Integration of instant messaging with internet searching
Techniques for integrating instant messaging with Internet search features are provided. An instant messaging (IM) application allows users to launch a search of the Internet or the World Wide Web for information about another IM user or another topic. If an IM user wishes to locate information relating to a friend, a search is performed through a database of registered IM members to locate a user profile for the friend. If the friend's profile is found, the profile is displayed to the IM user. An IM application can also launch a Internet search for information relating to a topic or a friend. The IM application can link to an Internet search engine to search the Internet for web sites relating to the topic or person. Search results from an Internet search can be sorted based on information about a friend that is stored in the friend's user profile.
1. A method for performing an Internet search launched from an instant messaging (IM) application, the method comprising:
providing a first IM user with an option to launch an Internet search of a second IM user directly from the IM application;
transmitting a search query identifying the second IM user to a search server;
searching the Internet for web pages matching the search query to generate search results using the search server;
accessing a user profile of the second IM user from an IM member profile database;
sorting the search results in order of relevance to information in the user profile of the second IM user; and
displaying the sorted search results to the first IM user.
2. The method as defined in claim 1 further comprising: providing the first IM user with an option to launch an Internet search from the IM application based on a topic; and transmitting a second search query identifying the topic to the search server.
3. The method as defined in claim 2 further comprising: searching the Internet for web pages matching the second search query to generate second search results using the search server; and displaying the second search results to the first IM user.
4. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein displaying the search results further comprises displaying the user profile along with the search results.
5. The method according to claim 2 wherein providing the first IM user with the option to launch the Internet search from the IM application based on the search query further comprises automatically, displaying a string that identifies the second IM user in a dialog box.
6. The method according to claim 5 wherein the string is a name that is accessed from an electronic address book.
7. The method according to claim 5 wherein the string is a identification number that identifies the user profile.
8. The method according to claim 1 wherein transmitting the search query to the search server further comprises transmitting a URL that contains an ID identifying the second IM user to the search server.
9. The method according to claim 1 wherein providing the first IM user with the option to launch the Internet search from the IM application further comprises providing a search option on a tool bar or drop down list on a screen displayed by the IM application.
10. The method according to claim 1 wherein the sorted search results are displayed in a web browser window generated by a web browser application.
11. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for performing an Internet search launched from an instant messaging (IM) application, the instructions comprising:
code for providing a first IM user with an option to launch an Internet search of a second IM user directly from the IM application;
code for transmitting a search query identifying the second IM user to a search server;
code for searching the Internet for web pages matching the search query to generate search results using the search server;
code for accessing a user profile of the second IM user from an IM member profile database;
code for sorting the search results in order of relevance to information in the user profile of the second IM user;
code for displaying the sorted search results to the first IM user; and a computer readable medium for storing the codes.
12. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 11 wherein the code for displaying the sorted search results further comprises displaying the user profile of the second IM user along with the search results.
13. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 12 further comprising: code for providing the first IM user with an option to launch an Internet search from the IM application based on a topic; and code for transmitting a second search query identifying the topic to the search server.
14. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 11 further comprising: code for searching the Internet for web pages matching the second search query to generate second search results using the search server; and code for displaying the second search results to the first IM user.
15. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 11 wherein the code for providing the first IM user with the option to launch the Internet search from the IM application based on the search query further comprises code for automatically displaying a string that identifies the second IM user in a dialog box.
16. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15 wherein the string is a name that is accessed from an electronic address book.
17. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15 the string is a identification number that identifies the user profile.
18. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 11 wherein the code for transmitting the search query to the search server further comprises code for transmitting a URL that contains an ID identifying the second IM user to the search server.
19. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 11 wherein the code for providing the first IM user with the option to launch the Internet search from the IM application further comprises code for providing a search option on a tool bar or drop down list on a screen displayed by the IM application.
20. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 11 wherein the sorted search results are displayed in a web browser window generated by a web browser application.
21. Apparatus for performing an Internet search launched from an instant messaging (IM) application, the apparatus operable to cause the method of claim 1 .