US6182068B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Personalized search methods
Assignee: IAC Search and Media Inc
•
Filing: 1999-03-01
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Granted: 2001-01-30
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Expires: 2019-03-01
Abstract
Abstract A method of organizing information in which the search activity of previous users is monitored and such activity is used to organize articles for future users. Personal data about future users can be used to provide different article rankings depending on the search activity and personal data of the previous users.
Inventors
- 👤 Gary Culliss
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 18:15
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/30; G06F16/33; G06F16/335; G06F16/337; G06F16/90; G06F16/95; G06F16/951; G06F16/953; G06F16/9538; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99933; Y10S707/99935
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
438 words
A method of organizing a plurality of articles comprising: (a) providing an index, the index being able to store key term groupings of at least one key term and at least one personal data element and associate each article with at least one of the key term groupings, the index further being able to associate a key term score with each article under each of the respective key term groupings when stored within the index; (b) accepting a first search query from a first user having first personal data; (c) identifying key terms that match the first search query, the key terms that match the first search query being first matched key terms; (d) identifying first personal data elements that match the first personal data, the first personal data elements that match the first personal data being first matched personal data elements; (e) displaying squibs of articles related to the first search query to the first user; (f) allowing the first user to select at least one of the articles related to the first search query, the article selected by the first user being a selected article; (g) altering the index such that the key term score for the selected article under at least one first matched key term grouping of at least one of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements is altered relative to other key term scores; (h) accepting a second search query from a second user having second personal data; (i) identifying key terms that match the second search query, the key terms that match the second search query being second matched key terms; (j) identifying second personal data elements that match the second personal data, the second personal data elements that match the first personal data being second matched personal data elements; and (k) displaying squibs of articles related to the second search query to the second user, wherein the squibs of articles related to the second search query are organized in order of superiority of their key term scores under at least one second matched key term grouping of at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements when at least one of the second matched key terms matches at least one of the first matched key terms and when at least one of the second matched personal data elements matches at least one of the first matched personal data elements, whereby the selected article will be ranked higher for the second user than before the first user had selected the article.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
438 words
A method of organizing a plurality of articles comprising: (a) providing an index, the index being able to store key term groupings of at least one key term and at least one personal data element and associate each article with at least one of the key term groupings, the index further being able to associate a key term score with each article under each of the respective key term groupings when stored within the index; (b) accepting a first search query from a first user having first personal data; (c) identifying key terms that match the first search query, the key terms that match the first search query being first matched key terms; (d) identifying first personal data elements that match the first personal data, the first personal data elements that match the first personal data being first matched personal data elements; (e) displaying squibs of articles related to the first search query to the first user; (f) allowing the first user to select at least one of the articles related to the first search query, the article selected by the first user being a selected article; (g) altering the index such that the key term score for the selected article under at least one first matched key term grouping of at least one of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements is altered relative to other key term scores; (h) accepting a second search query from a second user having second personal data; (i) identifying key terms that match the second search query, the key terms that match the second search query being second matched key terms; (j) identifying second personal data elements that match the second personal data, the second personal data elements that match the first personal data being second matched personal data elements; and (k) displaying squibs of articles related to the second search query to the second user, wherein the squibs of articles related to the second search query are organized in order of superiority of their key term scores under at least one second matched key term grouping of at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements when at least one of the second matched key terms matches at least one of the first matched key terms and when at least one of the second matched personal data elements matches at least one of the first matched personal data elements, whereby the selected article will be ranked higher for the second user than before the first user had selected the article.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
149 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 1 , wherein step (k) of displaying squibs of articles comprises: associating the key term scores of individual articles related to the second search query under at least some of the second matched key term grouping of at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements to create comparison scores for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query; and displaying squibs of articles related to the second search query in order of superiority of the comparison scores when at least a portion of the second search query is related to the at least a portion of the first search query and when at least one of the second matched personal data elements matches at least one of the first matched personal data elements.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
90 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 2 , wherein the step of associating the key term scores of individual articles comprises: at least multiplying the key term scores of individual articles related to the second search query under at least some of the second matched key term grouping of at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements to create comparison scores for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
91 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 2 , wherein the step of associating the key term scores of individual articles comprises: at least adding the key term probability scores of individual articles related to the second search query under at least some of the second matched key term grouping of at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements to create comparison scores for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
91 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 2 , wherein the step of associating the key term scores of individual articles comprises: at least averaging the key term probability scores of individual articles related to the second search query under at least some of the second matched key term grouping of at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements to create comparison scores for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
148 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 1 , wherein the index further associates a key term total score with each key term score; wherein step (g) of altering the index comprises: altering the index such that the key term score for the selected article under at least one first matched key term grouping of at least one of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements is altered relative to other key term scores; and altering the index such that key term total scores of at least one of the articles related to the first search query under at least one first matched key term grouping of at least one of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements is altered relative to other key term total scores.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
229 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 6 , wherein step (k) of displaying squibs of articles comprises: associating the key term score of individual articles related to the second search query under at least one second matched key term grouping of at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements with the respective key term total score to create a key term probability score for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query under the respective second matched key term grouping; associating the key term probability scores of individual articles related to the second search query under at least one of the second matched key term groupings to create comparison scores for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query; and displaying squibs of articles related to the second search query in order of superiority of the comparison scores when at least a portion of the second search query is related to the at least a portion of the first search query and when at least one of the second matched personal data elements matches at least one of the first matched personal data elements, whereby the selected article will be ranked higher for the second user than before the first user had selected the article.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
106 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 7 , wherein the step of associating the key term score of individual articles comprises: at least dividing the key term score of individual articles related to the second search query under at least one second matched key term grouping of at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements by the respective key term total score to create a key term probability score for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query under the respective second matched key term grouping.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 8 , wherein the step of associating the key term probability scores comprises: at least multiplying the key term probability scores of individual articles related to the second search query under at least one of the second matched key term groupings to create comparison scores for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 8 , wherein the step of associating the key term probability scores comprises: at least adding the key term probability scores of individual articles related to the second search query under at least one of the second matched key term groupings to create comparison scores for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 8 , wherein the step of associating the key term probability scores comprises: at least averaging the key term probability scores of individual articles related to the second search query under at least one of the second matched key term groupings to create comparison scores for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 7 , wherein the step of associating the key term probability scores comprises: at least multiplying the key term probability scores of individual articles related to the second search query under at least one of the second matched key term groupings to create comparison scores for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 7 , wherein the step of associating the key term probability scores comprises: at least adding the key term probability scores of individual articles related to the second search query under at least one of the second matched key term groupings to create comparison scores for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 7 , wherein the step of associating the key term probability scores comprises: at least averaging the key term probability scores of individual articles related to the second search query under at least one of the second matched key term groupings to create comparison scores for each of the respective individual articles related to the second search query.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 1 , wherein step (h) of accepting a second search query comprises: accepting a second search query from a second user having second personal data, the second user being different from the first user.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
122 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 1 , and further comprising: (l) allowing the second user to select at least one of the articles related to the second search query, the article selected by the second user being a second selected article; (m) altering the index such that the key term score for the second selected article under at least one of the second matched key terms is altered relative to other key term scores; (n) altering the index such that the key term score for the second selected article under at least one of the second personal data elements is altered relative to other key term scores; and (o) repeating steps (h) through (n) for additional users.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
159 words
The method of organizing a plurality of articles of claim 1 , wherein step (g) of altering the index comprises: comparing the key term scores for articles under at least one first matched key term grouping of at least one of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements with the key term scores for articles under at least another matched key term grouping of at least one of the first matched key terms and at least another personal data element, if the key term scores are significantly different then the first matched personal data element is considered a relevant first matched personal data element; and altering the index such that the key term score for the selected article under at least one of the matched key term groupings of at least one of the first matched key terms and at least one of the relevant first matched personal data elements.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
402 words
A method of organizing information, comprising: (a) providing a query index, the query index being able to store key term groupings of at least two key terms and at least one personal data element, the query index further being able to associate a previous-user relevancy score with each of the respective key term groupings when stored within the query index; (b) accepting a first search query of at least two key terms from a first user having first personal data; (c) identifying key terms that match the first search query, the key terms that match the first search query being first matched key terms; (d) identifying first personal data elements that match the first personal data, the first personal data elements that match the first personal data being first matched personal data elements; (e) identifying key term groupings in the query index that contain at least two of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements, the key term groupings containing at least two of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements being first matched key term groupings; (f) altering the query index such that the previous-user relevancy score for at least one of the first matched key term groupings is altered relative to other scores; (g) accepting a second search query of at least one key term from a second user having second personal data; (h) identifying key terms that match the second search query, the key terms that match the second search query being second matched key terms; (i) identifying second personal data elements that match the second personal data, the second personal data elements that match the first personal data being second matched personal data elements; (j) identifying first matched key term groupings in the query index that contain at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements, the key term groupings containing at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements being second related key term groupings; (k) comparing the previous-user relevancy scores of the related key term groupings; and (l) displaying squibs to the second user of articles related to the at least two key terms of the related key term grouping having the highest previous-user relevancy score.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
402 words
A method of organizing information, comprising: (a) providing a query index, the query index being able to store key term groupings of at least two key terms and at least one personal data element, the query index further being able to associate a previous-user relevancy score with each of the respective key term groupings when stored within the query index; (b) accepting a first search query of at least two key terms from a first user having first personal data; (c) identifying key terms that match the first search query, the key terms that match the first search query being first matched key terms; (d) identifying first personal data elements that match the first personal data, the first personal data elements that match the first personal data being first matched personal data elements; (e) identifying key term groupings in the query index that contain at least two of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements, the key term groupings containing at least two of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements being first matched key term groupings; (f) altering the query index such that the previous-user relevancy score for at least one of the first matched key term groupings is altered relative to other scores; (g) accepting a second search query of at least one key term from a second user having second personal data; (h) identifying key terms that match the second search query, the key terms that match the second search query being second matched key terms; (i) identifying second personal data elements that match the second personal data, the second personal data elements that match the first personal data being second matched personal data elements; (j) identifying first matched key term groupings in the query index that contain at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements, the key term groupings containing at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements being second related key term groupings; (k) comparing the previous-user relevancy scores of the related key term groupings; and (l) displaying squibs to the second user of articles related to the at least two key terms of the related key term grouping having the highest previous-user relevancy score.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
136 words
The method of organizing information of claim 18 , wherein step (f) of altering the query index comprises: comparing the previous-user relevancy scores for at least one of the first matched key term grouping of at least two of the first matched key terms and at one first matched personal data element with at least another key term grouping of at least two of the first matched key terms and at least another personal data element, if the previous-user relevancy scores are significantly different then the first matched personal data element is considered a relevant first matched personal data element; and altering the query index such that the previous-user relevancy score for at least one of the first matched key term groupings containing the relevant first matched personal data element is altered relative to other scores.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
404 words
A method of organizing information, comprising: (a) providing a query index, the query index being able to store key term groupings of at least two key terms and at least one personal data element, the query index further being able to associate a previous-user relevancy score with each of the respective key term groupings when stored within the query index; (b) accepting a first search query of at least two key terms from a first user having first personal data; (c) identifying key terms that match the first search query, the key terms that match the first search query being first matched key terms; (d) identifying first personal data elements that match the first personal data, the first personal data elements that match the first personal data being first matched personal data elements; (e) identifying key term groupings in the query index that contain at least two of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements, the key term groupings containing at least two of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements being first matched key term groupings; (f) altering the query index such that the previous-user relevancy score for at least one of the first matched key term groupings is altered relative to other scores; (g) accepting a second search query of at least one key term from a second user having second personal data; (h) identifying key terms that match the second search query, the key terms that match the second search query being second matched key terms; (i) identifying second personal data elements that match the second personal data, the second personal data elements that match the first personal data being second matched personal data elements; (j) identifying first matched key term groupings in the query index that contain at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements, the key term groupings containing at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements being second related key term groupings; and (k) displaying the at least two key terms of each related key term grouping, the at least two key terms of each related key term grouping being displayed in order of superiority of their previous-user relevancy scores of the related key term groupings.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
404 words
A method of organizing information, comprising: (a) providing a query index, the query index being able to store key term groupings of at least two key terms and at least one personal data element, the query index further being able to associate a previous-user relevancy score with each of the respective key term groupings when stored within the query index; (b) accepting a first search query of at least two key terms from a first user having first personal data; (c) identifying key terms that match the first search query, the key terms that match the first search query being first matched key terms; (d) identifying first personal data elements that match the first personal data, the first personal data elements that match the first personal data being first matched personal data elements; (e) identifying key term groupings in the query index that contain at least two of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements, the key term groupings containing at least two of the first matched key terms and at least one of the first matched personal data elements being first matched key term groupings; (f) altering the query index such that the previous-user relevancy score for at least one of the first matched key term groupings is altered relative to other scores; (g) accepting a second search query of at least one key term from a second user having second personal data; (h) identifying key terms that match the second search query, the key terms that match the second search query being second matched key terms; (i) identifying second personal data elements that match the second personal data, the second personal data elements that match the first personal data being second matched personal data elements; (j) identifying first matched key term groupings in the query index that contain at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements, the key term groupings containing at least one of the second matched key terms and at least one of the second matched personal data elements being second related key term groupings; and (k) displaying the at least two key terms of each related key term grouping, the at least two key terms of each related key term grouping being displayed in order of superiority of their previous-user relevancy scores of the related key term groupings.
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