Xerox Corporation

Google Inc.

Stratify, Inc.

Inxight Software, Inc.

Other

Sap America, Inc.

Business Objects Americas

John Ogden Lamping

James Douglass Thornton

Douglas Brian Terry

Ramana B Rao

Warren Keith Edwards

James P Dourish

Michael P Salisbury

Anthony George LaMarca

Karin Petersen

Gregor J Kiczales

Amitabh Singhal

Tichomir G Tenev

Michael D Dixon

Steven D Baker

Amit Singhal

Mizuki McGrath

Simon Tong

Mark E Pearson

Paul Haahr

Daniel Trawick Egnor

Vineet Gupta

Ke Yang

Cristina Lopes

Erik A Hilsdale

Christophe Bisciglia

Monika Hildegard Henzinger

Benedict A Gomes

Mehran Sahami

Alan G Bell

Mark H Yim

Alexis J Battle

Shashidhar Anil Thakur

Kevin David Lacker

Ramana Venkata

David Ariel Cohn

Marcin Kaszkiel

Brian C Smith

Carrie Elizabeth Grimes

Yozo Hida

Ben Gomes

James J Hugunin

Eric W Mao

Johan De Kleer

Kedar Dhamdhere

Eric Hugh Veach

Paul Masami Aoki

Joy Aloysius Thomas

W Keith Edwards

Richard Stamford Crouch

Paul A Tucker

Ian E Smith

Anurag Mendhekar

Pangal Pandurang Nayak

Thomas K Rodriguez

John R Gilbert

George Manianghat Mathew

Tatiana Shpeisman

Robert Shillingsburg

Kevin Lackner

Mohana Krishna Lakhamraju

Gollakota Venkata Ramana

Samdeer Siruguri

Sameer Siruguri

Mary Dalrymple

Hadar Shemtov

Taher H Haveliwala

Venkatesh Choppella

Chandrasekhar Boyapati

J Paul Dourish

Thomas Rodden

Michael F Salisbury

Karin Peterson

Harold J Shinsato, Jr

Anurag D Mendhekar

Anthony G Lamarca

Systems and methods for deriving and using an interaction profile are described. In one described method, a plurality of metrics indicating a level of satisfaction for search results is determined. The metrics comprise at least one of click-duration data, multiple-click data, and query-refinement data. The values of the metrics for a plurality of instances of an object, such as search results from a search engine, are determined. An interaction profile for the object, based at least in part on the values of the metrics for a plurality of instances of the first object, is then determined. This interaction profile may be used in a variety of ways, such as determining the quality of ranking algorithms and detecting undesirable search results.

Deriving and using interaction profiles

A system analyzes one or more search streams to detect one or more associations between a document and one or more queries in the one or more search streams. The system further derives a value for the document based on the detected associations and uses the derived value in evaluating a quality of the document with respect to one or more subsequent queries.

Deriving and using document and site quality signals from search query streams

A system determines whether a term of a search query is a term with little significance based on a context of the search query. The system performs a search based on the search query while considering the term with little significance as optional when the search query includes the term with little significance and presents a list of search results based on the search.

Determining query terms of little significance

A system and method for providing preferred language and/or country ordering of search results is described. A search query describing potentially retrievable information provided in a plurality of search result languages and/or countries is received. A search is executed by evaluating the search query against information characteristics maintained in a searchable data repository. At least one preferred language and/or country applicable to search results generated is dynamically determined responsive to the executed search. At least some of the search results are ordered in consideration of the at least one preferred language and/or country.

Ordering of search results based on language and/or country of the search results

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for identifying substitute terms. According to one implementation, a method includes receiving an original query that includes one or more query terms; obtaining initial search results in response to the original query; identifying an over-represented term in text associated with a subset of the initial search results; determining that the over-represented term is associated with a particular query term; and in response to determining the over-represented term is associated with the particular query term, revising the original query to include the over-represented term.

Substitute term identification based on over-represented terms identification

Web pages of a Website may be processed to improve search results. For example, information likely to pertain to more than just the Web page it is directly associated with may be identified. One or more other, related, Web pages that such information is likely to pertain to is also identified. The identified information is associated with the identified other Web page(s) and this association is saved in a way to affect a search result score of the Web page(s).

Propagating information among web pages

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that identifies a synonym for a query phrase in a manner that ensures that the synonym does not drop information from the query phrase. First, the system identifies a synonym for the query phrase and synonyms for sub-components of the query phrase. If the identified synonym for the query phrase is also a synonym for a subcomponent of the query phrase, the system does not use the identified synonym as a synonym for the query phrase.

Ensuring that a synonym for a query phrase does not drop information present in the query phrase

Maximum offers in an online advertising space (and/or some enhanced ad rendering attribute) arbitration may be discounted such that there exists a dominant bidding strategy, whereby advertisers can choose optimal maximum offers without knowing anything about their competitors' behavior, and without knowing anything about the relative selection rates for different ad spot positions (or the relative values of different enhanced ad rendering attributes that advertisers may compete for). Arbitrations can be run combining offers for use in arbitrations with a first price discounting method, with offers for use in arbitrations with a second price discounting technique.

Cost discounting to provide dominant participation strategy arbitration for online advertising and arbitrations supporting offers from different cost discounting methodologies

A search query for a search engine may be improved by incorporating alternate terms into the search query that are semantically similar to terms of the search query, taking into account information derived from the search query. An initial set of alternate terms that may be semantically similar to the original terms in the search query is generated. The initial set of alternate terms may be compared to information derived from the original search query. One example of such information is a set of documents retrieved in response to a search performed using the initial search query. One or more of the alternate terms may be added to the original search query based on their relationship to the information derived from the original search query.

Search queries improved based on query semantic information

An information system having a computer readable medium including a flexible data structure is provided. The data structure allows information entered into the data structure to be embellished or qualified. The flexible data structure increases the ability of the data structure to record exceptional information pertinent to specific circumstances. The flexible data structure also enables database access software to respond to user queries in a more effective and informative manner.

Flexible data structure in an information system having a computer readable medium

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Los Altos, CA, United States of America

John Ogden Lamping