Domain expertise determination
A user's domain expertise may be estimated through several factors by monitoring different aspects of a user's interaction with a web browser. Based on the user's domain expertise, search results may be presented to the user that is commensurate with their expertise, resulting in a more efficient and productive on line session. A user's expertise in a knowledge domain may be determined from the user's behavior, including analyzing search queries, monitoring how the user navigates between and through websites, and analyzing the specific cites visited. As a user interacts with a browser, the user's estimated domain expertise may be updated and used to provide appropriate and useful search results. In many embodiments, a user may have different expertise levels for different technical domains.
1. A method comprising:
monitoring a web browser session by a user;
identifying a search query submitted by said user;
identifying a set of technical words in said search query;
comparing said technical words to a technical lexicon, said technical lexicon comprising domain specific technical words and user expertise level corresponding to said specific technical words;
determining a user expertise level based on said technical words in said technical lexicon;
determining search results based on said search query;
organizing said search results based on said user expertise level to determine a ranked list of search results; and
presenting said ranked list of search results.
2. The method of claim 1 , said search results being additionally determined using said user expertise level.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing said user expertise level.
4. The method of claim 3 further comprising updating said user expertise level based on a subsequent web browser session.
5. The method of claim 1 , said search results comprising a grouping.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining a selected site from said web browser session;
determining an expert rating for said selected site; and
updating said user expertise level based on said expert rating.
7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:
determining a visit length for said selected site; and
updating said user expertise level based on said expert rating.
8. The method of claim 6 , said determining an expert rating for said selected site comprising:
analyzing said selected site using said technical lexicon to determine said expert rating for said selected site.
9. The method of claim 6 , said selected site being selected from said search results.
10. The method of claim 6 , said selected site being browsed to by said user.
11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
monitoring said web browsing session to determine a branchiness factor for said session; and
updating said user expertise level based on said branchiness factor.
12. A system comprising:
a lexicon comprising technical words, said technical words being related to a technical domain and said technical words having a predefined user expertise level;
an expertise rating system configured to:
receive a search query;
determine one or more technical search terms from said query; and
determine an expertise rating based on said technical search terms using said lexicon; and
a search system configured to:
perform a search using said search query and generate search results; and
present said search results based on said expertise level.
13. The system of claim 12 , said expertise rating system further configured to update an expertise rating for a particular user.
14. The system of claim 13 , said expertise rating being stored on a local storage device.
15. The system of claim 13 , said expertise rating being stored on a remote storage device, said expertise rating is stored without any personally identifiable information.
16. The system of claim 15 , said expertise rating being stored on a remote storage device, said particular user having given permission for said expertise rating to be stored.
17. A method comprising:
monitoring a web browser session by a user;
determining a first expertise level associated with a first domain for said user;
identifying a website browsed to by said user;
determining an expertise level and a first technical domain associated with said website by identifying at least one keyword, looking up said at least one keyword in a lexicon, said lexicon comprising technical words having a predefined user expertise level, and determining said expertise level from said lexicon; and
updating said first expertise level associated with said first technical domain for said user.
18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:
receiving a query from said user;
determining that said query is related to said first domain;
searching a lexicon to determine a technical ranking for said query; and
updating said first expertise level associated with said first domain for said user based on said technical ranking of said query.
19. The method of claim 17 , for each of a plurality of domains, said user having a different expertise level.
20. The method of claim 17 , said website being browsed to from a group of search results.