Ordering of database search results based on user feedback

An apparatus, comprising:

• (a) a memory within which is resident a plurality of records from a database, each record associated with a user feedback parameter;
• (b) a first program, resident in the memory, the first program configured to, in response to a search request, generate a result set including identifications of a subset of the plurality of records that match the search request, and to order the identifications of the records in the result, set using the user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set;
• and
• (c) a second program, resident in the memory, the second program configured to, for each of the plurality of records, selectively update the user feedback parameter associated therewith in response to multiple accesses thereto by a user.

A method of accessing a database, the method comprising:

• (a) in response to a search request, generating a result set including identifications of a subset of a plurality of records in a database that match the search request;
• (b) ordering the identifications of the records in the result set using a user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set, wherein ordering the identifications of the records in the result set using the user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set includes:
• (i) partitioning the result set into a plurality of relevance groups, with each relevance group including identifications of records having like relevancies to the search request;
• and
• (ii) sorting the identifications of records within each relevance group according to the user feedback parameter associated therewith;
• and
• (c) for each of the plurality of records in the database, selectively updating the user feedback parameter associated therewith in response to detecting that the record is the most recently accessed record in the result set.

An apparatus, comprising:

• (a) a memory within which is resident a plurality of records from a database, each record associated with a user feedback parameter;
• (b) a first program, resident in the memory, the first program configured to, in response to a search request, generate a result set including identifications of a subset of the plurality of records that match the search request, and to order the identifications of the records in the result set using the user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set, wherein the first program is configured to order the identifications of the records in the result set using the user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set by partitioning the result set into a plurality of relevance groups, with each relevance group including identifications of records having like relevancies to the search request and sorting the identifications of records within each relevance group according to the user feedback parameters associated therewith;
• and
• (c) a second program, resident in the memory, the second program configured to, for each of the plurality of records, selectively update the user feedback parameter associated therewith in response to detecting that the record is the most recently accessed record in the result set.

A program product, comprising:

• (a) a first program configured to, in response to a search request, generate a result set including identifications of a subset of a plurality of records in a database that match the search request, and to order the identifications of the records in the result set using a user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set, wherein the first program is configured to order the identifications of the records in the result set using the user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set by partitioning the result set into a plurality of relevance groups, with each relevance group including identifications of records having like relevancies to the search request, and sorting the identifications of records within each relevance group according to the user feedback parameters associated therewith;
• (b) a second program configured to, for each of the plurality of records, selectively update the user feedback parameter associated therewith in response to detecting that the record is the most recently accessed record in the result set;
• and
• (c) a signal bearing medium bearing the first and second programs.

A method of accessing a database, the method comprising:

• (a) in response to a search request, generating a result set including identifications of a subset of a plurality of records in a database that match the search request;
• (b) ordering the identifications of the records in the result set using a user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set, each user feedback parameter including a plurality of weights, each weight associated with a keyword, wherein ordering the identifications of the records includes using only those weights associated with keywords that match the search request;
• and
• (c) for each of the plurality of records in the database, selectively updating at least one weight for the user feedback parameter associated therewith in response to user interaction with the record.

A method of processing search requests submitted to a search engine, the method comprising:

• (a) receiving a search request that specifies a plurality of keywords;
• (b) accessing a search request data structure in response to the search request, the search request data structure including a plurality of search request records, each search request record including a search request identifier identifying a unique combination of keywords, and a result set identifier identifying a subset of a plurality of records in a database that match the unique combination of keywords, wherein accessing the search request data structure includes searching the search request data structure to locate a search request record including a search request identifier that matches the plurality of keywords in the search request;
• (c) generating a result set identifying the subset of records identified in the result set identifier in the located search request record;
• (d) for each of the plurality of records in the database, selectively updating a user feedback parameter associated therewith in response to user interaction with the record;
• and
• (c) ordering the identifications of the subset of records in the result set using the user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set;
• wherein the result set identifier for each search request record further includes a copy of the user feedback parameter for each of the subset of records identified thereby, and wherein selectively updating the user feedback parameter includes updating each copy of the user feedback parameter in the search request data structure.

An apparatus, comprising:

• (a) a memory within which is resident a plurality of records from a database, each record associated with a user feedback parameter;
• (b) a first program, resident in the memory, the first program configured to, in response to a search request, generate a result set including identifications of a subset of the plurality of records that match the search request, and to order the identifications of the records in the result set using the user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set, wherein each user feedback parameter includes a plurality of weights, wherein each weight is associated with a keyword, and wherein the first program is configured to order the identifications of the records by using only those weights associated with keywords that match the search request;
• and
• (c) a second program, resident in the memory, the second program configured to, for each of the plurality of records, selectively update the user feedback parameter associated therewith in response to user interaction with the record.

A program product, comprising:

• (a) a first program configured to, in response to a search request, generate a result set including identifications of a subset of a plurality of records in a database that match the search request, and to order the identifications of the records in the result set using a user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set, wherein each user feedback parameter includes a plurality of weights, wherein each weight is associated with a keyword, and wherein the first program is configured to order the identifications of the records by using only those weights associated with keywords that match the search request;
• (b) a second program configured to, for each of the plurality of records, selectively update the user feedback parameter associated therewith in response to user interaction with the record;
• and
• (c) a signal bearing medium bearing the first and second programs.

An apparatus, comprising:

• (a) a memory within which is resident a search request data structure, the search request data structure including a plurality of search request records, each search request record including a search request identifier identifying a unique combination of keywords, and a result set identifier identifying a subset of a plurality of records in a database that match the unique combination of keywords;
• (b) a program, resident in the memory, the program configured to, in response to a search request that specifies a plurality of keywords, search the search request data structure to locate a search request record including a search request identifier that matches the plurality of keywords in the search request, and to generate a result set identifying the subset of records identified in the result set identifier in the located search request record;
• wherein the program is further configured to, for each of the plurality of records in the database, selectively update a user feedback parameter associated therewith in response to user interaction with the record;
• wherein the program is further configured to order the identifications of the subset of records in the result set using the user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set;
• wherein the result set identifier for each search request record further includes a copy of the user feedback parameter for each of the subset of records identified thereby, and wherein the program is configured to selectively update the user feedback parameter by updating each copy of the user feedback parameter in the search request data structure.

A program product, comprising:

• (a) a program configured to, in response to a search request that specifies a plurality of keywords, search a search request data structure to locate a search request record including a search request identifier that matches the plurality of keywords in the search request, the search request data structure including a plurality of search request records, each search request record including a search request identifier identifying a unique combination of keywords, and a result set identifier identifying a subset of a plurality of records in a database that match the unique combination of keywords, and the program further configured to generate a result set identifying the subset of records identified in the result set identifier in the located search request record;
• and
• (b) a signal bearing medium bearing the program;
• wherein the program is further configured to, for each of the plurality of records in the database, selectively update a user feedback parameter associated therewith in response to user interaction with the record;
• wherein the program is further configured to order the identifications of the subset of records in the result set using the user feedback parameter associated with each record in the result set;
• wherein the result set identifier for each search request record further includes a copy of the user feedback parameter for each of the subset of records identified thereby, and wherein the program is configured to selectively update the user feedback parameter by updating each copy of the user feedback parameter in the search request data structure.