WEB SEARCH SYSTEM WITH GROUP INTERACTION SUPPORT
An Internet infrastructure supports searching of web links to select search results by processing browser activity information along with one or more of favorite lists, and related metadata, user profiles, and trends based on browser activity behavior and favorite behavior. A plurality of web browsers located on client device are incorporated with a browser activity-monitoring module that tracks user's Internet usage, processes this information, and sends this information periodically or upon user request to the server to aid in improving search operation results. The search engine server communicatively couples to the plurality of web browsers and supports delivery of search results/web links to the client device based upon a search string, browser activity information, and possibly the favorite lists and related metadata. The gathered browser activity information, favorite lists, and related metadata are stored in one or more server databases that are associated with the search engine server.
1 . A web search system comprising:
a communication interface supporting communication exchanges with a plurality of browsers of corresponding plurality of computing devices of a plurality of users;
storage that contains previous interaction data constructed based on previous interactions by the plurality of users via the plurality of browsers;
a web crawling infrastructure that gathers text data from a plurality of web pages hosted on an Internet;
a processing infrastructure that (i) supports a login process for the plurality of users, (ii) identifies a plurality of groups of users from the plurality of users, and (iii) receives a search request from a first user of a first group of the plurality of groups of users; and
the processing infrastructure responds to the search request by generating a tailored search results for the first user, the generation of the tailored search results involving reference by the processing infrastructure to particular portions of the previous interaction data, the particular portions corresponding to those parts of the previous interaction data originating from the first group of the plurality of groups of users.
2 . The web search system of claim 1 , wherein the storage contains a plurality of user's profile information, each of the plurality of user's profile information being associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of users, and the identification of the plurality of groups of users is based on the plurality of user's profile information.
3 . The web search system of claim 2 , wherein the identification of the plurality of groups of users involves an attempt to identify at least similarities between portions of at least two of the plurality of user's profile information.
4 . The web search system of claim 1 , wherein the identification of the first group of the plurality of groups of users involves an attempt to identify a plurality of similar users from the plurality of users.
5 . The web search system of claim 1 , wherein previous interaction data identifies previously visited web pages.
6 . The web search system of claim 5 , wherein the previous interaction data includes revisit data.
7 . The web search system of claim 5 , wherein the previous interaction data includes negative interaction data that indicates a lack of preference for a visited first web page.
8 . The web search system of claim 5 , wherein the previous interaction data includes positive interaction data that indicates a preference for a visited first web page.
9 . The web search system of claim 1 , wherein the processing infrastructure receives a restriction indication from the first user captured via the first browser, the processing infrastructure responds to the restriction indication by restricting the tailored search results to identifications of only those of the plurality of web pages that have been previously visited by at least one user from the first group of the plurality of groups of users.
10 . The web search system of claim 1 , wherein the processing infrastructure considers group trend data when generating the tailored search results.
11 . A web search system supporting a plurality of computing devices of a plurality of users via an Internet, the web search system comprising:
a gathering infrastructure that gathers text data from a plurality of web pages hosted on the Internet;
storage that contains previous interaction data constructed based on previous interactions by the plurality of users with a portion of the plurality of web pages via the plurality of computing devices;
a processing infrastructure that (i) supports a login process for each of the plurality of users, (ii) identifies a first group of users from the plurality of users, and (iii) receives a search request from a first user of the first group of users via a first device of the plurality of computing devices; and
the processing infrastructure responds to the search request by tailoring a search results for the first user, the tailoring involving a consideration of particular parts of the previous interaction data, the particular parts comprise those parts of the previous interaction data originating from the first group of users.
12 . The web search system of claim 11 , wherein the tailoring involving restricting the search results to those web pages previously visited by at least one user of the first group of users.
13 . The web search system of claim 11 , wherein the first group of users being selected from the plurality of users based on similar user related information.
14 . The web search system of claim 11 , wherein the first group of users being selected from the plurality of users based on a common interest.
15 . The web search system of claim 11 , wherein the first group of users being selected from the plurality of users based on prior search patterns.
16 . The web search system of claim 11 , wherein the first group of users being selected from the plurality of users based on a statistical analysis.
17 . The web search system of claim 11 , wherein the search results supports presentation of a visual element that indicates to the first user that at least one second user of the first group of users has indicated that such at least one second user favors a particular web site identified in the search results.
18 . A web search system supporting a plurality of computing devices of corresponding plurality of users via an Internet, the plurality of users including a first user and a second user, the web search system comprising:
a gathering infrastructure that retrieves text data from a plurality of web pages hosted on the Internet, the plurality of web pages including a first web page;
at least one database that contains, for each of the plurality of users, user associated data gathered via each of the plurality of computing devices;
a processing infrastructure that generates search results data for a first user of the plurality of users by considering those portions of the user associated data gathered from a first group of users of the plurality of users, the first group of users including both the first user and the second user, and the search results data including first information relating to user associated data gathered from the second user; and
the processing infrastructure delivers the search results data to the first user via a first device of the plurality of computing devices, the search results data supporting a presentation on the first device of a visual identification of the first web page and in association therewith a visual element relating to the first information.
19 . The web search system of claim 18 , wherein the visual element indicates that the first web page is considered of value by at least one of the first group of users.
20 . The web search system of claim 18 , wherein the visual element indicates a popularity of the first web page.
21 . The web search system of claim 18 , wherein the user associated data comprises prior interaction data.
22 . The web search system of claim 18 , wherein the user associated data comprises user profile related data.
23 . The web search system of claim 18 , wherein the first group of users are selected from the plurality of users based on at least a portion of the user associated data.
24 . The web search system of claim 18 , wherein web page reference text within the search results data is sorted based at least in part on a portion of the user associated data.
25 . A method performed by a web searching infrastructure to support a plurality of computing devices of corresponding plurality of users via an Internet, the plurality of users including a first user and a second user, the web search system comprising:
gathering text data from a plurality of web pages hosted on the Internet, the plurality of web pages including a first web page;
storing, for each of the plurality of users, user associated data gathered via each of the plurality of computing devices;
generating search results data for a first user of the plurality of users by considering those portions of the user associated data gathered from a first group of users of the plurality of users, the first group of users including both the first user and the second user, and the search results data including first information relating to user associated data gathered from the second user; and
delivering the search results data to the first user via a first device of the plurality of computing devices, the search results data supporting a presentation on the first device of a visual identification of the first web page and in association therewith a visual element relating to the first information.
26 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the visual element provides an indication that the first web page is considered of value by at least one of the first group of users.
27 . The web search system of claim 25 , wherein the user associated data comprises prior interaction data.
28 . The web search system of claim 25 , wherein the user associated data comprises user profile related data.
29 . The web search system of claim 25 , wherein the first group of users are selected from the plurality of users based on at least a portion of the user associated data.
30 . The web search system of claim 25 , wherein web page reference text within the search results data is sorted based at least in part on a portion of the user associated data.