# US 12,007,939 B1 · Method and apparatus for determining search result demographics > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,007,939 B1 - Document ID: US12007939B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 17/948,172 - Filed: 2022-09-19 - Granted: 2024-06-11 - Earliest claimed: 2010-04-22 - Assignees: NetBase Solutions, Inc. - Applicants: NetBase Solutions, Inc. - Inventors: Michael Jacob Osofsky; Jens Erik Tellefsen; Wei Li; Ranjeet Singh Bhatia - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12007939B1 ## CPC - G06F 16/00: Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor - G06F 16/24578: {using ranking} - G06F 16/248: Presentation of query results - G06F 16/951: Indexing; Web crawling techniques - G06F 16/953: Querying, e.g. by the use of web search engines - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract Techniques are presented for producing demographics, in an automated fashion, from a search result of computer-accessible content. While the demographics can be determined for a research product that has been produced by any technique, they are particularly useful when applied to an automated frame-based search approach. Frame-based search engines are presented for technology profiling, healthcare-related search and brand research. Determination of a demographic proceeds at two levels: member and population. At the member level, a demographic characteristic can be determined applicable with either total or partial certainty. Each value assigned by a demographic, to a population member, has a confidence level associated with it and the assignments can be represented by a Confidence Distribution. Summarization of a demographic, at the population level, depends upon whether the certainty assignments, at the member level, are total or partial. Declarant Demographics are presented. Approaches, to determining Declarant Demographics, are presented. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for frame-based search, performed by computing hardware and programmable memory, comprising the following steps: receiving a first rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a first frame, wherein the first frame comprises a first input role and a first output role; receiving a second rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a second frame, wherein the second frame comprises a second input role and a second output role; receiving a first source corpus; identifying first and second units of natural language from, respectively, first and second records of the first source corpus; producing a first instance, from the first unit, by application of the first rule, wherein the first instance has a first input value assigned to its first input role and a first output value assigned to its first output role; producing a second instance, from the second unit, by application of the second rule, wherein the second instance has a second input value assigned to its second input role and a second output value assigned to its second output role; matching an input user query to the first input value of the first instance, and the second input value of the second instance; determining the first and second instances represent a same third frame; determining a same third value as representative of the first and second input values; determining a same fourth value as representative of the first and second output values; producing, as a result of computing hardware and programmable memory, a first result that contains a first result-value and a first result-base, wherein the first result-value is the fourth value and the first result-base contains the first and second records; determining, as a result of computing hardware and programmable memory, a member-level demographic value for each member of the first result-base; determining, as a result of computing hardware and programmable memory, a first demographic value, for the first result, by combining the member-level demographic values; and displaying, to a user as part of a search result, the first demographic value as a demographic determined for the first result-value. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a member-level demographic value for each member of the first result-base further comprises: determining whether a first lexical unit, with a demographic association, is present. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the first lexical unit is indicative of a geographical area. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the lexical unit is produced by application of automated machine learning procedures to training corpora. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a member-level demographic value for each member of the first result-base further comprises: application of a third linguistic rule, that triggers upon a logical form, and, if triggered, has an action that indicates a presence of a demographic characteristic. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the third linguistic rule tests for self-referential demographic identification. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the third linguistic rule requires a logical form with a verb, actor, and undergoer. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the third linguistic rule requires a logical form with a verb of a form of to be, and a self-referential actor. ### Claim 9 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the third linguistic rule, if triggered, indicates the presence of the demographic characteristic with a confidence distribution. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: producing a first Logical Form semantic representation for the first unit of natural language of the first corpus; determining whether a first conditional part of the first rule matches the first Logical Form; producing, if the first conditional part matches, in accordance with a first action part of the first rule, an assignment of values of the first Logical Form to the first input role and first output role of the first instance; producing a second Logical Form semantic representation for the second unit of natural language of the first corpus; determining whether a second conditional part of the second rule matches the second Logical Form; and producing, if the second conditional part matches, in accordance with a second action part of the second rule, an assignment of values of the second Logical Form to the second input role and second output role of the second instance.