Perturbing search results

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a server in a computer system, a query to perform a search for user-interested information, the query including query parameters;
• obtaining, at the server and in response to the query, a plurality of search results from a database based on the query parameters, the search results including the user-interested information;
• determining, at the server, whether the query is received within a predefined duration from the time query was executed previously;
• responsive to a determination that the query is received within a predefined duration from the time query was executed previously,
• perturbing, at the server, at least a portion of the search results based on a perturbation criterion to generate perturbed search results;
• and
• serving, by the server, the perturbed search results.

A system comprising:

• a processor;
• a receiver unit working in cooperation with the processor to receive a query to perform a search for user-interested information, the query including query parameters;
• a search unit working in cooperation with the processor to obtain, in response to the query and from a database, a plurality of search results based on the query parameters, the search results including the user-interested information;
• a perturbation determination unit working in cooperation with the processor to determine whether the query is received within a predefined duration from the time query was executed previously;
• a search result perturbation unit working in cooperation with the processor to perturb, responsive to a determination that the query is received within a predefined duration from the time query was executed previously, at least a portion of the search results based on a perturbation criterion to generate perturbed search results;
• and
• a search result transmission unit working in cooperation with the processor to serve the perturbed search results to a client device.

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a server in a computer system and from a first user and a second user, a query to perform a search for user-interested information, the query including query parameters;
• obtaining, at the server and in response to the query, a plurality of search results based on the query parameters, the search results including the user-interested information;
• perturbing, at the server, at least a portion of the search results based on a perturbation criterion to generate a first set of perturbed search results for the first user and a second set of perturbed search results for the second user, the first set of perturbed search results being different from the second set of perturbed search results;
• and
• serving, by the server, the first set of perturbed search results to the first user and the second set of perturbed search results to the second user.

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a server in a computer system and from a user, a query to perform a search for user-interested information, the query including query parameters;
• obtaining, at the server and in response to the query, a plurality of search results based on the query parameters, the search results including the user-interested information;
• serving, by the server, the search results to a client device in the computer system;
• and
• perturbing, at the client device, at least a portion of the search results based on a perturbation criterion to generate perturbed search results.