Patent Application
20070266015
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
A search engine is a program designed to find information stored on one or more computing devices. In its most recognized format, search engines, such as those employed by MSN, Yahoo, and Google, for example, are used to find websites and documents throughout the Internet. These types of search engines typically perform “horizontal” searches, providing a breadth of information related to the search query. However, users often desire information within a narrow topic or field. Accordingly, vertical search engines have been designed to perform specialized searches to mine data for a narrow niche. For example, a shopping vertical search engine may be employed to search information for products users may wish to purchase. Other types of verticals include image verticals, job/career verticals, travel verticals, local services verticals, research verticals, real estates verticals, automobile verticals, and news verticals, for example.
Typically, users turn to commercially-available vertical search engines to perform vertical searches. However, users may be dissatisfied with the choice of available vertical search engines. For example, there may not be a commercially-available vertical search engine directed to the specific topic with which users wish to search or the vertical search engines that are available may not be sufficiently tailored for users' purposes. In such cases, users may wish to create their own search verticals. Additionally, users may wish to control the way in which search results are presented in a search results user interface associated with search verticals they employ. However, the creation of a search vertical from top to bottom, including aspects of a search results user interface, requires sophisticated knowledge that typical users do not possess. Further, even for those users who are savvy enough to create their own search verticals, there currently is no convenient way for users to share personalized search verticals.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
User-defined control of user interfaces for presenting search results is described herein. Users may create and save search macros that are capable of modifying a search engine to perform searches and present results based on user-defined operators. Each macro includes a definition having one or more search operators that control search aspects and one or more user interface operators that control aspects regarding how search results are presented in a search results user interface. When a user enters a search query and selects a search macro, a search engine is modified based on operators defined by the selected search macro. Search results from the modified search engine are presented in a search results user interface in accordance with user interface operators of the selected search macro.
The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
The subject matter of the present invention is described with specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, the description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. Rather, the inventors have contemplated that the claimed subject matter might also be embodied in other ways, to include different steps or combinations of steps similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. Moreover, although the terms “step” and/or “block” may be used herein to connote different elements of methods employed, the terms should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between various steps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described.
Embodiments of the present invention permit, among other things, users to create search macros that are capable of modifying a search engine to perform searches and present results according to user specifications. When entering a search query, a user may select a particular search macro. A search is performed in accordance with operators defined by the selected search macro. Additionally, a search results user interface is generated based on user interface operators defined by the selected search macro. As such, embodiments of the present invention provide a simple and convenient way for users to effectively create their own search verticals and control the way search results are presented.
Accordingly, in one aspect, an embodiment of the invention is directed to a method for performing a search using a user-defined search macro and generating a search results user interface in accordance with the search macro. The method includes receiving a selection of the search macro from a user. The search macro has one or more user-defined search operators and one or more user-defined user interface operators. The method also includes receiving a search input from the user. The method further includes modifying a search engine in accordance with at least one of the search operators and the user interface operators and performing a search based on the search input using the modified search engine. The method further includes receiving one or more search results from the search and generating a search results user interface based on the search results and at least one of the user interface operators. The method still further includes communicating the search results user interface to the user.
In another aspect of the invention, an embodiment is directed to a system for processing search queries and generating search results user interfaces using user-defined search macros. The system includes a search engine that is modifiable by one or more search macros. The search engine is also operative to process a search query from a user after being modified by at least one of the search macros and to generate a search results user interface based on the search macro. The system also includes a search macro store having one or more user-defined search macros. Each of the search macros comprises a definition for modifying the search engine. Each definition includes one or more user interface operators specifying the presentation of search results in a search results user interface. The system further includes an interface component operative to receive the user search query and to receive a user selection of the at least one of the one or more search macros.
In yet another aspect, an embodiment of the invention is directed to one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a data structure for a user-defined search macro. The data structure includes at least one first data field containing data representative of a user-defined search operator, wherein during a search operation, the user-defined search operator is used to modify search rules of a search engine. The data structure also includes at least one second data field containing data representative of a user-defined user interface operator, wherein during the search operation, the user-defined user interface operator is used to modify user interface generation rules of the search engine.
Having briefly described an overview of the present invention, an exemplary operating environment for the present invention is described below.
Referring initially to
The invention may be described in the general context of computer code or machine-useable instructions, including computer-executable instructions such as program modules, being executed by a computer or other machine, such as a personal data assistant or other handheld device. Generally, program modules including routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., refer to code that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The invention may be practiced in a variety of system configurations, including hand-held devices, consumer electronics, general-purpose computers, more specialty computing devices, etc. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote-processing devices that are linked through a communications network.
With reference to
Computing device 100 typically includes a variety of computer-readable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprises Random Access Memory (RAM); Read Only Memory (ROM); Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM); flash memory or other memory technologies; CDROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical or holographic media; magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, carrier wave or any other medium that can be used to encode desired information and be accessed by computing device 100.
Memory 112 includes computer-storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory. The memory may be removable, nonremovable, or a combination thereof. Exemplary hardware devices include solid-state memory, hard drives, optical-disc drives, etc. Computing device 100 includes one or more processors that read data from various entities such as memory 112 or I/O components 120. Presentation component(s) 116 present data indications to a user or other device. Exemplary presentation components include a display device, speaker, printing component, vibrating component, etc.
I/O ports 118 allow computing device 100 to be logically coupled to other devices including I/O components 120, some of which may be built in. Illustrative components include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, printer, wireless device, etc.
As previously mentioned, embodiments of the invention relate to providing a simple approach for users to create search verticals. Instead of having to build a search vertical from top to bottom, a user may simply create a “search macro” that defines aspects of a personalized search vertical. A search macro is an advanced search modifier comprising a custom, user-created group of search operators and user interface operators. Search operators control aspects regarding how a search is performed. For instance, search operators may be used to restrict searches and results to particular websites and/or particular types of content (e.g., image content or real-time news content). User interface operators control aspects regarding how search results are presented in a search results user interface. A search macro may be created by a user and stored on a search engine server such that the search macro is accessible to other users. A template approach may be provided for macro creation in which search engine features (e.g., search operators and user interface operators) are modularized and exposed to allow users to define those features. In operation, a search macro modifies various rules of a pre-defined search engine in accordance with the user-defined group of search operators and user interface operators, thereby controlling how the search is performed and how the search results are presented.
Referring now to
The user computer 202 includes a browser 208 accessible through a user interface (UI) 210. The browser 208 may be employed to communicate with the search engine server 204 via the network 206. Additionally, the search engine server 204 includes an interface component 212 for communicating with the user computer 202 via the network 206. The search engine server 206 further includes a search engine 214 and a search macro store 216. The search engine 214 is configured to access data from one or more computing devices and generate search results based on a user's search input. Those skilled in the art will recognize that various search utilities exist in the art and that embodiments of the present invention may utilize any number of those known search techniques.
The search engine is further configured to be modifiable by one or more search macros maintained by the search macro store 216. The search macro store 216 may maintain any number of user-created search macros, such as search macro A 218 and search macro B 220. Each search macro may contain any number of operators for modifying the search engine 214 for a particular search. These operators may include search operators, which modify the search rules of the search engine 214, and user interface operators, which modify user interface generation rules of the search engine 214. For example, the search macro A 218 contains search operators 222 and 224, as well as user interface operators 226-228. The search macro B 220 includes search operators 232-236 and user interface operator 238. In various embodiments of the invention, search macros stored by the search macro store 216 are accessible to any user.
In operation, a user may employ the browser 208 on the user computer 202 to access the search engine server 204. The user may create a new search macro for storage in the search macro store 216. In some embodiments, the user may also be able to modify an existing search macro. The user may further be able to perform searches using one or more of the stored search macros. When performing such a search, the user may select a particular search macro, such as search macro A 218, and may enter a search input. In response to the user actions, the search engine server 204 modifies the search engine 214 based on the operators defined by the selected search macro. The modified search engine 214 then carries out a search based on the search input and generates a search results user interface in accordance with user interface operators defined by the selected search macro. The search results user interface may then be communicated to the user computer 202 for presentation via the browser 208.
In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, aspects of the search results user interface that a search vertical may be given specific control over via user interface operators of a search macro may include one or more of the following (which are described in further detail below):
Initially, in accordance with embodiments of the invention, a search vertical may be given control over cosmetic aspects of the search results user interface. The cosmetic aspects may include any type of aesthetic feature of the search results user interface, such as, for instance, font types, font sizes, colors, styles, and logos presented on the user interface.
For instance, a user may wish to control the cosmetic aspects of the search user interface such that the user interface mimics the look of a particular website. For example, a user creating a Wired Magazine search vertical may wish to create a search user interface that appears similar to wired.com. Accordingly, employing embodiments of the present invention, the user may include the Wired banner in the search user interface. Additionally, the user may set the fonts and colors to match those of wired.com.
As another example, a user may wish to create a search vertical directed to portable device users. Accordingly, the user may wish to user larger fonts in the search user interface to compensate for portable devices' limited screen sizes.
Answers/Federations
Search verticals sometimes provide search answers with search results. For example, answers determined to be highly relevant to a search request may be shown at the top of the results set. As a specific example, a user may enter a search that includes “what is the population of China.” A search vertical may be designed to provide a specific fact-based answer to the search that includes the exact population in addition to typical search results. The answer could be provided anywhere within the user interface, but typically is provided at the top of the results set.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, users may specify specific types of answers to be shown with search results. Additionally, users may specify federations to other data provides, such as via RSS (e.g., Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary, RDF Site Summary, Real-time Simple Syndication) or other techniques. For example, a user may create a search macro and specify news headlines as an answer type. Based on the user specification, news results would be shown as answers. As another example, a search macro could be created such that results from a particular blog, such as Robert Scoble's blog, are displayed as answers.
In addition to specifying the type of answers to be provided, the user may specify where the answers are provided in relation to other search results. As such, in accordance with embodiments of the invention, the user is given control over the types of answers to be shown, as well as the location at which answers are presented relative to other search results.
Composite Pages
In some cases, a user may create a search macro with operators for combining results from multiple search verticals. In such embodiments, a user may specify how the results are combined and presented in the search results user interface. In other words, when a search vertical is created that combines results from different searches, the user may specify how the results are interweaved together to provide a meaningful search results user interface. For example, a user could specify that the results user interface should present 10 web search results, followed by 30 image search results, followed by 10 health search results, etc.
Widgets
Generally, widgets are graphical user interface components or elements with which a user may interact, such as, for example, buttons, menu bars, and slider bars. In the context of search results user interface, widgets may include user interface components allowing users to interact with search results. In embodiments of the invention, a user may specify the number and types of widgets included in a search results user interface. In some embodiments, users may select from a group of pre-built widgets. Alternatively or additionally, users may build widgets by defining the look and functionality of the user interface elements.
Search Result Columns
When search verticals search over structured data, the results may be presented in a structured format. Typically, the results may be presented in a table format with common pieces of information from the various search results presented in specific columns. For example, in shopping search verticals, common data elements placed in columns may include data associated with product name, retailer name, price, etc. Embodiments of the present invention allows users to specify aspects of such search result columns, such as for example, which columns to present, column order, column widths, and other formatting aspects.
Sort Orders
Embodiments of the present invention further allow users to specify the sort order of results from a search. For example, in the context of structured data, the user may specify that the sort order of search results is dictated by a specific data piece. Accordingly, for a shopping vertical, the search vertical may be created such that search results are ordered by price, reviews, or another common aspect of the search results.
Search Refinement Controls
In embodiments, a search vertical may be defined such that the search results user interface includes a set of controls to allow users to refine their search queries. In some cases, the search refinement controls may be suggestions links (e.g., “show product reviews,” “show places I can buy the product”). Another type of search refinement control that may be incorporated into search results user interface is an alternative spelling suggestion. For instance, alternative spelling suggestions may be provided if it is determined that a keyword in the search input has been misspelled or an alternative spelling may be appropriate for the search. The search refinement controls may further include controls to sort or filter over structured data. For example, a real estate search vertical may be built such that the search result user interface includes a “price range” dropdown that allows users to specify the price range in which they're interested.
Result Descriptions
A further aspect of a search result user interface that a search vertical may be given control over is the creation and format of result descriptions. In particular, there are a variety of different ways in which results descriptions may be created to display to a user what was relevant for each search result. For example, a user may specify aspects such as whether the results description comprises excerpts corresponding with each result, whether an excerpt includes keyword highlighting, whether images are included, whether page previews are provided, and the length of the description. Some embodiments of the invention allow for different types of native display formats, such as showing images from results, providing shorter or longer descriptions, and showing page previews.
XML Transform
In some embodiments, a user may provide an XML transform (e.g., using extensible stylesheet language transformation—XSLT) as a user interface operator of a search macro. The XML transform may be configured to take an XML feed of search results and present the results based on user-defined parameters. In such embodiments, the user would be given radical control over how search results are displayed.
Turning to
Referring now to
Referring now to
In the present example, the user selects the create macro option 514 to navigate to a macro creation user interface, such as that shown in the screen display 600 of
After a new search macro has been created (or an existing search macro has been selected as a possible search option), the search macro may be shown as a possible selection for performing searches. For example, in the screen display 700 of
An exemplary search results user interface is shown in the screen display 800 of
As can be understood, embodiments of the present invention provide a simplified and convenient approach to allowing users to create search verticals having control over elements of the search results user interface. The present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments, which are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its scope.
From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all the ends and objects set forth above, together with other advantages which are obvious and inherent to the system and method. It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.
