System and method for conducting a profile based search

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and system for conducting a profile based search. The method and system includes receiving a search request including one or more search terms from a user, parsing the search request into categorical verticals, determining search refinement data relative to the categorical verticals, the search refinement data including at least one of: profile information, environmental data relative to the search request and historical behavior data relating to the search request or the user and accessing a database of aggregated search data based on the search refinement data. The method and system includes using the aggregated search data, determining a most relevant search query and a most relevant user profile, refining the search request based on the most relevant search query and most relevant user profile and generating an output display of a search result set based on the refined search request.

1 - 21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a computing device, a search query from a user;   associating, by the computing device, search terms of the search query and a user profile associated with the user, the user profile comprising background information of the user, previous searches by the user, a current location of the user, and social network data associated with the user;   comparing, by the computing device, the search terms and the user profile against a set of documents;   ranking, by the computing device, the set of documents based on the comparing; and   transmitting, by the computing device, the ranked set of documents to a display for displaying the ranked set of documents to the user.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the user profile further comprises a user type when the user profile represents more than one user. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the user type comprises a general characterization of a corresponding user. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the ranking of the set of documents further comprises ranking the set of documents in decreasing order of relevance. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising parsing the search query into categorical verticals. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising determining search refinement data relative to the categorical verticals. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the search refinement data further comprises one or more of profile information, environmental data relative to the search query, and historical behavior data. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the profile information further comprises one or more of a query profile, a search profile, and the user profile. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the profile information further comprises one or more of user-entered information and tracked information. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising receiving, by the computing device, a set of profiles from the user for the search query. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 31 , further comprising weighing each profile in the set of profiles to the user for the search query. 
     
     
         32 . A computer system comprising:
 a processor;   a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising:   receiving logic executed by the processor for receiving a search query from a user;   associating logic executed by the processor for associating search terms of the search query and a user profile associated with the user, the user profile comprising background information of the user, previous searches by the user, a current location of the user, and social network data associated with the user;   comparing logic executed by the processor for comparing the search terms and the user profile against a set of documents;   ranking logic executed by the processor for ranking the set of documents based on the comparing; and   transmitting logic executed by the processor for transmitting the ranked set of documents to a display for displaying the ranked set of documents to the user.   
     
     
         33 . The computer system of  claim 32 , wherein the user profile further comprises a user type when the user profile represents more than one user. 
     
     
         34 . The computer system of  claim 33 , wherein the user type comprises a general characterization of a corresponding user. 
     
     
         35 . The computer system of  claim 32 , wherein the ranking of the set of documents further comprises ranking the set of documents in decreasing order of relevance. 
     
     
         36 . The computer system of  claim 32 , further comprising parsing the search query into categorical verticals. 
     
     
         37 . The computer system of  claim 35 , further comprising determining search refinement data relative to the categorical verticals. 
     
     
         38 . The computer system of  claim 36 , wherein the search refinement data further comprises one or more of profile information, environmental data relative to the search query, and historical behavior data. 
     
     
         39 . The computer system of  claim 37 , wherein the profile information further comprises one or more of a query profile, a search profile, and the user profile. 
     
     
         40 . The computer system of  claim 37 , wherein the profile information further comprises one or more of user-entered information and tracked information. 
     
     
         41 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly storing computer program instructions capable of being executed by a processor of a computer system, the computer program instructions defining the steps of:
 receiving, by the processor, a search query from a user;   associating, by the processor, search terms of the search query and a user profile associated with the user, the user profile comprising background information of the user, previous searches by the user, a current location of the user, and social network data associated with the user;   comparing, by the processor, the search terms and the user profile against a set of documents;   ranking, by the processor, the set of documents based on the comparing; and   transmitting, by the processor, the ranked set of documents to a display for displaying the ranked set of documents to the user.