Patent · US Expired

Search query processing to provide category-ranked presentation of search results

US6963867B2 · kind B2 · utility

469Cited by
20References
36Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 31, 2003
Grant dateNov 8, 2005
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 19, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S707/99937
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A search engine system displays the results of a multiple-category search according to levels of relevance of the categories to a user's search query. A query server receives a search query from a user and identifies, within each of multiple item categories, a set of items that satisfy the query. The sets of items are used to generate, for each of the multiple categories, a score that reflects a level significance or relevance of the category to the search. The scores may be based, for example, on the number of hits within each category relative to the total number of items in that category, the popularity levels of items that satisfy the query, a personal profile of the user, or a combination thereof. The categories are then presented to the user, together with the most relevant items within each category, in the order of highest to lowest category relevance.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.