Delivering items based on links to resources associated with search results

Abstract

Techniques are described for delivering search results pages to the users of a search engine, where one or more search result listings on the search results pages include one or more items that are associated with links to resources that satisfy a related search and that satisfy a specified condition. The items that are delivered with the search results may be associated with a party that is different than the party that controls the resource to which the link is associated, and may be delivered such that any item that is displayed based on the item's association with a link to a resource is displayed in a frame of display that is different than a frame of the display in which the link to which the item is associated is displayed.

1 . A method, comprising:
 identifying a set of links to resources satisfying search criteria received from a client;   inspecting an association created by a first party to determine whether any links are associated with an item designated by the first party;   inspecting a plurality of conditions established by the first party and determining whether any of the resources satisfying search criteria satisfy any of the plurality of conditions;   including items within the resources satisfying search criteria if and only if the links satisfy one or more of the conditions; and   delivering the set of links and items to the client over a network.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the items is a link to a resource separate from the resources satisfying search criteria. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 the client search occurring within any of a group consisting of the World Wide Web, an intranet, and an extranet network.   
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 based on an item's association with a resource, delivering that item but doing so with no visible connection to that resource.   
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 displaying an item in a separate frame.   
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein:
 the step of delivering is part of a service performed by the first party;   the items are associated with one or more second parties; and   paying the first party to associate one or more items to resources controlled by one or more third parties.   
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one item of said one or more items is dynamically generated content. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one item of said one or more items is an advertisement. 
   
   
       9 . The method as recited in  claim 1  further comprising:
 wherein a conflict arises relating to which of a plurality of items is to be delivered with said search results;
 determining weights associated with one or more of said resources that satisfy the search criteria; 
   selecting an item from among the weights based on the determining;
 wherein the delivering comprises delivering said one or more of the items based on the selecting. 
   
   
   
       10 . The method as recited in  claim 9  wherein the step of determining weights is based on a ranking of the resources satisfying search criteria. 
   
   
       11 . The method as recited in  claim 9  wherein the step of determining weights is based on consideration paid by one or more entities associated with said one or more resources. 
   
   
       12 . The method as recited in  claim 9 , further comprising:
 maintaining historical information relating to instances wherein said one or more items are accessed.   
   
   
       13 . The method as recited in  claim 12 , further comprising:
 basing the weighting on the historical information.   
   
   
       14 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 wherein the items are selected from the group consisting of images, banners, controls, animations, applets in the JAVA language, reviews/ratings, interfaces to procedures or web services, graphic, an audio file, a movie file, an animation, an applet in the JAVA language, and a procedural interface.   
   
   
       15 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 the items are associated with an entity that is different from the entity that controls the resource to which the item is associated.   
   
   
       16 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 the first party charging a subscription fee which varies based on size and type of the items that are delivered.   
   
   
       17 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 the first party charging a subscription fee for associating the item with links to resources contained in search result listings.   
   
   
       18 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a search engine provider charging click-through fees   
   
   
       19 . A system, comprising:
 a computer network suitable for storing resources;   a search engine provider connected to the computer network, wherein the search engine provider comprises a search engine for providing search results to clients connected to the computer network; a web server storing information and metadata that underlies criteria established by a plurality of subscribers; and a storage device that is accessible by the search engine and contains a relational database;   wherein the search engine provider includes items within the search results according to the criteria established by the subscribers, and delivers the search results to the clients over the computer network.   
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 the information and metadata is stored within tables of the relational database.   
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 a transaction controller for managing commerce and payment data between the plurality of subscribers and the search engine provider.   
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 the amounts charged by the transaction controller vary based on size and type of the items that are delivered within the search results.   
   
   
       23 . The system of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 a first party that provides a user interface to the search engine; and   a second party that controls the search engine;   wherein the first party that provides a user interface to the search engine is different than the second party that controls that search engine.   
   
   
       24 . A computer-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the following steps, comprising:
 identifying a set of links to resources satisfying search criteria received from a client;   inspecting an association created by a first party to determine whether any links are associated with an item designated by the first party;   inspecting a plurality of conditions established by the first party and determining whether any of the resources satisfying search criteria satisfy any of the plurality of conditions;   including items within the resources satisfying search criteria if and only if the links satisfy one or more of the conditions; and   delivering the set of links and items to the client over a network.   
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein at least one of the items is a link to a resource separate from the resources satisfying search criteria. 
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 24  wherein:
 the client search occurring within any of a group consisting of the World Wide Web, an intranet, and an extranet network.   
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 based on an item's association with a resource, delivering that item but doing so with no visible connection to that resource.   
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 the step of delivering is part of a service performed by the first party;   the items are associated with one or more second parties; and   paying the first party to associate one or more items to resources controlled by one or more third parties.   
   
   
       29 . The method as recited in  claim 24 , further comprising:
 wherein a conflict arises relating to which of a plurality of items is to be delivered with said search results;   determining weights associated with one or more of said resources that satisfy the search criteria; and   selecting an item from among the weights to be delivered based on the determining.   
   
   
       30 . The method as recited in  claim 29  wherein the step of determining weights is based on a ranking of the resources satisfying search criteria. 
   
   
       31 . The method as recited in  claim 29  wherein the step of determining weights is based on consideration paid by one or more entities associated with said one or more resources. 
   
   
       32 . The method as recited in  claim 24 , further comprising:
 wherein the items are selected from the group consisting of images, banners, controls, animations, applets in the JAVA language, reviews/ratings, interfaces to procedures or web services, an advertisement, dynamically-generated content, graphic, an audio file, a movie file, an animation, an applet in the JAVA language, and a procedural interface.   
   
   
       33 . The method as recited in  claim 24 , further comprising:
 the first party charging a subscription fee which varies based on size and type of the items that are delivered.   
   
   
       34 . The method as recited in  claim 24 , further comprising:
 the first party charging a subscription fee for associating the item with links to resources contained in search result listings.