Systems and Methods for Filtering Application Search Results

Abstract

An application search system for providing search results to a plurality of partner devices includes a data processing module that receives data identifying a plurality of applications associated with one or more of a plurality of application categories and generates, based on the received data, a plurality of search indexes. Each of the search indexes corresponds to a respective one of the application categories. An application search module receives a search query from a first partner device of the plurality of partner devices, identifies a first application category of the plurality of application categories based on the search query, selects, from the plurality of search indexes, a first search index corresponding to the identified first application category, queries the selected first search index to identify a first plurality of application representations associated with the identified first application category, and generates search results based on the first plurality of application representations.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An application search system for providing search results to a plurality of partner devices, the application search system comprising:
 a data processing module that
 receives data identifying a plurality of applications, wherein each of the plurality of applications is associated with one or more of a plurality of application categories, and 
 generates, based on the received data, a plurality of search indexes, wherein each of the plurality of search indexes corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of application categories; and 
   an application search module that
 receives, via a network, a search query from a first partner device of the plurality of partner devices, 
 identifies a first application category of the plurality of application categories based on the search query, 
 selects, from the plurality of search indexes, a first search index corresponding to the identified first application category, 
 queries the selected first search index to identify a first plurality of application representations associated with the identified first application category, 
 generates search results based on the first plurality of application representations, and 
 provides the generated search results to be transmitted to the first partner device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The application search system of  claim 1 , wherein the application search module:
 identifies a second application category of the plurality of application categories based on the search query;   selects, from the plurality of search indexes, a second search index based on the second identified application category;   queries the selected second search index to identify a second plurality of application representations associated with the identified second application category; and   generates the search results based on a union of the first plurality of application representations and the second plurality of application representations.   
     
     
         3 . The application search system of  claim 1 , wherein, to select the first search index, the application search module selects the first index further based on an identifier of the first partner device. 
     
     
         4 . The application search system of  claim 3 , wherein two or more of the plurality of search indexes correspond to the respective one of the application categories, and wherein, to select the first index, the application search module selects the first index from among the two or more of the plurality of search indexes based on the identifier of the first partner device. 
     
     
         5 . The application search system of  claim 1 , wherein, to identify the first application category, the application search module identifies the first application category further based on a platform executing on the first partner device. 
     
     
         6 . The application search system of  claim 5 , wherein context information received from the first partner device includes an indication of the platform executing on the first partner device. 
     
     
         7 . The application search system of  claim 1 , wherein a subset of the plurality of application categories is associated with the partner device. 
     
     
         8 . The application search system of  claim 1 , wherein, to identify the first application category, the application search module:
 provides the partner device with the plurality of application categories;   receives, from the partner device, a selection of the first application category from the plurality of application categories;   stores an association of the first application category with a partner identifier of the partner device; and   identifies the first application category based on the stored association.   
     
     
         9 . The application search system of  claim 1 , wherein the search query includes an indication of the first application category and the application search module identifies the first application category based on the indication. 
     
     
         10 . The application search system of  claim 1 , wherein, to identify the first application category, (i) the application search module generates, based on at least one term in the search query, a prompt to be provided to a user of the partner device, and (ii) the application search module identifies the first application category based on a selection made by the user in response to the prompt. 
     
     
         11 . A method for providing search results to a plurality of partner devices, the method comprising:
 receiving data identifying a plurality of applications, wherein each of the plurality of applications is associated with one or more of a plurality of application categories;   generating, based on the received data, a plurality of search indexes, wherein each of the plurality of search indexes corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of application categories;   receiving, via a network, a search query from a first partner device of the plurality of partner devices;   identifying a first application category of the plurality of application categories based on the search query;   selecting, from the plurality of search indexes, a first search index corresponding to the identified first application category;   querying the selected first search index to identify a first plurality of application representations associated with the identified first application category;   generating search results based on the first plurality of application representations; and   providing the generated search results to be transmitted to the first partner device.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 identifying a second application category of the plurality of application categories based on the search query;   selecting, from the plurality of search indexes, a second search index based on the second identified application category;   querying the selected second search index to identify a second plurality of application representations associated with the identified second application category; and   generating the search results based on a union of the first plurality of application representations and the second plurality of application representations.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein selecting the first search index includes selecting the first index further based on an identifier of the first partner device. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein two or more of the plurality of search indexes correspond to the respective one of the application categories, and wherein selecting the first index includes selecting the first index from among the two or more of the plurality of search indexes based on the identifier of the first partner device. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein identifying the first application category includes identifying the first application category further based on a platform executing on the first partner device. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein context information received from the first partner device includes an indication of the platform executing on the first partner device. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein a subset of the plurality of application categories is associated with the partner device. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein identifying the first application category includes:
 providing the partner device with the plurality of application categories;   receiving, from the partner device, a selection of the first application category from the plurality of application categories;   storing an association of the first application category with a partner identifier of the partner device; and   identifying the first application category based on the stored association.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the search query includes an indication of the first application category and identifying the first application category based on the indication. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein identifying the first application category includes (i) generating, based on at least one term in the search query, a prompt to be provided to a user of the partner device, and (ii) identifying the first application category based on a selection made by the user in response to the prompt.