Personalization of Web Search Results Using Term, Category, and Link-Based User Profiles

Abstract

A system and method for creating a user profile and for using the user profile to order search results returned by a search engine. The user profile is based on search queries submitted by a user, the user's specific interaction with the documents identified by the search engine and personal information provided by the user. Terms for the user profile may be selected from the documents accessed by the user by performing paragraph sampling or context analysis. Generic scores associated with the search results are modulated by the user profile to measure their relevance to a user's preference and interest. The search results are re-ordered accordingly so that the most relevant results appear on the top of the list. User profiles can be created and/or stored on the client side or server side of a client-server network environment.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 accessing a user profile for a user and a group profile for the user;   receiving a search query from the user;   identifying a set of generic search result documents that match the search query;   assigning a generic score to each document of at least a subset of the set of generic search result documents;   assigning a personalized score to each document of the subset of search result documents in accordance with the generic score assigned to the document, the user profile, and the group profile;   ranking the subset of search result documents in accordance with their respective personalized scores;   providing, to a client system associated with the user, information identifying a plurality of documents in the ranked subset of search result documents; and   updating the user profile based on a document selected by the user from the plurality of documents.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising: combining profiles of a group of users to form the group profile. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising: generating the user profile based at least in part on documents identified by one or more other users. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the user and the one or more other users share related interests. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of documents in the ranked subset of search result documents comprises:
 a first plurality of documents selected in accordance with the personalized scores assigned to documents in the ranked subset of search result documents, and   at least one additional document from the set of the generic search result documents not included in the first plurality of documents.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one additional document of the generic search result documents not included in the first plurality of documents comprises a second plurality of documents each of which is not included in the first plurality of documents, and
 wherein the information identifying the plurality of documents provided to the client system includes information identifying the second plurality of documents interleaved with information identifying the first plurality of documents.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the user profile is derived from a first set of documents that includes: search result documents that match search queries submitted by the user, documents selected by the user, documents linked to the search result documents, and documents linked to the documents selected by the user. 
     
     
         9 . A computer system, comprising:
 one or more processors;   memory; and   one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including:
 instructions for accessing a user profile for a user and a group profile for the user; 
 instructions for receiving a search query from the user; 
 instructions for identifying a set of generic search result documents that match the search query; 
 instructions for assigning a generic score to each document of at least a subset of the set of generic search result documents; 
 instructions for assigning a personalized score to each document of the subset of search result documents in accordance with the generic score assigned to the document, the user profile, and the group profile; 
 instructions for ranking the subset of search result documents in accordance with their respective personalized scores; 
 instructions for providing, to a client system associated with the user, information identifying a plurality of documents in the ranked subset of search result documents; and 
 instructions for updating the user profile based on a document selected by the user from the plurality of documents. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising instructions for combining profiles of a group of users to form the group profile. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising instructions for generating the user profile based at least in part on documents identified by one or more other users. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the user and the one or more other users share related interests. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of documents in the ranked subset of search result documents comprises:
 a first plurality of documents selected in accordance with the personalized scores assigned to documents in the ranked subset of search result documents, and   at least one additional document from the set of the generic search result documents not included in the first plurality of documents.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one additional document of the generic search result documents not included in the first plurality of documents comprises a second plurality of documents each of which is not included in the first plurality of documents, and
 wherein the information identifying the plurality of documents provided to the client system includes information identifying the second plurality of documents interleaved with information identifying the first plurality of documents.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the user profile is derived from a first set of documents that includes: search result documents that match search queries submitted by the user, documents selected by the user, documents linked to the search result documents, and documents linked to the documents selected by the user. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more computer programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to:
 access a user profile for a user and a group profile for the user;   receive a search query from the user;   identify a set of generic search result documents that match the search query;   assign a generic score to each document of at least a subset of the set of generic search result documents;   assign a personalized score to each document of the subset of search result documents in accordance with the generic score assigned to the document, the user profile, and the group profile;   rank the subset of search result documents in accordance with their respective personalized scores;   provide, to a client system associated with the user, information identifying a plurality of documents in the ranked subset of search result documents; and   update the user profile based on a document selected by the user from the plurality of documents.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , further comprising instructions that cause the computer system to:
 combine profiles of a group of users to form the group profile.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , further comprising instructions that cause the computer system to:
 generate the user profile based at least in part on documents identified by one or more other users.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the user and the one or more other users share related interests. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of documents in the ranked subset of search result documents comprises:
 a first plurality of documents selected in accordance with the personalized scores assigned to documents in the ranked subset of search result documents, and   at least one additional document from the set of the generic search result documents not included in the first plurality of documents.   
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 20 , wherein the at least one additional document of the generic search result documents not included in the first plurality of documents comprises a second plurality of documents each of which is not included in the first plurality of documents, and
 wherein the information identifying the plurality of documents provided to the client system includes information identifying the second plurality of documents interleaved with information identifying the first plurality of documents.   
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the user profile is derived from a first set of documents that includes: search result documents that match search queries submitted by the user, documents selected by the user, documents linked to the search result documents, and documents linked to the documents selected by the user.