Methods of and apparatus for refining descriptors

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 , wherein the user's responses that cause the modification include explicit comments supplied by the user indicative of the usefulness of search results.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 , wherein the stored data items include representations of images and the summary form of the stored data item including a representation of an image includes a thumbnail version of the image.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 , wherein the association relationship for a selected data item is modified in response to the user making a monetary transaction in connection with a thing associated with the selected data item.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 , wherein the association relationship between one of said stored data items and one or more of said stored descriptors has for each of said one or more of said descriptors a stored weight indicating a strength of association between the stored data item and the stored descriptor.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5 , wherein modification to the association relationships further comprises modifying the stored weights in said stored association relationships.

Claim 8

The method of claim 6 , wherein a descriptor not previously present in the stored association relationship for a data item is assigned a first weight in response to the descriptor initially occurring in a search request from a user.

Claim 9

The method of claim 6 , wherein a descriptor is added to the stored association relationship in response to the weight for that descriptor exceeding a threshold value.

Claim 10

The method of claim 6 , wherein a descriptor is removed from the stored association relationship in response to the weight falling below a threshold value.

Claim 11

The method of claim 6 , wherein a descriptor is added to the stored association relationship in response to the weight for that descriptor exceeding a first threshold value and a descriptor is removed from the stored association relationship in response to the weight falling below a second threshold value.

Claim 12

The method of claim 1 , wherein said at least one of the stored descriptors is modified by being added to the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested and said at least one of the descriptors is modified by being removed from the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested.

Claim 15

The method of claim 12 , wherein said at least one of the stored descriptors is modified by being added to the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested and said at least one of the descriptors is modified by being removed from the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested.

Claim 16

A search facility for retrieving data items in response to user requests, the search facility comprising a store for (a) the data items and (b) association relationships between the stored data items and descriptors associated with the stored items, a receiver for search requests from users of the search facility, each search request including a user selection of at least one of the stored data items and at least one descriptor associated with the user selected at least one stored data item, a processor coupled to the receiver for retrieving from the store the users' search results in response to the search request by the users, the retrieved search results including a summary form of the stored data items selected in accordance with the search request, the processor being arranged for modifying the stored association relationship between the stored data items and the stored descriptors in response to the user responding to the sent search result by requesting the complete form of a selected data item in a search result, the modification including adding said at least one descriptor to the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested or removing said at least one descriptor from the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested.

Claim 17

A search facility for retrieving data items in response to user requests, the search facility comprising a store for (a) the data items and (b) association relationships between the stored data items and descriptors associated with the stored items, a receiver for search requests from users of the search facility, each search request including a user selection of at least one of the stored data items and at least one descriptor associated with the user selected at least one stored data item, a processor coupled to the receiver for retrieving from the store the users' search results in response to the search request by the users, the retrieved search results including a summary form of the stored data items selected in accordance with the search request, the processor being arranged for modifying the stored association relationship between the stored data items and the stored descriptors in response to the user responding to the sent search result by requesting the complete form of a selected data item in a search result, the modification including adding said at least one descriptor to the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested or removing said at least one descriptor from the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested.

Claim 18

The search facility of claim 14 , wherein responses by the users include explicit comments supplied by the user indicative of the usefulness of search results, the processor being arranged to modify the descriptors in response to the explicit comments indicative of the usefulness of the search results.

Claim 19

The search facility of claim 14 , wherein responses by the users include a monetary transaction in connection with a commodity associated with a selected data item, the processor being arranged to modify the descriptors in response to the response including the monetary transaction.

Claim 20

The search facility of claim 14 , wherein the stored association relationship between one of said stored data items and one or more of said descriptors has for each of said one or more of said descriptors a stored weight indicating strength of association between the stored data item and the stored descriptor.

Claim 21

The search facility of claim 17 , wherein the processor is arranged for modifying the stored association relationships by modifying the stored weights in said association relationships.

Claim 22

The search facility of claim 18 , wherein the processor is arranged for assigning a first weight for the stored association relationship for a data item in response to the descriptor initially occurring in a search request from a user.

Claim 23

The search facility of claim 18 , wherein the processor is arranged for adding a description to the stored association relationship in response to the weight for that descriptor exceeding a threshold value.

Claim 24

The search facility of claim 18 , wherein the processor is arranged for removing a descriptor from the stored association relationship in response to the weight for that descriptor falling below a second threshold value.

Claim 25

The search facility of claim 14 , wherein the processor is arranged for modifying said at least one of the stored descriptors by (a) adding the descriptor to the stored relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was completed and (b) removing the descriptor from the stored relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was completed.

Claim 34

A search facility for retrieving data items in response to user requests, the search facility comprising a store for (a) the data items and (b) association relationships between the stored data items and descriptors associated with the stored items, a receiver for search requests from users of the search facility, each search request including a user selection of at least one of the stored data items and at least one descriptor associated with the user selected at least one stored data item, a processor coupled to the receiver for retrieving from the store the users' search results in response to the search request by the users, the retrieved search results including a summary form of the stored data items selected in accordance with the search request, the processor being arranged for modifying the stored association relationship between the stored data items and the stored descriptors in response to the user responding to the sent search result by requesting the complete form of a selected data item in a search result, the modification including removing said at least one descriptor from the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested.

Claim 35

A search facility for retrieving data items in response to user requests, the search facility comprising a store for (a) the data items and (b) association relationships between the stored data items and descriptors associated with the stored items, a receiver for search requests from users of the search facility, each search request including a user selection of at least one of the stored data items and at least one descriptor associated with the user selected at least one stored data item, a processor coupled to the receiver for retrieving from the store the users' search results in response to the search request by the users, the retrieved search results including a summary form of the stored data items selected in accordance with the search request, the processor being arranged for modifying the stored association relationship between the stored data items and the stored descriptors in response to the user responding to the sent search result by requesting the complete form of a selected data item in a search result, the modification including removing said at least one descriptor from the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested.

Claim 36

A search facility for retrieving data items in response to user requests, the search facility comprising a store for (a) the data items and (b) association relationships between the stored data items and descriptors associated with the stored items, a receiver for search requests from users of the search facility, each search request including a user selection of at least one of the stored data items and at least one descriptor associated with the user selected at least one stored data item, a processor coupled to the receiver for retrieving from the store the users' search results in response to the search request by the users, the retrieved search results including a summary form of the stored data items selected in accordance with the search request, the processor being arranged for modifying the stored association relationship between the stored data items and the stored descriptors in response to the user responding to the sent search result by requesting the complete form of a selected data item in a search result, the modification including adding said at least one descriptor to the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested.

Claim 37

A search facility for retrieving data items in response to user requests, the search facility comprising a store for (a) the data items and (b) association relationships between the stored data items and descriptors associated with the stored items, a receiver for search requests from users of the search facility, each search request including a user selection of at least one of the stored data items and at least one descriptor associated with the user selected at least one stored data item, a processor coupled to the receiver for retrieving from the store the users' search results in response to the search request by the users, the retrieved search results including a summary form of the stored data items selected in accordance with the search request, the processor being arranged for modifying the stored association relationship between the stored data items and the stored descriptors in response to the user responding to the sent search result by requesting the complete form of a selected data item in a search result, the modification including adding said at least one descriptor to the stored association relationship for the selected data item for which the complete form was requested.