new search query.
Some search engines include suggested topics in response to a
search query. However, these suggestions are generally based on
criteria, such as popularity or past search criteria. It would be
desirable to develop a technique by which query refinements for a
search query can be automatically generated from a search result
set.
[0005] The current state of the art in Web advertising relies upon
relatively simple advertisement placement paradigms. Current
approaches to web advertising typically involve displaying
sponsored link advertisements or banner advertisements for a given
search term. Sponsored link advertisements are generally listed in
an order determined by the search engine, typically by some
combination of pay-per-click bid auction and relevancy factor.
Currently, search engines enable advertisers to pay, usually by
bidding for sponsored link placements along with non-sponsored
search results or for keywords to which the advertisers want to
match sponsored link advertisements. Refining an advertisement
typically involves entering a new bid on the keyword query
extension. Existing approaches may provide suggestions to
advertisers on which additional keywords and query extensions to
bid. Even with these suggestions, advertisers typically guess the
keywords that users may use to refine their searches and then bid
on those keywords. Furthermore, these suggestions are typically
based on popularity, past searches or other criteria, so that
bidders who bid on these keywords have a possibility of their
advertisement being displayed.
[0006] It would be desirable to develop a technique by which
advertisements can be automatically generated from the search
results associated with a search query. In addition, it would be
desirable to develop a technique by which the placement of
advertisements is not directly related to the bidding on specific
keywords or query extensions to those keywords, but can be
determined based upon criteria entered by an advertiser.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] A graphical user interface includes configurable parameters
to format search results. The configurable parameters include
configurable parameters to specify column configuration and textual
summary length.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0008] The invention is more fully appreciated in connection with
the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings, in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates tabs representative of different classes
of search results that are derived in response to the processing of
a query.
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates a differential presentation of stacks
associated with a search query, in accordance with one embodiment
of the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates drill down results displayed for an
exemplary search query.
[0012] FIG. 4 illustrates tabs, stacks and drill down categories
displayed for an exemplary search query.
[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary non-sponsored and sponsored
tabs displayed for a search query, in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention.
[0014] FIG. 6 illustrates stacks and drill down categories
displayed for a sponsored tab, in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 7 illustrates exemplary sponsored and non-sponsored
drill down categories associated with a search query, in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 8 illustrates a stack of advertisements displayed in
response to a search query, in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention.
[0017] FIG. 9 illustrates the display of a traditional banner
advertisement responsive to a search query, in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention.
[0018] FIG. 10 illustrates advertisements generated for a search
query, in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0019] FIG. 11 illustrates a sponsored snippet displayed next to a
non-sponsored search result.
[0020] FIG. 12 illustrates a graphical user interface screen
display with long length snippets.
[0021] FIG. 13 illustrates a graphical user interface screen
display with short length snippets.
[0022] FIG. 14 illustrates a search results page with displayed
snippets.
[0023] FIG. 15 illustrates a graphical user interface screen
display, displaying long length snippets in a single column
presentation format.
[0024] FIG. 16 illustrates a user interface screen display,
displaying long length snippets in a double column presentation
format.
[0025] FIG. 17 is an illustration of the direct navigation
technique, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
[0026] FIG. 18 illustrates a computer configured in accordance with
an embodiment of the invention.
[0027] Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts
throughout the several views of the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0028] Embodiments of the present invention disclose a graphical
user interface for a search engine. The disclosed embodiments
include techniques for interacting with data, in particular with
search results responsive to a query. As will be described in
greater detail below, the disclosed graphical user interface is
designed based on a set of commands and organizes data (e.g.,
documents, web pages) based on concepts (meanings) associated with
the data. The organized data is dynamically derived using the
commands in response to the processing of the query. Embodiments of
the present invention may be implemented on a computer screen user
interface, a desktop, a mobile device user interface or any other
networked environment user interface.
[0029] In one aspect of the present invention, a tab-based
technique for displaying search results in a graphical user
interface is disclosed. In one embodiment, a Search Result Tab
Display Module 212 (shown in FIG. 18) includes executable
instructions to display tabs representative of different classes of
search results derived in response to the processing of a query.
FIG. 1 illustrates one or more tabs representative of different
classes of search results that are derived in response to the
processing of a query. As will be discussed in greater detail
below, the different classes of search results are grouped by
meaning, such that a query term with different meanings produces
different classes of search results with different meanings. In the
patricular example illustrated in FIG. 1, tabs 12, 14, 16 and 18
representive of different classes of search results associated with
a query term, "thunderbird" 10 are displayed. Observe that each tab
has associated text characterizating the different classes of
search results. In one embodiment, the tabs associated with a
particular query term may be derived dynamically by selectively
invoking pre-existing categories. For example, and as will be
discussed in greater detail below, the tabs may be derived
dynamically utilizing Markov techniques to group unstructured text
sources or by extracting semi-structured data groups, based upon
shared lexical features or based upon ontological features.
[0030] Each tab includes a related query (or query extensions)
representative of different concepts (meanings) associated with the
query term. For example, the query term, "thunderbird" 10, includes
a "Ford Thunderbird" tab 12, which is a query extension to refer to
a type of a car, an "AMD Thunderbird" tab 14, which is a query
extension to refer to an aerobatics group, an "Air Force
Thunderbirds" tab 16, which is a query extension to refer to an
airforce group and a "Thunderbird Mail" tab 18, which is a query
extension to refer to a freeware email program.
[0031] Observe that the related queries included in the tabs
replace the original query term with a more focused set of
documents, thereby refining the search query. A user can then
select a tab displaying a query extension to run a more precise
search query, as will be described in greater detail below. The
related queries for a query term may be generated based upon a
number of criteria including, but not limited to, stems (for
example, singular/plural), abbreviations (for example, CA or Cal
for California), word grouping (for example, spider man, spiderman,
spider-man), spelling variations, semantic relationships such as
generalizations or specializations, for example, hyponyms or
hypernyms (red shoes, scarlet shoes, vermillion shoes), synonyms,
acronym expansion, terms that divide a search space into
substantially non-overlapping subsets, capitalization and Markov
techniques that consider preceding and subsequent terms for a
related query
[0032] Each related query displayed in a tab further includes at
least one search result including a list of web documents, as will
be described in greater detail below. In one embodiment, one or
more sub-tabs within each class of search results may further be
displayed. In one embodiment, the tabs may also include images
characterizing the different classes of search results, wherein the
images characterize the related queries.
[0033] In addition to being a mixture of all concepts (meanings),
each concept (meaning) represented by a tab may also be kept
separate from the other tabs, and displayed with a set of documents
relevant to the particular concept or meaning associated with the
tab. Other concepts (meanings) and their associated results may be
selected by choosing the appropriate tab.
[0034] Further, the tabs may be displayed anywhere in the graphical
user interface page. In one embodiment, a "default tab" may also be
included, which captures the sum of all the meanings and displays
an initial/default set of results associated with the search query
term. If there are numerous query extensions associated with a
search query term, the query extensions may also be displayed using
a drop-down menu that supplements the tabs. The number of tabs
displayed and which query extensions are displayed as tabs, as well
as the order, may be selected based upon criteria, such as the
space available for display, the relevance of the query extensions
and other criteria chosen by the search engine. In one embodiment,
the criteria may include the quality of the returned pages by using
a query independent metric of quality of the pages, or a query
dependent metric of quality of the pages. In another embodiment,
the criteria may also include the meaningfulness of the query
extension determined by how often and where it appears on the web,
by how much it co-occurs with other possible query extensions on
the web, by whether it is a well formed noun phrase as judged by
rules, by statistical methods, by whether it occurs with particular
capitalizations or by Markov methods that consider the preceding
and following terms for that query extension. The query extensions
may also be determined by manual editing, either by initial machine
generated possibilities followed by a human step of removing
erroneous entries, or by human generated possibilities.
[0035] The determination of the tabs to display initially may be
performed based on criteria, such as, for example, pre-exsiting
human specified criteria, a historical tab click through data
determined by historical measures of what tabs are clicked on,
order of tab selection, measures of the quality (both query
dependent and query independent) of the results of each tab
candidate, lexical metrics (capitalization and length), uniqueness
metrics as measured by co-occurrence, cosine difference, overlap
metrics, preferences among parts of speech or ontological classes
(proper names, places, noun phrases beginning with colors),
measures of network occurrence change, measures of click through
change as measured by changes of behavior in what pages are clicked
on and measures of queries issued and measures of page dwell
times.
[0036] Query extensions can also be grouped according to common
criteria determined with respect to the search results returned.
For example, query extensions referring to people, geography, or
other common factors by which search results relate can be placed
under one tab, based upon criteria determined by membership in a
larger list, extracted automatically from unstructured text sources
by Markov methods, generated from smaller lists by clustering,
extracted by regular expressions from semi-structured data,
extracted from larger lists by selection of certain elements having
shared lexical or ontological features or derived by some other
suitable method. Further, the tabs may be listed by alphabetic
order, or arranged by the quality of documents based upon a ranking
score.
[0037] In accordance with another aspect of present invention,
"stacks" organizing different classes of search results are derived
in response to the processing of a query. In one embodiment, a list
of web documents may be dynamically grouped into a stack in
response to a search query. The dynamic grouping may be performed,
for example, by forming stacks of documents with similar conceptual
propositions, forming stacks of documents with common information,
forming stacks of documents in accordance with distance metrics
which may use clause, sentence and paragraph boundaries as well as
HTML markup to quantify distance. Stacks of documents may also be
formed in accordance with semantic and statistical criteria which
determine the relationship between terms that may be used to
quantify which parts of the page are relevant and their degree of
relevance by inducing a metric on areas identified by a metric on
the contents. Stacks of documents may be formed in accordance with
clustering criteria, induced metrics, lexical criteria, ontological
criteria or mention frequency based on identifying the additional
notions referenced on a subset of the pages in the stack that are
related to the search query under consideration. In one embodiment,
a Search Result Stack Display Module 214 (shown in FIG. 18)
includes executable instructions to display stacks that have common
attributes associated with a tab, but where each stack has a
refined meaning representing a different class of search
results.
[0038] Returning to the example illustrated in FIG. 1, stacks 19,
20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 associated with the "Ford Thunderbird" tab 12
are displayed. Observe that each stack includes text and an
associated image characterizing the different classes of search
results. In one embodiment, the images may be represented by icons.
The images characterize the content of the stack and may be
dynamically selected in response to the processing of the query.
The text summarizes what is unique regarding each stack created in
response to the query.
[0039] In one embodiment, the text descriptions may be generated
automatically as a summary of the stack's contents. The content of
the summary is similar to the content of all the web pages in the
stack that are relevant to the query. In one embodiment, the
description may be a paragraph cited from a web page in the stack.
In another embodiment, the text description may be a summary of
what is unique about the stack, generated automatically from all of
the web pages in the stack based upon a set of pre-defined
criteria. Images may also be automatically chosen. In one
embodiment, the images may be chosen from the web pages in a stack
based upon criteria such as identifying images that occur multiple
times in the stack. Images that are labeled (or co-occur) with
certain terms in the stack may also be selected, especially if
those terms occur with high information gain in the stack or are in
certain HTML constructs, for example, title or images that are
similar to other images in the stack as judged by a label (either
included in the stack or as a generated label from another page
where the image if found), direct comparison, color palette, or
filename. Images and text descriptions may also be generated
separately, combining the results on the user interface page after
the images and text have been separately processed.
[0040] The stacks may further include characterization information.
In one embodiment, the characterization information is dynamically
derived. In one embodiment, the characterization information may
include text characterizing stack content. In another embodiment,
the characterization information may include images characterizing
stack content. The characterization information may further include
icons characterizing stack content, text selected from a document
in a stack or text that is automatically generated to characterize
content within a stack. The characterization information may be
derived from sources referencing documents in a stack. The
characterization information may be selected from a library of
images, from redundant images in a stack, from a label associated
with an image or from an HTML label associated with an image. In
one embodiment, the characterization information may be an icon
selected from a library of icons. The characterization information
may be accumulated in parallel processes and then combined to form
a stack. The characterization information may be accumulated in a
single process to form a stack. The characterization information
may include text characterizing similar classes of search results
represented in stacks. The characterization information may further
include a number specifying the number of related documents in a
stack.
[0041] In one embodiment, the documents in a stack may be displayed
with a flip through menu. In another embodiment, the documents in a
stack may be displayed with a drop down list menu. The documents in
a stack may also be displayed with a scroll over pop-up screen.
[0042] Each stack may further be organized into one or more
sub-stacks. A second order sub-stack within a sub-stack may also be
included. For example, clicking on one stack may result in the
display of a set of sub-stacks. Similarly, clicking on a sub-stack
may result in the display of another set of sub-stacks. This may be
repeated as long as search results are available.
[0043] In one embodiment, a "differential representation" of the
stacks is generated as a result of the comparison of information in
web pages and the associated images of web pages grouped in a stack
or a sub-stack. The "differential representation" identifies to the
user identical or similar information in a stack or a sub-stack of
web pages returned in response to a search query. Although stacks
and sub-stacks have a defined structure, the web pages in a stack
or sub-stack are not strictly identical, despite their shared
relevance to the query. Accordingly, the information in a stack may
include second-order differences. In accordance with one embodiment
of the present invention, the "differential presentation" of the
stacks groups the web pages inside the stacks and sub-stacks by
second-order similarity and highlights the similarities or
differences between the web pages within a stack or sub-stack so
that these stacks or sub-stacks offer an efficient navigation
through those web pages to users. This process of grouping by
lower-order similarity can be repeated again for these stacks or
sub-stacks, as long as there are enough web pages available in
them. In one embodiment, the related information in a stack may be
designated with contrast criteria. The contrast criteria is
selected from highlighting, strike through, underlining, bolding,
italics, and font color. The related information in a stack is
designated with second order similarity criteria.
[0044] FIG. 2 illustrates a differential presentation of stacks
associated with a search query in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention. As illustrated, the differences between the
information included in a set of stacked results is displayed to a
user by displaying the identical or similar information in the web
pages of the stack, and also displaying the differences between the
web pages in the stack. In the illustrated example, differential
presentations 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40 associated with the stack
"Ford Thunderbird--Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" 18, for the
search query term, "thunderbird" 10 are displayed. The differential
representation, "The 1955-57 Ford Thunderbird--The Fifties Cars" 30
groups together the cars of that era. Observe that the differential
presentation includes a description of the stack and identifies the
type of information that is grouped together in the stack.
Similarly, the stack "George W. Walker" 34 provides information
about the designer of the car.
[0045] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the use of
"stacks" representing different concepts or meanings, in accordance
with embodiments of the present invention, maximizes the diversity
of content on a search result page and decreases the replicated
information that appears in the user interface screen display. The
grouping of the results occurs dynamically, during query execution,
enabling the efficient processing of search results. Further, the
automatically generated images disclosed in accordance with
embodiments of the present invention provide a visual summary of a
group of information included in web pages grouped in a stack,
[0046] In another aspect of the present invention, a drill down
technique for analyzing the results of a query is disclosed. In one
embodiment, a Search Result Drill Down Module 216 (shown in FIG.
18) includes executable instructions to display a listing of
results derived from processing a query. The Search Result Drill
Down Module 216 further includes executable instructions to display
a menu of refining search terms that is dynamically derived in
response to the processing of the query. In a particular
embodiment, the analysis includes infering a set of terms that are
good refinements for the query and providing them as guidance to
the user for refinement of the current search or for a future
search query. These terms may be grouped into meaningful labeled
lists. Selecting one of the terms from one of these lists executes
the more precise query, as will be discussed in greater detail
below.
[0047] FIG. 3 illustrates drill down results displayed for an
exemplary search query. In one embodiment, the drill down results
include a menu of refining search terms that are dynamically
derived in response to the processing of a query. In one
embodiment, the menu is a multi-level pull-down menu. In the
illustrated example, a drill down menu 40 is displayed that lists
search term refinements for the search query, "thunderbird" 10. The
determination of the categories (i.e., the search term refinements)
to be displayed in the drill down menu may be determined based on
criteria including, but not limited to, stems, abbreviations, word
grouping, spelling variations, semantic relationships, synonyms,
acronym expansion, terms that divide a search space into
substantially non-overlapping subsets, capitalization, and Markov
techniques that consider preceding and subsequent terms for a
related query.
[0048] The search term refinements may be based upon predetermined
ontologies. In one embodiment, the search term refinements may be
based upon extracted ontologies. In another embodiment, the search
term refinements may be based upon induced relationships from the
co-occurrence of sets of objects. The search term refinements may
also be based upon markup group search results, regular expression
group search results, Markov model group search results,
grammatical pattern group search results, context free pattern
group search results, predetermined rule group search results or
machine learned rule group search results. The search term
refinements may also be based upon combinations of group search
results, combining Markov model group search results, ontological
restriction group search results, lexical restriction group search
results or co-occurrence restrictions. The order of search term
refinements may be based upon page rankings, the number of web
pages selected, the overlap of web pages, the percentage of
documents selected, a quality metric, or the relevance between list
items and specified concepts.
[0049] FIG. 4 illustrates tabs, stacks and drill down categories
displayed for an exemplary search query. In the illustrated
example, search results for an exemplary search query term,
"jaguar" 11 are displayed. In an exemplary operation, upon
execution of the search term, "jaguar" 11, a user is presented with
one or more tabs representative of the different classes of search
results associated with the search query. Upon selection of a
particular tab, for example, "All Results" 13, the user is
presented with one or more "stacks" that organize the different
classes of search results corresponding to the selected tab. As
discussed above, the "stacks" may include web documents with
similar contexual propositions associated with the search query
term "jaguar" 11. As further illustrated, the user is also
presented with a "drill down list" 17 of category information
corresponding to the selected tab, "All Results" 13 derived in
response to the processing of the query term, "jaguar" 11.
[0050] In another aspect of the present invention, a technique for
displaying advertisements and sponsored advertising content is
disclosed. In one embodiment, a Search Result Advertisement Display
Module 218 (shown in FIG. 18) includes executable instructions to
display a set of advertisements associated with a search query
term. In one embodiment, an advertisement is selected based upon a
document retreived by processing a query. An advertisement may
include, for example, an image, text or an icon. Further, an
advertisement may be visually differentiated from content in the
document. In one embodiment, the advertisement may be placed
adjacent to a specified concept associated with the document. The
advertisement may be retrieved from an advertiser's web page. In
one embodiment, an advertisement with a link to a search results
page is provided to the user.
[0051] In a particular embodiment, advertiser criteria may be
specified in a "tab" as a query extension that provides links to
sponsored advertisement pages. In one embodiment, such tabs are
referred to as "sponsored tabs". The tabs may be sponsored by an
advertiser. In one embodiment, a sponsored tab is visually
differentiated from a non-sponsored tab. The sponsored tabs may
include for example, a display advertisement, advertisements in a
visual image analogous to what would be seen in a publication like
a newspaper or magazine, video and other forms of advertisements
that may include images, titles, descriptions, or other media
content, as well as text descriptions to describe the
advertisement. In one embodiment, the sponsored tab is readily
apparent to a user through one or more methods, including applying
differential coloring to identify the sponsored tab, identifying
the sponsored tab with a logo or brand or other methods.
[0052] FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary non-sponsored and sponsored
tabs displayed for a search query, in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention. A search results page that
includes sponsored and non-sponsored content is illustrated. In the
illustrated example, a search query "disney" 44 includes one or
more non-sponsored tabs 46, 48, 50, 52 and 54 that link to general
content associated with the search query "disney" 44 and a
sponsored tab 56. Selecting the sponsored tab 56 creates a link to
an advertiser's web page associated with the search engine. A
refining search tern and an associated sponsored advertisement link
may also be provided. In this example, the advertiser, "Disney" may
purchase the right to display the sponsored tab 56 for queries that
match certain criteria (for example, any query with the word
"disney"). The different advertisements for Disney products, which
may include one or more stacks 58, 60, 62, 64, 66 and 68 for
grouping similar advertisement pages are also displayed in FIG.
5.
[0053] In one embodiment, a user clicking on a sponsored tab is
directed to a web site without returning a search result page. In
other words, a user is not taken off-site from the search engine's
page to the advertiser's web page. Instead, the user views the
content in the sponsored tab itself and navigates the results in
the sponsored tab using the search engine's graphical user
interface. In order for the content in the sponsored tab to be
current, the search engine updates the information in its sponsored
tabs either directly by working with the advertiser to provide the
most up to date information or by crawling the advertiser's
website.
[0054] The form of payment by the advertiser to the search engine
for sponsored tabs may take one of many forms, such as
pay-per-placement, where the advertiser pays each time a sponsored
tab (or the image and text description in the sponsored tab itself)
is displayed, or pay-per-click when the advertiser pays each time
the sponsored tab (or the image and text description in the
sponsored tab itself) is clicked by the user, or pay-per-action,
when the advertiser pays the search engine when the specific action
(such as an order or purchase action) is taken or any combination
of the above, as well as any other form of payment that the
advertiser and the search engine agree upon. The disclosed
technique does not limit the form or the value or the way in which
payment agreements are made between the advertiser and the search
engine. In one embodiment, a common payment agreement such as an
auction or fixed price agreement based on click-through or
impressions (displays) of an advertisement may also be
utilized.
[0055] FIG. 6 illustrates stacks and drill down categories
displayed for a sponsored tab, in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention. In the illustrated example, upon selection
of the sponsored tab, "eBay" 45, the user is presented with stacks
that include different advertisements associated with the search
term, "jaguar" 11 and drill down category information 47 retrieved
from the advertiser's web site, in this case, "eBay" 45. Observe
that a user can navigate the results associated with the sponsored
tab without being taken off-site from the search engine's web page
to the advertiser's web page.
[0056] In another embodiment, a drill down menu with advertisement
content is provided. As will be discussed in greater detail below,
a drill down menu with a link to a sponsored tab may also be
provided. In other embodiments, a drill down menu with a link to a
search results page with an advertising link and organic results, a
drill down menu with a link to an advertiser web page, a drill down
menu with a link to non-sponsored domains and sponsored domains and
a drill down menu with a link to a sponsored action may be
provided.
[0057] FIG. 7 illustrates exemplary sponsored and non-sponsored
drill down categories associated with a search query, in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention. Non-sponsored search
query extensions "All Meanings" 72, "Peter Pan Bus" 74, "Disney
Peter Pan" 76, "Peter Pan Peanut" 78 and "more" 80, associated with
a search query term, "peter pan" 70 are displayed. A drilldown
refinement menu 82 displays non-sponsored and sponsored drill down
categories. In the illustrated example, the drilldown categories
"Films", "Authors" and "Plays" are non-sponsored drill down
categories, while "Disney Characters" and "Children's Literature"
are sponsored drill down categories. The sponsored drill down
categories "Disney Characters" and "Children's Literature" lead to
further drill down categories with sponsored content such as
"Costumes", "DVDs", "Snowglobes" and so on for the Disney character
"Tinker Bell".
[0058] The disclosed drill down technique is also applicable to
sponsored advertisement categories. In one embodiment, the drill
down categories that may be sponsored include refinements that take
the user to a sponsored tab. The drill down categories may also
take the user to a search results page of the search engine that
includes an advertising link intermixed among organic results, as
will be discussed in greater detail below. In other embodiments,
the sponsored drill down categories may take the user to a web page
established by the advertiser to further drilldown categories that
may include any combination of non-sponsored and sponsored
drilldown choices, to a sponsored action (described below), to
specific features, models, colors, services, prices or other
attributes of a product, service or advertisement or to any other
form of advertising content, either solely displayed or mixed with
non-sponsored results, within or outside the search engine's web
pages. In addition, the placement of the sponsored drill down
categories may be anywhere within the drill down menu.
[0059] In one embodiment, the sponsored drill down categories may
be prominently displayed such as, for example, by including a note
next to the category, such as "ad" 84 displayed next to the
sponsored category, as illustrated in FIG. 7. The sponsored data
drill down categories may include any combination of additional
information including the identity of the advertiser, price,
functions, models, brands and other relevant aspects that may be
displayed in the primary or one or more ancillary drill down
menus.
[0060] In another embodiment of the present invention, a technique
for the placement of advertisements on a search results webpage is
disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, an
advertisement may be placed anywhere on the search results webpage,
including intermixed with non-sponsored results or placed outside
the non-sponsored results. The advertisements may include banner
advertisements or sponsored links and may contain images, text
descriptions, video and or other forms of advertising. In one
embodiment, a non-sponsored result is differentiated from a
sponsored result by displaying a note next to the sponsored
result.
[0061] FIG. 8 illustrates a stack of advertisements displayed in
response to a search query, in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention. The illustrated embodiment displays a
sponsored link "Napa Auto Parts" 86 and the note "Ad" 88 identifies
that the search result is an advertisement.
[0062] FIG. 9 illustrates the display of a traditional banner
advertisement responsive to a search query, in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated example,
the banner advertisement "Bed Bath Beyond Now Through Sunday Sale"
92 is responsive to the search query, "bed bath and beyond" 90.
[0063] In another embodiment, the advertisement may include a link
to a sponsored action. A menu for a sponsored action may also
provided. A user may wish to engage in "sponsored actions" to
purchase a product from the advertiser through links displayed
within a description associated with a sponsored tab or within the
search query result page. In one embodiment, a sponsored action
link may be displayed next to an advertisement or a non-sponsored
search result for a product displayed on a search result page.
[0064] FIG. 10 illustrates advertisements generated for a search
query, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
In the illustrated example, advertisements for a search query
"flatscreen TV" 94 are displayed. The sponsored action link "Buy
It" 96 is shown next to the non-sponsored search result, "Thompson
Thompson Multi-" 98. As a user scrolls over the action link 96, a
temporary pop-up menu 100 appears with one or more advertisers for
the action. The order of preference may be auctioned or combined
with some factor to identify the highest listed advertiser.
[0065] FIG. 11 illustrates a sponsored snippet displayed next to a
non-sponsored search result. The sponsored snippet provides
additional information not availabe in the non-sponsored result. In
the illustrated example, a non-sponsored search result "Bed Bath
and Beyond Exclusively Ours" 104 is displayed as a result of the
query for "bed bath beyond" 102. An advertisement or sponsored
snippet 106 indicating a current sale is displayed on the same
search page. The placement of the advertisement or sponsored
snippet near the specific URL is advantageous because it is based
on the content of the search results the search engine displays,
rather than in response to a keyword search query. Another
advantage of placing a sponsored snippet or advertisement near a
non-sponsored URL link is that it conveys information beyond what
can be found on a non-sponsored URL link or snippet. In the example
specified, the Bed Bath and Beyond home page snippet 104 does not
change as often as the store has sales so the advertisement or
sponsored snippet 106 provides additional information about a
limited time only sale. The information to be provided in the
sponsored snippet or advertisement can be provided by the
advertiser directly or it could be a crawled advertisement indexed
by the search engine.
[0066] In addition, in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention, an anchored area can be placed anywhere on the
search results user interface page and can include advertisements,
features, announcements, an area to store search results that the
user wants to keep for later review, a search box or other relevant
content. As illustrated in FIG. 11, an anchored footer area 105
includes pagination controls for going from page to page and an
achored header area 103 includes the search bar. Observe that the
header and footer areas are not scrolled over by a user. An
anchored content area 101 may be placed anywhere on the search
results user interface page. Accordingly, a user can scroll up and
down the search results but maintain an anchored area on the page.
Further, the anchored search bar 103 may be placed anywhere on the
search results page such as on the top, on the side, or the bottom
or elsewhere on the search results page such that a user who
scrolls through the results maintains a visible search box while
scrolling through the search results. Embodiments of the present
invention differ from current state of the art Internet search
engines, which generally provide a search box, typically at the top
and/or bottom of a search engine results page, which is not
anchored and thereby disappears when a user scrolls down the list
of search results that take up more than the displayed browser
window.
[0067] In another embodiment of the present invention, advertisers
may enter multiple criteria (for example, color, function, price,
models, brands, discounts) to enable the navigation of users to
advertisement pages. The criteria may be entered through a
graphical user interface included in the search engine. Advertisers
may enter the criteria freeform or into designated categories
specified by the search engine. The search engine may use these
criteria directly (i.e., place all or a portion of the specific
criteria in the drilldown listed information) or the search engine
may infer information from that criteria to drive the search
choices towards content provided by the advertiser. The information
inferred may help target the message of the advertiser who entered
the criteria to specific search queries, specific drill down query
extensions, tabs or other information displayed by the search
engine.
[0068] In another aspect of the present invention, text snippet
results displayed in a search result user interface page may be
changed to differing lengths depending on factors such as a user's
preference, a preferred look depending on the type of web browser
utilized, the size of the browser window or other display
preferences determined by the user or the search engine. In one
embodiment, a Text Snippet Display Module 220 (shown in FIG. 18)
includes executable instructions to display text snippet results
associated with a search query term. FIG. 12 illustrates a
graphical user interface screen display with long length snippets.
An exemplary long length snippet is illustrated by the reference
numeral 106. FIG. 13 illustrates a graphical user interface screen
display with short length snippets. An exemplary long length
snippet is illustrated by the reference numeral 107. As will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art, the utilization of short
snippets for displays is advantageous in cases where the screen
space is limited, such as, for example, in mobile devices.
[0069] In one embodiment, configurable parameters to format the
search results may further be provided. The configurable parameters
may specify a column configuration and a textual summary length.
The column configuration may be configured in response to the
quantity of search results. The textual summary length may be
configured in response to the quantity of search results. Further,
the column configuration and the textual summary length may be
configured based upon the type of browser or the browser window
size. In certain embodiments, the textual summary length may be
specified by a user. Further, the amount of text displayed may be
based upon the column configuration or based upon the textual
summary length.
[0070] FIG. 14 illustrates a search results page with displayed
snippets. The snippets are also referred to as textual summaries.
The two paragraphs 108 and 110 illustrate two possible snippets
from one or more webpages. If the user chooses to display medium
length snippets, then the snippet from the second paragraph 110,
where the search term "term A" appears twice (the snippet consists
of the 4 highlighted sentences) is displayed. If the user then
switches to short snippets, the search engine shortens the snippet
to include just the first sentence (guisgue est term A, sodales in,
varius sit amet, imperdiet et, arcu) appearing in the snippet from
the second paragraph 110. In another embodiment, the search engine
may instead pick the bolded sentence (Donec nonummy Term A mi) from
the first paragraph 108 because paragraphs near the top of the page
are scored higher and explanatory text is more likely to appear in
the document introduction. A snippet essentially gives the user a
preview of a document. A snippet length preference therefore not
only lets the user choose the size of the preview, but the location
of the preview as well.
[0071] In one embodiment, the user may choose to change the length
of the snippets to include more results with shorter snippets, or
less results with longer snippets. The user may wish to see more
detail per result at the expense of seeing fewer results, or less
detail with more results. Alternatively, a user may find short
snippets preferable for certain kinds of searches (for example, if
the user wishes to scan a number of sites to see the price for a
particular product, X). On the other hand, long snippets may be
desirable for other types of searches (for example, if a user wants
to learn more about a particular individual, Y).
[0072] As discussed above, the number of columns displayed may be
changed based upon a user's preference or automatically by the
search engine, depending upon a number of factors such as, for
example, the size of the browser window. Further, one or more
choices for the number of columns to be displayed may also be
provided. FIG. 15 illustrates a graphical user interface screen
displaying long length snippets in a single column presentation
format. In the illustrated example, a user may select one or more
snippet sizes, "short" 112, "medium" 114 or "long" 116 and one or
more presentation formats "1 column" 118 or "2 column" 120 for
displaying the snippets. FIG. 16 illustrates a user interface
screen display, displaying long length snippets in a double column
presentation format.
[0073] In another aspect of the present invention, a "direct
navigation" technique is disclosed that enables a user to find one
or more web sites that match the user's text, as the user types a
query. Sometimes the match is straightforward (for example, a
search query term "amazon" matches the URL--"www.amazon.com") but
this is not generally the case: for example, the query "san fran
chronicle" should ideally match the URL--www.sfgate.com. The
disclosed technique utilizes a number of heuristics to determine
the best match. In one embodiment, match indica are produced that
directs a user to a website without returning a search result page.
The match indicia may include at least two of a destination URL, a
destination icon and a trade name. Further, the destination icon
may be retrieved without accessing a website landing page. In one
embodiment, the match indicia has a related advertisement.
[0074] In another embodiment, a scroll area displaying search
results and a permanently displayed anchored content area may be
displayed. The anchored content area includes a search box. The
anchored content area may also include advertisements,
announcements, news reports, content relevant to a user, pagination
controls, column controls and textual summary length controls. In
one embodiment, a Search Result Direct Navigation Module 222
includes executable instructions to display a set of navigation
choices associated with a search query term.
[0075] FIG. 17 is an illustration of the direct navigation
technique in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. One
or more navigation choices are retrieved and included in a search
assist box 122. The navigation choices appear in the search assist
box 122 as the user types the search query, "nort" in the search
bar 124. The direct navigation technique disclosed in accordance
with embodiments of the present invention enables a user to
directly navigate to a particular site from the "search suggest"
box 122, without having to view a standard search results page and
clicking on one or more of the search results.
[0076] When a user clicks on a particular navigation choice, the
user is taken directly to the associated site, bypassing the search
results page altogether. Further visual aids may be provided to
indicate the availability of a particular site to a user. For
example, as illustrated in FIG. 17, a destination URL, for example,
www.nortel.com is displayed. Also, the trade name or official or
generally understood name, Nortel Networks, is displayed Also
observe that the icon 126 used by the site for branding and
identification purposes (sometimes called a favicon) is reproduced
in the box 122 next to the site name and URL. Accordingly, the
navigation choice provides a strong visual confirmation of the
user's intended site. The visual representation of a navigation
choice helps a user navigate through the search suggest/assist
results and identifies the official website for those companies. As
mentioned above, the navigation choices may be retrieved by the
search engine from a website landing page or obtained in some other
way including directly from the owner of the website landing page.
The navigation choice placed in the "search suggest" box 122 may
also be sold by the search engine as a placed advertisement or
additional feature.
[0077] FIG. 18 illustrates a computer configured in accordance with
one embodiment of the present invention. The computer 200 includes
standard components, including a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 202
and input/output devices 204, which are linked by a bus 206. A
Network Interface Circuit (NIC) 208 provides connectivity to a
network (not shown), thereby allowing the computer 200 to operate
in a networked environment.
[0078] A memory 210 is also connected to the bus 206. The memory
210 includes one or more executable modules to implement operations
of the invention. In one embodiment, the memory 210 includes a
Search Result Tab Display Module 212, a Search Result Stack Display
Module 214, a Search Result Drill Down Module 216, a Search Result
Advertisement Display Module 218, a Text Snippet Display Module 220
and a Search Result Direct Navigation Module 222.
[0079] The Search Result Tab Display Module 212 includes executable
instructions to display tabs representative of different classes of
search results derived in response to the processing of a query.
The Search Result Stack Display Module 214 includes executable
instructions to display common attributes associated with a tab but
having a refined meaning representing different classes of search
results. The Search Result Drill Down Module 216 includes
executable instructions to display a listing of results derived
from processing a query and a menu of refining search terms that is
dynamically derived in response to the processing of the query. The
Search Result Advertisement Display Module 218 includes executable
instructions to display a set of advertisements associated with a
search query term. The Text Snippet Display Module 220 includes
executable instructions to display text snippet results associated
with a search query term. The Search Result Direct Navigation
Module 222 includes executable instructions to display a set of
navigation choices associated with a search query term. The
operations performed by the executable modules in the memory 210
are discussed in detail with respect to FIGS. 1-17 disclosed
above.
[0080] It should be noted that the executable modules stored in
memory 210 are exemplary. Additional modules, such as an operating
system or graphical user interface module may also be included. It
should be appreciated that the functions of the modules may be
combined. In addition, the functions of the modules need not be
performed on a single machine. Instead, the functions may be
distributed across a network, if desired. Indeed, the invention is
commonly implemented in a client-server environment with various
components being implemented at the client-side and or server-side.
It is the functions of the invention that are significant, not
where they are performed or the specific manner in which they are
performed.
[0081] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a computer
storage product with a computer-readable medium having computer
code thereon for performing various computer-implemented
operations. The media and computer code may be those specially
designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention,
or they may be of the kind well known and available to those having
skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable
media include, but are not limited to: magnetic media such as hard
disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as
CD-ROMs, DVDs and holographic devices; magneto-optical media; and
hardware devices that are specially configured to store and execute
program code, such as application-specific integrated circuits
("ASICs"), programmable logic devices ("PLDs") and ROM and RAM
devices. Examples of computer code include machine code, such as
produced by a compiler, and files containing higher-level code that
are executed by a computer using an interpreter. For example, an
embodiment of the invention may be implemented using Java, C++, or
other object-oriented programming language and development tools.
Another embodiment of the invention may be implemented in hardwired
circuitry in place of, or in combination with, machine-executable
software instructions.
[0082] The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used
specific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the
invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art
that specific details are not required in order to practice the
invention. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments
of the invention are presented for purposes of illustration and
description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the
invention to the precise forms disclosed; obviously, many
modifications and variations are possible in view of the above
teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to
best explain the principles of the invention and its practical
applications, they thereby enable others skilled in the art to best
utilize the invention and various embodiments with various
modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It
is intended that the following claims and their equivalents define
the scope of the invention.
* * * * *
References