Authority management for electronic searches
View Patent ↗A presentation of search results may be improved. An indication that identifies a user may be received. A search authority model may be formed to represent information related to the user. A search query may be received from a searching user. Search results may be determined based on the terms included within the search query and the search results may be ranked or grouped based on the search authority model. Additionally, or alternatively, the search query may be adjusted based on the search authority model and search results may be determined based on the adjusted search query. In either case, the search results may be made perceivable to the searching user.
1. A method for generating search results, the method comprising:
receiving an indication that identifies a first user as an authority on a topic;
receiving a search query from a second user different from the first user, the search query including one or more search terms entered by the second user;
determining that the topic corresponds to the one or more search terms;
based on the determined topic, identifying the first user as a search authority for the search query;
accessing an interest profile of the first user;
accessing an interest profile of the second user;
forming a combined interest profile by performing a weighted combination of the interest profile of the first user and the interest profile of the second user, the forming comprising:
identifying a first and second weightings specified by the second user, the first weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the first user, and the second weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the second user; and
performing the weighted combination in accordance with the identified first and second weightings;
determining, by a processing device, search results in response to the search query based on the combined interest profile; and
enabling the second user to perceive the determined search results.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the search query comprises receiving a search query including one or more terms entered by the second user into an input field displayed in a graphical user interface.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the first user as a search authority for the search query comprises enabling presentation of a group of user identifiers to the second user in a graphical user interface, the user identifiers corresponding to users designated as search authorities for the topic; and enabling the second user to select an identifier corresponding to the first user from the group of user identifiers to identify the first user as the search authority for the search query.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising enabling the second user to specify a first weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the first user and a second weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the second user when performing the weighted combination to form the combined interest profile.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein enabling the second user to specify a first weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the first user and a second weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the second user comprises enabling the second user to manually select the first weighting and the second weighting through interaction with a graphical user interface.
6. The method of claim 5 ,
wherein enabling the second user to manually select the first weighting and the second weighting through interaction with the graphical user interface comprises enabling the second user to perceive, within the graphical user interface, a bar having a slider configured to be moved along the bar in response to user manipulation, and
wherein the slider being moved to a first position on the bar that is located between a first and a second terminal end of the bar corresponds to selecting the first weighting and the second weighting.
7. The method of claim 5 ,
wherein enabling the second user to manually select the first weighting and the second weighting through interaction with a graphical user interface comprises enabling the second user to perceive, within the graphical user interface, a bar having a slider configured to be moved along the bar in response to user manipulation,
wherein the slider being moved to a first position on the bar that is located between a first and a second terminal end of the bar corresponds to selecting the first weighting and the second weighting for combining the interest profile of the first user and the interest profile of the second user;
wherein the slider being moved to the first terminal end of the bar corresponds to selecting weightings such that the interest profile of the second user is used to inform search results and the interest profile of the first user is not used to inform search results, and
wherein the slider being moved to the second terminal end of the bar corresponds to selecting weightings such that the interest profile of the first user is used to inform search results and the interest profile of the second user is not used to inform search results.
8. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein accessing the interest profile of the first user comprises accessing a feature vector for the first user, the feature vector being represented as a set of numerical values that includes numerical values representing interest information of the second user;
wherein accessing the interest profile of the second user comprises accessing a feature vector for the second user, the feature vector for the second user being represented as a set of numerical values that includes numerical values representing interest information of the second user; and
wherein forming a combined interest profile comprises combining the feature vector of the first user with the feature vector of the second user to form a combined feature vector.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the combined feature vector is a centroid feature vector formed by performing a weighted average of the feature vector of the first user and the feature vector of the second user.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the search results in response to the search query comprises:
forming a query feature vector for the search query, the query feature vector being represented as a set of numerical values that include numerical values representing the terms submitted in the search query;
accessing document feature vectors, each of the document feature vectors corresponding to a document and being represented as a set of numerical values;
comparing the query feature vector with the document feature vectors by calculating distances or angles between the query feature vector and the document feature vectors;
identifying search result documents based on results of the comparison of the query feature vector with the document feature vectors;
comparing the combined feature vector with document feature vectors of the search result documents by calculating distances or angles between the combined feature vector and the document feature vectors of the search result documents; and
determining the search results based on results of the comparison of the document feature vectors of the search result documents and the combined feature vector.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the search results in response to the search query based on the combined interest profile includes identifying preliminary search results as responsive to the search query and modifying the preliminary search results based on the combined interest profile.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein modifying the preliminary search results based on the combined interest profile includes reranking the preliminary search results based on the combined interest profile.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein modifying the preliminary search results based on the combined interest profile includes regrouping the preliminary search results based on the combined interest profile.
14. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a tangible non-transitory computer readable medium, storing a computer program product for generating search results, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
receive an indication that identifies a first user as an authority on a topic;
receive a search query from a second user different from the first user, the search query including one or more search terms entered by the second user;
determine that the topic corresponds to the one or more search terms;
based on the determined topic, identify the first user as a search authority for the search query;
access an interest profile of the first user;
access an interest profile of the second user;
forming a combined interest profile by performing a weighted combination of the interest profile of the first user and the interest profile of the second user, the forming comprising:
identifying a first and second weightings specified by the second user, the first weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the first user, and the second weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the second user; and
performing the weighted combination in accordance with the identified first and second weightings;
determine search results in response to the search query based on the combined interest profile; and
enabling the second user to perceive the determined search results.
15. A method for generating search results, the method comprising:
receiving a search query from a query submitting user, the search query including one or more search terms entered by the query submitting user;
determining a topic corresponding to the one or more search terms;
based on the determined topic, identifying a search authority for the search query;
accessing an interest profile associated with the search authority;
accessing an interest profile of the query submitting user;
forming a combined interest profile by performing a weighted combination of aspects of the interest profile of the query submitting user and aspects of the interest profile associated with the search authority, the forming comprising:
identifying a first and second weightings specified by the query submitting user, the first weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the search authority, and the second weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the query submitting user; and
performing the weighted combination in accordance with the identified first and second weightings;
determining, by a processing device, search results in response to the search query based on the combined interest profile; and
enabling the query submitting user to perceive the determined search results.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein enabling the query submitting user to specify a first weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the search authority and a second weighting to be applied to the interest profile of the query submitting user comprises enabling the query submitting user to manually select the first weighting and the second weighting through interaction with a graphical user interface.