JP2008520047A - A search system that displays active summaries containing linked terms - Google Patents

Abstract

  Upon receiving the search query, a search is performed to identify at least one resource associated with the search query. At least one excerpt is extracted from the at least one resource and the term of interest is identified in the excerpt. Links to recommended documents are associated with terms of interest. When a link is selected, a recommended document is displayed. Alternatively, the link is associated with a second search query, which is automatically performed when the link is selected. A network call can be made automatically when a telephone number is the term of interest.

Description

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for searching a collection of documents, and more particularly to providing a summary with a link to initiate a related search in search results.

Background A search engine is a computer program that helps users find information. To find information about a particular topic, the user can present one or more search query terms related to the topic to the search engine. In contrast, the search engine executes a search query and generates information about the results of the search. Information about search results is referred to herein as “search results” and typically includes a list of resources such as documents, files, web pages, etc. that satisfy the search query. The resource identified by the search result is referred to herein as a “matching resource”.

  While search engines can be applied in a variety of situations, one common use is to navigate a collection of documents by searching for documents of interest. Thus, search engines are particularly useful for finding resources accessible through the Internet. This is because the Internet can be thought of as a large set of resources. Many different search technologies can be used by Internet search engines. For example, an Internet search engine reads or “patrolls” a page on the Internet, creates an entry for the search index, and uses that index in determining which pages are relevant to the search query.

  The matching resource identified in the Internet search result may include a file whose contents are configured in a page description language such as hypertext markup language (HTML). Such a file is typically called a web page. Using a web browser, a web page can be retrieved by entering its universal resource locator (URL) into the browser. Internet search results may therefore be displayed to the user as a list of hypertext links to matching resource URLs. The user retrieves the document or resource of interest found in the search result by selecting the resource hypertext link or URL found in the search result.

  Search results can include too many matching resources, which can overwhelm the user. To assist the user, the search results often include a short description or “summary” with each matching resource. Since the summary is relatively short, the user can quickly determine the relevance of the matching resources listed in the search results.

  In many cases, the summary of matching resources includes excerpts related to search queries taken from the matching resources. For example, the excerpt may include a section of a matching resource that includes one or more query terms from the search query, or a section that includes information related to the query terms. The purpose of displaying the search results as a series of excerpt-based summaries is to help the user determine which matching resources contain the information the user is seeking. By reading an excerpt taken from a given matching resource, the user should be able to better determine whether the matching resource deserves further investigation.

  Searching for a particular resource is often a multi-step process. This is because the search results generated by the search engine are related to the query, but may not contain the exact information the searcher wants, and therefore further searches may be necessary. In many cases, the searcher then makes another search query based on the information obtained from the results of the initial search.

  For example, a user may initiate a search query by entering or cutting one or more query terms into a search window of a web page issued by a search engine such as a Yahoo! search server. Depending on the query terms used and the number of pages or documents that contain those query terms, the search results may include many matching resources. The user then selects a matching resource in the search results and further investigates to find a particular resource.

  As a specific example, a searcher looking for directions to a place (eg, a museum) enters the name of the place (ie, a search query) into the search engine interface and includes the name of the place entered A search result including a list of matching resources can be received. Although the search results from the initial query may be prominent for a location, the search results may not include directions to that location, which is the information that is actually desired by the user. However, the search results may include an address or other information that can be used in another search to obtain the desired directions. For example, a searcher may search a map database for the address of a place determined in an initial search, and generate a directions to a place, such as a map search engine (for example, a Yahoo! map) Server).

  In this example, two search queries provide the user with the desired information, but in many cases more search queries are needed to find the desired information. Thus, these traditional search techniques require the user to manually perform each search individually (eg, by entering or cutting query terms) to find the desired information or specific resources. Therefore, it tends to be slow and redundant.

There is a need for better techniques for providing search results from search engines.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that can be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Accordingly, unless stated otherwise, the techniques described in this section should not be considered prior art only by being included in this section.

  The invention will now be described by way of example and not limitation in the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, like reference numbers indicate like elements.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.

Although the present invention will be described with reference to Internet search, references to the Internet may refer to variations of basic Internet concepts (eg, intranets, virtual private networks, closed TCP / IP networks, LANs, WANs, etc.) and other networks It should be understood that substitutions can be made with reference to the form of It should also be understood that the present invention can operate completely within a single computer or a collection of computers and does not require a network.

  Furthermore, the content may be requested and transmitted from the search result using a protocol other than the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) and URL such as SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol), FTP (file transfer protocol), and the like.

Overview of Search Engine System FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an information retrieval and communication network 10 including a client system 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the communication network 10, the client system 20 is coupled to any number of server systems 40 ₁ to 40 _N through a network 30 such as the Internet or an intranet (eg, LAN or WAN). Client system 20 may communicate with any of server systems 40 ₁ to 40 _N, to access the matching resources provided by one or more server systems, receive it, search, and / or to display configuration Is done. The client system 20 may communicate directly with the server system or may communicate through the network 30.

  The client system 20 is a collection of searchable documents that can be used on a network such as a desktop personal computer, workstation, laptop, PDA (personal digital assistant), mobile phone, wireless application protocol (WAP) compliant device, or the Internet. Any other computing device that can be connected directly or indirectly may be included.

The client system 20 includes a Microsoft Internet Explorer (registered trademark) browser, a Netscape Navigator (registered trademark) browser, a Mozilla (registered trademark) browser, an Opera (registered trademark) browser, a WAP-compatible browser in the case of a mobile phone, a PDA, or activates the browser program, such as another wireless device, a user of client system 20 accesses the content from the server system 40 ₁ to 40 _N on the network 30, and processes it makes it possible to browse. The client system may also use a less bidirectional interface, such as a computer-to-computer extensible markup language (XML) interface.

The client system 20, pages provided by the server system 40 ₁ to 40 _N or other server, with the form and other information, a display (e.g., monitor screen, LCD display displays, etc.) graphical user interface provided by the browser on In order to interact with the (GUI), one or more user interface devices 22 that may include one or more of a keyboard, mouse, roller ball, touch screen, touchpad, pen, etc.

Server system 40 ₁ to 40 _N are configured to provide one or more resources from the search results to the client system 20. Each server system may include a single server computer or a collection of server computers. Further, the server system may be configured to operate as a search engine. For example, the server system 40 ₃ may be configured to operate as an Internet search engine that receives a search query from the client system 20 and provides search results to the client system. For convenience, the server system 40 ₃ is referred to as a search engine here. Server system 40 ₃ is referred to as a search engine, it should be understood that may be configured to perform other functions to provide broad utility other than search.

  The client system 20 communicates the search query to the search engine. A search query includes one or more query elements such as query terms (ie, text strings), Boolean operators, graphic elements (eg, video elements, picture elements, etc.), audio elements, and the like. Although the present invention is described in the context of a search query that includes one or more query terms, it should be understood that the search query is not limited to query terms and may include any type of query element.

  A document is relevant to a search query if it contains one or more query terms of the search query, if it contains derivative terms of the query term, or otherwise contains information associated with the query term. The derivative terms of the query term may include a query term with a prefix or suffix added to the query term, or may be a compound term including the query term or the like.

According to one embodiment, document collection 50 includes documents residing on the World Wide Web (WWW), other networks (eg, an intranet), a single computer, and the like. The optional indexer 56 is configured to form an index 54 that indexes documents in the document collection 50 and / or documents in the document cache 52. The indexer 56 may be configured to periodically review documents electronically (eg, through a directory search, patrol, etc.) to form and / or update an index. Index 54 provides an index to the document collection and / or document cache for quick retrieval, however, an index is not required. Indexer 56, a document cache 52, and index 54, although the server system 40 ₁ to 40 _N shown in FIG. 1 as being separate, one of the one or more server systems of these components Or it may be integrated into a plurality.

According to one embodiment, search engine 40 ₃ retrieves the document set 50, the document cache 52 and / or index 54 looking for resources associated with a search query submitted by the client system 20. Any search technique known to those skilled in the art can be used by the search engine 40 _3.

  The search results include information about documents or other resources that are determined to be relevant to the search query (ie, matching resources). For example, the search results may include a title, summary, category, and / or one or more keywords for each relevant document found in the search. The search results may also include a link to the document, a link to a cached version of the document, or other relevant information. The links included in the search results typically include hypertext links to specific URLs.

As already mentioned briefly, one or more of the server systems 40 ₁ to 40 _N receive a search query from a user through the client system 20, perform a search based on the search term of the search query, and search It may be configured to operate as a search engine (eg, search engine 40 ₃ ) that provides results to client system 20. The user of the client system 20 may be a human user who interacts with the user interface 22 of the client system 20 that processes the search query and transmits it to the search engine 40 ₃ . A user may be a computer process or system that programmatically generates a search query. In the latter case, the requesting process or system processes the search query results programmatically; however, alternatively, the computer process or system may create a search query, and a human user may search for the search query results. The ultimate recipient.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary browser displaying an exemplary search engine web page 200 that may be provided to client system 20 by search engine 40 ₃ . For example,
Search engine 40 ₃ may be configured to issue a search engine web page on the website accessible through the URL. The search engine web page is provided to the client system when the user enters the URL of the search engine website in the browser or otherwise selects it. As a specific example, the search engine web page 200 may be a Yahoo! search web page accessible via HTTP using the URL “www.yahoo.com.”.

  A user enters one or more query terms, i.e., text strings, into one or more fields 210a-210d on a search engine web page, for example, using a keyboard, to form a search query. Alternatively, query terms may be cut and pasted into one or more fields using a mouse or the like. Those skilled in the art will be aware of other techniques for entering query terms into the application user interface. The search engine web page is not limited to inputting query terms. This is because the query may also include other query elements such as graphic elements (eg, video elements, picture elements, etc.), audio elements, etc.

The user presses the search button 215 to initiate a search for resources that match or are relevant to the entered query terms. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the user may enter the string “camera” in column 210a and press search button 215 to start searching for documents associated with query term “camera”. When the search button 215 is selected, the search query input by the user is transferred from the client system 20 to the search engine 40 ₃ , and the search of the document set 50, the document cache 52 and / or the index 54 is started.

According to one embodiment, the search engine 40 ₃ transmits the search query to the document set 50, the document cache 52 or the index 54 using an HTTP message or the like. In response to receipt of the query message from the search engine 40 _3, document set and / or document cache search query to or associated with the resource match (e.g., web pages) may perform a database search. Further, if the index receives a query from a search engine, the index may search the indexed document to find one or more documents that match or are relevant to the query.

In one embodiment, information about the search query to or associated with the identified resource match is transmitted from the document set or document cache directly search engines 40 _3. Or alternatively, the information about the matching resource is first transmitted to the recognition module 60 shown in FIG. 1 as a component of the server system 40 _1. The recognition module 60 is used to extract or determine additional information about the identified matching resource. According to one embodiment, the recognition module 60 is configured to parse information received from the document set 56 or the document cache 52 and generate search results that are provided to the client system 20. In one embodiment, the generated search results may be transferred to the client system via the HTTP server 40 _2. Specific functionality of the recognition module 60 will be described in detail below.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram of an exemplary browser display showing an exemplary web page 400 containing search results 405 that may be provided to the client system 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The search results 405 include three matching resources for the query term “camera” and are numbered from 1 to 3, according to the illustrative example under consideration. Although web page 400 includes three matching resources, it should be understood that the search results may include fewer or more matching resources. According to some embodiments, the search results may indicate that no source matching the query was found.

  Each search result matching resource includes a title 415, a summary 420, a category 425 (such as a Yahoo! category used to classify and organize web content), one or more subcategories 430, and links to associated resources. 435 and a link 440 to a cached version of the resource. In one embodiment, link 430 and / or link 440 include a list of associated URLs that can be cut and pasted into the browser. In one embodiment, links 430 and / or 435 include hypertext links. The above-described elements of the published search results are shown in FIG. 4 with the above-mentioned basic reference numbers and numerical subscripts. Each matching resource in the search results may include one or more of the above-described elements according to various embodiments of the present invention, and may include other elements not listed.

According to one embodiment, the title 415 included in the search results may be extracted by the recognition module 60 from meter data associated with the matching resource. Alternatively, the title may be generated by a recognition module or another module. Recognition module may be configured to transfer extract or the generated title or the like to the search engine 40 _3.

  According to one embodiment, each title displayed in the search results includes a link to its associated resource. The link may include a URL indicated as link 435 or 440 as the target of the link. The association between a title and a link may be created by a search engine or by a recognition module. The user may select the link associated with the title by clicking on the title, by double-clicking on the title, or by selecting the title in other ways, thus linking to the associated resource Can be done.

  Each category 425 and subcategory 430 may be associated with selectable links as well. When selected, the category or subcategory link is configured to initiate publishing a list of resources associated with the selected category and subcategory for the client system. Resources listed in the category link selection may be associated with the link. For example, a list of resources for a selected category may be listed by title, where each title includes a link to the associated resource.

Active Summaries According to one embodiment, each summary 420 associated with a search result matching resource includes one or more excerpts from the associated resource. As used herein, “excerpt” refers to a section of text or other content extracted from a resource. The excerpt included in the summary preferably includes the query terms used in the search query.

  In one embodiment, the recognition module 60 is configured to identify excerpts for inclusion in the summary. In one example, recognition module 60 may extract a first excerpt from a document that includes or otherwise relates to a query term. In another embodiment, the recognition module determines the relative relevance of the excerpts and selects the excerpt determined to be the most relevant to include in the summary. For example, the recognition module 60 may be configured to determine which excerpts are relatively relevant to the query terms. If the excerpt includes a query term or includes a query term derivative, the excerpt may have a relatively high relevance to the query term, but does not include the query term or its derivative, but the query term An excerpt that includes terms related to can have a relatively low relevance. In one embodiment, the recognition module selects and uses one or more summaries that are relatively highly relevant to the query terms in the summary. Those skilled in the art will know other ways to identify excerpts in the document and include them in the summary.

  According to one embodiment, the recognition module 60 is further configured to identify certain terms in the excerpt that the user desires additional information. In general, these terms are referred to as “terms of interest”. A term of interest may include a single word or it may include a sequence of words. For example, the recognition module can include keywords, categories (eg, keywords and categories defined by Yahoo!), names (eg, proper nouns, company names, organization names, place names, etc.), uncommon words, product names, trademarks, services Marks, titles (eg, music titles, book titles, television program titles, etc.), addresses, telephone numbers, etc. may be recognized as terms of interest. These are all types of terms that are likely to be used by the user in a second search for information.

  In one example, the term may be determined to be of interest to the user according to a particular preference. User preferences can be determined, for example, from information provided by the user in a registration form, or can be determined by tracking user queries and / or documents requested by the user.

In one example, the one or more terms of interest identified in the excerpt are displayed in a summary to stand out to indicate to the user that the term has been identified as likely of interest to the user. For example, a term may be bolded, underlined, double underlined, italicized, colored, etc., to prominently indicate that a term may be of interest. For example, each of the summaries 420 shown in FIG. 4 includes a double underlined term 445 to indicate that the term is a term of interest. As shown in FIG. 4, “X-brand cameras”, “what to look for when shopping”, and “a comparison of images side by side ( The term “side-by-side image comparison”) is double-underlined in summary 420 _1-3 to indicate that these terms may be of interest to the user. The term of interest is configured such that the cursor changes from a first graphic (eg, an arrow) to a second graphic (eg, a pointing hand) when the cursor is positioned over the term of interest. May be identified by other techniques. Those skilled in the art will recognize other useful techniques for indicating that the terms in the excerpt are terms of interest.

  The term of interest 445 may be configured to be an “active term”. An active term is a term associated with a user selectable link, such as a hypertext link. The user can select an active term to obtain additional information about the term or about the summary. The selection of active terms can lead to a variety of actions, some of which are described here. The type of action associated with the active term may be determined by the term itself in one embodiment.

  In one example, a link to an active term may be associated with a URL that identifies a particular document. In this example, the document is downloaded and displayed to the user in a browser when the user selects (eg, clicks) an active term. Typically, the specific document associated with the active term contains additional information about the term.

According to an alternative embodiment, the link associated with the active term may be configured to automatically initiate another search that uses one or more of the terms of interest as a query term. Good. Specifically, in this embodiment, by selecting a link associated with the active terms, terms of interest (or select words from) is to be transmitted to the search engine 40 _3, interest A search for one or more resources associated with a certain term may be automatically initiated.

For example, the search engine 40 ₃ may search the document collection 50 or search the network in real time to find resources related to the selected term of interest. The search initiated by the selection of the link associated with the active term 445 is not so limited, however. For example, selecting a link associated with an active term launches a map server (for example, Yahoo! Map Server) and automatically initiates a map search to include addresses in the selected term of interest. You may make it find the map and / or directions to the place.

  Alternatively, the selection of a link associated with the active term launches an electronic dictionary (eg, a web-based dictionary) that defines the uncommon terms contained in the selected term of interest. You may search. According to yet another alternative, an electronic encyclopedia may be searched by selecting an active term and a tutorial associated with the selected term of interest found in the encyclopedia may be displayed to the user. According to yet another alternative, by selecting a link associated with an active term, an automatic search of the company's website is triggered, eg identified by the selected term of interest, You may make it find information, such as a product and a service. According to yet another alternative, by selecting the link associated with the active term, an intranet search is automatically triggered to find information related to the selected term of interest. Good.

  According to yet another embodiment, the link associated with the active term may point to a cached version of the associated document in the document cache. In this embodiment, the recognition module (or other module) inserts one or more anchors into the cached document, and the anchor in the document where the link associated with the active term is cached. May be pointed to.

  For example, FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of a document 500 (eg, a web page) that may be in a document set. The document portion 505 may be an excerpt extracted by the recognition module 60 and displayed in search results, such as in a summary. FIG. 5B shows a version of document 500 that may be stored in a document cache. The recognition module inserts anchor 510 into the document associated with the term of interest in the summary. An anchor is a portion of text that causes the cached document to be displayed in a browser window on the client system and start at the anchored portion of text 505 when the associated active term is selected. 505 is disposed around. Anchors can be implemented using HTML, XHTML, SGML, XML, etc. According to some embodiments, recognition module 60 may be configured to cache a document in a document cache prior to a search performed by a user.

  In an alternative embodiment, the recognition module may insert an anchor into the cached version of the document at the beginning of the document or at other locations in the document. For example, the recognition module is configured to insert an anchor into a document cached around a string that can be included in a general query (eg, a query that is executed more than a predetermined or configured number of times) May be.

According to yet another alternative, a web-based call (eg, a voice over IP call) may be initiated if the active term includes a phone number. For example, in an initial network search using search engine web page 200, when the user is searching for a company by name and the search result of the initial network search includes an excerpt from a web page that includes the company's phone number The user may automatically make a network call to the company by selecting (eg, clicking on) the telephone number that is displayed as the active term in the summary.

  While an excerpt-based summary has described some illustrative examples of the use of links associated with active terms, those skilled in the art will be able to begin other searches that can begin with the selection of links associated with active terms. Or will recognize the service.

  FIG. 6 is a high-level flowchart with steps for initiating searches using active summaries. This high-level flowchart is exemplary only, and those skilled in the art will recognize various steps that may be added, deleted, and / or modified and considered within the scope of the present invention. . Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments should not be viewed as limiting the scope of the invention as defined by the claims.

  At 600, a first network search is performed to identify at least one resource associated with the query term. For example, a user of client system 20 may use search engine website 200 to enter query terms and perform a search. At 605, at least one excerpt is extracted from the resource identified at step 605.

  At 610, at least one term of interest is identified in the extracted excerpt. At 615, the term of interest is associated with the link. At 620, the excerpt that includes the term of interest is displayed on the client system display, preferably as a summary associated with the resource identified in the search results. At 625, a second network search is automatically initiated by the user selecting a link associated with a term of interest (ie, active term) in the displayed summary. The second network search is configured to search for resources associated with the selected term of interest. At 630, the search result of the second network search is displayed on the display of the client system.

  FIG. 7 is a high level flowchart with steps for automatically making a network call according to one embodiment of the present invention. The high-level flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is exemplary only, and one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize the various steps that may be added, deleted, and / or modified and considered within the scope of the present invention. Will do. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments should not be viewed as limiting the invention as defined by the claims.

  At 700, a first network search is performed to identify at least one resource associated with the query term. For example, a user of the client system 20 may use the search engine website 200 to enter query terms and perform a search. At 705, at least one excerpt is extracted from the identified resource. At 710, the excerpt is displayed on the client system display, preferably in a summary associated with the identified resource indicated in the search results.

  At 715, the phone number is identified with the excerpt. At 720, the identified telephone number is associated with the link. At 725, a link is selected by the user and a network call to that telephone number is automatically made. In one embodiment, the network call includes a voice over IP (VoIP) call using techniques known to those skilled in the art.

Hardware Overview FIG. 8 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system 800 upon which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented. Computer system 800 includes a bus 802 or other communication mechanism for communicating information, and a processor 804 coupled with bus 802 for processing information. Computer system 800 also includes main memory 806, such as random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to bus 802 for storing information and instructions executed by processor 804. Main memory 806 may be used to store temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions executed by processor 804. Computer system 800 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 808 or other static storage device coupled to bus 802 for storing static information and instructions for processor 804. A storage device 810, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is provided and coupled to bus 802 for storing information and instructions.

  Computer system 800 may be coupled through bus 802 to a display 812, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), for displaying information to a computer user. An input device 814 containing alphanumeric characters and other keys is coupled to bus 802 for communicating information and command selections to processor 804. Another type of user input device is a cursor control 816, such as a mouse, trackball, or cursor direction key, that communicates direction information and command selections to the processor 804 and controls cursor movement on the display 812. The input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (eg, x) and a second axis (eg, y), whereby the device is positioned in a plane. Can be specified.

  The invention is related to the use of computer system 800 for implementing the techniques described herein. According to one embodiment of the invention, the techniques are performed by computer system 800 in response to processor 804 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 806. Is done. Such instructions may be read into main memory 806 from another machine-readable medium, such as storage device 810. Execution of the sequence of instructions contained in main memory 806 causes processor 804 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, wired circuits may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the present invention. Thus, embodiments of the invention are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

  As used herein, the term “machine-readable medium” refers to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operation in a specific fashion. In an embodiment implemented using computer system 800, various machine-readable media are involved, for example, in providing instructions to process 804 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 810. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory 806. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire, and optical fibers, including the wires that comprise the bus 802. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during wireless and infrared data communications.

  Common forms of machine-readable media are, for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes or other magnetic media, CD-ROMs, other optical media, punch cards, paper tapes, holes Other physical media with patterns of RAM, PROM, and EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, other memory chips or cartridges, carrier waves as described later, or other media that can be read by a computer therefrom including.

  Various forms of machine-readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 804 for execution. For example, the instructions may first be carried on a remote computer magnetic disk. The remote computer can load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. A local modem in computer system 800 can receive the data on the telephone line and use an infrared transmitter to convert the data to an infrared signal. An infrared detector receives the data carried in the infrared signal, and appropriate circuitry can locate the data on bus 802. Bus 802 carries data to main memory 806, from which processor 804 retrieves and executes instructions. The instructions received by main memory 806 may optionally be stored on storage device 810 either before or after execution by processor 804.

  Computer system 800 also includes a communication interface 818 coupled to bus 802. Communication interface 818 provides a two-way data communication coupling to a network link 820 that is connected to a local network 822. For example, the communication interface 818 may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card or modem for providing a data communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line. As another example, communication interface 818 may be a local area network (LAN) card for providing a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. A wireless link may be implemented. In such implementations, the communication interface 818 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information.

  Network link 820 typically provides data communication through one or more networks to other data devices. For example, the network link 820 may provide a connection through the local network 822 to a host computer 824 or a data device managed by an Internet service provider (ISP) 826. ISP 826 provides data communication services through a worldwide packet data communication network now commonly referred to as the “Internet” 828. Local network 822 and Internet 828 both use electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams. Signals through various networks that carry digital data to and from computer system 800, and signals over network link 820 and through communication interface 818 are exemplary forms of carrier waves that carry information.

  Computer system 800 can send messages and receive data, including program code, over a network, network link 820 and communication interface 818. In the Internet example, the server 830 may transmit the requested code for the application program over the Internet 828, ISP 826, local network 822, and communication interface 818.

  The received code may be executed by the processor 804 when received and / or stored in the storage device 810 or other non-volatile storage device for later execution. Thus, computer system 800 may obtain application code in the form of a carrier wave.

Computer code for implementing aspects of the invention includes C, C ++, HTML, XML, Java (registered trademark), Java (registered trademark) Script, or other suitable description language (eg, VBScript), Alternatively, it may be a suitable programming language that can be executed on the client system 20 and / or the server systems 40 ₁ to 40 _N or compiled and executed on the client system 20 and / or the servers 40 ₁ to 40 _N. In some embodiments, the code is not downloaded on the client system 20 and the necessary code is executed by the server or code already present on the client system 20 is executed.

  In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to numerous specific details that may vary from implementation to implementation. The only and exclusive indication of what this invention is and what is intended by the applicant to be this invention, including any subsequent modifications, are the specific In the form of a set of claims arising from this application. The definitions expressly set forth herein for terms contained in such claims shall govern the meaning of such terms as used in the claims. Hence, no limitation, element, property, feature, advantage or attribute that is not expressly recited in a claim should limit the scope of such claim. Accordingly, the specification and description are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

1 is a schematic diagram of an information retrieval and communication network including a client system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an exemplary browser diagram illustrating an exemplary search engine web page that may be provided to a client system at the request of a user, according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is an exemplary browser showing an exemplary search engine web page that includes query terms entered on a web page, according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 is an exemplary browser diagram illustrating a web page that provides search results to a client system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary document, such as a web page, included in a set of documents to be searched. 5B is a schematic diagram of the example document of FIG. 5A in which anchors that are targets of links displayed in search results are placed. FIG. 4 is a high level flowchart with steps for initiating a search using an active summary according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a high-level flow chart with steps for initiating a search using an active summary according to another embodiment of the invention. It is a block diagram which shows the computer system with which the Example of this invention can be implement | achieved.

Claims (34)

A method for providing search results in response to a search query, a computer-implemented step comprising:
Identifying a resource related to the search query based on the search query;
Extracting an excerpt from the identified resource;
Identifying the terms of interest in the excerpt;
Creating a link to the term of interest that, when selected, causes the browser to retrieve the recommended document;
Providing an excerpt as part of a search result of the search query.   The method of claim 1, wherein the search query includes at least one query term, and identifying the term of interest in the excerpt includes identifying the query term from the search query in the excerpt.   The method of claim 1, wherein the recommended document is a document that is not an identified resource.   The method of claim 1, wherein the recommended document is a cached version of the identified resource. Further comprising inserting an anchor into the cached version of the identified resource;
The method of claim 4, wherein the link is associated with the anchor with a cached version of the identified resource.   6. The method of claim 5, wherein inserting an anchor into a cached version of the identified resource includes inserting an anchor at a location that is close to a term of interest of the cached version of the identified resource. .   The method of claim 1, wherein the search results are configured to display the terms of interest on the browser in a prominent manner.   Prominent aspects are underlining the term of interest, double underlining the term of interest, highlighting the term of interest, changing the font of the term of interest, and interest The method of claim 7, comprising at least one of changing the color of certain terms. A method for searching a collection of documents, a step implemented by a computer,
Receiving a first search query from a client;
Performing a first search of a set of documents to identify matching resources for a first search query;
Extracting an excerpt from the matching resource;
Identifying the terms of interest in the excerpt;
Providing search results including excerpts to the client;
Receiving a selection of indicators associated with the terms of interest in the excerpt, automatically performing a second search;
Providing the search results of the second search to the client.   The method of claim 9, wherein automatically performing the second search includes automatically performing a search of a set of documents using a term of interest as a query term.   The method of claim 10, wherein the term of interest is not a query term of the first search query.   The method of claim 9, wherein the second search further comprises at least one of a map search, a dictionary search, and a search for a corporate website.   The method of claim 12, wherein the search results of the second search include at least one of directions to a location, a map, a word definition, and a document related to the term of interest.   The method of claim 9, wherein the term of interest includes at least one of a keyword, category, name, trademark, service mark, title, address, and phone number.   The method of claim 9, wherein the document set is the Internet. A method for automatically making a network call, a step implemented by a computer,
Performing a first search to identify resources associated with a search query from a client;
Extracting an excerpt from the identified resource;
Identifying the phone number in the excerpt;
Associating a phone number with the link;
Providing an excerpt to a client as part of a search result for the search query;
Receiving a telephone number link selection from the client and automatically making a network call to the telephone number.   The method of claim 16, wherein the network call is a voice over IP call.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 1.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 2.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 3.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 4.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 5. A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 6.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 7.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 8.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 9.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 10.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 11.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 12.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 13.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 14.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 15.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 16.   A machine-readable medium carrying a sequence of one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 17.

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