Granted Patent B2

US 12,724,784 · App. 18/391,225 · Granted Sep 1, 2026

Inventor: Neha Arora (San Carlos, CA)

Assignee: GOOGLE LLC

G06F16/24578G06F16/248G06F16/29G06F16/9537G06F16/9535H04L2101/69

Abstract

Claims (47)

1 . A method performed by data processing apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving data specifying a search query, and a location of a user device from which the search query was received;

receiving data specifying a set of documents determined to be relevant to the search query, wherein a subset of the documents are local documents having local significance to a geographic location;

determining that a first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for a demotion operation that adjusts a search score of the first local document to demote a rank of the first local document, the determination based at least in part on the geographic location of the user device and the geographic location to which the first local document has local significance, and in response to the determination:

determining that at least one document in the set of documents that is not a local document has a search score that meets a distant document demotion threshold; and

in response adjusting the search score of the first local document to demote the first local document's ranking so that the rank of the first local document relative to the rank of the at least one document is decreased.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the search score of the first local document comprises:

adjusting the search score of the first local document to demote the first local document's ranking so that the rank of the at least one document is greater than the rank of the first local document.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for the demotion operation is based on a proximity measure based on the geographic location of the user device and the geographic location to which the first local document has local significance.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein determining that the first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for the demotion operation comprises:

determining that the proximity measure indicates a distance between the geographic location of the user device and the geographic location to which the first local document has local significance exceeds a maximum distance.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein determining that the first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for the demotion operation comprises:

determining that the proximity measure indicates the geographic location of the user device and the geographic location to which the first local document has local significance are not within a same region defined by a political boundary.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the search query does not include a location phrase that explicitly specifies a geographic location.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein determining that the first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for a demotion operation further comprises:

determining that the first local document is eligible for demotion based, in part, on a local intent measure of a query meeting a threshold value.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the data specifying the set of documents further comprises, for each of the documents, a respective search score indicative of the relevance of the document to the query and a ranking of the documents according to a first order based on the search scores.

9 . A system, comprising:

a data processing apparatus; and

one or more computer-readable storage media storing instructions executable by the data processing apparatus and that upon such execution cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving data specifying a search query, and a location of a user device from which the search query was received;

receiving data specifying a set of documents determined to be relevant to the search query, wherein a subset of the documents are local documents having local significance to a geographic location;

determining that a first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for a demotion operation that adjusts a search score of the first local document to demote a rank of the first local document, the determination based at least in part on the geographic location of the user device and the geographic location to which the first local document has local significance, and in response to the determination:

determining that at least one document in the set of documents that is not a local document has a search score that meets a distant document demotion threshold; and

in response adjusting the search score of the first local document to demote the first local document's ranking so that the rank of the first local document relative to the rank of the at least one document is decreased.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein adjusting the search score of the first local document comprises:

adjusting the search score of the first local document to demote the first local document's ranking so that the rank of the at least one document is greater than the rank of the first local document.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein determining that the first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for the demotion operation is based on a proximity measure based on the geographic location of the user device and the geographic location to which the first local document has local significance.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein determining that the first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for the demotion operation comprises:

determining that the proximity measure indicates a distance between the geographic location of the user device and the geographic location to which the first local document has local significance exceeds a maximum distance.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein determining that the first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for the demotion operation comprises:

determining that the proximity measure indicates the geographic location of the user device and the geographic location to which the first local document has local significance are not within a same region defined by a political boundary.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the search query does not include a location phrase that explicitly specifies a geographic location.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein determining that the first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for a demotion operation further comprises:

determining that the first local document is eligible for demotion based, in part, on a local intent measure of a query meeting a threshold value.

16 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the data specifying the set of documents further comprises, for each of the documents, a respective search score indicative of the relevance of the document to the query and a ranking of the documents according to a first order based on the search scores.

17 . A computer-readable storage device comprising one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media medium storing instructions executable by a data processing apparatus and that upon such execution cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving data specifying a search query, and a location of a user device from which the search query was received;

receiving data specifying a set of documents determined to be relevant to the search query, wherein a subset of the documents are local documents having local significance to a geographic location;

determining that a first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for a demotion operation that adjusts a search score of the first local document to demote a rank of the first local document, the determination based at least in part on the geographic location of the user device and the geographic location to which the first local document has local significance, and in response to the determination:

determining that at least one document in the set of documents that is not a local document has a search score that meets a distant document demotion threshold; and

in response adjusting the search score of the first local document to demote the first local document's ranking so that the rank of the first local document relative to the rank of the at least one document is decreased.

18 . The one or more computer-readable media medium of claim 17 , adjusting the search score of the first local document comprises:

adjusting the search score of the first local document to demote the first local document's ranking so that the rank of the at least one document is greater than the rank of the first local document.

19 . The one or more computer-readable media medium of claim 17 , determining that the first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for the demotion operation is based on a proximity measure based on the geographic location of the user device and the geographic location to which the first local document has local significance.

20 . The one or more computer-readable media medium of claim 17 , determining that the first local document of the subset of the documents is eligible for the demotion operation comprises:

determining that the proximity measure indicates a distance between the geographic location of the user device and the geographic location to which the first local document has local significance exceeds a maximum distance.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (5)

References Cited (91)