US 8,819,051 B2Granted

Tagging offline content with context-sensitive search-enabling keywords

AssigneeYahoo! Inc.

InventorReiner Kraft

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

Techniques for providing information about “offline” content are provided. In one technique, content (e.g., televised or paper-printed content) is “tagged” with a service-associated icon and a keyword. A person seeing the icon in the content may submit the keyword to the service via his web browser. The service responsively submits search-limiting criteria, associated with the keyword, as query terms to a search engine. The search engine determines relevant web pages based on the query terms, dynamically generates search results and returns the search results to either the web browser or the service, which may dynamically generate and send to the web browser another web page containing the search results. Due to the automatic addition of the search-limiting criteria to the query terms, the set of web pages that the search engine determines to be relevant is narrower and more focused than the set otherwise would be.

Claims18

Dependent claims

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause:

an information service receiving, over one or more communications networks from a client device, one or more alphanumeric keywords, wherein both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and an information service indicator that uniquely identifies the information service are displayed to a user of the client device in visual content on a non-Web page medium;
the information service identifying, at a first time, one or more first search-limiting criteria that both correspond to the one or more alphanumeric keywords and provide a first context for the one or more alphanumeric keywords, wherein the one or more first search-limiting criteria are not included in the visual content on the non-Web page medium;
the information service providing both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more first search-limiting criteria to a search engine, wherein the search engine performs a first search using both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more first search-limiting criteria and generates first search results;
the information service receiving the first search results from the search engine;
the information service transmitting the first search results over the one or more communications networks to the client device;
the information service identifying, at a second time that is different than the first time, one or more second search-limiting criteria that both correspond to the one or more alphanumeric keywords and provide, for the one or more alphanumeric keywords, a second context that is different than the first context;
and
the information service providing both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more second search-limiting criteria to the search engine, wherein the search engine performs a second search using both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more second search-limiting criteria and generates second search results.

5 more elements

An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors;
and
one or more memories storing instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause:
an information service receiving, over one or more communications networks from a client device, one or more alphanumeric keywords, wherein both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and an information service indicator that uniquely identifies the information service are displayed to a user of the client device in visual content on a non-Web page medium;
the information service identifying, at a first time, one or more first search-limiting criteria that both correspond to the one or more alphanumeric keywords and provide a first context for the one or more alphanumeric keywords, wherein the one or more first search-limiting criteria are not included in the visual content on the non-Web page medium;
the information service providing both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more first search-limiting criteria to a search engine, wherein the search engine performs a first search using both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more first search-limiting criteria and generates first search results;
the information service receiving the first search results from the search engine;
the information service transmitting the first search results over the one or more communications networks to the client device;
the information service identifying, at a second time that is different than the first time, one or more second search-limiting criteria that both correspond to the one or more alphanumeric keywords and provide, for the one or more alphanumeric keywords, a second context that is different than the first context;
and
the information service providing both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more second search-limiting criteria to the search engine, wherein the search engine performs a second search using both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more second search-limiting criteria and generates second search results.

8 more elements

A computer-implemented method comprising:

an information service receiving, over one or more communications networks from a client device, one or more alphanumeric keywords, wherein both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and an information service indicator that uniquely identifies the information service are displayed to a user of the client device in visual content on a non-Web page medium;
the information service identifying, at a first time, one or more first search-limiting criteria that both correspond to the one or more alphanumeric keywords and provide a first context for the one or more alphanumeric keywords, wherein the one or more first search-limiting criteria are not included in the visual content on the non-Web page medium;
the information service providing both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more first search-limiting criteria to a search engine, wherein the search engine performs a first search using both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more first search-limiting criteria and generates first search results;
the information service receiving the first search results from the search engine;
the information service transmitting the first search results over the one or more communications networks to the client device;
the information service identifying, at a second time that is different than the first time, one or more second search-limiting criteria that both correspond to the one or more alphanumeric keywords and provide, for the one or more alphanumeric keywords, a second context that is different than the first context;
and
the information service providing both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more second search-limiting criteria to the search engine, wherein the search engine performs a second search using both the one or more alphanumeric keywords and the one or more second search-limiting criteria and generates second search results.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.