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`US 20050216434Al
`
`(19) United States
`(12) Patent Application Publication
`Haveliwala et al.
`
`(lo) Pub. No.: US 2005/0216434 Al
`Sep. 29, 2005
`(43) Pub. Date:
`
`(54) VARIABLE PERSONALIZATION OF
`SEARCH RESULTS IN A SEARCH ENGINE
`
`(76)
`
`Inventors: Taher H. Havellwala, Mountain View,
`CA (US); Glen M. Jeh, San Francisco,
`CA (US); Sepandar D. Kamvar, San
`--
`- -
`.
`-Francisco, CA-(US)
`
`Correspondence Address:
`FENWICK & WEST LLP
`SILICON VALLEY CENTER
`801 CALIFORNIA STREET
`MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94041 (US)
`
`(21) Appl. No.:
`
`11/002,474
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Dec.1, 2004
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`(60) Provisional application No. 60/557,783, filed on Mar.
`29,2004.
`
`Publication Classification
`
`Int. Cl.7
`(51)
`....................................................... G06F 7/00
`(52) U.S. Cl. . ..........•...................................................... 707/1
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A search engine provides personalized rankings of search
`results. A user interest profile identifies topics of interest to
`a user. Each topic is as.'iOciated with one or more sites, and
`a boost value, which can be used to augment an information
`retrieval score of any document from the site. Search results
`from any search are provided to the user, with a variable
`control of the ranking of the results. The results can be
`ranked by their unboosted information retrieval score, thus
`reflecting no personalization, or by their fully or partially
`boosted information retrieval scores. This allows the user to
`selectively control how their interests affect the ranking of
`the documents.
`
`':l Goor,!c PNsonahzc-d Search M1cro~of1 lnlcrnel lxplorer
`
`[ _ ]Q~X J
`
`102~L_------------------~~~~1 ~G~oo~gle~SFea~rcn~
`L106
`
`To view personalized results, first create a profile of your interests.
`
`lloo.ne ...
`
`I
`
`j
`
`_1 j·~~
`
`:t..' EXHIBIT 2105
`
`Facebook, Inc. et al.
`v.
`Software Rights Archive, LLC
`CASE IPR2013-00480
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Sep. 29, 2005 Sheet 1 of 10
`
`US 2005/0216434 A1
`
`GJ[QJ(g)
`~ Google Personalized Search -Microsoft Internet Explorer
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`
`@)Done
`
`FIG. 1
`
`v:
`
`I ~ _ I~ternet
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Sep. 29, 2005 Sheet 2 of 10
`
`US 2005/0216434 A1
`
`GJ@J[g)
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`---------~-------~~ Ill
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`personalization.
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`Click on a link to see
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`categoiY of interest.
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`Semch is not yet
`l)ersonQiized.
`"---- 208
`Start Searching
`]
`
`Arts/Cinema -·
`Business/Industries-
`Computers(cid:173)
`(__ 206
`Health-
`
`.Home~
`Kidsfreens -•
`Music(cid:173)
`News(cid:173)
`Recreation _,
`Science(cid:173)
`Society -•
`Sports(cid:173)
`Regions-
`
`204
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`1'-
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`1
`
`Google Privacy Policy· @2004 Google
`
`[. f.
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`
`"·
`
`FIG. 2
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Sep. 29, 2005 Sheet 3 of 10
`
`US 2005/0216434 A1
`
`-3i Personalized Web Search: Edit Profile - Microsoft Internet Explorer
`F--E_ile __ ~_di_t _'!_iew __ F_,a_vo_ri_tes_I_o_ol_s _t!_ei,--P _________ - - - - - - - - - - - - ______ __ _
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`search results.
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`1. Click on Health.
`2. Check the Health (General) checkbox. This selects the entire Health
`category.
`3. Click Start Searching
`4. Search for "stanford", and drag the slider to see the effects of
`personalization.
`4---____ 202
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`=.... ~
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`.
`
`Arts/Cinema -·
`Subcategories of
`Business/Industries - Computels
`Computers-·
`5) 0 Computers (Geneml)
`Health-
`
`314
`
`Kids/Teens(cid:173)
`Music-·
`News-·
`Recreation --.
`Science -•
`Society-·
`Sports--.
`Regions--.
`
`I'-- 204
`
`'
`
`0Graphics
`0Hacking
`0Hardware
`Olnternet
`0 Mobile Computing
`0 Multimedia
`0 Open Source
`0 Programming.
`0Robotics
`0Security
`Oso.ftware
`
`r-L302
`
`Ooogle Privaw Policy· @2004 Ooogle
`
`~Done_
`
`FIG. 3
`
`...-,
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Sep. 29, 2005 Sheet 4 of 10
`
`US 2005/0216434 A1
`
`~Personalized Web Search: Edit Profile- Microsoft Internet Explorer
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`2. Check the Health (General) checkbox. This selects the entire Health
`category.
`3. Click Start Searching
`4. Search for "stanford", and drag the slider to see the effects of
`perso~ 202 ~
`
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`Subcategmies of
`Arts/Cinema-·
`(Click on the [delete] link to delete
`an Interest.)
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`
`Computers [delete]
`
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`
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`Health-.
`Home_,
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`Music_,
`News-
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`Science_,
`Societ~ -·
`Sports-·
`Regions-·
`
`D Recreation (General)
`
`206
`
`0Autos
`
`D Birding /
`0Boaling
`0Ciimbing
`Games-
`D Motorcycles
`DOutdoors
`DPets
`DTravel
`
`Google Privacy Policv · @200'1 Google
`
`Subcategories of
`Gilmes
`,--
`0 Games (General)
`
`D Board Games
`DCard Games
`0Gambling
`DPuzzles
`D Roleplaying
`0Video Games
`r-
`
`402
`
`... ,
`
`i e Internet
`
`FIG. 4
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Sep. 29, 2005 Sheet 5 of 10
`
`US 2005/0216434 A1
`
`r]l Google Personalized Search - Microsoft Internet Explorer
`
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`: q __
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`ILs_ta_nf_or_d __ ____________ _ _ _JI r Google Search
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`®2004 Google · Searching 4.285.199.774 web pages
`
`102J
`
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`
`j tt Internet
`
`FIG. 5
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Sep. 29, 2005 Sheet 6 of 10
`
`US 2005/0216434 A1
`
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`coverage of last week's "The Ethics of P2P Filesharing" panel. .. o
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`Patent Application Publication Sep. 29, 2005 Sheet 7 of 10
`
`US 2005/0216434 A1
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`Patent Application Publication Sep. 29, 2005 Sheet 8 of 10
`
`US 2005/0216434 A1
`
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`FIG. 8
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`

`Patent Application Publication Sep. 29, 2005 Sheet 9 of 10
`
`US 2005/0216434 A1
`
`~dit
`
`11 Personalized Web Search: Edit Profile - Microsoft Internet Explorer
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`
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`category.
`3. Click Start Searching
`4. Search for "stanford". and drag the slider to see the effects of
`personalization.
`
`Your Interests:
`Categories:
`-----------------------------------------
`Arts/Cinema -•
`Subcategories of Music
`(Click on the [delete] link to delete
`an interest.)
`Business/Industries ~
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`Patent Application Publication Sep. 29, 2005 Sheet 10 of 10
`
`US 2005/0216434 A1
`
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`

`

`US 2005/0216434 A1
`
`Sep.29,2005
`
`1
`
`VARIABLE PERSONALIZATION OF SEARCH
`RESULTS IN A SEARCH ENGINE
`
`CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.
`§119(e) of Application Ser. No. 60/557,783 filed on Mar. 29,
`2004, which is incorporated by reference herein. This appli(cid:173)
`cation also incorporates by reference U.S. patent application
`Ser. Nos. 10/646,331 (filed on Aug. 22, 2003) and 10/641,
`489 (filed on Aug. 14, 2003); all of the above applications
`are commonly owned along with this application.
`
`FIELD OF INVENTION
`
`[0002] This invention relates in general to online search
`engines, and in particular to personalization of search
`results.
`
`BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
`
`[0003] The current state of the art in online search engines
`is highly advanced in its ability to retrieve documents (e.g.,
`web pages or portions thereof, images, etc.) that are respon(cid:173)
`sive to the terms of a query. Search engines today can
`quickly retrieve specific documents that match the terms of
`the query. However, current search engines often return
`documents that while accurately correspond to the specific
`terms of the query, do not in any way reflect the user's
`underlying interests. Thus, two different users, one who is
`very interested in sports, and another who is interested in
`politics, will obtain exactly the same results to a given query,
`say "drug testing in baseball," even though the first user may
`be more interested in learning about which teams have
`implemented drug testing, while the latter user is more
`interested in learning about legislation related to drug testing
`in sports. Thus, there is a need for providing a mechanism
`and methodology for personalizing search results in accor(cid:173)
`dance with the interests of the users.
`
`[0004] Further, while a user may have particular set of
`interests that may be useful in processing their search query,
`a user may not want to always have such interests influence
`the query results. Thus, it would be desirable to a provide a
`mechanism and a methodology by which the user can
`variably adjust the degree to which his interests influence the
`results of a given search query.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0005] The present invention provides allows a user to
`variably adjust the degree to which his or her personal
`interests influence the presentation of results of a given
`search query. The present invention has multiple embodi(cid:173)
`ments, including a system for providing a search engine, a
`methodology for processing a search query, and a user
`interface for the user to variably adjust the degree of
`influence.
`
`[0006] For a user's perspective, the present invention
`provides a mechanism for personalizing search results. The
`user defines a set of interests, for example as a set of topics
`or categories of interest to the user, as an interests profile.
`The user then submits a search query to a search engine. The
`search engine retrieves documents that are relevant to the
`query and presents these as search results. At first (though
`not necessarily) the search results are ranked without regard
`
`to the user's interests. This enables the user to see the
`relevance of the documents without influence by his per(cid:173)
`sonal interests. The user can variably control ranking of the
`documents in the search result set. In a preferred embodi(cid:173)
`ment, this is done by direct manipulation of graphical
`control element, a personalization control. This graphical
`element can have various graphical representations, and in
`one embodiment it is represented as a slider. Adjusting the
`control element adjusts the degree to which the results are
`ranked according to the user's interests, as expressed in his
`interest profile. In response to changes in the position of the
`control element, the search results are reranked, thereby
`allowing the user to see how his interests affect the ordering
`of the results.
`
`[0007]
`In one embodiment, the ranking of search results
`operates to increase the relevance score of documents that
`are associated with the directory of topics. Each topic in the
`directory is associated with a group of documents (e.g.,
`websites) which are deemed relevant to the topic. For each
`document (again, website), a boost value is provided which
`indicates the degree of relevance of the site to the topic. All
`pages within a given site get that site's boost value. The
`boost value may be understood as a scaling factor that
`represents the relevance of the site to the topic. During the
`query processing, the set of documents is returned, and
`scored without regard to their inclusion in the topic direc(cid:173)
`tory. In addition, a separate score for each document is
`determined in which the document's underlying relevance
`score is adjusted by its associated boost value if any, for
`example by multiplying the relevance score by the boost
`value, thereby scaling the relevance of the document to the
`query. Generally, only those documents which belong to
`sites listed in the directory will have a boosted relevance
`score, and other documents in the search results will not. The
`reranking of the documents in accordance with their boosted
`relevance scores is then a function of the position of the
`personalization control, either from no influence (where the
`boost value has no effect on the relevance score) to complete
`influence, wherein boost value for each document is applied
`100% to the relevance score, and any number of interme(cid:173)
`diate levels of application. The user can thus immediately
`rerank the documents in the search results by adjusting the
`position of the control.
`
`[0008] A system embodiment includes a topic directory
`for providing topics (categories) to a user, a search engine
`and index for searching indexed websites in response to a
`user's query, and a personalization component for determin(cid:173)
`ing for the search results at least one (and preferably a set)
`of rankings of the search results in accordance with the
`user's interests. A user interface embodiment includes a
`topical directory, with various topics, and graphical controls
`(e.g., checkboxes) in which the user can select topics of
`interests, and a graphical control that allows the user to
`adjust the search result ranking in accordance with his
`interest profile.
`
`[0009] The present invention is next described with
`respect to various figures and diagrams and technical infor(cid:173)
`mation. The figures depict various embodiments of the
`present invention for purposes of illustration only. One
`skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following
`discussion that alternative embodiments of the illustrated
`
`

`

`US 2005/0216434 Al
`
`Sep.29,2005
`
`2
`
`and described structures, methods, and functions may be
`employed without departing from the principles of the
`invention.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`[0010] FIG. 1 is an entry web page for a search engine.
`[0011] FIG. 2 is web page for editing a user's personal
`profile of topics.
`
`[0012] FIG. 3 is another web page of topics, and subtop(cid:173)
`Ics.
`[0013] FIG. 4 is another web page of subtopics.
`[0014] FIG. 5 shows the entry web page for the search
`engine with the query "stanford".
`
`[0015] FIG. 6 shows the initial results of the search on
`query "stanford", along with a control 608 for controlling a
`degree of influence of the user's interest profile in ranking
`the search results.
`[0016] FIG. 7 shows the ranking of the search results of
`FIG. 6 after the user has adjusted the control 608 to an
`intermediate position.
`[0017] FIG. 8 shows the ranking of the search results of
`FIG. 6 after the user has adjusted the control 608 to a
`maximum position.
`[0018] FIG. 9 shows a web page of topics after deletion of
`a "Computer" topic and selection of a "Music" topic by the
`user.
`[0019] FIG. 10 shows the ranking of the search results of
`FIG. 6 following the change in topic interests in FIG. 9.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`[0020] Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown the entry
`(or landing page) 100 of a search engine. The search engine
`includes a query entry field 102 in which a user enters the
`terms of a search query. A search button 106 submits the
`query to the search engine for processing. The first time the
`user accesses the search engine, he will not have defined a
`user profile for personalizing the search results, and a
`message is displayed to that effect. The user can access the
`Edit Profile link 104 in order to establish their personal
`interests.
`
`[0021] Clicking on the Edit Profile link 104 accesses the
`page 200 illustrated in FIG. 2. This page shows the top level
`topics 204 of a topical directory 202. The topics in the
`directory can be, for example, the topics defined in the Open
`Directory Project, found at http://dmoz.org/ or can be some
`other topical directory. (In this disclosure the term "topic"
`and "category" are interchangeable, as are "subtopic" and
`"subcategory".) The top level topic links may have a set of
`subtopics, as indicated by the arrows 206. At any time, the
`user can begin a search by clicking on the Start Searching
`button 208. Clicking on a particular top level topic takes the
`user to a page associated with that topic's subtopics.
`[0022] FIG. 3 illustrates the result of this step, where the
`user has clicked on the topic "Computers" on page 200. As
`shown in FIG. 3, the subtopics 302 of the topic "Computers"
`have been displayed in the right hand column. Next to each
`subtopic 302 is a checkbox 314. The user can select the
`checkbox 314 to indicate his interest in a specific subtopic.
`
`Alternatively, the user can select the checkbox 316 for the
`entire subtopic itself, "Computers (General)". This indicates
`that the user is interested in all of the subtopics of the topic
`"Computers". The set of topics selected by the user may be
`called a user profile, a personalization profile, or an interest
`profile. On the left side of FIG. 3, after the user has selected
`one or more topics of interest, these topics are listed in the
`interests field 306. Next to each topic name is a delete link
`308 that allows the user to delete individual topics. The user
`can also delete all topics by selecting the "Delete all pref(cid:173)
`erences" link 310.
`
`[0023] The subtopics themselves can have any number of
`additional levels of subtopics. For example, FIG. 4 illus(cid:173)
`trates that the subtopic "Games" has further subtopics 402,
`"Board Games,"" Card Games," etc. These were presented to
`the user in response to the user clicking on the subtopic
`arrow 206 next to the "Games" topic label. Again, the user
`can select either the entire subcategory by selecting check(cid:173)
`box 404, or any of the individual subtopic checkboxes 406.
`In one embodiment, in addition to the top level topics 204,
`there are two subtopic levels. This provides sufficient
`breadth and granularity of topical coverage, without impos(cid:173)
`ing unnecessary computational complexity.
`
`[0024] Referring again to FIG. 3, the user has indicated
`his interest in computers generally. Clicking on the Start
`Searching button 208 brings up search page 100 again,
`which no longer shows the message requesting the user to
`establish a personalization profile. At this point, the user
`enters a search query in the search field, here the query
`"stanford", as shown in FIG. 5. The search engine performs
`a search of its index and provides the search results. FIG. 6
`illustrates the initial search results page 600. Here the search
`results 602 comprise a set of documents 604, each document
`indicated by a UR