Cleaning out my closet part I - patent bending
Hi all of you happy search geeks.. how are we festive or Grinchy? If you’re celebrating or not, the end of 2008 is fast approaching. There are so many things to look forward to in the new year and cleaning out blog post backlog is on of the joys of yammering on about one’s passion incessantly.
First on the list of things to ‘get out of my system’ are the numerous search related patents I never got around to writing about… For the truly search geeky ‘tis my first present under the end-of-year tree; some good reading to see what engineers are dreaming up at a search engine near you.

First up, the minions of mayhem up in the Plex; Google
General Indexing and Retrieval -
Duplicate content search -
A system may store information regarding a set of items of content, receive sample content from a user, determine whether the sample content matches content of one or more of the items of content, and notify the user whether the sample content matches one or more of the items of content without identifying the one or more items of content to the user
Document segmentation based on visual gaps (as covered by Tim Nash and SEO by the Sea) - (Re-release) - A document may be segmented based on a visual model of the document. The visual model is determined according to an amount of visual white space or gaps that are in the document. In one implementation, the visual model is used to identify a hierarchical structure of the document, which may then be used to segment the document.
Behavioural -
Personalized Network Searching -
Personalized network searching, in which a search query is received from a user, and a request is received to personalize a search result. Responsive to the search query and the request to personalize the search result, a personalized search result is generated by searching a personalized search object. Responsive to the search query, a general search result is generated by searching the general search object. The personalized search result and the general search result are provided to a client device, an advertisement is selected based at least in part upon the personalized search object, and the advertisement, the personalized search result, and the general search result are displayed.
Query Analysis -
Method and system for query data caching and optimization in a search engine system -
When searching a document database in response to a search query, a determination is made as to whether a query result corresponding to the search query is stored in a cache. When the query result is stored in the cache, a reuse count for the search query is accessed. When predefined conditions are satisfied, such as the reuse count being larger than a predetermined threshold count, an improved search result is generated in accordance with a first set of predetermined searching criteria, and at least a subset of the improved search result is returned.
Mobile –
Providing Profile Information to Partner Content Providers (mobile targeting) -
In some implementations, a computer-implemented method includes receiving a search query, at an information provider, from a mobile device; generating a plurality of search results that are responsive to the search query and directed to corresponding content providers that are external to the information provider; identifying one or more search results from the plurality of search results that are directed to partners of the information provider; and providing, to the mobile device, the plurality of search results, wherein the one or more search results directed to partners of the information provider include location information that is stored in a profile maintained by the information provider and associated with the mobile device, wherein the location information is passed to the corresponding partners upon selection of the one or more search results
Geo-location related –
Methods and systems for improving a search ranking using population information -
Systems and methods that improve search rankings for a search query by using data associated with queries related to the search query are described. In one aspect, a search query is received, a population associated with the search query is determined, an article (such as a webpage) associated with the search query is determined, and a ranking score for the article based at least in part on data associated with the population is determined. Algorithms and types of data associated with a population useful in carrying out such systems and methods are described.
System and method for providing preferred country biasing of search results -
A system and method for providing preferred country ordering of search results is described. A search query describing potentially retrievable information provided in a plurality of search result countries is received. A search is executed by evaluating the search query against information characteristics maintained in a searchable data repository. At least one preferred country applicable to search results generated is dynamically determined responsive to the executed search. At least some of the search results are ordered in consideration of the at least one preferred country.
System and method for providing preferred language ordering of search results -
A system and method for providing preferred language ordering of search results is described. A search query describing potentially retrievable information provided in a plurality of search result languages is received. A search is executed by evaluating the search query against information characteristics maintained in a searchable data repository. At least one preferred language applicable to search results generated responsive to the executed search is dynamically determined. At least some of the search results are ordered in consideration of the at least one preferred language.
Social Spaces -
Inferring User Interests -
The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method that includes determining, for a portion of users of a social network, label values each comprising an inferred interest level of a user in a subject indicated by a label, associating a first user with one or more second users based on one or more relationships specified by the first user, and outputting a first label value for the first user based on one or more second label values of the one or more second users
Ad Serving -
Determining Search Query Statistical Data for an Advertising Campaign Based on User-Selected Criteria -
Techniques for determining search query information for an advertising campaign and communicating the search query information to a sponsor of the advertising campaign are described. The techniques include receiving, from a sponsor the advertisement, a request for search query information relating to the advertisement having been presented by a search service, identifying previously executed search queries submitted by users of the search service, wherein search results of the identified search queries have been presented with the advertisement to one or more users of the search service. compiling search query information, the search query information including ad performance data associated with the advertisement for the identified search queries, and providing the sponsor with the compiled search query information. A user interface may be generated to receive user input of selection criteria and provide an interface to search query information
Flexible Revenue Sharing and Referral Bounty System -
An advertising system manager, a partner and one or more participating publishers may collectively agree on a revenue sharing arrangement, based on revenue generated from ad conversions. The advertising system manager may define various components of the revenue sharing arrangement including details of the revenue sharing arrangement and the criteria for offering the revenue sharing arrangement. The partner may separately negotiate with the publisher with respect to the terms of the revenue sharing arrangement. The terms may include a predetermined revenue sharing rate for the partner and the publisher based on the gross revenue received by the advertising system manager.
Characterizing content for identification of advertising -
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for characterizing content for content targeting. A first content item is received. One or more content boundaries are determined for the first content item. The content boundaries segment the first content item into a plurality of segments. One or more respective targeting criteria are determined for at least one segment. One or more second content items are identified for a respective content boundary based on the targeting criteria for one or more of the segments preceding or succeeding the respective content boundary. Access to the identified second content items is provided for presentation or storage on a device.
Google does TV
Television Advertising -
Television advertisements and associated advertisement parameters are received from advertisers. The television advertisements are automatically selected for airing during an advertisement availability based on the associated advertisement parameters. Data related to the selected television advertisements are provided to a television provider to facilitate airing of the selected television advertisements during the advertisement availability. Reporting data related to television advertisement airings and impressions are received from the television provider.
Advertising front end – Google TV Ads -
Advertising parameters and associated television advertisements are received from advertisers. The television advertisements can be designated as pending approval. An automated approval process and a television provider approval process can be utilized to approve or disapprove of the television advertisements pending approval. Approved television advertisements can be provided to the television provider, e.g., by a download process over a network.
Log Processing (part 1) – Google TV Ads - Systems, methods and apparatus for processing logs of television processing devices, e.g., set top boxes, digital video recorders, etc. are described. In one implementation, reporting data related to television processing devices are received and channel tunes and corresponding tune times of the television processing devices are identified. Channel tune clusters at corresponding tune times are identified as automatically generated channel tunes.
Log Processing (Part2) – Google TV Ads - Set top box logs are received from a television provider and processed to compensate for broadcast latency and generate normalized log data, e.g., log data that are indexed to a relative time. Channel tunes and the channel tune times of the normalized log data can be compared to expected air times of television advertisements on channels, and an impression values, e.g., projected viewers, can be generated for each television advertisement.
Log Processing (Part3) – Google TV Ads -
Set top box logs are received from a television provider and processed to identify channel tunes and channel tune times. The channel tunes and channel tune times of the log data can be compared to expected air times of television advertisements on channels, and an impression values, e.g., projected viewers, can be generated for each television advertisement.
... and that's all folks!! Stay tuned (if yer still awake) and we shall get some Yahoo patents going on... Riveting, I know.. can hardly contain yourself right? Well pay damned attention as this stuff is important (there will be a pop quiz later... naaaaaaw)
Peace - l8tr
(also see our list of 1st quarter search patents)
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