Lateral Search
AssigneeYahoo! Inc.
InventorsQi Lu, John Thrall, David Ku
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A search query is received. Personal information for a user is then determined. A search is performed in a general subdomain of general content using the search query. For example, the general subdomain of general content may be a WWW search. Then, a vertical subdomain is determined based on the personal information. A search is then performed in the vertical subdomain of specialized content using the search query. The search performed in the general subdomain and the search performed in the vertical subdomain generate general search results and vertical search results. The results may be combined and outputted to a client.
Claims20
A method, implemented on a machine having at least one processor, storage, and a communication platform connected to a network for performing a search, comprising:
- receiving a search query from a user;
- determining personal information of the user, wherein the personal information includes information about the user's location;
- searching, by a general search engine, in a general subdomain for general content based on the search query;
- determining a vertical subdomain based on the personal information of the user;
- searching in the determined vertical subdomain to identify specialized content based on the search query;
- and
- providing both the specialized content and the general content to the user as a response to the search query.
A system having at least one processor, storage, and a communication platform connected to a network for performing a search, comprising;
- a query processor configured for receiving a search query from a user and determining personal information of the user, wherein the personal information includes information about the user's location;
- a general search engine configured for performing a search, in a general subdomain, for general content based on the search query;
- a vertical search engine configured for performing a search, in a vertical subdomain, for specialized content based on the search query, wherein the vertical subdomain is determined based on the personal information of the user;
- and
- a page constructor configured for providing both the specialized content and the general content to the user as a response to the search query.
A machine-readable tangible and non-transitory medium having information for performing a search, wherein the information, when read by the machine, causes the machine to perform the following:
- receiving a search query from a user;
- determining personal information of the user, wherein the personal information includes information about the user's location;
- searching, by a general search engine, in a general subdomain for general content based on the search query;
- determining a vertical subdomain based on the personal information of the user;
- searching in the determined vertical subdomain to identify specialized content based on the search query;
- and
- providing both the specialized content and the general content to the user as a response to the search query.
The medium of claim 16, wherein the information about the user's location is determined based on at least one of:
- a default location of the user;
- a current location of a location-aware device utilized by the user;
- and
- a location previously indicated by the user and stored.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.