Method and apparatus for using tag topology

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations for using user provided tags for searching, the operations comprising:

• collecting a plurality of user provided tags associated with a plurality of entities, wherein the plurality of user provided tags comprises semantic descriptions;
• creating a tag topological network layer that is managed by a service provider, wherein the tag topological network layer predefines a next entity for each one of the plurality of entities based upon the plurality of user provided tags;
• receiving a user query that contains a search term;
• and
• generating a search result containing an entity of the plurality of entities in the tag topological network layer, wherein the entity is found based on a distance measure of a tag vector, tp, for the entity, p, wherein a function tp(i) represents a measure of a weight of a tag, i, that is used to tag the entity, p, based on a normalized count of times tag, i, is used to tag the entity, p, wherein the entity contains a link to another entity in accordance with the tag topological network layer, wherein the link is created in accordance with the tag vector of the entity.

An apparatus for using user provided tags for searching, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
• collecting a plurality of user provided tags associated with a plurality of entities, wherein the plurality of user provided tags comprises semantic descriptions;
• creating a tag topological network layer that is managed by a service provider, wherein the tag topological network layer predefines a next entity for each one of the plurality of entities based upon the plurality of user provided tags;
• receiving a user query that contains a search term;
• and
• generating a search result containing an entity of the plurality of entities in the tag topological network layer, wherein the entity is found based on a distance measure of a tag vector, tp, for the entity, p, wherein a function tp(i) represents a measure of a weight of a tag, i, that is used to tag the entity, p, based on a normalized count of times tag, i, is used to tag the entity, p, wherein the entity contains a link to another entity in accordance with the tag topological network layer, wherein the link is created in accordance with the tag vector of the entity.