Patent Application
20150142566
As will be readily appreciated as a general purchase behavior, people are often most interested in purchasing the latest, the most fashionable, the most stylish, and trendy items. Retailers (including those with physical stores as well as online presences) are well aware of this behavior and are constantly updating their displays to present the most popular, stylish, fashionable, or trending products. Seasonal and/or holiday-related items also influence the purchasing decisions of consumers. Thus, when applicable, retailers also update their displays to reflect those seasonal and/or holiday-related items.
The following Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. The Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
According to aspects of the disclosed subject matter, systems and methods for providing fresh product listing advertisements in response to a search query are presented. More particularly, in response to receiving a search query, a plurality of search results is identified in which the search results are relevant to the search query. Additionally, a first set of product listing advertisements is identified. A second set of product listing advertisements, which are fresh product listing advertisements, are also identified and combined into the first set. Upon generating the search results page, at least some of the identified search results and some of the product listing advertisements are included. At least one of the fresh product listing advertisements is included in the generated search results page. The at least one fresh product listing advertisement is tagged with an annotation indicating that the advertisement is a fresh product listing advertisement.
According to additional aspects of the disclosed subject matter, a computer-implemented method for responding to a search query from a computer user is presented. The method comprises identifying a plurality of search results relevant to a received search query. A first set of product listing advertisements is identified for potential inclusion with the search results. A second set of product listing advertisements is also identified. The product listing advertisements of the second set are classified as fresh product listing advertisements. The second set of product listing advertisements are combined with the first set of product listing advertisements. At least one search results page is generated according to the identified search results and the first set of product listing advertisements, such that the at least one search results page includes a fresh product listing advertisement. The at least one search results page is provided in response to receiving the search query.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of the disclosed subject matter will become more readily appreciated as they are better understood by reference to the following description when taken in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein:
For purposed of clarity, the use of the term “exemplary” in this document should be interpreted as serving as an illustration or example of something, and it should not be interpreted as an ideal and/or a leading illustration of that thing. Regarding the use of the term “fresh,” for purposes of this disclosure the term “fresh” should be understood to mean generally having original qualities (e.g., new features, new colors, etc.); unusual and/or not commonly encountered before by a portion of the population; replacing previous versions or iterations; and/or new to a general population's experience. Further, while a strict definition of a “fresh” item may not necessarily denote an item that is currently fashionable as determined by one or more segments of the population, or a trending item, for purposes of brevity in description the term “fresh” with regard to items for sale and product listing advertisements for those items will include items that fresh (per the definition above) as well as items that are currently fashionable, currently trending and/or popular, seasonal, and/or holiday related. Correspondingly, a fresh advertisement is an advertisement directed to a fresh product, a new advertisement (potentially including a new price point) for an item, and the like. A trending item should be understood to be an item in which the general interest in or activity with the item exceeds, beyond a standard variance of interest or activity, a commonly encountered level or threshold for a particular period of time. By way of illustration and not limitation, these periods of time may correspond to an hour, 4 hours, a day, a week, a month, a holiday season, a day of the week, and the like.
The term “navigate,” as used in this document, refers to a computer user operating a computing device to cause a content viewing application (referred to as a “browser”) to retrieve information/content from a location specified by an network address (e.g., a URL or URI). Often, though not exclusively, this “navigation” occurs when the computer user interacts with a hyperlink-content (often textual content) that is associated with a network address and which is configured to retrieve the content from the network address upon user interaction with the hyperlink. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, while the content referenced by a network address is, in fact, retrieved from network sites and displayed on the local computer, this activity is often referred to as “navigating” to that address where the content is located. Typically, though not exclusively, when referring to content that is considered part of the Internet, that content is often referred to as a “web page.” A web page is typically an HTML or XML document that defines the content and layout of the web page, and may include references to scripts, images, video and other related files that are presented with the referenced web page. Moreover, a web page may include hyperlinks to other web pages and/or content.
A trending search query should be understood to be a search query that, from a previous time point to the present, has been submitted to a search engine or similar service at a heightened rate. For example, a search query for a given topic will be received by a search engine a certain number of times over a predetermined time period, with variance conforming to some standard deviation. A trending search query is a search query that is received by a search engine at a heightened rate, exceeds typical variances, over a particular time period.
While retailers recognize the importance of presenting the latest, most fashionable and/or popular items to a consumer, there are many online occasions where it would be advantageous to present similar information to the consumer. Accordingly, turning now to the figures,
Also included in the exemplary network environment 100 are various networking sites, such as networking sites 110-116. A computer user, such as computer user 101, may navigate to various networking sites and/or interact with online services to view content hosted on the various sites. By way of example and not limitation, in the exemplary networked environment 110, the networked sites may include various vendor and advertising servicing sites, such as vendor sites 112 and 116 and advertising servicing site 114, as well as a search engine 110. Of course, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that there may be any number of networked sites with a network 108. Hence, the illustrated network environment is illustrative and not limiting upon the disclosed subject matter.
As those skilled in the art will appreciate, vendor sites, such as vendor sites 112 and 116 correspond to vendors/retailers selling one or more products and/or services to consumers. Typically, though not exclusively, the vendor sites represent an online shopping presence to which computer users may navigate a browser application to view, research and purchase the for-sale or for-lease items. Vendor sites 112 and 116 may offer (for sale or lease) proprietary items, offer items from other vendors, or a combination thereof. An advertiser servicing site 116 corresponds to an online service that provides product listing advertisements for inclusion in the various web pages to which a computer user may navigate. For example, a search engine 110, in responding to a search query, may generate one or more search results pages of references to online content that is related to the search query. However, since a search engine 110 typically operates a free service (i.e., doesn't charge the requesting computer user a fee for use of the service), the operators of the search engine 110 will try to recoup the costs of the service by including advertisements in the various search results pages. Similarly, many web pages available on the network 108 will include advertisements and frequently, though not exclusively, the advertisements will be provided by the services of an advertiser servicing site 116.
As will be readily appreciated, a search engine, such as search engine 110, is an online service that (among other things) responds to search queries with one or more search results. A search query identifies the desired subject matter of the requesting computer user through the use of query terms. These query terms typically identify the subject matter as well as limit the scope of matching subject matter. In response to receiving a search query from a requesting computer user, the search engine 110 determines what subject matter the search query references, identifies one or more references to network-available content that are the most likely candidates of the requested subject matter, generates one or more search results pages of search results from the identified items, and returns at least the first search results page to the requesting computer user. The search engine 110 identifies the related content from content stores (typically references to content in an indexed content store) that it maintains. Advantageously, the search engine 110 includes both the preferences of the requesting computer user as well as general context (season, holiday, current events, and the like) into account when identifying related content for a search query.
As indicated above, in addition to the search results in the search results pages, the search engine 110 will typically include one or more advertisements for items typically (though not exclusively) related in some way to the subject matter of the search query. Advertisements directed to products and/or services are referred to as product listing advertisements. While there are search engines that include product listing advertisements in their search results, according to aspects of the disclosed subject matter the search engine 110 is configured to identify and include fresh product listing advertisements in the search results pages when a received search query is determined to meet one or more freshness criteria. As part of determining whether a received search query meets freshness criteria, the search engine 110 is configure to access and evaluate a plurality of data sources to identify items (both products and services for sale or lease) that are “fresh.” According to aspects of the disclosed subject matter and by way of illustration, the search engine 110 may access any and all of search query logs; browsing data of a plurality of computer users; purchase data of one or more vendor sites (such as vendor sites 112 and 116); user activity (including posts) of one or more social networking sites; and the like. By analyzing these various data sources, which analyses are known in the art, the search engine 110 is able to identify fresh products (i.e., those products that may be considered “fresh” with regard to the general population) as well as search queries that are directed to fresh products.
As indicated, in order to identify fresh search queries (i.e., trending search queries, search queries directed to fresh products or topics, and the like), the search engine 110 analyzes various sources of data. In addition, the search engine 110 combines the fresh products and queries with fresh advertisements from one or more vendors (either directly from the venders or by way of an advertiser servicing service 114) into a fresh content/ad store for use when responding to the fresh search queries (as will be described below). To this end,
Beginning at block 202, the search engine 110 obtains the latest product listing advertisements (PLAs) from the various advertisers and advertiser servicing sites. At block 204, the search engine 110 accesses various data sources of information in order to identify fresh products and/or services. As mentioned above, these data sources may include, by way of illustration and not limitation: search query logs (including those of the search engine 110), browsing histories, click-through behavior with regard to search results, social data from one or more social networking sites, the advertisement data of the PLAs from the advertisers, and the like. At block 206, one or more analysis processes mine the obtained data sources and identify those products and/or services that are likely the “fresh” products and/or services.
At block 208, the search engine 110 updates a fresh content/ad store that it maintains. The fresh content/ad store includes both the fresh content as well as the corresponding PLAs from the various advertisers that are related to the fresh content. Typically, though not exclusively, the fresh content/ad store is indexed according to content and PLA such that relationships between the two may be easily and readily identified. Of course, as part of updating the fresh content/ad store, those items (including products and services as well as PLAs) that are no longer considered fresh may be removed from the store.
At block 210, the search engine 110 notifies the advertisers (and advertiser servicing sites) of the results of the analyses, i.e., the latest fresh products and/or services. Notifying the advertisers enables the advertisers to update their PLAs to take advantage of the freshest products and services. Thereafter, at block 212 the routine 200 delays for a predetermined amount of time. This delay allows the routine 200 to predictably carry out the process of identifying fresh products/services, obtain the latest PLAs from advertisers, and updating the fresh content/ad store. After the delay, the routine 200 returns to block 202 and repeats the process described above.
In addition to the process/routine of identifying the fresh content,
At decision block 308, a determination is made as to whether the search query a “fresh” search query, i.e., is the search query considered fresh in light of other received search queries and/or is the search query directed to subject matter (including products and/or services) that may be viewed as “fresh.” According to aspects of the disclosed subject matter, the search engine 110 evaluates the received search query against one or more freshness criteria (whether the search query is a trending search query or whether and to what extent the subject matter of the search query is directed to an item identified as being fresh, including items from the fresh content/ad store) in generating a freshness score. If the freshness score meets or exceeds a predetermined threshold, then the search query is deemed to be a “fresh” search query. If the search query fails to meet or exceed the predetermined threshold, the routine 300 proceeds to block 316 where the product listing advertisements are selected for inclusion in with the search results pages. However, if the freshness score meets or exceeds the predetermined threshold, the routine 300 proceeds to block 310.
At block 310, the search engine 110 identifies additional product listing ads for potential inclusion in the generated search results pages. According to aspects of the disclosed subject matter, these additional product listing ads are the “fresh” product listing ads that have been combined with the fresh content in the fresh content/ads stores that the search engine maintains (as described above in regard to
At block 314, these “fresh,” additional product listing ads are combined with the previously identified set of product listing ads. According to one embodiment, the set of product listing ads is ordered according to a ranking score associated with each product listing advertisement, and the fresh product listing advertisements are favorably weighted such that they are scored more favorably and, therefore, are more likely to be included in the generated search results pages than the other product listing advertisements that were selected. Scoring the product listing advertisements include (but not limited to) typical scoring metrics such as fulfillment goals and CPM (cost per one thousand impressions), as well freshness criteria, e.g., new product, new price, trending product, new advertisement campaign, and the like.
At block 316, the search engine 110 selects one or more product listing advertisements for inclusion in the one or more search results pages to be generated. As already indicated, selection may be based on a ranking of the product listing advertisements, with the fresh product listing advertisements being more favorably weighted for inclusion in the generated search results pages. Of course, it should be appreciated that even though the fresh product listing advertisements may be favorably weighted, it does not necessarily mean that only fresh product listing advertisements are included in the generated search results pages. In at least one embodiment of the disclosed subject matter, at least some product listing advertisements are included in the generated search results pages which are not considered fresh product listing advertisements.
At block 318, the search engine 110 generates one or more search results pages based on the identified search results for presentation to the requesting computer user. According to aspects of the disclosed subject matter, if the search query is determined to be a fresh search query, at least one fresh product listing advertisement is included in at least one of the generated search results pages. Moreover, each fresh product listing advertisement may be tagged with an annotation indicating that the product listing advertisement is a fresh PLA. At block 320, at least one of the generated search results pages is returned in response to the received search query. Thereafter, the routine 300 terminates.
While the above exemplary routine 300 is described in regard to including fresh product listing advertisements (with corresponding annotations) in the search results pages when a received search query is determined to be a fresh search query, in alternative embodiments fresh product listing advertisements may be included without the need to identify a search query as a fresh search query. Indeed, rather than making the determination at decision block 308, fresh product listing advertisements from the fresh content/ad store are identified, annotated, and included with the original set of product listing advertisements.
Regarding the exemplary routines 200 and 300 described above, while these routines are expressed in regard to discrete steps, these steps should be viewed as being logical in nature and may or may not correspond to any actual and/or discrete steps of a particular implementation. Nor should the order in which these steps are presented in the various routines be construed as the only order in which the steps may be carried out. Moreover, while these routines include various novel features of the disclosed subject matter, other steps (not listed) may also be carried out in the execution of the routines. Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the described, logical steps of these routines may be combined together or be comprised of multiple steps. Steps of routines 500 and 600 may be carried out in parallel or in series. Often, but not exclusively, the functionality of the various routines is embodied in software (e.g., applications, system services, libraries, and the like) that is executed on computer hardware and/or systems as described below in regard to
While many novel aspects of the disclosed subject matter are expressed in routines embodied in applications, also referred to as computer programs, apps (small, generally single or narrow purposed, applications), and/or methods, these aspects may also be embodied as computer-executable instructions stored by computer-readable media, also referred to as computer-readable storage media. As those skilled in the art will recognize, computer-readable media can host computer-executable instructions for later retrieval and execution. When the computer-executable instructions stored on the computer-readable storage devices are executed, they carry out various steps, methods and/or functionality, including the steps described above in regard to routines 200 and 300. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to: optical storage media such as Blu-ray discs, digital video discs (DVDs), compact discs (CDs), optical disc cartridges, and the like; magnetic storage media including hard disk drives, floppy disks, magnetic tape, and the like; memory storage devices such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), memory cards, thumb drives, and the like; cloud storage (i.e., an online storage service); and the like. For purposes of this disclosure, however, computer-readable media expressly excludes carrier waves and propagated signals.
Turning now to
The processor 502 executes instructions retrieved from the memory 504 in carrying out various functions, particularly in regard to responding to search queries with fresh product listing advertisements. The processor 502 may be comprised of any of various commercially available processors such as single-processor, multi-processor, single-core units, and multi-core units. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the novel aspects of the disclosed subject matter may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including but not limited to: mini-computers; mainframe computers, personal computers (e.g., desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, etc.); handheld computing devices such as smartphones, personal digital assistants, and the like; microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics; game consoles, and the like.
The system bus 510 provides an interface for the various components to inter-communicate. The system bus 510 can be of any of several types of bus structures that can interconnect the various components (including both internal and external components). The exemplary computing system 500 also includes a network communication component 512 for interconnecting the computing system 500 with other computers, devices and services on a computer network, such as user computers 102-106, advertiser sites 112 and 116, and advertiser servicing sites 114. The network communication component 512 may be configured to communicate with these other, external devices and services via a wired connection, a wireless connection, or both.
The exemplary computing system 500 includes a search results identifier that determines the subject matter of the received search query and identifies one or more search results from a content store 526. The content store stores references to content (e.g., web pages) available throughout the network 108. Typically, though not exclusively, the content store 526 is indexed according to a plurality of keys based on plurality of topics. As will be readily appreciated, a search results identifier 514 that identifies search results from a content store 526 is known in the art.
The exemplary computing system 500 further includes a fresh content identifier 516. The fresh content identifier 516 is configured to access various data sources accessible throughout the network 108. Indeed, the fresh content identifier 516 the component that carries out the exemplary routine 200 described above in regard to
The exemplary computing system 500 also includes a fresh query identifier 522. As indicated above in regard to exemplary routine 300, upon receiving a search query, the fresh query identifier 522 determines whether the received search query meets freshness criteria. If the received search query meets freshness criteria, the fresh query identifier 522 causes that the computing system 500 identifies product listing advertisements from the fresh content/ad store 528 for potential inclusion in the generated search results pages.
As will be appreciated, the search results page generator 524 generates one or more search results pages in response to a received search query. The search results page generator 524 generates the search results pages according to the search results identified by the search results identifier 514. The search results page generator 524 further includes, in the search results pages, product listing advertisements. These product listing advertisements are selected by an ad selector 520. The ad selector 520 is responsive to the fresh query identifier such that the ad selector 520 selects from both the ad store 530 as well as the fresh content/ad store when the search query is classified as a fresh search query.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that at least some of the various components of the exemplary computing system 500 of
While various novel aspects of the disclosed subject matter have been described, it should be appreciated that these aspects are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting. Variations and alterations to the various aspects may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosed subject matter.
