Auto-refinement of search results based on monitored search activities of users
A tracking system passively tracks and records searches conducted by actual search engine users. The recorded data for each search event preferably includes the search query submitted, the search engine used, the search result item (e.g., web page) selected, the position (e.g., page number) of this item, and the user's IP address. The collected data is aggregated and analyzed to generate data regarding the search queries used to locate and access particular destinations (e.g., web pages and sites). This data may be used for various purposes, such as (1) to generate reports showing, e.g., how users reach a particular destination from different search engines and geographic locations, (2) to select content to display on a destination page, such that the content is relevant to search queries commonly used to locate that page, and (3) to update the database of one search engine to reflect searches conducted on other search engines.
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
tracking search activities of search engine users over a plurality of index-type search engines to generate search activity data, said search activity data identifying at least search queries submitted by search engine users to locate and access a particular destination, wherein each of the search engine users interacts with a search results page of the index-type search engine to view search results, and wherein each of the plurality of search engines maintains its own proprietary index obtained by crawling web sites for building a unique database for generating search results;
programmatically analyzing search activity data to generate statistical data regarding said search queries used to locate and access the particular destination, said statistical data encompassing search activities over the plurality of index-type search engines, wherein said programmatically analyzing is performed by a computer system having a processor and memory; and
automatically incorporating the statistical data into a search result ranking process of a particular index-type search engine such that a search result ranking assigned by the particular index-type search engine to the particular destination is dependent upon searches conducted via at least one other index-type search engine.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular destination is a particular web page.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein tracking the search activities of search engine users comprises using a browser-executable component included in the particular web page to track the search queries submitted by search engine users to locate and access the particular web page.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular destination is a particular file.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the statistical data includes, for particular index-type search engines and search queries, data regarding positions at which the particular destination appeared in search results listings.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the positions are specified in terms of search results page numbers.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein programmatically analyzing search activity data further comprises normalizing the search activity data for variations in traffic among the index-type search engines.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein programmatically analyzing search activity data further comprises unequally weighting the normalized comparisons of search engine data.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the search activity data from the particular search engine is given substantially zero weight.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating and merging the statistical data with a database of the particular search engine.
11. A computer system, comprising:
a data collection server including computer hardware configured to track search activities of search engine users over a plurality of index-type search engines to generate search activity data, said search activity data identifying at least search queries submitted by search engine users to locate and access a particular destination, wherein each of the search engine users interacts with a search results page of the index-type search engine to view search results, and wherein each of the plurality of search engines maintains its own proprietary index obtained by crawling web sites for building a unique database for generating search results; and
an analyzer configured to analyze search activity data to generate statistical data regarding said search queries used to locate and access the particular destination, said statistical data encompassing search activities over the plurality of index-type search engines, said analyzer further configured to automatically incorporate the statistical data into a search result ranking process of a particular index-type search engine such that a search result ranking assigned by the particular index-type search engine to the particular destination is dependent upon searches conducted via at least one other index-type search engine.
12. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the particular destination is a particular web page.
13. The computer system of claim 12 , wherein the data collection server is configured to communicate with a browser-executable component included in the particular web page to track the search queries submitted by search engine users to locate and access the particular web page.
14. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the particular destination is a particular file.
15. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the statistical data includes, for particular index-type search engines and search queries, data regarding positions at which the destination appeared in search results listings.
16. The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the positions are specified in terms of search results page numbers.
17. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the analyzer further normalizes the search activity data for variations in traffic among the index-type search engines.
18. The computer system of claim 17 , wherein the analyzer further unequally weights normalized comparisons of search engine data.
19. The computer system of claim 18 , wherein the search activity data from the particular search engine is given substantially zero weight.
20. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the analyzer is further configured to merge the statistical data with a database of the particular search engine.