JP4998038B2 - Search candidate phrase presenting apparatus, search candidate phrase presenting program, and search candidate phrase presenting method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides a search candidate word / phrase presentation device for assisting a user in inputting a search word / phrase so that a user can easily search for a target object when performing a predetermined search based on the search word / phrase inputted by the user in a computer. About. Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a search candidate word / phrase presentation program that allows a computer to assist the input of the search word / phrase and a search candidate word / phrase presentation method for assisting the computer in inputting the search word / phrase.

  In order for a user who uses a computer to obtain target information using the Internet connected to the computer, a search based on a search phrase inputted by the user is generally performed. As a result, the user can browse the target WEB site and further download necessary information. The search for obtaining information is not necessarily limited to the Internet, but can be performed in the user's own computer or in a relatively small system whose use is limited to predetermined members.

  Here, in order for the user to obtain the target information, it is necessary to set a more appropriate search term. That is, after the user inputs a search term once and performs a search, what kind of search term is input again based on the search result is important. As a technology related to this, there is a technology related to word extraction, and as one of them, a technology for automatically extracting words with high importance from a document containing many words is disclosed in Patent Document 1. Is shown in In this technique, a keyword candidate phrase in a document is scored based on the appearance frequency, and it is determined whether or not the keyword is finally provided to the user according to the score result.

Similarly, a technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 is cited as a technique for extracting words with high importance from a document. In this technique, when a keyword is determined based on the appearance frequency of a phrase, the appearance frequency is counted in consideration of synonyms and partial matching relationships of the phrase. Thereby, a more accurate appearance frequency can be counted, and thus the reliability of the phrase output to the user as a keyword is enhanced.
JP 2004-234597 A JP-A-6-187373

  As described above, when a user tries to acquire desired information using a computer, a search phrase is input by the user. Here, in order to quickly reach the desired information, the user must input an appropriate search phrase corresponding to the desired information. However, if the user himself / herself does not have an appropriate search phrase as a vocabulary or is unfamiliar with the search process, the time required to reach the desired information may be increased.

Further, in order to assist the user in inputting search phrases, for example, the search phrases that have been facilitated in advance by content providers on the Internet or computer or system providers are presented to the user, and the user can It may be possible to select the required search terms. However, in this case, since the search terms prepared by each provider in advance do not always match the user's preference, it is not always possible to perform an effective search. Furthermore, since each provider must provide search terms in advance, the burden on them cannot be ignored.

  In the present invention, in view of the above-described problems, a presentation device and a presentation program for presenting a more appropriate search phrase to a user so that the user can quickly obtain desired information using a computer. The purpose is to provide a presentation method.

  In the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problem, an object actually referred to by a user (hereinafter referred to as a “reference object”) after an object obtained as a result of a search by a user inputting a search term in the past. We focused on "things"). Since this reference object has been actually referred to by the user in the past, it can be said that the reference object is a highly useful object for the user among many objects obtained as a result of the search. Thus, by associating the reference object and the related search term / phrase and storing them as a database, it becomes possible to efficiently support the user in the subsequent input of the user's search term / phrase.

  Specifically, the present invention searches for an object in a predetermined area defined in relation to a computer based on a reception unit that receives an input of a search word from a user and the search word received by the reception unit. And a search result presenting unit that presents to the user one or more objects searched by the search unit in a state where the user can refer to the candidate word / phrase for the next search to the user A search candidate word / phrase presentation device that presents information on a search word / phrase received in the past by the reception unit and a reference object presented to the user by the search result presentation unit and referred to by the user Information relating to at least the reference object and one or a plurality of search terms used as a basis for the search Reference information storage unit to be stored and a reference object including a predetermined search phrase received in the past by the reception unit in each of the association information from among a series of reference objects stored by the reference information storage unit A search that excludes the predetermined search phrase from one or a plurality of search phrases used as a basis for the search in the association information of each of the series of reference objects extracted by the extraction unit that extracts an object and the series of reference objects A search candidate word / phrase setting unit that sets a word / phrase as a search candidate word / phrase for the predetermined search word / phrase, and a search candidate word / phrase set by the search candidate word / phrase setting unit according to an input of the search word / phrase to the reception unit from a user A search candidate word / phrase presentation unit presented to the user.

  In the computer, the user can obtain information desired by the user through the search by the search unit and the presentation of the target object as the search result by the search result presentation unit through reception of the search phrase by the reception unit. Is possible. When the user wants to obtain information, by referring to one or a plurality of objects presented in the “referenceable state” by the search result presentation unit, that is, by browsing the contents of the objects, Access to the information becomes possible. Therefore, in the present invention, when “reference object” is described, it means an object that has already been referred to by the user, and is distinguished from an object that has not yet been referenced.

  As described above, the user can reach the target information by searching the computer using the search unit and referring to the object searched as a result. However, if the search phrase input by the user and accepted by the accepting unit is not appropriate, an appropriate target object is not presented to the user as a result, and the arrival of the target information is not achieved promptly. Therefore, in the search candidate word presentation device according to the present invention, search word candidates (hereinafter referred to as “search candidate words / phrases”) that are preferably input in order to quickly reach the target information in the computer used by the user. Is also presented to the user.

First, in the search candidate word / phrase presentation device according to the present invention, the reference information storage unit stores and accumulates information necessary for setting the search candidate word / phrase. The information stored here is information regarding the search terms received in the past by the receiving unit and the target object that has become the reference target as a result of being presented to the user by the search result presenting unit and referenced by the user. It is. Here, the reason why the information related to the reference object is stored is that the reference object has been referred to by the user in the past, and therefore it is considered to be an object having information useful to the user. Among them, the “association information associating the reference object with one or more search terms used as the basis of the search” includes the object accompanied by the fact that the user actually referred to the reference object and the reference Since the information is associated with the search phrase input by the user until now, the search phrase is considered to be a highly important reference phrase supported by the fact of reference. Therefore, this association information is considered to be particularly useful for searching for an object, and thus the information is at least information stored by the reference information storage unit. This is one of the feature points in the search candidate word presentation device according to the present invention.

  It should be noted that the reference object may be searched based not only on one search term but also on other search terms before it reaches a reference state. Therefore, in the association information, one or a plurality of search terms are associated with one reference object.

  Next, the extraction unit extracts a reference object including a predetermined search word from the search words associated with each of the series of reference objects according to the association information stored in the reference information storage unit. . The predetermined search phrase is a phrase that has been input as a search phrase by the user in the past, and is preferably a phrase frequently input by the user. In other words, search terms that have been input by the user in the past and have been useful for reference of the target object are estimated to be useful for future target object search. Is extracted.

  Therefore, the extraction unit extracts a reference object including a predetermined search phrase that is a search phrase that has been input by the user in the past as a reference object that is strongly associated with the predetermined search phrase. The unit can use the reference object extracted by the extraction unit as an intermediary to link the predetermined search word and a search word other than the predetermined search word used for searching the reference object. Then, the search candidate phrase setting unit sets a search phrase other than the linked predetermined search phrase as a search candidate phrase for the predetermined search phrase.

  Further, when searching for an object using a predetermined search phrase, the search candidate phrase presenting section presents the set search candidate phrase to the user as a search phrase for making it easier to reach the object. Thereby, it becomes possible for the user to reach the target object more quickly by inputting the presented search candidate word / phrase again. In addition, what is necessary is just to perform a candidate phrase to a user under an appropriate condition according to a user's input of a search phrase. For example, when a user inputs a search phrase and an object as a search result is presented, search candidate phrases may be presented for further search refinement. At this time, when the previously input search phrase matches the predetermined search phrase, a search candidate phrase corresponding to the predetermined search phrase may be indicated. However, it is not always necessary to have a match between the previously entered search phrase and the predetermined search phrase. Similarly, when the input phrase is a phrase close to the predetermined search phrase or a synonym. Search candidate phrases corresponding to the predetermined search phrase may be indicated.

  In addition, as a predetermined search phrase, all the search phrases input by the user in the maximum range can be made into object. By doing in this way, it becomes possible to set search candidate phrases for as many predetermined search phrases as possible, so that the user can be effectively supported by subsequent searches by the users.

  In the search candidate phrase presenting device configured as described above, since the search candidate phrase is set through the reference object that the user referred to in the past, as a result, the user can easily search for the target object. Desired information can be acquired quickly. In addition, search candidate words / phrases are automatically set by the reference information storage unit, extraction unit, search candidate word / phrase setting unit, and the like, so that preparation is not required.

  Here, in the above search candidate word / phrase presentation device, the extraction unit accepts the association unit in the past from the series of reference objects stored in the reference information storage unit in the association information. It is also possible to extract a reference object that includes the given predetermined search phrase and whose reference frequency by the user is equal to or higher than the first predetermined frequency. That is, in setting the search candidate word / phrase via the reference object as described above, not all the reference objects are used, but among them, the reference object that is relatively frequently referred to by the user is used. Search candidate words are set. By doing this, it is possible to eliminate the influence of reference objects that are not so useful to the user, such as those that the user has referred to only a few times or accidentally, and search that is set Candidate phrases can be more appropriate search phrases. Therefore, the first predetermined frequency is a frequency threshold that is appropriately set in order to eliminate the influence of a reference object having a relatively low reference frequency.

  Moreover, in the search candidate word / phrase presentation device described above, the search candidate word / phrase setting unit further includes an object searched by the search unit based on a search word / phrase that is the search candidate word / phrase among the search candidate words / phrases. A search word / phrase in which a user's reference frequency for an object is equal to or higher than a second predetermined frequency may be set as a search candidate word / phrase. Therefore, as a result, the search candidate word / phrase presented by the search candidate word / phrase presentation unit is a search word / phrase related to the reference object that has been referred to at or above the second predetermined frequency. That is, a search term related to a reference object that has not been referred to so much in the past is considered to have a relatively low value as a search candidate word, and is therefore excluded from the target of presentation to the user. This makes it easier for the user to select the search phrase to be used next from the search candidate phrases presented. Therefore, the second predetermined frequency is a frequency threshold that is set as appropriate so that the user can easily select a search phrase from search candidate phrases.

  Further, in the search candidate phrase presentation device described above, the range of the predetermined search phrase may be limited to a part of the search phrase input to the user in the past according to a predetermined criterion. This is because as the number of objects of the predetermined search phrase increases, the load as the search candidate phrase presentation device increases. As an example of the limitation, in the search candidate word / phrase presentation device, when the reference information storage unit further stores information on the reception frequency of the search word / phrase accepted by the reception unit in the past, the predetermined search The phrase may be a search phrase whose reception frequency is equal to or higher than a third predetermined frequency with respect to one or more search phrases in the past stored in the reference information storage unit. Thus, by setting search candidate phrases by focusing on search phrases that are input relatively frequently by the user, the load as a search candidate phrase presentation device is reduced, and the search candidate phrases that are efficient for the user Can be presented. Therefore, the third predetermined frequency is appropriately set in consideration of the balance between the search candidate word presentation device and the convenience of the user.

Here, in the search candidate phrase presentation device described above, a normalization unit that unifies variations in expression of the search phrase accepted by the acceptance unit and normalizes the search phrase according to a predetermined normalization standard. When further provided, the reference information storage unit may store information on the search phrase and the reference object based on the search phrase normalized by the normalization unit. This normalization part is a word indicating the same thing, and if the expression varies slightly, for example, the presence or absence of a long sound symbol or the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters in alphabetic notation is integrated into a certain unified notation Thus, the reference information storage unit can efficiently store information. Then, by normalizing the input search phrase by the normalization unit, the search candidate phrase setting process in the search candidate phrase presentation device is all performed based on the normalized search phrase. Thus, more effective search candidate phrases can be presented.

  The following forms are useful for presenting effective search candidate phrases. That is, the search candidate phrase presenting unit collates the search phrase that has been accepted by the accepting unit and has been normalized by the normalizing unit with the predetermined search phrase, A series of the search candidate phrases set by the search candidate phrase setting unit corresponding to a predetermined search phrase may be presented to the user. By performing the normalization process by the normalization unit, it becomes easier to use the matching result between the search term (specifically, the search term after normalization) and the above-mentioned predetermined search term, and the search candidate term to the user Improves accuracy.

  Here, in the search candidate phrase presenting device up to the above, both the search phrase accepted by the accepting unit and the reference object presented to the user by the search result presenting unit and referred to by the user In the case of further including a genre information adding unit for adding information on the genre to which the genre belongs, the reference information storage unit may store the association information including the genre information provided by the genre providing unit. In this case, the apparatus performs the extraction of the reference object by the extraction unit and the setting of the search candidate word / phrase by the search candidate word / phrase setting unit for each genre according to the genre information in the association information. Furthermore, when the accepting unit accepts an input of a search phrase from the user, a genre is assigned by the genre information giving unit, and set by the search candidate phrase setting unit in the same genre as the given genre. The search candidate word / phrase presenting unit may present the search candidate word / phrase to the user.

  The search candidate word / phrase presenting apparatus presents a search candidate word / phrase using a parameter “genre” when the search range by the user becomes relatively wide. The “genre” is a certain demarcated range of the user's idea to which the search term and the reference object belong, and examples thereof include a genre related to automobiles and a genre related to mobile phones. This genre may be set as appropriate based on various factors such as user preferences and social situations. By using “genre” in this way, the search candidate word setting processing load on the search candidate word presenting device is reduced, and for example, even the same search word can be used across multiple genres. In this case, it is possible to present a search candidate word / phrase according to the user's intention by performing the above processing with the same genre.

Here, the present invention can also be understood from the aspect of a program that causes a computer to execute predetermined function steps. That is, the present invention provides a receiving unit that receives an input of a search phrase from a user, and a search for searching for an object in a predetermined area defined in relation to a computer based on the search phrase received by the receiving unit. A computer comprising: a search result presentation unit that presents to the user one or more objects searched by the search unit in a state that the user can refer to; and a storage device that stores information A program for executing the functional steps shown in FIG. That is, the program is information regarding a search phrase received in the past by the reception unit and a reference object presented to the user by the search result presentation unit and referenced by the user, and at least the reference object A reference information storage step of storing in the storage device association information associating an object with one or more search terms used as a basis for the search, and a series of reference objects stored in the reference information storage step An extraction step of extracting a reference object including a predetermined search phrase received in the past by the reception unit in each of the association information, and each of the series of reference objects extracted in the extraction step A search term that is one or a plurality of search terms used as a basis of the search in the association information, excluding the predetermined search term. A search candidate word / phrase setting step set as a search candidate word / phrase for the predetermined search word / phrase, and the search candidate word / phrase set in the search candidate word / phrase setting step according to an input of the search word / phrase to the reception unit from a user A search candidate phrase presentation step to be presented to the user.

  The processing in the reference information storage step corresponds to the processing by the reference information storage unit in the search candidate word presentation device, the processing in the extraction step corresponds to the processing by the extraction unit in the search candidate word presentation device, and the search candidate word setting step The processing in is equivalent to the processing by the search candidate word / phrase setting unit in the search candidate word / phrase presentation device, and the processing in the search candidate word / phrase presentation step corresponds to the processing by the search candidate word / phrase presentation unit in the search candidate word / phrase presentation device. Therefore, since the search candidate word / phrase is set through the reference object that the user has referred to in the past, the program can easily search for the target object and can quickly acquire desired information. .

  Here, in the program, in the extraction step, a predetermined search phrase received in the past by the receiving unit in each of the association information from a series of reference objects stored in the reference information storage step. In addition, a reference object whose reference frequency by the user is equal to or higher than the first predetermined frequency may be extracted. This is also the same as described for the search candidate phrase presentation device. In addition, the technical idea described about the search candidate phrase presentation device can be substantially applied to the program according to the present invention.

In addition, the present invention can be grasped from the aspect of a predetermined method related to search by a computer. That is, the present invention provides a receiving unit that receives an input of a search phrase from a user, and a search for searching for an object in a predetermined area defined in relation to a computer based on the search phrase received by the receiving unit. A search result presentation unit that presents to the user one or more objects searched by the search unit in a state that the user can refer to,
A method of presenting a candidate word / phrase for the next search to the user in a computer comprising a storage device for storing information, comprising the following steps. That is, the method includes information on a search phrase received in the past by the reception unit and a reference object presented to the user by the search result presentation unit and referred to by the user, and at least the reference object A reference information storage step of storing in the storage device association information associating an object with one or more search terms used as a basis for the search, and a series of reference objects stored in the reference information storage step An extraction step of extracting a reference object including a predetermined search phrase received in the past by the reception unit in each of the association information, and each of the series of reference objects extracted in the extraction step One or a plurality of search terms used as the basis of the search in the association information, excluding the predetermined search terms, A search candidate phrase setting step that is set as a search candidate phrase for the search phrase and the search candidate phrase set in the search candidate phrase setting step to the user according to the input of the search phrase to the reception unit from the user A search candidate phrase presentation step to present.

  The processing in the reference information storage step corresponds to the processing by the reference information storage unit in the search candidate word presentation device, the processing in the extraction step corresponds to the processing by the extraction unit in the search candidate word presentation device, and the search candidate word setting step The processing in is equivalent to the processing by the search candidate word / phrase setting unit in the search candidate word / phrase presentation device, and the processing in the search candidate word / phrase presentation step corresponds to the processing by the search candidate word / phrase presentation unit in the search candidate word / phrase presentation device. Therefore, since the search candidate word / phrase is set through the reference object that the user has referred to in the past, the program can easily search for the target object and can quickly acquire desired information. . Various technical ideas described for the search candidate word / phrase presentation device can be substantially applied to the method according to the present invention.

  It is possible to present a more appropriate search term to the user so that the user can quickly obtain desired information using a computer.

  Embodiments of a search candidate word / phrase presentation device, a search candidate word / phrase presentation program, and a search candidate word / phrase presentation method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the following drawings. The configuration of the embodiment described below is an exemplification, and the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the following embodiment.

  First, based on FIG. 1, the structure of the computer 4 in which the search operation by a user is performed, and the server 1 in which the search process is performed are demonstrated. FIG. 1 shows a computer 4 owned by a user (in the figure, a plurality of computers 4 used by a plurality of users are shown, but attention is focused on one computer 4 in the following description). It shows a server 1 having a storage device 3 that is communicably connected and stores information intended by the user. The user searches for information in the storage device 3 through his / her computer 4 and tries to obtain desired information. The search for information in the server 3 is performed by the control unit 2.

  The control unit 2 accepts a user search instruction from the computer 4 and searches the storage device 3 in accordance with the instruction. Then, the control unit 2 sends the search result to the user's computer 4 again, and controls the computer 4 and the server 1 so that the user can obtain target information. In FIG. 1, the functions exhibited by the computer 4 and the control unit 2 in this search process are imaged as function units. The functions of these functional units are exhibited by executing predetermined control programs in the computer 4 or the control unit 2. Below, it demonstrates centering on the correlation of each function part.

  The search phrase input unit 41 in the computer 4 inputs a search phrase that is a key to the search when obtaining information intended by the user from the storage device 3. For example, a search phrase input screen as shown in FIG. 2A is displayed on the display device of the computer 4, and the user inputs the search phrase and clicks the “Search” button at the lower right of the screen. Then, the input search word / phrase is received by the search word / phrase receiving unit 21 in the control unit 2, and thereafter subjected to processing in the control unit 2.

  The search phrase accepted by the search phrase acceptance unit 21 is delivered to the search unit 22 in the control unit 2. The search unit 22 accesses the information stored in the storage device 3 according to the delivered search phrase, determines whether the information is related to the search phrase, and gives the search result to the user. Gather information that can be presented. As an example of the search method, there is a method in which a search result is a document in the storage device 3 that includes a search phrase in its contents. Various search methods can be used. Note that the search technique is a technique that has been widely used so far, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted in this specification.

  The search results collected by the search unit 22 are passed to the search result presentation unit 23 in the control unit 2. The search result presentation unit 23 presents the search result to the computer 4 of the user who has input the search phrase, and the search result display unit 42 displays the search result for the user in the computer 4. FIG. 2B shows an example of a display screen of the computer 4 when the search result is displayed. On this display screen, three documents as search results (corresponding to “object” in the present invention) are shown together with the previously inputted search terms.

In the search result displayed by the search result display unit 42, the user can confirm the contents of the document on the computer 4 by clicking the document shown there.
This document selection action of the user for document confirmation is referred to as “reference”, and FIG. 2C shows a display screen when referring to the search document. As a result, the user can obtain the target information through the input of the search phrase, the search execution on the server, and the reference of the document. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of computers 4 can be connected to the server 1, and the control unit 2 can respond in parallel to search requests from the plurality of computers 4.

  Here, the input of a search phrase by the user is not necessarily optimal for searching for a document having target information. In particular, when the user is not familiar with the search operation, or when the relationship between the search phrase and the document is weak, it is difficult to find the optimal search phrase. Therefore, the search candidate word / phrase presentation device according to the present invention having a function of supporting the user's input of the search word / phrase is useful. In the present embodiment, the search candidate phrase presenting device is formed by cooperation of a plurality of functional units shown in FIG. 3 in the server 1 that performs the search process. In FIG. 3, each function that causes the server 1 to function as a search candidate word presenting device is imaged as a functional unit. The functions of these functional units are exhibited by executing a predetermined control program in the server 1. Below, each function part is demonstrated.

  Among the functional units shown in FIG. 3, the search phrase receiving unit 21, the search unit 22, and the search result presentation unit 23 are the same as those shown in FIG. 1, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. Each functional unit shown in FIG. 3 is divided into four groups for convenience of explanation. The first group is a group composed of the search phrase receiving unit 21 and the search unit 22, and the group searches the information in the storage device 3 based on the search phrase input as described above, and performs a search. Collect the resulting document.

  Next, the second group includes a search phrase receiving unit 21, a normalization unit 31, a search log storage instruction unit 32, a search phrase database (DB) 37, and a reference document database (DB) 38. The second group is a functional group for storing and accumulating logs related to search results mainly performed by the search unit 22. First, a user input search phrase received by the search phrase receiving unit 21 is also delivered to the normalization unit 31. The normalization unit 31 is a functional unit that corrects the expression of the search phrase that is directly input according to a predetermined standard in order to absorb variations in the expression of the word of the search phrase. For example, in an expression that is generally recognized as a word indicating the same thing, such as “memory” and “memory”, if it is recognized as a different word depending on the presence or absence of the long sound symbol “-”, a search phrase DB 37 described later. In addition, it is difficult to construct an accurate database in the reference document DB 38. Therefore, the search phrase normalized by the normalization unit 31 is transferred to the search log storage instruction unit 32, and in the search phrase DB 37 constructed in the storage device 3 in accordance with the storage instruction issued therefrom, The search terms after conversion are additionally stored and accumulated.

  This search phrase DB 37 is a database that stores what search phrases are input by the user for search and are accepted by the server 1. As an example, as shown in FIG. 5 to be described later, the input search terms and the total number of cases where the search terms are input by the user are stored in association with each other. Note that the example shown in FIG. 5 is used for explaining the search candidate word creation process shown in FIG. 4 to be described later, and therefore, the rank as shown in FIG. 5 is stored in the search word DB 37. Not attached. Since many users access the server 1 for search, the search log storage instruction unit 32 instructs the search phrase DB 37 to store the search phrases used by each user for each search. is doing. Accordingly, when a new search phrase is input, the search phrase is added to the search phrase DB 37. However, when a search phrase that has already been searched is input, the search phrase DB 37 The total number of search terms input is incremented by one.

Further, as a result of the search unit 22, the search result is shown to the user by the display screen of FIG.
When the user performs “reference” on the search result, the display screen of FIG. 2C is displayed to the user, and the user can confirm the contents of the document as described above. Here, the fact that the user has “referenced” is considered to have focused on the contents of the document for some reason. Therefore, it is assumed that the referenced document has an important relationship with the search phrase inputted at that time. Therefore, when the user performs a “reference” action, the reference document DB 38 stores and accumulates association information that associates the referenced document with a search phrase that is a basis for searching the document.

  As shown in FIG. 6, which will be described later as an example of the association information, in the association information, the document number indicating the referenced document, the total number of references to which the document has been referred to by the user, and the document by the user. All the search phrases that are based on the search are associated with each other, and are stored in the reference document DB 38 in that state. Note that the example shown in FIG. 6 is used for explaining the search candidate word creation process shown in FIG. 4 to be described later. Therefore, the order shown in FIG. 6 is stored in the reference document DB 38. Not attached. In addition, when adding a search term to the association information, the search term after the above-described normalization is added.

  When the user refers to a document as a search result, if the document is a document that has been referred to before, the reference number of the document among the association information regarding the document already formed in the reference document DB 38. Is incremented by one. At that time, if the search term used as the basis of the search is not included in the association information, it is added there, and if it is already included, the search term is not added. When a document that has not been referred to by the user is referred to so far, association information relating to the reference document is newly created in the reference document DB 38. The search term DB 37 and the reference document DB 38 correspond to the reference information storage unit according to the present invention.

  Next, the third group includes a search phrase DB 37, a reference document DB 38, an extraction instruction unit 33, an extraction unit 34, and a search candidate phrase setting unit 35. This third group includes search phrases (hereinafter referred to as “search candidate phrases”) that are input candidates in order to assist the user in inputting search phrases based on information accumulated in the search phrase DB 37 and the reference document DB 38. This is a functional group for creating First, the extraction unit 34 extracts necessary information from the search term DB 37 and the reference document DB 38 at a predetermined time according to an instruction from the extraction instruction unit 33. At this time, it is important to extract the association information included in the reference document DB 38. This is because the association information associates a document that has been referred to by the user in the past with a search phrase that is presumed to have an important relationship with the document. The predetermined necessary information extracted by the extraction unit 34 is transferred to the search candidate word / phrase setting unit 35, and the search candidate word / phrase setting unit 35 creates a search candidate word / phrase. Detailed processing for creating a series of search candidate words will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Finally, the fourth group includes a search result presentation unit 23 and a search candidate phrase presentation unit 36. The fourth group presents the search results collected by the search unit 22 via the search result presentation unit 23 to the search result display unit 42 in the computer 4, and sets search candidate phrases via the search candidate phrase presentation unit 36. This is a functional group for presenting the search candidate words set by the unit 35 to the search result display unit 42. Detailed processing for this series of presentation will be described later with reference to FIG.

  A process for creating a search candidate word / phrase in the search candidate word / phrase presentation device according to the present invention having the above-described functional units will be described with reference to FIG. The search candidate word creation process shown in FIG. 4 is a process mainly performed by the third function group.

First, in S101, an extraction instruction for creating a search candidate word / phrase issued by the extraction instruction unit 33 is accepted. The timing of the extraction instruction issued by the extraction instruction unit 33 may be set as appropriate. For example, the extraction instruction unit 33 may issue an instruction at a frequency at which the database contents of the search phrase DB 37 and the reference document DB 38 should be updated, for example, once every two months. When the processing of S101 ends, the process proceeds to S102.

  In S102, a predetermined search phrase for selecting a search candidate phrase is selected. Note that the processing from S102 to S104 is executed by the extraction unit 34. Here, the predetermined search phrase is a search phrase that is a basis for determining a search candidate phrase to be presented to the user, and is selected from search phrases that have been input by the user in the past. Here, in the server 1, it is preferable to set as many search terms as possible to the predetermined search terms. This is because as the number increases, search candidate phrases can be presented in response to the user's input of various search phrases. However, as the number of predetermined search words / phrases is set, the processing load required for setting the search candidate words / phrases increases, and the amount of the storage device 3 for storing the set search candidate words / phrases is also required.

  Therefore, in S102, not all of the search terms input in the past by the user are set as the predetermined search terms, but a part thereof is selected as the predetermined search terms according to a certain standard. An example of the selection process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows information related to search phrases stored in the search phrase DB 37 in the descending order of the number of entries by the user. In step S102, a search phrase with 2500 or more input items is selected as a predetermined search phrase from the information on the sorted search phrases. This selection criterion may be set as appropriate in consideration of the load on the server 1. For example, the top N items of information related to the rearranged search terms may be selected as the predetermined search terms. In this embodiment, “memory”, “recovery”, and “memory expansion” are selected as predetermined search phrases. When the process of S102 ends, the process proceeds to S103.

  In S103, for each predetermined search phrase selected in S102, among the association information stored in the reference document DB 38, association information in which the predetermined search phrase is included in the associated search phrase group is displayed. The ranking is created by extracting and reordering the extracted association information in descending order of the total number of references. For example, FIG. 6 shows the state of the association information rearranged when the predetermined search phrase is “recovery”. In each association information, it can be confirmed that “recovery” is included in the search term group. When the process of S103 ends, the process proceeds to S104.

In S104, the higher-level association information is selected from the ranking of the association information created in S103. In the present embodiment, the association information having a total number of references of 1200 or more is selected. However, for example, the association information of the top M items may be selected according to other selection criteria. Here, the top-level association information is selected even if it is a document included in the association information, if the total number of references is small, the user's interest is not so high, or the user's reference itself is not. This is because it is considered to be accidental. Since it is not preferable to set a search word / phrase related to such a reference document as a search candidate word / phrase in S105, which will be described later, the process in S104 is performed for the purpose of eliminating it. In the present embodiment, association information regarding three documents indicated by document numbers 1234-5678, 1234-9876, and 1234-9999 is selected. When the process of S104 ends, the process proceeds to S105.

In S105, a search candidate word / phrase group corresponding to each predetermined search word / phrase is created based on the association information selected in S104. The search candidate word / phrase setting unit 35 executes the processing of S105 and S106 described later. Here, creation of a search candidate word / phrase group will be described. In the association information selected in S104, among the search terms included in the associated search term group, the search terms excluding the predetermined search terms are not duplicated, and the search candidate terms group corresponding to the predetermined search terms are not duplicated. Make it belong. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the predetermined search phrase is “recovery”, and other search candidate phrase groups corresponding to the predetermined search phrase “recovery” are “cannot be recovered”, “recovery method”, and “recovery”. Will belong to. When the process of S105 ends, the process proceeds to S106.

  In S106, the search candidate words / phrases belonging to the search candidate word / phrase group created in S105 are rearranged in the descending order of the number of documents searched based on the search candidate word / phrase (see FIG. 7). ). The reference number of documents based on the search candidate word / phrase is stored in the reference document DB 38. Then, in the ranking, search candidate phrases whose reference count exceeds 100 are selected as final search candidate phrases. Since the search candidate phrases that belong to the search candidate phrase group created in S105 are derived based on the association information, the search candidate phrases that are presented to the user are based on the act of user reference. It is considered that the accuracy is sufficiently high. However, if the number of search candidate phrases presented to the user increases, it is inconvenient for the user to select a search phrase from among them, so even if the search candidate phrase belongs to the search candidate phrase group, the document reference frequency based on it If the value is relatively low, the process of S106 is performed to refrain from presenting to the user. The criteria for selecting search candidate words in S106 may be set as appropriate. In the present embodiment, finally, “recovery” and “recovery method” are selected as search candidate phrases. The process of S106 is also performed for each predetermined search phrase. When the process of S106 ends, the process proceeds to S107.

  In S107, the final search candidate phrase selected in S106 is stored in the storage device 3 for each corresponding predetermined search phrase. As a result, the search candidate phrase creation process is terminated.

  Then, the search candidate word / phrase presenting unit 36 accesses the search candidate words / phrases for each predetermined search word / phrase created by the search candidate word / phrase creation process described above, so that the search candidate words / phrases are finally presented to the user. The process of presenting search candidate phrases to the user will be described according to the search candidate phrase presentation process shown in FIG. The search candidate phrase presentation process shown in FIG. 8 is a process mainly performed by the fourth function group, and is performed each time a search phrase is input from the user and a search is performed by the search unit 22. Is called.

  In S201, the search word / phrase accepting unit 21 accepts the search word / phrase input from the user and normalizes the accepted search word / phrase. Although this normalization is not performed by the normalization unit 31, the normalization process to be performed is the same, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. When the process of S201 ends, the process proceeds to S202.

  Thereafter, the search phrase normalized in S201 is collated with a predetermined search phrase among combinations of each predetermined search phrase created in the previous search candidate phrase creation process and the corresponding search candidate phrase (S202), It is determined whether or not there is a matching predetermined search phrase (S203). That is, it is determined whether or not the search phrase currently input by the user is a search phrase for which the search candidate phrase has been prepared in advance in the search candidate phrase creation process. If the determination result in S203 is affirmative, the process proceeds to S204, and if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to S206.

In S204, when the search phrase matches a certain predetermined search phrase, the search candidate phrase associated with the predetermined search phrase is presented to the user, so that the search candidate phrase is extracted. In this embodiment, when “recovery” is input as a search phrase by the user, “recovery” in the input search phrase matches “recovery” in the predetermined search phrase. Recovery method "will be extracted. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S205, and simultaneously with the search results collected by the search unit 22, the search candidate words extracted in S204 are presented to the user's computer 4. This process is performed by the search result presentation unit 2
3 and the search candidate word / phrase presentation unit 36 are performed in cooperation. This presentation result is passed to the search result display unit 42, and the display screen of the user's computer 4 is formed. An example of the display screen is shown in FIG.

  The user who has obtained the display screen shown in FIG. 9 is in a state where it is possible to refer to a plurality of documents as a temporary search result, and a search candidate word / phrase for performing a further narrowed search is shown. When the user wants to perform a further search, the search candidate words (in the case shown in FIG. 9, either “I want to recover” or “Recovery method” in FIG. 9) are selected by clicking, and “ Press the “Research” button to search again. Note that the user can determine the next search phrase by himself / herself and perform a search again without depending on the indicated search candidate phrase.

  When the process proceeds to S206 as a result of the determination in S203, the search candidate word / phrase creation process does not present the search candidate word / phrase because the search candidate word / phrase corresponding to the input search word / phrase has not been created. In this case, only the search result is passed from the search result presentation unit 23 to the search result display unit 42, and only the search result is displayed on the user's computer 4 (see FIG. 2B).

  As described above, in the server 1 that is the search candidate word / phrase presentation device according to the present invention, when searching for the user to reach the target document, the document referred to in the search performed in the past, By focusing on the search terms used in the above, efficient search candidate terms can be presented to the user, so that the user can quickly reach the target document. In addition, as described above, the control unit 2 of the server 1 executes the program for demonstrating each of the functional units in order to cause the server 1 to function as the search candidate word presenting device.

  A second embodiment of the search candidate word presenting device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. When the range to be searched by the user is widened, for example, when searching a wider range such as the Internet instead of searching the storage device of one server as shown in FIG. 1, the predetermined search phrases are accumulated. In this case, the amount of search candidate words that are finally created becomes enormous. As a result, the time required for the process of presenting the search candidate word / phrase to the user, in particular, the processes such as S202 and S203 in the search candidate word / phrase presentation process becomes longer, and the convenience for the user is reduced. Of course, this problem can occur sufficiently even in the server 1 as shown in FIG.

  Therefore, the search candidate word / phrase presentation apparatus according to the present embodiment improves the convenience of the user by creating and managing the search candidate word / phrase for each “genre” using the concept of “genre”. This “genre” is for conceptually classifying search phrases that are determined in consideration of user preferences, social conventions, and the like. For example, “genre” may be set for each specific thing such as “computer”, “automobile”, etc., and other appropriate genres may be set as appropriate. Importantly, by creating and managing search candidate phrases for each genre thus classified, it is possible to reduce the number of search candidate phrases to be matched in the process of presenting search candidate phrases to the user. Therefore, the burden on the processing can be reduced. In the following description, the present embodiment will be described on the assumption that the server 1 is used.

  Here, what is important in the creation and management of search candidate phrases using this “genre” is the determination of the “genre” and the formation of the search phrase DB 37 and the reference document DB 38. Furthermore, it is important to present search candidate phrases to the user. Regarding the creation of the search candidate word / phrase, the same process as the search candidate word / phrase creation process described above may be performed for each determined “genre”, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  First, the process of determining the “genre” and forming the search phrase DB 37 and the reference document DB 38 will be described with reference to FIG. In S301, the search phrase receiving unit 21 receives the search phrase input from the user. At this time, the normalization described above is also performed at the same time. Thereafter, the accepted search phrase is passed to the search unit 22 and the search result is acquired in S302.

  In S303, based on the search result acquired in S302, the same “genre” is determined for each of the search phrase accepted in S301 and the document included in the search result acquired in S302. With regard to the determination of “genre”, for example, focusing on keywords that are included in the document and used repeatedly, it is determined which genre is set in advance on the server 1 side, and the determination is performed. Shall be. When the process of S303 ends, the process proceeds to S304.

  In S304, for each “genre” determined in S303, the received search phrase and information related to the document referred to by the user are stored in the search phrase DB 37 and the reference document DB 38, and each database is constructed. .

  Next, the process of presenting search candidate phrases to the user will be described with reference to FIG. The search candidate word / phrase presentation process shown in FIG. 11 is a process that partially overlaps the search candidate word / phrase presentation process shown in FIG. 8. Therefore, the same processes are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted. In the search candidate word / phrase presentation process shown in FIG. 11, the process of S204 in the search candidate word / phrase presentation process shown in FIG. 8 is replaced with S401 and S402. In S401, the “genre” of the accepted search term is determined. Specifically, the same processing as in S303 is performed. After that, among the search candidate words created for each “genre”, the search candidate words corresponding to the accepted search word are extracted from the search candidate words belonging to the “genre” determined in S401. This extraction process is substantially the same as the process described in S204. Thereafter, the search candidate word / phrase in which “genre” is considered is shown to the user.

  Thus, by considering the “genre”, it is possible to provide the user with search processing in a wider range without degrading the convenience for the user.

<Others>
Furthermore, this embodiment discloses the following invention. The invention disclosed in each section can be combined as much as possible as necessary.
(Supplementary Note 1) A reception unit that receives input of a search phrase from a user;
A search unit for searching for an object in a predetermined area defined in relation to a computer based on the search phrase received by the reception unit;
A search candidate that presents a candidate word / phrase for the next search to the user in a computer comprising: a search result presenting unit that presents the user with one or a plurality of objects searched by the search unit in a state that the user can refer to A phrase presentation device,
A storage unit for storing information related to a search phrase received in the past by the reception unit and a reference object presented to the user by the search result presentation unit and referred to by the user; And a reference information storage unit that stores association information that associates one or more search terms that are the basis of the search,
An extraction unit for extracting a reference object including a predetermined search phrase received in the past by each of the association information from the series of reference objects stored in the reference information storage unit;
A search term that is one or a plurality of search terms that are used as a basis of search in the association information of each of the series of reference objects extracted by the extraction unit and that excludes the predetermined search term is selected for the predetermined search term. A search candidate phrase setting part to be set as a search candidate phrase,
A search candidate word / phrase presenting section that presents the search candidate word / phrase set by the search candidate word / phrase setting section to the user in response to an input of the search word / phrase from the user to the reception section;
A search candidate word / phrase presentation device comprising:
(Additional remark 2) While the said extraction part contains the predetermined | prescribed search phrase received in the past by the said reception part in each said correlation information from the series of reference objects memorize | stored by the said reference information storage part. The search candidate word / phrase presenting device according to supplementary note 1, wherein a reference object whose reference frequency by a user is equal to or higher than a first predetermined frequency is extracted.
(Supplementary Note 3) The search candidate word / phrase setting unit further includes, among the search candidate words / phrases, a reference frequency of a user with respect to an object searched by the search unit based on a search word / phrase that is the search candidate word / phrase. The search candidate phrase presentation device according to supplementary note 1 or supplementary note 2, wherein a search phrase that has a second predetermined frequency or more is set as a search candidate phrase.
(Additional remark 4) The said reference information storage part further memorize | stores the information regarding the reception frequency of the search phrase received by the said reception part in the past,
The predetermined search word / phrase is a search word / phrase having an acceptance frequency equal to or higher than a third predetermined frequency with respect to one or more past search words / phrases stored by the reference information storage unit. 4. The search candidate word / phrase presentation device according to any one of 3).
(Additional remark 5) According to a predetermined normalization standard, the normalization part which unifies the dispersion | variation in the expression of the search phrase received by the said reception part, and normalizes this search phrase is further provided,
The reference information storage unit stores information related to the search term and the reference object based on the search term normalized by the normalization unit. Search candidate phrase presentation device.
(Additional remark 6) The said search candidate phrase presentation part collates the search phrase by which the input from the user was received by the said reception part, and was normalized by the said normalization part, and the said predetermined search phrase, and when it corresponds, The search candidate word / phrase presentation device according to appendix 5, wherein the search candidate word / phrase set by the search candidate word / phrase setting unit corresponding to the predetermined search word / phrase is presented to the user.
(Additional remark 7) The genre which provides the information of the genre to which both belong to the search term received by the reception unit and the reference object presented to the user by the search result presentation unit and referred to by the user An information adding unit;
The reference information storage unit stores the association information including the genre information given by the genre giving unit,
According to the genre information in the association information, for each genre, extraction of the reference object by the extraction unit and setting of the search candidate word / phrase by the search candidate word / phrase setting unit are performed,
Furthermore, when the receiving unit receives an input of a search phrase from a user, genre assignment is performed by the genre information adding unit, and the search candidate word / phrase setting unit sets the same genre as the given genre. The search candidate word / phrase presentation device according to any one of supplementary notes 1 to 6, wherein the search candidate word / phrase presentation unit presents the search candidate word / phrase to a user.
(Supplementary Note 8) A reception unit that receives input of a search phrase from a user;
A search unit for searching for an object in a predetermined area defined in relation to a computer based on the search phrase received by the reception unit;
A search result presentation unit that presents one or more objects searched by the search unit to the user in a state where the user can refer to the target;
A computer comprising a storage device for storing information;
Information relating to a search phrase received in the past by the reception unit and a reference object presented to the user by the search result presentation unit and referred to by the user, and at least the reference object and the search object A reference information storage step of storing, in the storage device, association information associating one or more search terms based on the basis;
An extraction step of extracting a reference object including a predetermined search phrase received in the past by the reception unit in each of the association information from a series of reference objects stored in the reference information storage step;
In the association information of each of the series of reference objects extracted in the extraction step, a search term that is one or a plurality of search terms that are used as a search basis and that excludes the predetermined search term is selected for the predetermined search term. A search candidate phrase setting step to set as a search candidate phrase,
A search candidate word / phrase presenting step for presenting the search candidate word / phrase set in the search candidate word / phrase setting step to the user in response to an input of the search word / phrase to the reception unit from the user;
A search candidate word / phrase presentation program characterized in that is executed.
(Additional remark 9) In the said extraction step, from the series of reference objects memorize | stored in the said reference information storage step, while including the predetermined search phrase received by the said reception part in the past in each said correlation information, 9. The search candidate word / phrase presentation program according to appendix 8, wherein a reference object whose reference frequency by a user is equal to or higher than a first predetermined frequency is extracted.
(Supplementary Note 10) In the search candidate word / phrase setting step, a reference frequency of a user for an object searched by the search unit based on a search word / phrase that is the search candidate word / phrase among the search candidate words / phrases The search candidate phrase presentation program according to appendix 8 or appendix 9, wherein a search phrase that is equal to or higher than the second predetermined frequency is set as a search candidate phrase.
(Supplementary Note 11) In the reference information storage step, information regarding the reception frequency of search terms accepted in the past by the reception unit is further stored.
The predetermined search word / phrase is a search word / phrase having an acceptance frequency equal to or higher than a third predetermined frequency with respect to one or more past search words / phrases stored in the reference information storing step. The search candidate word / phrase presentation program according to any one of 10. (Additional remark 12) According to a predetermined normalization standard, the normalization step which unifies the variation in the expression of the search phrase accepted by the accepting unit and normalizes the search phrase,
The reference information storage step stores information related to the search term and the reference object based on the search term normalized in the normalization step. Search candidate phrase presentation program. (Supplementary Note 13) In the search candidate phrase presentation step, when the input from the user is received by the reception unit and the search phrase normalized in the normalization step is compared with the predetermined search phrase, 13. The search candidate word / phrase presentation program according to appendix 12, wherein a series of the search candidate words / phrases set in the search candidate word / phrase setting step corresponding to the predetermined search word / phrase is presented to a user.
(Additional remark 14) The genre which provides the information of the genre to which both belong to the search term received by the reception unit and the reference object presented to the user by the search result presentation unit and referred to by the user An information adding step;
In the reference information storing step, the genre information given in the genre giving step is included and stored in the association information,
According to the genre information in the association information, for each genre, extraction of the reference object in the extraction step and setting of the search candidate word / phrase in the search candidate word / phrase setting step are performed,
Furthermore, when the reception unit receives an input of a search phrase from the user, a genre is added in the genre information adding step, and the same genre as the assigned genre is set in the search candidate phrase setting step. The search candidate word / phrase presentation program according to any one of supplementary note 8 to supplementary note 13, wherein the search candidate word / phrase is presented to a user in the search candidate word / phrase presentation step. (Additional remark 15) The reception part which receives the input of the search term from a user,
A search unit for searching for an object in a predetermined area defined in relation to a computer based on the search phrase received by the reception unit;
A search result presentation unit that presents one or more objects searched by the search unit to the user in a state where the user can refer to the target;
A method of presenting a candidate word / phrase for the next search to the user in a computer comprising a storage device for storing information,
Information relating to a search phrase received in the past by the reception unit and a reference object presented to the user by the search result presentation unit and referred to by the user, and at least the reference object and the search object A reference information storage step of storing, in the storage device, association information associating one or more search terms based on the basis;
An extraction step of extracting a reference object including a predetermined search phrase received in the past by the reception unit in each of the association information from a series of reference objects stored in the reference information storage step;
In the association information of each of the series of reference objects extracted in the extraction step, a search term that is one or a plurality of search terms that are used as a search basis and that excludes the predetermined search term is selected for the predetermined search term. A search candidate phrase setting step to set as a search candidate phrase,
A search candidate word / phrase presenting step for presenting the search candidate word / phrase set in the search candidate word / phrase setting step to the user in response to an input of the search word / phrase to the reception unit from the user;
A search candidate word / phrase presentation method comprising:
(Supplementary Note 16) The extraction step includes a predetermined search phrase received in the past by the reception unit in each of the association information from among a series of reference objects stored in the reference information storage step, The search candidate word presenting method according to supplementary note 15, wherein a reference object whose reference frequency by a user is equal to or higher than a first predetermined frequency is extracted.
(Supplementary Note 17) In the search candidate word / phrase setting step, a reference frequency of a user for an object searched by the search unit based on a search word / phrase that is the search candidate word / phrase among the search candidate words / phrases The search candidate phrase presentation method according to supplementary note 15 or supplementary note 16, wherein a search phrase that is equal to or higher than a second predetermined frequency is set as a search candidate phrase.
(Supplementary Note 18) In the reference information storage step, information related to the reception frequency of search phrases accepted in the past by the reception unit is further stored.
Supplementary note 15 to Supplementary note 15, wherein the predetermined search phrase is a search phrase whose acceptance frequency is equal to or higher than a third predetermined frequency with respect to one or more past search phrases stored in the reference information storing step. The search candidate word presenting method according to any one of 17.
(Supplementary note 19) According to a predetermined normalization standard, further comprising a normalization step of unifying the variation in expression of the search phrase accepted by the accepting unit and normalizing the search phrase,
The reference information storage step stores information related to the search term and the reference object based on the search term normalized in the normalization step. Search candidate phrase presentation method.
(Supplementary Note 20) In the search candidate phrase presenting step, when the input from the user is accepted by the accepting unit and the search phrase normalized in the normalization step is compared with the predetermined search phrase, The search candidate word / phrase presentation method according to appendix 19, wherein a series of the search candidate words / phrases set in the search candidate word / phrase setting step corresponding to the predetermined search word / phrase is presented to a user.
(Additional remark 21) The genre which gives the information of the genre to which both belong to the search term received by the reception unit and the reference object presented to the user by the search result presentation unit and referred to by the user An information adding step;
In the reference information storing step, the genre information given in the genre giving step is included and stored in the association information,
According to the genre information in the association information, for each genre, extraction of the reference object in the extraction step and setting of the search candidate word / phrase in the search candidate word / phrase setting step are performed,
Furthermore, when the reception unit receives an input of a search phrase from the user, a genre is added in the genre information adding step, and the same genre as the assigned genre is set in the search candidate phrase setting step. The search candidate word / phrase presentation method according to any one of supplementary note 15 to supplementary note 20, wherein the search candidate word / phrase is presented to a user in the search candidate word / phrase presentation step.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a server that is a search candidate word / phrase presentation device according to an embodiment of the present invention and that is searched by a user. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen displayed on a user's computer when a search process is performed with the server shown in FIG. It is a functional block diagram of the search candidate word phrase presentation apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a flowchart of the search candidate word creation process performed in the search candidate word presentation apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the mode of ranking by the number of input of a search phrase performed in the search candidate word creation process shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the mode of ranking by the reference document number performed in the search candidate word creation process shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the mode of ranking by the reference number of the documents based on the search candidate word itself performed in the search candidate word creation process shown in FIG. It is a flowchart of the search candidate word presentation process performed in the search candidate word presentation apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen displayed on a user's computer as a result of the search candidate word / phrase process shown in FIG. It is a flowchart of the genre determination process for determining the genre with respect to the input search term in the search candidate word presentation apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a flowchart of the search candidate word presentation process for showing a search candidate word phrase to a user according to the genre determined by the genre determination process shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Server 2 ... Control part 3 ... Storage device 4 ... Computer

Claims (7)

A reception unit that accepts input of search terms from the user;
A search unit for searching for an object in a predetermined area defined in relation to a computer based on the search phrase received by the reception unit;
A search candidate that presents a candidate word / phrase for the next search to the user in a computer comprising: a search result presenting unit that presents the user with one or a plurality of objects searched by the search unit in a state that the user can refer to A phrase presentation device,
A memory for storing information on search terms accepted in the past by the accepting unit, information on the frequency of accepting the search terms , and information on reference objects presented to the user by the search result presenting unit and referenced by the user Reference information storage that stores association information that associates at least the reference object, information related to a reference frequency by the user of the reference object , and one or a plurality of search terms used as a basis for the search. And
One or a plurality of predetermined search phrases are selected from search phrases received in the past by the reception unit stored in the reference information storage unit on condition that the reception frequency of the search phrases is equal to or higher than a third predetermined frequency , Out of the association information stored in the reference information storage unit for each predetermined search phrase, association information in which the predetermined search phrase is included in the associated search phrase group is extracted and extracted An extracting unit that selects the associated information, on condition that the reference frequency by the user of the reference object is equal to or higher than a first predetermined frequency ;
Seki in communication with information selected by the extraction section, among the search terms included in the search phrase group associated, the search terms except for the predetermined search term is set as the search candidate words for the predetermined search term Search A candidate phrase setting section;
A search candidate word / phrase presenting section that presents the search candidate word / phrase set by the search candidate word / phrase setting section to the user in response to an input of the search word / phrase from the user to the reception section;
A search candidate word / phrase presentation device comprising: The search candidate word / phrase setting unit further includes a second predetermined frequency at which a user 's reference frequency for an object searched by the search unit based on a search word / phrase that is the search candidate word / phrase among the search candidate words / phrases is a second predetermined frequency. The search word / phrase presentation device according to claim 1, wherein the search word / phrase is set as a search word / phrase. In accordance with a predetermined normalization standard, further comprising a normalization unit that unifies the variations in the expression of the search terms accepted by the acceptance unit, and normalizes the search terms,
The reference information storage unit stores information on the search term and the reference object based on the search term normalized by the normalization unit. Search candidate phrase presentation device. The search candidate phrase presenting unit collates the search phrase that is accepted by the accepting unit and is normalized by the normalization unit and the predetermined search phrase, and if the search phrase matches, the predetermined search 4. The search candidate word / phrase presentation device according to claim 1 , wherein a series of the search candidate words / phrases set by the search candidate word / phrase setting unit corresponding to a word / phrase is presented to a user . 5. And search terms accepted by the pre-Symbol receiving unit, the search by the result display portion with respect to a reference object which is referred to by the presented and the user to the user, both to impart information belonging genre genre information giving unit and further comprising,
The reference information storage unit stores the association information including the genre information given by the genre giving unit ,
According to the genre information in the association information, for each genre, extraction of the reference object by the extraction unit and setting of the search candidate word / phrase by the search candidate word / phrase setting unit are performed,
Furthermore, when the receiving unit receives an input of a search phrase from a user, genre assignment is performed by the genre information adding unit, and the search candidate word / phrase setting unit sets the same genre as the given genre. The search candidate word / phrase presenting device according to claim 1 , wherein the search candidate word / phrase presenting section presents the search candidate word / phrase to a user . A reception unit that accepts input of search terms from the user;
  A search unit for searching for an object in a predetermined area defined in relation to a computer based on the search phrase received by the reception unit;
  A search result presentation unit that presents one or more objects searched by the search unit to the user in a state where the user can refer to the target;
  A computer comprising a storage device for storing information;
  Information related to a search phrase received in the past by the reception unit, information about the reception frequency of the search phrase, and a reference object presented to the user by the search result presentation unit and referred to by the user, Reference information storage that stores, in the storage device, association information that associates at least the reference object, information related to a reference frequency by the user of the reference object, and one or more search terms that are based on the search. Steps,
  Selecting one or more predetermined search phrases from the search phrases received in the past by the receiving unit stored in the reference information storing step on condition that the reception frequency of the search phrases is a third predetermined frequency or more; Of the association information stored in the reference information storage unit for each predetermined search phrase, the association information in which the predetermined search phrase is included in the associated search phrase group is extracted and the extracted An extraction step of selecting the association information on condition that the reference frequency by the user of the reference object is equal to or higher than a first predetermined frequency;
  A search candidate phrase that sets a search phrase excluding a predetermined search phrase as a search candidate phrase for the predetermined search phrase among search phrases included in the associated search phrase group in the association information selected in the extraction step Configuration steps;
  A search candidate phrase presenting step for presenting the search candidate phrase set in the search candidate phrase setting step to the user in response to an input of the search phrase from the user to the reception unit;
  A search candidate word / phrase presentation program characterized in that is executed. A reception unit that accepts input of search terms from the user;
  A search unit for searching for an object in a predetermined area defined in relation to a computer based on the search phrase received by the reception unit;
  A search result presentation unit that presents one or more objects searched by the search unit to the user in a state where the user can refer to the target;
  A method of presenting a candidate word / phrase for the next search to the user in a computer comprising a storage device for storing information,
  Information related to a search phrase received in the past by the reception unit, information about the reception frequency of the search phrase, and a reference object presented to the user by the search result presentation unit and referred to by the user, A reference information storage step of storing, in the storage device, association information associating at least the reference object with one or a plurality of search terms based on the search;
  Selecting one or more predetermined search phrases from the search phrases received in the past by the receiving unit stored in the reference information storing step on condition that the reception frequency of the search phrases is a third predetermined frequency or more; Of the association information stored in the reference information storage unit for each predetermined search phrase, the association information in which the predetermined search phrase is included in the associated search phrase group is extracted and the extracted An extraction step of selecting the association information on condition that the reference frequency by the user of the reference object is equal to or higher than a first predetermined frequency;
  A search candidate phrase that sets a search phrase excluding a predetermined search phrase as a search candidate phrase for the predetermined search phrase among search phrases included in the associated search phrase group in the association information selected in the extraction step Configuration steps;
  A search candidate phrase presenting step for presenting the search candidate phrase set in the search candidate phrase setting step to the user in response to an input of the search phrase from the user to the reception unit;
  A search candidate word / phrase presentation method comprising:

Images