WO2008050342A2

WO2008050342A2 - Method of web searching and presentation of the results

Info

Publication number: WO2008050342A2
Application number: PCT/IL2007/001297
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shlomo Katz; Aviad Raz; Igor Malkov
Original assignee: Picapage Limited
Priority date: 2006-10-27
Filing date: 2007-10-25
Publication date: 2008-05-02
Also published as: WO2008050342A3

Abstract

A method of performing a web search, including, accepting parameters for performing the search from a client device, providing the parameters to a search engine to perform the search, receiving a list of web pages from the search engine as the results of the web search, obtaining an associated graphical image for each web page from the list of web pages, wherein a web page is not required to have an associated graphical image in order to be selected to appear on the list of web pages, determining the ability of the client device, displaying results of the search in a table of associated graphical images with the size of the table fitting the ability of the client device.

Description

METHOD OF WEB SEARCHING AND PRESENTATION OF THE

RESULTS

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from US provisional application No. 5 60/854,701 filed on October 27, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to web searching and the i o graphical representation of the results .

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are many web page search engines available for use on the

Internet, for example "Google", "Yahoo", "MSN". Generally, a search engine is provides as a result a list of web pages which meet the requirements of the search, for example containing specific words or phrases. Typically the results are provided as a list of text containing the title of the web page, the address of the web page, and a quote from the web page demonstrating the connection to the items searched for. In many cases the results form a long list of text wherein a0 limited number of results can be displayed simultaneously on the same screen, especially on devices with smaller screens, for example PDAs and mobile telephones with Internet capability.

In some cases a user performs multiple searches with different parameters (e.g. search phrases), and is interested in identifying web sites that5 appear in the results of more than one search or multiple pages that have a common root. These tasks require the user to read through the text lists provided by all the searches and cannot be resolved by glancing at the results.

In older computer operating systems a user was required to memorize text commands in order to activate programs. In newer operating systems, for0 example "Microsoft Windows" icons are used to serve as a graphical representation for activating programs so that a user does not need to remember text commands. Once a user is accustomed to the appearance of an icon representing a specific program it is readily located from a collection of icons on a display. Similarly, when using a web browser users are provided with the ability to create a text based list of favorite web site addresses (sometimes referred to as bookmarks), which are frequently used by the user. A favicon (favorite icon) was introduced as an icon provided by and associated with each web site in order to provide a graphical symbol representing the web site. In a list of favorites (bookmarks) the favicon appears next to the line of text related to the web site it represents. The use of a favicon allows quick selection ("at a glance") of the favorite web site from the list since it is generally easier for a person to locate a colorful graphical symbol from a list than a specific line of text from the list.

In the recent Microsoft Explorer 7 made by the Microsoft corporation additional web pages can be opened in the same window as tabs. The title of each tab can appear on such tabs to represent the web page opened therein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of an embodiment of the invention, relates to a method of performing a web search that provides a graphical display of the results of the search and supports devices with different sized displays. The results of the search are displayed as a table of favicons wherein the size of the table is determined based on resolutions supported by the device requesting the search. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the device requesting the search provides words and phrases for performing the search and optionally, other limitations for example limitations regarding the web sites, which will participate in the search (e.g. limiting the search to web sites in the English language). In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the results of the search are analyzed to obtain a favicon for each web page that is provided as a result of the search. Optionally, web pages which do not have a favicon will be provided one so that they will have a representation in the table displaying the results. In some embodiments of the invention, the provided favicon will be selected from a collection on a server without any connection to the content of the web page. Alternatively, the provided favicon will be related to the content of the web page it will represent, for example created from a reduced view of a display of the web page it represents.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a user may select a favicon and see details regarding the content of the web site it represents, for example the address of the web page and its title. In some embodiments of the invention, when displaying additional information about a web site the device will reduce the size of the table of favicons. Alternatively, some devices will display the information in addition to the table of favicons. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the contents of the table represent only some of the results of the web search. Optionally, a user may roll through all the results and view one table at a time.

There is thus provided according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a method of performing a web search, comprising: accepting parameters for performing the search from a client device; providing the parameters to a search engine to perform the search; receiving a list of web pages from the search engine as the results of the web search; obtaining an associated graphical image for each web page from the list of web pages, wherein a web page is not required to have an associated graphical image in order to be selected to appear on the list of web pages; determining the ability of the client device; displaying results of the search in a table of associated graphical images with the size of the table fitting the ability of the client device. Optionally, the text information describing the web page referenced by the associated graphical image in the table of associated graphical images is provided upon request. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the text information is displayed in addition to the table of associated graphical images. Optionally, the text information is displayed by reducing the size of the table of associated graphical images.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a user may roll through all of the results of the search, viewing one table at a time if the number of results is greater than the number of associated graphical images that can fit in a single table. Optionally, the ability comprises the maximum number of rows and columns of associated graphical images that can be displayed on the client device. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the parameters comprise filters related to characteristics of the associated graphical images representing the web pages. Optionally, the obtaining comprises providing an associated graphical image for web pages which do not have an associated graphical image. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the provided associated graphical image is selected from a collection of default associated graphical images. Optionally, the provided associated graphical image is created from the display of the web page. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the ability is determined from the parameters for performing the search. Optionally, the step of displaying is displaying the associated graphical image search results in a table having at least one row and at least one column. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the parameters for performing the search are stored within the client device. Optionally, the parameters are stored on a remote computer. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the results of the search are stored within the client device. Optionally, the results of the search are stored on a remote computer. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the method further includes the step of selecting from the results of the search and by dragging and dropping said selection storing the results of the search. Optionally, the results of the search are synchronized within the client device. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the results of the search are synchronized on a remote computer. Optionally, the details of the associated graphical image can be viewed by selecting the associated graphical image. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the display of the table is altered by selecting a predetermined key. Optionally, altering the display consists of showing any one of the following displays: a table covering substantially the entire screen, a table covering substantially half of the screen; or a table covering substantially half of the screen and text covering the remaining part of the screen. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the client device is any one of the following: a cellular telephone, a hand held device, a personal data assistant, and a computer having a small screen suitable to display a relatively small number of icons. Optionally, the associated graphical images include advertisements. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the advertisement is targeted.

There is further provided according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a mobile communication device, comprising: a processor; a display; a graphical searching application; wherein the graphical searching application is adapted to be executed by the processor to: accept parameters for performing a web search from a user; transmit the parameters to a search engine to perform the search; receive a list of web pages from the search engine as results of the web search; obtain an associated graphical image for each web page from the list of web pages, wherein a web page is not required to have an associated graphical image in order to be selected to appear on the list of web pages; determine the ability of the display of the mobile communication device; display results of the search as a table of associated graphical images with the size of the table fitting the ability of the mobile communication device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary non-limited embodiments of the invention will be described, with reference to the following description of the embodiments, in conjunction with the figures. The figures are generally not shown to scale and any sizes are only meant to be exemplary and not necessarily limiting. In the figures, identical structures, elements or parts that appear in more than one figure are preferably labeled with a same or similar number in all the figures that they appear in.

Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a system for implementing a method of representing search results, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a mobile device with a minimized display portraying a graphical representation of search results, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

Figures 3A-3D are schematic illustrations of graphical representation of search results, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of a graphical representation of search results on a standard computer display, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a flow diagram of the process of initiating a web search and preparing a graphical representation of the search results, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a flow diagram of the process of providing a favicon for a web page that was found by search engine 130, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a system 100 for implementing a method of representing search results, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In some embodiments of the invention, the representation method is implemented by using a web browser application (e.g. Internet Explorer, Mozila Firefox) on a station 120 to access a web page on an Internet or intra-net server 110 as illustrated in Fig. 1. Alternatively or additionally, the representation method is implemented as a toolbar application on station 120 or as a dedicated independent application installed on station 120. Fig. 1 illustrates a number of variations of stations 120. Optionally, station 120 may be a personal computer, a terminal or a laptop with full display functionality or station 120 may be a device with a limited display (e.g. a smaller display that is harder to read, a smaller display with fewer pixels or fewer colors) such as a mobile telephone, a smart- phone, a PDA, or a tablet computer. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, server 110 is provided by station 120 with parameters for performing a search for web sites that meet the requirements of the search parameters. In some embodiments of the invention, server 110 serves as a search engine and performs a search for the required web sites. Alternatively, server 110 serves as a mediator and passes on the search parameters to an external search engine 130, for example "Google" or "Yahoo". Optionally, the search may be unlimited extending over the entire Internet or the search may be limited to web pages which are registered in a database 140 that stores data for server 110. In some embodiments of the invention, the search may be performed on the content of a specific database or the content of a specific web site. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, more than one search engine may be invoked by server 110. Optionally, results from multiple servers may be concatenated or merged together by removing duplicate results. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, database 140 is protected by a firewall 150 to prevent illegal access to information stored in database 140. Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a mobile device 200 with a minimized display portraying a graphical representation of search results, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Optionally, the use of favicons instead of text enables the display of at least twice the number of results and even 5 or 10 times as many results, since a small graphic replaces the use of a few lines of text. It should be noted that the number of favicons shown on the display may increase or decrease according to the size of the display and/or other information that needs to be shown simultaneously. On larger displays (e.g. a standard computer screen) other details may be displayed as will be described below. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the device initiating the search provides as one of the search parameters details regarding the ability of the display of the device, for example the number of rows and columns of favicons which can be displayed in a table on the device. As an example the size of a favicon is typically set to 16 X 16 pixels or 32 X 32 pixels or even 64 X 64 pixels, and has 16 colors or 256 colors or more. A standard personal computer display may be set for example to display 800 X 600 pixels, 1024 X 768 pixels or even more, whereas a limited display which can be used to display search results may allow only 120 X 120 pixels. In the illustration of Fig. 2 there is displayed a table of 5 rows and 8 columns of favicons. Using favicons with 16 X 16 pixels would require a display of at least 128 X 80. In alternative embodiments of the present invention, when such devices do not provide the ability of the display device, the present invention contemplates the display of a predetermined default presentation, or the use of predetermined default settings for various known displays to provide suitable display parameters. Figures 3A-3D are schematic illustrations of graphical representation of search results, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Fig. 3 A illustrates the results of a search request in a table listing 5 X 8 favicons (= 40 results) simultaneously. Optionally, the user of station 120 can select a previous screen or next screen to roll through an almost unlimited number of results. In some cases the search engine may provide multiple results which refer to the same or different pages of a web site, for example as resulting from multiple occurrences of a search word. Optionally, the same favicon may be used to represent the pages of a specific web site since the favicon is generally representative of the root of the web site (e.g. the main page of the domain). In accordance with other embodiments of the present invention, different favicons may be used for different pages of a web site or for different sections of a web site or for a web site and any combination thereof is contemplated by the present invention.

Alternatively repetitive occurrences of a favicon may include a numerator in one of the corners of the favicon counting the number of occurrences or other indications may be used (e.g. a progressive black bar along the bottom of the favicon). In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the user may select (e.g. by pointing to a favicon with a mouse pointer and single clicking on the mouse button or moving with arrow keys and pressing enter) one of the favicons and receive detailed information regarding the result represented by the favicons, for example the title of the web site, the full URL, and a citation from the sentence which matched the search parameters. Fig. 3B illustrates the provision of detailed information when electing one of the favicons for displaying information, for example by selecting one of the favicons with a single click. Optionally, on a limited display fewer favicons are displayed in order to allow display of the detailed information. Optionally, on a display with more room the detailed information is displayed in addition to the table of favicon results. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, selecting a favicon, such as by clicking on a selection device, will open the web page the favicon points to on the display. Likewise a selection device can be a joystick or other pointing device placed within the keyboard or key pad. Such a selection device can be implemented in hand held, wireless or other portable device. When using the selection device to select the favicon, the details of the favicon will preferably be presented in a tool tip, drop down menu, pre-selected area of the screen, and the like. The details of the favicon which can include, the name of the favicon, the creator, date of creation, other information associated with the favicon to include the name of the web site or web page, the subject of the web site or web page, other information associated with the web site or web page, and other meta data associated with the favicon.

Fig. 3 C illustrates an expanded menu which offers additional options for example:

1. initiating a new search; 2. defining filter options (e.g. limiting the results to a specific language, a specific country, limiting the results to a single appearance of a favicon or to favicon with a specific characteristic (e.g. background color));

3. viewing a previous search, which was previously performed and stored in database 140;

4. showing other subjects related to the words or phrases used to perform the search so that the user may select other terms to enhance the search;

5. send to a friend — sends a selected URL by email or SMS to a friend; other options which may be offered include:

1. light box - to add a selected URL to a favorite list for quick selection in the future. The light box favorite list is not the browser's favorite list, but rather a list which is preferably stored locally at the user or at a remote server. Alternatively, a selected

URL can be added by using the drag and drop function according to which the URL is selected through the use of a selection device and is "dragged" and "dropped" into the light box. 2. tag - define a category to which the URL belongs, for example by typing in group definitions such as "hobbies", "work", "family".

3. result aggregation - provides the option to see results having the same subject aggregated such that results having the same or related to the subject as searched by the user will be highlighted and may also be aggregated, and other results will be presented in as semi transparent. For example, if the user searched the term "soccer" the apparatus of the present invention will highlight those results associated with soccer. Related results such as for example those relating to a soccer tournament can be highlighted and aggregated. A selection on a particular favicon having a highlighted favicon can optionally present all the search results associated with the subject of the favicon selected, thus providing a quicker manner for searching web sites associated with a specific subject. In addition, a list of related subjects to the subject searched by the user will be shown, and by clicking a subject from that list can optionally present all the search results associated with the subject. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, server 110 uses database

140 to store the details of the searches performed by a user and any information selected by a user so that it may be retrieved in the future. Optionally, server 110 can identify the users, for example by requiring a user to log on to server 110 or to accept a cookie from server 110. Fig. 3D illustrates a display with an open dialog box 310 to accept terms for performing a new search. After inserting new terms the user selects an activation button 320 to initiate the new search.

Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of a graphical representation of search results on a standard computer display, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Optionally, on a display with standard display ability, (e.g. a standard 15" or 17" personal computer display or a larger display) there is less need to conserve space, thus all search options as mentioned above may be displayed simultaneously. In Fig. 4 a table 410 of favicons is positioned on the left, a menu 420 is positioned in the middle, and a condensed view 430 illustrating the contents of the web site of the currently selected favicon is positioned on the right side of the display. Optionally, other options 440 are positioned at the top of the display, for example the dialog box for providing search terms and buttons for providing search limitations and navigating through the search results.

Fig. 5 is a flow diagram 500 of the process of initiating a web search and preparing a graphical representation of the search results, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a user accesses (510) the search application on station 120 of Fig. 1. The user provides terms (e.g. words or phrases) to search for. In some embodiments of the invention the user further selects limitations for the search, for example the language of the web sites searched, limitation regarding the places searched (e.g. only in database 140 or only through tagged items from past searches or only from a specific group of web pages). Optionally, the limitations may be related to the favicons, for example the existence or non-existence of a favicon for the resulting web sites or the background color of the favicon. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the search parameters are sent (530) to server 110 of Fig. 1 for processing. Optionally, server 110 of Fig. 1 may use an internal search engine to perform the search or may invoke (540) one or more external search engines 130 of Fig. 1. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, server 110 of Fig. 1 receives (550) the results from the search engine 130 of Fig. 1 and obtains (560) a favicon for each web page from the results as described below regarding Fig. 6. Server 110 of Fig. 1 then collects the resulting favicons and prepares (570) a web page to display the results and provides (580) it to station 120 of Fig. 1. Optionally, the prepared web page contains a table of favicons with a size determined according to the size of the display used by the device for station 120 of Fig. 1. Alternatively, a minimal sized table is used to meet the requirements of all supported displays. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the displayed table constitutes a window to the complete set of results, wherein the contents of the window may be rolled up or down to display on a specific display page a table that represents a part of all of the results.

Fig. 6 is a flow diagram 600 of the process of providing a favicon for a web page that was found by search engine 130, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, server 110 determines (610) the web address of the root of the domain of the web page found. Optionally, server 110 searches (620) database 140 to check if a favicon has previously been recorded for the domain. If a favicon had been previously recorded in database 140 for the domain (630), the favicon is retrieved and used (695) to display the results. If a favicon has not been recorded in database 140 for the domain (630) server 110 checks (640) the root of the domain for a default favicon file. If a favicon is found (650) server 110 saves (690) the favicon with its web address in database 140 and it is used (695) to display the results as explained above. If a favicon is not found (650) server 110 parses (660) the HTML file to determine if there is a meta command that designated a different file to serve as the favicon. If a favicon is found (670) it is saved (690) to database 140 as explained above and used (695) to display the results. If a favicon is not found (670) server 110 allocates (680) a default favicon from a list of available favicons and then saves (690) a copy to database 140 and uses (695) the favicon to display the search results. In some embodiments of the invention, server 110 generates a random graphic icon to be used as the favicon for web domains which do not have a favicon. Alternatively, a picture of the web page found in reduced resolution may serve as the favicon for a web page that does not have a favicon.

It should be noted that the above description described specifically the use of favicons for displaying search results, however any other graphical image that is associated with the web pages found can be used. Optionally, an algorithm can be used to create graphical images for web pages instead of using favicons, for example providing an original graphic based on various characteristics of the web page, such as size or topic.

It should be appreciated that the above described methods and apparatus may be varied in many ways, including omitting or adding steps, changing the order of steps and the type of devices used. It should be appreciated that different features may be combined in different ways. In particular, not all the features shown above in a particular embodiment are necessary in every embodiment of the invention. Further combinations of the above features are also considered to be within the scope of some embodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the present invention is defined only by the claims, which follow.

Claims

1. A method of performing a web search, comprising: accepting parameters for performing the search from a client device; providing the parameters to a search engine to perform the search; receiving a list of web pages from the search engine as the results of the web search; obtaining an associated graphical image for each web page from the list of web pages, wherein a web page is not required to have an associated graphical image in order to be selected to appear on the list of web pages; determining the ability of the client device; displaying results of the search in a table of associated graphical images with the size of the table fitting the ability of the client device.

2. A method according to claim I₅ wherein text information describing the web page referenced by the associated graphical image in said table of associated graphical images is provided upon request.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein said text information is displayed in addition to the table of associated graphical images.

4. A method according to claim 2, wherein said text information is displayed by reducing the size of the table of associated graphical images.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein a user may roll through all of the results of the search, viewing one table at a time if the number of results is greater than the number of associated graphical images that can fit in a single table.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said ability comprises the maximum number of rows and columns of associated graphical images that can be displayed on the client device.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein said parameters comprise filters related to characteristics of the associated graphical images representing the web pages.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein said obtaining comprises providing an associated graphical image for web pages which do not have an associated graphical image.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein said provided associated graphical image is selected from a collection of default associated graphical images.

10. A method according to claim 8, wherein said provided associated graphical image is created from the display of the web page.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein said ability is determined from the parameters for performing the search.

12. A method according to claim 1, wherein said displaying displays the associated graphical image search results in a table having at least one row and at least one column.

13. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the parameters for performing the search on the client device.

14. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the parameters for performing the search on a remote computer.

15. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the results of the search on the client device.

16. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the results of the search on a remote computer.

17. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of selecting results of the search and by dragging and dropping said selection to store the results of the search.

18. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of synchronizing the results of the search on the client device.

19. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of synchronizing the results of the search on a remote computer.

20. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of viewing the details of the associated graphical image by selecting said associated graphical image.

21. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of altering the display of the table by selecting a predetermined key.

22. A method according to claim 21, wherein altering the display consists of showing any one of the following displays: a table covering substantially the entire screen, a table covering substantially half of the screen; or a table covering substantially half of the screen and text covering the remaining part of the screen.

23. A method according to claim 1, wherein the client device is any one of the following: a cellular telephone, a hand held device, a personal data assistant, or a computer having a small screen suitable to display a relatively small number of icons.

24. A method according to claim 1, wherein the associated graphical images include an advertisement.

25. A mobile communication device, comprising: a processor; a display; a graphical searching application; wherein said graphical searching application is adapted to be executed by said processor to: accept parameters for performing a web search from a user; transmit said parameters to a search engine to perform the search; receive a list of web pages from the search engine as results of the web search; obtain an associated graphical image for each web page from the list of web pages, wherein a web page is not required to have an associated graphical image in order to be selected to appear on the list of web pages; determine the ability of the display of the mobile communication device; display results of the search as a table of associated graphical images with the size of the table fitting the ability of the mobile communication device.