JP2011154467A - Retrieval result ranking method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform retrieval result ranking with the tastes of users reflected thereon. <P>SOLUTION: A retrieval result ranking method includes: a score calculation step for calculating scores to be used for the ranking in order of displaying in a retrieval result through the use of evaluation values tabulated by user retrieval log information stored in a retrieving device 20; and a retrieval result display step for performing the ranking by using the scores and displaying the retrieval result in order of the ranks. The method further includes: a retrieval session specifying step (step S114) for specifying a retrieval session which expresses a series of retrieval actions of the users, based on the retrieval log information, in order to tabulate evaluation values; a last record extraction step (step S116) for extracting the last record among the records constituting the retrieval session specified in the retrieval session specifying step; and an evaluation value tabulation step (step S118) for tabulating the evaluation values, based on the last record extracted in the last record extraction step. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a search result ranking method and a search result ranking system.

  Ranking (ranking) of the display order of URLs displayed as search results on the search web page is scored using various indexes. A well-known index is one that uses the characteristics of the page itself, such as the number of times a search word appears in the page or a score calculated from the link relationship between pages in the web space. As another index, a user's click log (hereinafter also referred to as “search click log” or “search log information”) for the search result output by the search engine can be used. This index is useful as user feedback information for search results, but it is affected by factors that are not directly related to the suitability of search results, such as the order of the results, so it is useful to indicate the suitability of search results from the search click log. It is important to extract appropriate indicators appropriately.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for improving a search result using a search click log. As an index that can be extracted from the search click log, the click-through rate of the search page (ratio of the number of times the result is clicked with respect to the number of times the search result is displayed) is described.

US Pat. No. 6,493,702

  However, the search results are not necessarily clicked after the relevance of the search has been thoroughly investigated by the user, and the click-through rate is appropriate for the search query because it is more likely to be clicked as it is displayed at the top. It may not be enough as an index to express

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an index indicating suitability for a search query is extracted from a search click log, and search result ranking that can appropriately rank pages is performed. It is an object to provide a method and a search result ranking system.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the search result ranking method of the present invention uses the evaluation values accumulated from the user's search log information accumulated in the search device, and displays the search results displayed on the search result display screen. A score calculation step for calculating scores used for ranking the display order, and a search result display step for performing the ranking using the scores and displaying the search results on the search result display screen in the rank order And a search session specifying step that specifies a search session representing a series of search behaviors of the user from the search log information, and the search session specifying step A final record extracting step of extracting a final record that is a record at a final time among the records constituting the search session; Serial based on the last record the last record extracted in the extraction step, and further comprising and a summary data step of aggregating the evaluation value.

  The search result ranking system according to the present invention includes a search log information storage unit that stores user search log information, and an evaluation value total that totals evaluation values from the search log information stored in the search log information storage unit. Module, score calculation means for calculating a score used for ranking the display order of the search results displayed on the search result display screen using the evaluation values totaled by the evaluation value totaling module, and using the scores Search result display means for performing the ranking and displaying the search results on the search result display screen in the order of the ranking, and the evaluation value totaling module is a series of the users based on the search log information. A search session specifying means for specifying a search session representing the search behavior of the search session, and the search session specified by the search session specifying means A final record extraction unit that extracts a final record that is a record at a final time in the code; and an evaluation value totaling unit that totals the evaluation values based on the final record extracted by the final record extraction unit. It is characterized by.

  According to the search result ranking method and the search result ranking system of the present invention, the user is satisfied from the search results by extracting the last record in the search session indicating a series of search behaviors of the user. It is possible to specify / extract a page (a page for which a search action is terminated because the user is satisfied). By calculating the score of each page using the evaluation values tabulated by this method and using the score for ranking the search results, it is possible to rank the search results more reflecting the user's preference.

  Further, in the present invention, the search session is a series of records in the search behavior by the same terminal, the search request record being a record indicating a search request in the search behavior, and the search request that appears next It is preferable that the end point is the last record before the record or the last record in the entire search log information.

  According to the present invention, a series of search behaviors of a user starting from a search request can be specified as one search behavior. Specifically, it is possible to identify a series of actions that have browsed a search result related to the search term returned from the search device, starting with the user entering a search term into the search device.

  Further, in the present invention, the search session is a series of records in the search behavior by the same terminal, and a search request record that is a record indicating a search request in the search behavior is a starting point, and the search request at the starting point is It is preferable that the end point is a record immediately before another search request record based on a search term that is not related to the input search term and the partial character string, or the last record in the entire search log information.

  According to the present invention, a series of search actions based on a plurality of partially matching search terms can be collectively specified as one search action. Specifically, starting with the user entering a search term into the search device, and based on the result of browsing the search result by the search device, the original search term was changed and the search term was again entered The browsing behavior of search results can be collectively specified as the same search behavior.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the search session is a series of records in the search action by the same terminal, each of which is sequentially recorded with a time interval of a predetermined time or less.

  According to the present invention, a series of search actions continuously performed within a predetermined time interval can be collectively specified as one search action.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the search session has a record indicating a search request in the search action as a start point and a record indicating that the search result is accessed as an end point.

  According to the present invention, the search action of the user within a predetermined time interval is collectively specified as one search session by setting the record indicating the search request as the start point and the record indicating that the search result is accessed as the end point. In this case, a search session that does not start from a search request can be excluded as inappropriate for showing a series of search actions of the user.

  Further, in the present invention, the search session specifying step is a series of records in the search behavior by the same terminal, starting from a search request record that is a record indicating a search request in the search behavior, and appears next A first step that sequentially specifies the search session, with the last record in the entire search log information as the end point being the record immediately before the search request record, and the search sequentially specified in the first step A second step of excluding the search request record from a session, and the plurality of searches when a time interval between the plurality of search sessions after the search request record is excluded in the second step is equal to or less than a predetermined time. Preferably, a third step of integrating the sessions as one search session.

  According to the present invention, although it is a separate search request, a series of search actions continuously performed within a predetermined time interval can be collectively specified as one search action.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that in the search session specifying step, the search session is specified so as to include a certain number or less of records indicating that the search session has accessed the search result.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to exclude exceptional search behaviors in which many search results are accessed.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that in the final record extracting step, only records belonging to a specific genre among the records at the final time are extracted as the final record.

  According to this invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of calculation in the evaluation value aggregation step by narrowing down the data. In addition, this evaluation value can be given only to genres that are effective in ranking search results.

  In the present invention, in the evaluation value totaling step, the search term input in the search request in the search action and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device in response to the search request The number of times the user has accessed the URL in relation to the search term is preferably aggregated as the evaluation value.

  According to this invention, the score of each page is calculated using the number of times the user accesses the URL of the search result in relation to the search word as an evaluation value, and the score is used for ranking the URL of the search result. Thus, it is possible to rank search results more reflecting the user's preference.

  In the present invention, in the evaluation value counting step, the number of times the user has accessed the URL is counted as the evaluation value based on the URL accessed by the user from the search result from the search device. Is preferred.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to aggregate only URLs accessed by a user regardless of search terms, and even when search is performed with a search term not included in the search log, the search result ranking is performed according to the evaluation value in the present invention. It becomes possible.

  In the present invention, in the evaluation value counting step, the number of times the user has accessed the URL is counted as the evaluation value based on a category to which the user has accessed the URL from the search result from the search device. It is preferable to do.

  According to this invention, it is possible to aggregate only the categories to which the URL accessed by the user belongs without depending on the search word, and even if a search is made with a search word not in the search log, the search result is obtained by the evaluation value in the present invention. Ranking is possible. Even if the search word and the URL are different, the evaluation value can be used if the categories match.

  In the present invention, in the evaluation value totaling step, the search term input in the search request in the search action and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device in response to the search request Preferably, the number of users who have accessed the URL in relation to the search term is tabulated as the evaluation value.

  According to the present invention, the score of each page is calculated using the number of users who have accessed the URL of the search result related to the search word as an evaluation value, and the score is used for ranking the URL of the search result. Thus, it is possible to rank search results more reflecting the user's preference.

  In the present invention, in the evaluation value counting step, the number of users accessing the URL is counted as the evaluation value based on the URL accessed by the user from the search result from the search device. Is preferred.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to aggregate only URLs accessed by a user regardless of search terms, and even when search is performed with a search term not included in the search log, the search result ranking is performed according to the evaluation value in the present invention. It becomes possible.

  In the present invention, in the evaluation value totaling step, the number of users accessing the URL is totaled as the evaluation value based on the category to which the URL accessed by the user belongs from the search result from the search device. It is preferable to do.

  According to this invention, it is possible to aggregate only the categories to which the URL accessed by the user belongs without depending on the search word, and even if a search is made with a search word not in the search log, the search result is obtained by the evaluation value in the present invention. Ranking is possible. Even if the search word and the URL are different, the evaluation value can be used if the categories match.

  In the present invention, in the evaluation value totaling step, the search term input in the search request in the search action and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device in response to the search request Preferably, a value obtained by dividing the number of times the search term is requested for the search term from the number of times the user accesses the URL in relation to the search term is aggregated as the evaluation value.

  According to the present invention, the score of each page is calculated by using, as an evaluation value, a value obtained by dividing the number of times the search word is requested for retrieval from the number of times the user accesses the URL of the search result in relation to the search word. By using the score for ranking the URLs of the search results, it is possible to rank the search results more reflecting the user's preference.

  In the present invention, in the evaluation value totaling step, the search term input in the search request in the search action and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device in response to the search request Preferably, a value obtained by dividing the number of users who requested the search term from the number of times the user accessed the URL in relation to the search term is aggregated as the evaluation value.

  According to the present invention, the score of each page is calculated by using, as an evaluation value, a value obtained by dividing the number of users who requested a search for the search word from the number of times the user accessed the URL of the search result in relation to the search word. By using the score for ranking the URLs of the search results, it is possible to rank the search results more reflecting the user's preference.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that in the evaluation value aggregation step, the aggregation is performed when the number of times the search term is requested for the search term is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

  According to this invention, the reliability of the aggregated evaluation values can be increased.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that, in the evaluation value aggregation step, the aggregation is performed when the number of the users who have made the search request with the search word is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

  According to this invention, the reliability of the aggregated evaluation values can be increased.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a search result ranking method and a search result ranking system capable of ranking search results reflecting user preferences.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a search result ranking system 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of an evaluation value totaling device 10 and a search device 20 that constitute a search result ranking system 1. FIG. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating the whole flow of the control processing of the search result ranking system 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the search log information accumulate | stored in FIG.3 S130. It is a figure which shows the example of the search result output in step S150 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the search log information accumulate | stored in step S170 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the search log information accumulate | stored in the search log information storage part 26 through the procedure of step S100-step S180 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the evaluation value total process of step S110 of FIG. 3 in detail. It is a figure which shows the example of search session ID provided with respect to the search log information of FIG. 7 according to the procedure of the evaluation value totaling process shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the last record extracted in step S116 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the number of PV and the number of UU as an example of the evaluation value totaled by step S118 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of search session ID provided with respect to the search log information of FIG. 7 according to 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of search session ID provided with respect to the search log information of FIG. 7 according to 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of search session ID provided with respect to the search log information of FIG. 7 according to 4th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of search session ID provided with respect to the search log information of FIG. 7 according to 5th Embodiment (procedure 3). It is a figure which shows the example of search session ID provided with respect to the search log information of FIG. 7 according to 5th Embodiment (procedure 4). In 1st Embodiment, it is a figure for demonstrating that aggregation of the number of PV and the number of UU may be performed based on the category to which URL which the user accessed from the search result returned by the search apparatus belongs. In 1st Embodiment, it is a figure for demonstrating that aggregation of the number of PV and the number of UU may be performed based on the category to which URL which the user accessed from the search result returned by the search apparatus belongs. In 1st Embodiment, it is a figure for demonstrating that aggregation of the number of PV and the number of UU may be performed based on the category to which URL which the user accessed from the search result returned by the search apparatus belongs.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a search result ranking method and a search result ranking system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

[First Embodiment]
(Configuration of search result ranking system 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a search result ranking system 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The search result ranking system 1 ranks the display order of URLs displayed as search results on a search web page in response to a request from a client terminal 30 (corresponding to “terminal” in the claims). The search result is reflected on the search web page and output to the client terminal 30 for display. The client terminal 30 can make a content request to a communication network 40 such as WWW (World Wide Web) using a protocol such as HTTP and browse the content. As shown in FIG. 1, the search result ranking system 1 includes an evaluation value totaling device 10 (corresponding to an “evaluation value totaling module” in the claims) and a search device 20, and includes a client terminal 30. Are communicably connected through the communication network 40. In FIG. 1, the evaluation value totaling device 10 and the search device 20 are illustrated as separate devices, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the evaluation value totaling device 10 and the search device 20 are one device (not shown). It may be configured as

  FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the evaluation value totaling device 10 and the search device 20 (or the device in the case of a single device) constituting the search result ranking system 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the evaluation value totaling device 10 and the search device 20 are physically composed of a main storage device such as a CPU, a ROM and a RAM, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, an output device such as a display, and a client. It is configured as a normal computer system including a communication module such as a network card for transmitting and receiving data to and from other devices such as the terminal 30 and an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk. Each function of the evaluation value totaling device 10 and the search device 20 to be described later reads predetermined computer software on hardware such as a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., so that an input device, an output device, This is realized by operating the communication module and reading and writing data in the main storage device and the auxiliary storage device.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the evaluation value totaling apparatus 10 totals the evaluation values from the search log information stored in the search log information storage unit 26 (corresponding to “search log information storage unit” in the claims) of the search apparatus 20. To do. The evaluation value in the present embodiment is used when calculating a display ranking ranking score of search results, and includes the number of final clicks described later. As shown in FIG. 1, the evaluation value totaling apparatus 10 includes a search session specifying unit 11 (corresponding to “search session specifying means” in the claims), a final click totaling unit 12 (“last record extraction in claims”). Means ”and“ evaluation value totaling means ”), and a totaling result storage unit 13.

  The search session specifying unit 11 represents a series of search actions of the user, and is included in a plurality of search log information (see, for example, FIG. 7 described later) stored in the search log information storage unit 26 of the search device 20. It has a function to specify the search session. The plurality of search sessions include a series of records from the search request to the end of the search action, each accessed by the same client terminal 30. Specifically, after the search log information is sorted in the order of users and time, a search session can be specified by extracting a search request or search result click by the same user and the same search query. Details of the search session specifying procedure will be described later.

  The final click totalization unit 12 extracts the last record (hereinafter, also referred to as “final click”) that is a record at the final time from the records constituting each search session specified by the search session specifying unit 11 and extracts the extracted records. The evaluation values are totaled based on the last record. Specifically, after extracting only the last search result click (last click) from each search session, the number of clicks and the number of unique users are totaled as evaluation values for each URL. The types of evaluation values to be summarized will be described later.

  The tabulation result storage unit 13 has a function of storing tabulated data from the final click tabulation unit 12 in the score calculation data storage unit 27.

  In response to a search query requested from the client terminal 30, the search device 20 returns a link set to a page matching it as a result. The search device 20 includes a transfer unit 21, a search result output unit 22 (corresponding to “search result display means” in the claims), a search reception unit 23, a search log information recording unit 24, and a score calculation unit 25 (claims). A search log information storage unit 26 (corresponding to “search log information storage unit” in the claims), and a score calculation data storage unit 27.

  The search reception unit 23 has a function of receiving a search query requested from the client terminal 30 and transferring the search query to the score calculation unit 25, and a function of transferring acceptance information from the client terminal 30 to the search log information recording unit 24. Have.

  The score calculation data storage unit 27 has a function of storing score calculation data (evaluation value) used for determining the order of search and a function of outputting an evaluation value to the score calculation unit 25.

  The score calculation unit 25 uses the evaluation value stored in the score calculation data storage unit 27 in order to determine content that matches the search query, and displays a search result display screen (not shown) of the client terminal 30. ) Has a function of calculating a score used for ranking the display order of the search results displayed. Usually, the score calculation unit 25 scores the degree of fitness of the document with respect to the search query using a plurality of evaluation indexes. The final click number of the present invention is one of evaluation indexes. An example of a simple score calculation that can be performed by the score calculation unit 25 is to calculate the number of final clicks on a document including a search query as a score. The score calculation unit 25 has a function of outputting the calculated score to the search result output unit 22.

  The search result output unit 22 ranks the search results using the scores, and displays the search results on the search result display screen of the client terminal 30 in the order of the ranks. That is, when the search result output unit 22 outputs a link set to the content (URL) to the client terminal 30 as a search result, the search result output unit 22 selects the content in descending order based on the score calculated by the score calculation unit 25. It has the function to output side by side. In the search result, the URL of the result page is not described as a direct link, but is described as a parameter of an access URL to the transfer unit 21. When the user clicks on the result, the client terminal 30 once accesses the transfer unit 21. Next, the transfer unit 21 refers to the parameter included in the access URL and requests the client terminal 30 to transfer the result page. Finally, the client terminal 30 accesses the result page.

  When there is an access from the client terminal 30, the transfer unit 21 refers to the parameter included in the access URL and requests the client terminal 30 to transfer to the result page, and clicks the search result in the search log information recording unit 24. It has a function of outputting information (information indicating that the user has accessed the URL).

  The search log information recording unit 24 has a function of recording the search query from the search receiving unit 23 and the search result click information from the transfer unit 21 in the search log information storage unit 26 as user search log information.

  The search log information storage unit 26 stores search queries by the client terminal 30 and click information on search results as user search log information. By analyzing the search log information stored in the search log information storage unit 26 by the evaluation value totaling device 10, the number of final clicks in the present invention is totaled.

(Operation of search result ranking system 1)
The search result ranking method by the search result ranking system 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Overall operation)
First, the overall flow of operations by the search result ranking system 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram for explaining the overall flow of control processing of the search result ranking system 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In the search result ranking system 1, as preprocessing, the evaluation value totaling device 10 acquires user search log information collected and stored in advance by the search log information storage unit 26 of the search device 20 (step S100). After the evaluation values are aggregated from the acquired search log information, the evaluation values after the aggregation are stored in the score calculation data storage unit 27 of the search device 20 (step S110). The details of the evaluation value aggregation method will be described in detail after describing the search log information collection / accumulation method shown in steps S120 to S180 below.

  The client terminal 30 makes a search request to the search device 20 (step S120). The search reception unit 23 of the search device 20 transfers this search request to the search log information recording unit 24, and the search log information recording unit 24 stores it as search log information in the search log information storage unit 26 (step S130). An example of the accumulated data is shown in FIG. In this example, there are items of user ID, time stamp, type, search term, and transition destination URL. The user ID identifies a different user by some method such as a browser cookie, a user ID notified to the search device 20 by an Internet provider, or an ID issued by the search device 20 when the search device 20 is accessed. is there. The time stamp is the date and time when the client terminal 30 accessed the search device 20, the type is the action type by the client terminal 30, the search word is the word input by the user and requested to be searched, and the transition destination URL is the search The URL of the page accessed by clicking the search result output by the device 20 (here, it is blank because there was only a search request) is shown.

  Next, returning to FIG. 3, the score calculation unit 25 of the search device 20 calculates the degree of matching between the search term requested in step S120 and the page as a score (step S140, “score calculation step in claims”). ”). As described above, the score is used for ranking the display order of search results displayed on the search result display screen of the client terminal 30. In calculating the score, the number of final clicks in the present invention is used (other indicators can be used).

  Next, the search result output unit 22 ranks the search results using the score calculated in step S140, outputs the search results to the client terminal 30, and displays the search result display screen of the client terminal 30 on the search result display screen. The search results are displayed in order of rank (step S150, corresponding to “search result display step” in the claims). An example of the search result is shown in FIG. Each result (“aa”, “aaa”, etc.) is a link clickable by the user. The link destination address indicates the transfer unit 21 of the search device 20, and the search term and the URL of the result page are included as parameters. For example, the route address of the transfer unit 21 is “www.docomo.co.jp”, the search term is “AAA”, and the result page address is “http://www.AAA.ne.jp/aaa.htm”. Then, “http://www.docomo.co.jp/index.html?word=AAA&result=http://www.AAA.ne.jp/aaa.htm” is represented. Thus, the search term and the transition destination address are URL encoded.

  Next, returning to FIG. 3, when the user clicks the search result, the client terminal 30 accesses the transfer unit 21 of the search device 20, and is URL-encoded as the above parameter together with information that the user clicked the search result. Is transmitted from the transfer unit 21 to the search log information recording unit 24 (step S160).

  Next, the search log information recording unit 24 collects and accumulates this click information as search log information (step S170). FIG. 6 shows an example of search log information at this point.

  At the same time, the transfer unit 21 requests the client terminal 30 to access the result page (Step S180). The client terminal 30 accesses the result page according to the instruction. After accessing the result page, the user can return to the search result and browse other results.

  A series of search log information ranging from the search request to the browsing of the search result is left in the search log information storage unit 26 by the procedure from step S100 to step S180 described above. An example of the collected search log information is shown in FIG.

(Details of evaluation value aggregation processing)
Next, the evaluation value totaling process (step S110) for analyzing the search log information stored in the search log information storage unit 26 and totaling the evaluation values including the number of final clicks will be described in detail. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the evaluation value totaling process.

  As shown in FIG. 8, first, the search session specifying unit 11 of the evaluation value totaling apparatus 10 acquires search log information from the search log information storage unit 26 (step S112).

Next, the search session specifying unit 11 specifies a search session from the search log information acquired in step S112 (step S114, corresponding to “search session specifying step” in the claims). The procedure for specifying a search session is shown below.
Procedure 1: Sort search log information by user ID and time stamp.
Procedure 2: A record having type = “search request” is specified as a start point, and records up to an end point among records having the same user ID as the start point are specified as the same search session ID. As an end point, it is determined whether the next record that appears next = record of “search request” or the last record is the end point.

  In other words, a search session is a series of records in a search action by the same terminal, starting from a search request record that is a record indicating a search request, and is a record immediately preceding the search request record that appears next, or a search The last record in the entire log information is the end point. FIG. 9 shows an example of the search session ID assigned to the search log information of FIG. 7 according to the above procedure. In FIG. 9, the search request record is a record of type = “search request”, and is the first, fourth, etc. record from the top.

  Next, a final record that is a record at the final time is extracted from the records constituting the search session specified in step S114 (step S116, corresponding to “final record extraction step” in the claims). An example of the extracted last record is shown in FIG. The type in the final record is “result click”. This is because a series of search actions of the user starts with a search request and ends with browsing of the search result (type = “result click”).

  Finally, based on the final record extracted in step S116, the evaluation values are totaled (step S118, corresponding to the “evaluation value totaling step” in the claims).

  As one of the operations performed in step S118, the page view number (PV number) is counted as one of the evaluation values. The number of PVs is based on the search term input in the search request and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device 20 in response to the search request, and the user accesses the URL in relation to the search term. It is the number of times. Since this PV number is counted based on the last record extracted in step S116, it represents the number of times the user finally clicked and page-viewed when the user finished a series of search actions (final click number).

  As one of the operations performed in step S118, the number of unique users (UU number) is counted as one of the evaluation values. The number of UUs is based on the search word entered in the search request and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device 20 in response to the search request, and the user who accessed the URL in relation to the search word Is the number of Since the number of UUs is counted based on the last record extracted in step S116, it represents the number of users who have finally clicked and page-viewed when finishing a series of search actions.

  As one of the operations performed in step S118, CTR (Click Through Rate) is tabulated as one of evaluation values. The CTR is based on the search term input in the search request and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device 20 in response to the search request, and the user accesses the URL in relation to the search term. It is a value obtained by dividing the number of times that the search term is requested for retrieval from the number of times. Since this CTR is calculated based on the last record extracted in step S116, it is a value associated with the number of final clicks.

  As one of the operations performed in step S118, UCTR (User Click Through Rate) is tabulated as one of the evaluation values. The UCTR is based on the search term input in the search request and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device 20 in response to the search request, and the user accessed the URL in relation to the search term. It is a value obtained by dividing the number of users who requested the search for the search term from the number of times. Since this UCTR is aggregated based on the last record extracted in step S116, it is a value associated with the number of final clicks.

  By calculating the score of each page using the evaluation values tabulated by the above method and using the score for ranking the search results, it is possible to rank the search results more reflecting the user's preference.

  As an example of the evaluation values tabulated in step S118, FIG. 11 shows the number of PV and the number of UU. The evaluation values tabulated as described above are stored in the score calculation data storage unit 27 by the tabulation result storage unit 13. Note that in step S118, the aggregation process may be performed when the number of times the search term is requested for search is greater than or equal to a certain value. Further, the aggregation process may be performed when the number of users who have made a search request using a search term is equal to or greater than a certain value. Thereby, the reliability of the aggregated evaluation values can be increased.

  In the above description, the total (total number of PV, UU, CTR, UCTR, etc.) is returned by the search device for the search word input in the search request in the search action and the search request. Although it was performed based on the URL accessed by the user from the search result, the present embodiment is not limited to this.

  For example, the aggregation of the number of PVs and the number of UUs may be performed based on only the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device without depending on the search term. In this case, it is possible to aggregate only the URLs accessed by the user regardless of the search terms, and even if the search terms are not found in the search log, the search results can be ranked according to the evaluation values in this embodiment. It becomes.

  Further, for example, the total number of PVs or UUs may be calculated based on the category to which the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device belongs. In this case, it is possible to count only the categories to which the URL accessed by the user belongs without depending on the search term, and even if a search is performed with a search term not in the search log, the search result ranking is based on the evaluation value in this embodiment. Can be attached. Further, even if the search word or the URL is different, this evaluation value can be used if the categories match. The “category to which URL belongs” can be extracted from the URL structure, for example. FIG. 17 shows data obtained by collecting the last click of each session. Here, the host name of the URL is extracted as a category. FIG. 18 shows the result of counting the number of PVs and the number of UUs based on the categories. Finally, the result shown in FIG. 18 is associated with each URL as an evaluation value (FIG. 19). The category used as the unit of aggregation is not only the host name shown here, but also the one excluding the parameter part (character string after “?” In the URL), or a part of the character string in the host name (for example, www.AAA.ne.jp can also be used. In addition, the category to which each page belongs can be used as one that does not use the URL structure. For example, there are categories manually sorted in a search portal, categories automatically assigned by a discrimination program, and the like.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the search result ranking method and search result ranking system according to the present invention will be described. In the search result ranking system 1 of the second embodiment, the search session specifying method by the search session specifying unit 11 of the evaluation value totaling apparatus 10 is mainly different from the first embodiment. Hereinafter, this difference will be mainly described.

A procedure for specifying a search session in the second embodiment will be described below.
Procedure 1: Sort search log information by user ID and time stamp.
Procedure 2: A record having type = “search request” is specified as a start point, and records up to an end point among records having the same user ID as the start point are specified as the same search session ID. The end point is a record of type = “search request” that appears after the start point, and the search word is not a partial character string of the search word of the start point, or the search word of the start point is not a partial character string of the search word The last record is judged as the end point or the last record.

  That is, the search session in the second embodiment is a series of records in a search action by the same terminal, starting from a search request record that is a record indicating a search request, and a search term input in the search request at the start point The end point is the record immediately before another search request record by a search term not related to the partial character string, or the last record in the entire search log information.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of the search session ID assigned to the search log information of FIG. 7 according to the above procedure. The search term “AAA” and the search term “AAA BBB” are requested by the same user, but the search term “AAA BBB” includes the search term “AAA” as a partial character string. Is integrated with the search session starting with the search request for the search term “AAA” and the search session starting with the search request for the search term “AAA BBB”, and has ID “1”.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the search result ranking method and search result ranking system according to the present invention will be described. In the search result ranking system 1 of the third embodiment, the search session specifying method by the search session specifying unit 11 of the evaluation value totaling apparatus 10 is mainly different from the first and second embodiments. Hereinafter, this difference will be mainly described.

A procedure for specifying a search session in the third embodiment will be described below.
Procedure 1: Sort search log information by user ID and time stamp.
Procedure 2: Among records having the same user ID, a series of records sequentially recorded with a time interval equal to or less than a predetermined time is set as the same search session.

  FIG. 13 shows an example of the search session ID assigned to the search log information of FIG. 7 according to the above procedure. FIG. 13 shows an example in which the time interval is set to 10 minutes. The seventh record from the top is one search session ID “1”, and the eighth record from the top is one search session ID. “2”, and the search record ID “3” is from the ninth record to the last record from the top. Unlike the first and second embodiments, since a search session is specified based on a time stamp instead of a search word, a series of search behaviors of a user can be specified even if the search words are not similar.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a fourth embodiment of the search result ranking method and search result ranking system according to the present invention will be described. In the search result ranking system 1 of the fourth embodiment, the search session specifying method by the search session specifying unit 11 of the evaluation value totaling apparatus 10 is mainly different from the first to third embodiments. Hereinafter, this difference will be mainly described.

A procedure for specifying a search session in the fourth embodiment will be described below.
Procedure 1: Sort search log information by user ID and time stamp.
Procedure 2: Among records having the same user ID, a series of records sequentially recorded with a time interval equal to or less than a predetermined time is set as the same search session. However, it is determined that the record having the type = “search request” is set as the start point and the next record that appears next == “search request” or the last record is set as the end point.

  That is, the search session in the fourth embodiment is a series of records of search behavior by the same terminal, each of which consists of a series of records sequentially recorded at a time interval of a predetermined time or less, and indicates a search request As a starting point, and any of the records indicating that the search result has been accessed (one record before the time interval equal to or longer than the predetermined time or the last record in the entire search log information) is the end point.

  FIG. 14 shows an example of the search session ID given to the search log information of FIG. 7 according to the above procedure. FIG. 14 shows an example in which the time interval is set to 10 minutes as in the example of FIG. 13, and the seventh record from the top has one search session ID “1” in the case of FIG. It is the same. However, in the fourth embodiment, since the record indicating the search request is the starting point, the search session with ID “2” consisting of the eighth record from the top in FIG. 13 is not accepted as a search session. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14, the search session ID is not assigned to the eighth record from the top.

[Fifth Embodiment]
Next, a fifth embodiment of the search result ranking method and search result ranking system according to the present invention will be described. In the search result ranking system 1 of the fifth embodiment, the search session specifying method by the search session specifying unit 11 of the evaluation value totalizing apparatus 10 is mainly different from the first to fourth embodiments. Hereinafter, this difference will be mainly described.

A procedure for specifying a search session in the fifth embodiment will be described below.
Procedure 1: Sort search log information by user ID and time stamp.
Procedure 2: A record having type = “search request” is specified as a start point, and records up to an end point among records having the same user ID as the start point are specified as the same search session ID. As the end point, it is determined whether the next record that appears next is “search request” or the last record is the end point (corresponding to “first step” in the claims).
Procedure 3: The search request record is excluded from the search sessions sequentially specified in Procedure 2 (corresponding to “second step” in the claims).
Step 4: If the time interval between the plurality of search sessions after the search request record is excluded in Step 3 is equal to or less than a predetermined time, the plurality of search sessions are integrated as one search session (in the claims) Corresponds to “third step”).

  9, FIG. 15, and FIG. 16 are diagrams for illustrating examples of search session IDs assigned to the search log information of FIG. 7 according to the above procedure. FIG. 9 shows a state when the above procedure 2 is completed. Actually, the procedure up to step 2 is the same as in the first embodiment. FIG. 15 shows a state when the procedure 3 is completed. The record of type = “search request” has been deleted. FIG. 16 shows a state when the above procedure 4 is completed. Since the search sessions with IDs “2” and “3” in FIG. 15 have a time interval of about 8 minutes, they are integrated as one search session in step 4. FIG. 16 shows an example when the time interval is set to 10 minutes.

  Next, operations and effects of the search result ranking system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. According to the search result ranking system 1 of the present embodiment, by extracting the last record in the search session indicating a series of search behaviors of the user, a page satisfied by the user from the search results (search because the user is satisfied) It is possible to identify and extract the page that has finished the action. By calculating the score of each page using the evaluation values tabulated by this method and using the score for ranking the search results, it is possible to rank the search results more reflecting the user's preference.

  In addition, a series of search actions of a user starting from a search request can be specified as one search action. Specifically, it is possible to specify a series of actions that have browsed the search result related to the search term returned from the search device 20, starting from the user entering a search term into the search device 20.

  In particular, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, a series of search actions based on a plurality of partially matching search terms can be collectively specified as one search action. Specifically, starting with the user entering a search term into the search device 20, based on the result of browsing the search result by the search device 20, the original search term is changed and the search term is input again. The browsing behavior of the obtained search results can be collectively specified as the same search behavior.

  In particular, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, a series of search actions continuously performed within a predetermined time interval can be collectively specified as one search action.

  Particularly, according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, a search request of a user within a predetermined time interval is collected by setting a record indicating a search request as a start point and a record indicating that a search result is accessed as an end point. When specified as one search session, a search session not starting from a search request can be excluded as inappropriate for showing a series of search behaviors of the user.

  In particular, according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to collect a series of searches including a plurality of search terms input as a series of search actions. Further, similarly to the third embodiment, there is an advantage that an operation starting from a search result click is determined as inappropriate as a series of search actions and is not included in a search session.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the said embodiment.

  For example, in step S114 for specifying a search session, the search session may be specified so that the search session includes a certain number or less of records indicating that the search result has been accessed. In this case, it is possible to exclude exceptional search behavior that accesses a large number of search results.

  In step S116 for extracting the last record, only the records belonging to a specific genre among the records at the last time may be extracted as the last record. In this case, the amount of calculation in the evaluation value aggregation step S118 can be suppressed by narrowing down the data. In addition, this evaluation value can be given only to genres that are effective in ranking search results. The “specific genre” mentioned here includes, for example, the type of search source. Search results often include search results from a plurality of information sources such as images, news, and blogs in addition to normal results. When it is desired to remove a genre that is not correlated with the click order or the number of clicks, or when it is desired to obtain only a genre whose evaluation value from the click log is particularly useful, an evaluation value only for a specific genre is calculated. However, since all click logs are necessary for session identification, the last click belonging to the genre is extracted after the session is identified.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Search result ranking system, 10 ... Evaluation value totaling device, 11 ... Search session specific | specification part, 12 ... Final click totalization part, 13 ... Total result storage part, 20 ... Search apparatus, 21 ... Transfer part, 22 ... Search result Output unit, 23 ... Search reception unit, 24 ... Search log information recording unit, 25 ... Score calculation unit, 26 ... Search log information storage unit, 27 ... Score calculation data storage unit, 30 ... Client terminal, 40 ... Communication network.

Claims (19)

A score calculation step for calculating a score used for ranking the display order of the search results displayed on the search result display screen using the evaluation values aggregated from the search log information of the user accumulated in the search device;
A search result display step for performing ranking using the score and displaying the search results in the order of ranking on the search result display screen;
With
In order to aggregate the evaluation values,
A search session specifying step for specifying a search session representing a series of search behaviors of the user from the search log information;
A final record extracting step of extracting a final record that is a record at a final time among the records constituting the search session specified in the search session specifying step;
Based on the final record extracted in the final record extraction step, an evaluation value totaling step for totaling the evaluation value;
A search result ranking method, further comprising: The search session is
A series of records in the search action by the same terminal,
Starting from a search request record that is a record indicating a search request in the search action,
The last record in the search log information or the last record of the search request record that appears next is the end point,
The search result ranking method according to claim 1, wherein: The search session is
A series of records in the search action by the same terminal,
Starting from a search request record that is a record indicating a search request in the search action,
The last record in the search log information or the previous record of another search request record by a search word that is not related to the search word and the partial character string entered in the search request at the start point is the end point.
The search result ranking method according to claim 1, wherein: The search session is
A series of records in the search action by the same terminal,
Each consisting of a series of records sequentially recorded with a time interval of a predetermined time or less,
The search result ranking method according to claim 1, wherein: The search session is
Starting from a record indicating a search request in the search action,
A record indicating that the search result has been accessed is an end point.
The search result ranking method according to claim 4, wherein: The search session specifying step includes:
A series of records in the search behavior by the same terminal, starting from a search request record that is a record indicating a search request in the search behavior, or a record immediately preceding the search request record that appears next, or A first step of sequentially specifying the search session, with the last record in the entire search log information as an end point;
A second step of excluding the search request record from the search sessions sequentially identified in the first step;
A third step of integrating the plurality of search sessions as one search session when a time interval between the plurality of search sessions after the exclusion of the search request record in the second step is a predetermined time or less;
The search result ranking method according to claim 1, further comprising: In the search session specifying step,
Identifying the search session to include a certain number or less of records indicating that the search session has accessed the search results;
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 1 to 6. In the final record extraction step,
Of the records at the last time, only records belonging to a specific genre are extracted as the last record.
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 1 to 7. In the evaluation value aggregation step,
Based on the search term input in the search request in the search behavior and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device in response to the search request, the user relates to the search term The number of accesses to the URL is counted as the evaluation value.
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein In the evaluation value aggregation step,
Based on the URL accessed by the user from the search result from the search device, the number of times the user accessed the URL is tabulated as the evaluation value.
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein In the evaluation value aggregation step,
Based on the category to which the URL accessed by the user from the search result from the search device, the number of times the user accessed the URL is tabulated as the evaluation value.
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein In the evaluation value aggregation step,
Based on the search term input in the search request in the search action and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device in response to the search request, the URL is accessed in relation to the search term The total number of the users who have done is counted as the evaluation value,
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein In the evaluation value aggregation step,
Based on the URL accessed by the user from the search result from the search device, the number of users accessing the URL is tabulated as the evaluation value.
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein In the evaluation value aggregation step,
Based on the category to which the URL accessed by the user from the search result from the search device, the number of users who accessed the URL is tabulated as the evaluation value.
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein In the evaluation value aggregation step,
Based on the search term input in the search request in the search behavior and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device in response to the search request, the user relates to the search term A value obtained by dividing the number of times the search term is requested from the number of times of accessing the URL is tabulated as the evaluation value
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein In the evaluation value aggregation step,
Based on the search term input in the search request in the search behavior and the URL accessed by the user from the search result returned by the search device in response to the search request, the user relates to the search term A value obtained by dividing the number of users who requested the search for the search term is counted as the evaluation value from the number of times the URL is accessed.
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein In the evaluation value aggregation step,
When the number of times that the search term is requested for the search term is a predetermined value or more, the aggregation is performed.
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 9 to 16. In the evaluation value aggregation step,
When the number of users who have made the search request with the search term is greater than or equal to a certain value, the aggregation is performed.
The search result ranking method according to any one of claims 9 to 16. Search log information storage means for storing user search log information;
An evaluation value totaling module that totals evaluation values from the search log information stored in the search log information storage unit;
Score calculation means for calculating scores used for ranking the display order of search results displayed on the search result display screen using the evaluation values tabulated by the evaluation value tabulation module;
Search result display means for performing the ranking using the score and displaying the search results in the order of ranking on the search result display screen;
With
The evaluation value aggregation module
From the search log information, a search session specifying means for specifying a search session representing a series of search behaviors of the user,
Final record extraction means for extracting a final record that is a record at a final time among records constituting the search session specified by the search session specifying means;
Based on the final record extracted by the final record extraction unit, an evaluation value totaling unit that totals the evaluation value;
A search result ranking system comprising:

Images