Task completion

1. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

identify that a user is working on a task during a first session based at least on the user submitting a first search query to a search engine using a first computing device associated with the user;

predict that the user will subsequently resume the task on a second computing device associated with the user;

determine a second search query that the user is likely to submit upon resumption of the task on the second computing device;

begin processing the second search query before the user resumes the task on the second computing device; and

obtain search results for the second search query, the search results being based at least on a direction of movement of the second computing device.

2. The system of claim 1 , the second search query being a refinement of the first search query.

3. The system of claim 2 , the second search query including at least one search term that is not present in the first search query.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

rank the search results based at least on the direction of movement of the second computing device.

5. The system of claim 1 , the one or more processors and the one or more computer-readable storage media being provided in a server computer that implements the search engine, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive the first search query from the first computing device over a network;

detect that the first session has completed on the first computing device;

responsive to predicting that the user will subsequently resume the task on the second computing device, retain session state of the first session on the server computer after the first session has completed on the first computing device; and

utilize the retained session state to determine the second search query.

6. A method comprising:

identifying that a user is working on a task during a first session based at least on the user submitting a first search query to a search engine using a first computing device associated with the user;

determining a second search query that the user is likely to submit upon resumption of the task on a second computing device;

using computer resources to initiate processing of the second search query before the user resumes the task on the second computing device; and

obtaining search results of the second search query based at least on a location of the second computing device.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

predicting whether the user will continue the task on the second computing device; and

initiating processing of the second search query responsive to a prediction that the user will continue the task on the second computing device.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

using a trained classifier to perform the predicting.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

training the classifier using labeled training examples of training queries that belong to the same search task and are performed on different computing devices.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

prompting the user to return to the task on the second computing device; and

sending the search results to the second computing device in response to the user returning to the task.

11. The method of claim 6 , performed by a server in network communication with the first computing device and the second computing device, the method further comprising:

storing session state of the first session on the server in response to the user ending the first session on the first computing device; and

restoring the session state, by the server, after the user resumes the task via a second session on the second computing device, wherein restoring the session state comprises populating a recent query history in the second session with at least some queries issued by the user during the first session.

12. A system comprising:

a processor configured to provide a task completion component,

the task completion component being configured to:

identify that a user is working on a task based at least on the user submitting a first search query to a search engine using a first computing device associated with the user;

determine a second search query that the user is likely to submit upon resumption of the task on a second computing device; and

before resumption of the task on the second computing device, initiate processing of the second search query to identify search results of the second search query that are based at least in part on a location of the second computing device.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the task completion component is further configured to:

rank the search results based at least on the location of the second computing device.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the task completion component is further configured to:

rank the search results based at least on the location of the second computing device and a direction of movement of the second computing device.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the task completion component is further configured to:

an instance when the user resumes the task on the second computing device, send the search results of the second search query to the second computing device.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the second search query comprises the first search query and at least one additional word.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

send the search results to the second computing device.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

detect that the user has resumed the task on the second computing device; and

send the search results to the second computing device responsive to detecting that the user has resumed the task on the second computing device.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

send the search results to the second computing device after the user visits a webpage of the search engine.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

include the second search query and the search results on the webpage of the search engine.