Search and Retrieval Methods and Systems of Short Messages Utilizing Messaging Context and Keyword Frequency

Abstract

Systems and methods of identifying and retrieving messages that satisfy a search query using the context of the message and term frequencies are provided. One embodiment includes identifying at least one category relevant to the search query, wherein a plurality of scored keywords are associated with each category, selecting at least one of the scored keywords that is relevant to an identified category, performing a plurality of searches of messages from a social networking messaging service to retrieve messages, where at least one search includes retrieving messages based on the original search query and one of the selected scored keywords, scoring the retrieved messages with respect to each of the at least one identified categories using at least the scored keywords relevant to each category, and returning at least the message with the highest score as the search result.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method of identifying messages on a social networking messaging service that satisfy a search query, the method comprising:
 identifying at least one category relevant to the search query, wherein a plurality of scored keywords are associated with each category;   selecting at least one of the scored keywords that is relevant to an identified category;   performing a plurality of searches of messages from a social networking messaging service to retrieve messages, where at least one search includes retrieving messages based on the original search query and one of the selected scored keywords;   scoring the retrieved messages with respect to each of the at least one identified categories using at least the scored keywords relevant to each category; and   returning at least the message with the highest score as the search result.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user indicates at least one category relevant to the search query. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the query is scored with respect to each category using the scored keywords associated with each category and at least one category is identified based upon the query score. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 selecting at least one of the scored keywords that is relevant to an identified category comprises selecting a plurality of scored keywords relevant to an identified category; and   performing a plurality of searches of messages from a social networking messaging service further comprises performing a separate search for each of the selected scored keywords, where each search includes retrieving messages based on the original search query and the selected scored keyword.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein performing a plurality of searches of messages from a social networking messaging service further comprises performing a search, where the messages are retrieved based on the original search query. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein scoring the retrieved messages with respect to each of the at least one identified categories using the scored keywords relevant to each category further comprises excluding any scored keyword used in the search that retrieved the message from the scoring of the message. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the searches include performing expression matching. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the searches include scoring the message with respect to the original search query and the selected scored keyword. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein scoring the retrieved messages further comprises weighting messages based upon the amount of time that has elapsed since the message was posted.