Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090327267 | BASING SEARCH RESULTS ON METADATA OF PRIOR RESULTS - Embodiments of the invention provide a method, system, and media for determining search results based on a query. One embodiment of the method includes receiving an initial query, inspecting an initial set of query-related information that is associated with the query, which is the fruit of analyzing aggregated user-interaction data, which includes information related to how users have previously interacted with former search results that were presented in response to the query. This information includes prior metadata associated with the former search results. Embodiments further include presenting an initial set of search results based on the initial set of query-related information, gathering current user-interaction data, and updating the initial set of query-related information based on the current user-interaction data. In this way, an embodiment of the invention helps, among other things, map a semantic meaning of a query to results that bring about a satisfying user experience. | 12-31-2009 |
20100042610 | RANK DOCUMENTS BASED ON POPULARITY OF KEY METADATA - Ranking of documents by metadata popularity provides relevant search results in response to user search queries received by a search engine. Metadata popularity is determined by comparing metadata from a document with popularity data from one or more sources. In some embodiments, metadata popularity is determined based on a frequency with which extracted metadata appears in query logs. Search results are ordered based on metadata popularity and returned in response to the user search queries. | 02-18-2010 |
20110302521 | RELATED TASKS AND TASKLETS FOR SEARCH - Systems and methods are provided for performing tasks and related tasks. While a user is performing a task, a group of related tasks is presented. When a new task is selected, a new group of related tasks is provided. This allows a user to perform a series of tasks without having to separately search for each task. As the user moves between tasks, task information items are passed between the tasks so that previously provided information can be preserved. | 12-08-2011 |
20120130969 | GENERATING CONTEXT INFORMATION FOR A SEARCH SESSION - Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for providing an enhanced search experience to a user by determining a user's presumptive intentions for an ongoing search session. A user's activities during the search session reveal clues to the user's intent for the search session. Embodiments of the present invention assign values to various context characteristics by analyzing the user's activities during a search session. The context characteristics describe different manifestations of user intent revealed by the user's actions. Embodiments of the present invention distribute the context information to applications that consume the context information and provide enhanced search results. This allows multiple context-based applications to have access to context information without accessing signal data or needing to independently process the signal data to determine an intent of the search session. | 05-24-2012 |
20130006952 | ORGANIZING SEARCH HISTORY INTO COLLECTIONS - Computer-storage media, methods, and systems for improving the ability of a user to accomplish a task that is pending during a search session are provided. This pending task can be distilled by identifying a current searching intent associated with a recently submitted query and by determining which candidate tasks are most comparable to the current searching intent of a user. The candidate tasks are mined from a search history of the user by categorizing those navigation events that appear to share a semantically common concept. Upon performing a comparison, the candidate task that captures the user's true current searching intent is designated as the pending task. When a user invokes the pending task, a collection of elements that are associated with the pending task are dynamically organized into a sharable content page, thereby providing a collaborative experience that involves exposing the collection to contacts and accepting feedback therefrom. | 01-03-2013 |
20130024439 | MODELING SEARCH IN A SOCIAL GRAPH - Architecture that interfaces entities such as a search engine with a social network, by enabling both entities to share a common storage. Search behavior is modeled as a search social graph that incorporates both search behavior and user relationships. The data in the graph can be data mined, and related aggregations (stories) can be surfaced to users of the architecture via websites of both entities. To facilitate collaboration, users can further interact on the aggregations by repeating a query, commenting on a query, and/or suggesting links. This interactive feedback activity can also be modeled and recorded into the search social graph, which generates further aggregations. The positive feedback cycle, as part of the architecture, encourages collaboration and interaction on an aggregation. | 01-24-2013 |
20130036114 | PROVIDING OBJECTIVE AND PEOPLE RESULTS FOR SEARCH - Search results may include both objective results and person results. In one example, a search query is evaluated to determine whether it is the type of query that a user might want to ask to a friend. If the query is of such a type, then the search engine may examine a social graph to determine which friends of the user who entered the query may have information that is relevant to answering the query. If such friends exist, then the friends may be displayed along with objective search results, along with an explanation of each friend's relevance to the query. Clicking on a person in the results may cause a conversation to be initiated with that person, thereby allowing the user who entered the query to ask his or her friend about the subject of the query. | 02-07-2013 |
20130282688 | ORGANIZING SEARCH HISTORY INTO COLLECTIONS - Computer-storage media, methods, and systems for improving the ability of a user to accomplish a task that is pending during a search session are provided. When a user invokes the pending task, a collection of elements that are associated with the pending task are dynamically organized into a sharable content page that may be shared with a user's contacts via a social network. The user's contacts may comment on or provide feedback related to the pending task. The feedback may be published to the sharable content page and presented to the user on a user interface. | 10-24-2013 |
20140181101 | PROVIDING OBJECTIVE AND PEOPLE RESULTS FOR SEARCH - Search results may include both objective results and person results. In one example, a search query is evaluated to determine whether it is the type of query that a user might want to ask to a friend. If the query is of such a type, then the search engine may examine a social graph to determine which friends of the user who entered the query may have information that is relevant to answering the query. If such friends exist, then the friends may be displayed along with objective search results, along with an explanation of each friend's relevance to the query. Clicking on a person in the results may cause a conversation to be initiated with that person, thereby allowing the user who entered the query to ask his or her friend about the subject of the query. | 06-26-2014 |
20140358887 | APPLICATION CONTENT SEARCH MANAGEMENT - A search service accesses application content accessible via one or more enumerated applications. The search service ranks the accessed application content in combination with non-application content to produce a combined ranking. Responsive to a search query, the search service provides one or more search results based on the combined ranking. | 12-04-2014 |
20140358909 | SEARCH RESULT CONTEXTS FOR APPLICATION LAUNCH - A search service executes on one or more computing systems and searches at least one index associated with content accessible through an application based on the at least one portion of the search query to provide search results associated with the application. A search results interface returns one or more search results from the search. At least one of the search results is associated with an application identifier identifying the application. The search service ranks the search results associated with the application with other search results from at least one other search of other content based on the search query. | 12-04-2014 |
20140358970 | CONTEXT-BASED ACTIONS FROM A SOURCE APPLICATION - An action framework system provides context-based actions in association with a source application. The source application detects selection of a content element presented by the source application. The content element is associated with an application identifier identifying a target application and an action identifier identifying an operation to be executed by the target application on the content element. The target application identified by the application identifier is executed to perform the operation identified by the action identifier on the content element, responsive to detection of the selection of the content element. In one implementation, the source application is a search feature providing different contexts of search results (e.g., from a local file system search, a local application content search, a Web search, a remote application content search). | 12-04-2014 |
20140359598 | APPLICATION INSTALLATION FROM SEARCH RESULTS - A search management system receives at a computing device one or more search results from a search operation based on a search query. The search operation was performed a search on content in a datastore accessible through an application. At least one of the search results is associated with an application identifier identifying the application. A contextual application installer determines whether the application identified by the application identifier is already installed for execution by the computing device and installs the application on the computing device, if the application is not already installed on the computing device. As part of the installing operation, the contextual application installer presents a prompt identifying the application and installs the application on the computing device if an instruction to install the application is received responsive to presentation of the prompt. | 12-04-2014 |