Internet Search Results Annotation, Filtering, And Advertising With Respect To Search Term Elements

What is this patent about?

’937 is related to the field of Internet search technology, specifically addressing the problem of irrelevant search results that waste users' time. The background acknowledges that current search engines often prioritize monetization through advertising and linking-based referral services over providing truly relevant results. Users frequently encounter webpages lacking the search terms they specified, leading to frustration and inefficiency.

The underlying idea behind ’937 is to enhance the user experience by providing annotations and filtering options within the search results page itself. This allows users to quickly identify and avoid irrelevant links, particularly those lacking the specified search terms. The core insight is that by proactively informing users about the content of linked pages, including the presence or absence of search terms, the search process becomes more efficient and less frustrating.

The claims of ’937 focus on a process and system for Internet search that includes annotation and filtering. The independent claims cover receiving a search request, generating search results (some missing search terms), displaying an Internet search user interface with warnings about missing terms, and providing a filtering option to remove results referencing webpages lacking desired search term elements. The claims emphasize the interactive nature of the interface and the ability for users to customize their search results.

In practice, the invention involves analyzing webpages referenced in search results to determine if they contain all the user-specified search terms. If a webpage is missing a term, a warning is displayed alongside the search result, indicating which term is absent. Users can then choose to filter out these results, creating a cleaner and more relevant search results page. This analysis can be performed in real-time or by referencing a pre-computed database of webpage characteristics.

This approach differentiates itself from traditional search engines by providing proactive warnings and filtering capabilities directly within the search results. Instead of relying solely on the search engine's algorithm to determine relevance, the user is empowered to make informed decisions about which links to pursue. This is particularly useful for complex searches where precision is critical, and time wasted on irrelevant links is costly. The system can be implemented as a browser plugin or a server-side component, offering flexibility in deployment.