Methods of and systems for searching by incorporating user-entered information
A system for and a method of using user-entered information to return more meaningful information in response to Internet search queries are disclosed. A method in accordance with the disclosed subject matter comprises managing a database in response to multiple user inputs and displaying search results from the database in response to a search query. The search results include a results list and supplemental data related to the search query. Managing the database includes, among other things, re-ranking elements in the results list, storing information related to relevancies of elements in the results list, blocking a link in the results list, storing links to documents related to the search query, or any combination of these. The supplemental data include descriptions of or indices to one or more concepts related to the search query.
1. A computer-implemented method for responding to a search query, the method comprising:
receiving a first search query from a first user, the first search query corresponding to a first concept, and in response to the first search query:
obtaining a first plurality of search results corresponding to the first concept;
retrieving supplemental information corresponding to the first concept from a supplemental information database, wherein the supplemental information database comprises user-supplied information regarding a plurality of concepts, including the first concept;
presenting a first search results page to the first user, the first search results page comprising the first plurality of search results and supplemental information corresponding to the first concept; and
receiving user feedback from the first user regarding the supplemental information corresponding to the first concept;
receiving a second search query from a second user, the second query corresponding to the first concept, and in response to the second search query:
obtaining a second plurality of search results, the second plurality of search results substantially comprising the first plurality of search results;
retrieving supplemental information corresponding to the first concept from the supplemental information database;
presenting a second search results page to the second user, wherein the second search results page comprises the second plurality of search results and supplemental information corresponding to the first concept; and
receiving user feedback from the second user regarding the supplemental information corresponding to the first concept;
determining whether to update the supplemental information corresponding to the first concept according to the user feedback from the first user and the second user; and
updating the supplemental information corresponding to the first concept based on the results of the determination.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the user-supplied information of the supplemental information regarding the first concept comprises at least one of a user-entered description of the first concept and hyperlinks to documents related to the first concept.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the user-supplied information of the supplemental information regarding the first concept is presented as part of the first search results page as additional information to the first plurality of search results.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the user-supplied information of the supplemental information regarding the first concept includes a user-entered description of the first concept related to the first search query.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the user-supplied information of the supplemental information regarding the first concept includes a plurality of related concepts different to the first concept.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein an order in which search results of the first plurality of search results are placed on the first search results page is influenced by relevance feedback in the supplemental information corresponding to the first concept.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein an order in which search results of the second plurality of search results are placed on the second search results page presented to the second user is influenced by a relevance feedback provided in the supplemental information corresponding to a different but related concept to the first concept.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the user feedback from the first user regarding the supplemental information corresponding to the first concept contains a link to a description of a second concept distinct to but related to the first concept.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium bearing computer-executable instructions which, when executed on a computing system comprising at least a processor, carry out a method for responding to a search query, the method comprising:
maintaining a document index comprising a plurality of search results corresponding to a plurality of topics;
maintaining a data store of supplemental information, the data store of supplemental information comprising supplemental information for a plurality of topics;
receiving a plurality of search queries from a plurality of users, the plurality of search queries corresponding to a first topic; and
in response to each search query of the plurality of search queries corresponding to the first topic:
presenting a search results page to a corresponding user submitting the search query, each search results page comprising a plurality of search results and supplemental information corresponding to the first topic;
receiving user feedback from the corresponding user submitting the search query regarding suggested edits to the supplemental information corresponding to the first topic; and
determining whether to update the supplemental information corresponding to the first topic according to the received user feedback from the corresponding user submitting the search query and updating the supplemental information corresponding to the first topic based on the results of the determination.
10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 :
wherein the supplemental information comprises user feedback corresponding to a topic of the plurality of topics, including user feedback corresponding to the first topic; and
wherein maintaining the data store of supplemental information comprises any one or more of adding, editing, and deleting the user feedback corresponding to the topic.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the supplemental information is presented separately from and independently from the plurality of search results in the search results page.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the supplemental information includes user feedback of the first topic related to a received search query.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the user feedback of the first topic comprises one or more of a hyperlink to a description of a second topic related to the first topic, or hyperlinks to documents related to the first topic.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the supplemental information includes a list of different topics related to the topic of a given search query.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein an order in which the plurality of search results are included on the search results page is influenced by relevance feedback in the supplemental information corresponding to the first topic.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein an order in which the plurality of search results are included on the search results page is influenced by a relevance feedback in the supplemental information corresponding to a different but related topic to the first topic.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the user feedback from the first user regarding the supplemental information corresponding to the first topic contains a hyperlink to a description of a second topic distinct to but related to the first topic.
18. A computer system for responding to a search query, the system comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor executes instructions stored in the memory as part of or in conjunction with additional components to respond to a search query, the additional components comprising:
an executable content manager that, in execution on the computer system, maintains a data store of supplemental information comprising supplemental information corresponding to a plurality of concepts;
an executable search engine that, in execution on the computer system, maintains a document index of content items corresponding to a plurality of topics; and
an executable web service that, in execution on the computer system:
receives a plurality of search queries from a plurality of users, the plurality of search queries corresponding to a first topic;
in response to individual search queries corresponding to the first topic from the plurality of users:
obtains a plurality of search results from the search engine corresponding to the first topic;
obtains supplemental information from the content manager corresponding to the first topic;
presents a search results page to the corresponding user, each search results page comprising a plurality of search results corresponding to the first topic and supplemental information corresponding to the first topic; and
receives user feedback from the plurality of users regarding the supplemental information corresponding to the first topic;
wherein the content manager further determines whether to update the supplemental information corresponding to the first topic according to the received user feedback from the plurality of users, and updates the supplemental information corresponding to the first topic based on the results of the determination.
19. The computer system of claim 18 , wherein an order in which the plurality of search results are included on the search results page is influenced by relevance feedback in the supplemental information corresponding to the first topic.
20. The computer system of claim 18 , wherein an order in which the plurality of search results are included on the search results page is influenced by a relevance feedback in the supplemental information corresponding to a different but related topic to the first topic.