The present invention provides for a method of updating an internet search engine database with the results of a user's selection of specific web page listings from the general web page listing provided to the user as a result of his initial keyword search entry. By updating the database with the selections of many different users, the database can be updated to prioritize those web listings that have been selected the most with respect to a given keyword, and thereby presenting first the most popular web page listings in a subsequent search using the same keyword search entry.

(1) Abstract - A system of network site searching and listing employs a server which maintains a listings database containing site listings, provided by subscribers, each of which includes a title or description of the content of the respective site, a network address at which the site can be accessed, and a denominated value to be paid by the subscriber as a subscription fee for the site listing. In response to search queries, the server provides a search report of listings ranked according to the subscription fees paid by the subscribers. The higher the amount paid for a given subscription period in relation to other listers, the higher the site's ranking on the service's search reports. Through an account monitoring interface, subscribers can monitor the ranking of their listings and modify their account information and subscription fees automatically at any time. The denominated-values approach to rankings may be used in conjunction with the index search method or the category search method. The denominated-values database may also be linked to other search services, and the denominated-values rankings of the listings can be converted into the relevancy measures used by the other search services. The service provides immediate placement control for subscribers, without high transaction costs or delays, based on a ranking system determined by monetary value rather than arbitrary relevancy factors.

According to the invention, network code (for example, in HTML or XML) corresponding to a displayable portion of network content (such as an Internet Web site) is retrieved into a users' local processing system. A list of identifiers is then stored, by specific user choice, in the local system. Each identifier corresponds to a participating provider. In the user's local processing system, the network code is then parsed and any occurrence in the network code of any identifier stored in the list of identifiers is detected. For each detected identifier, a marker code is then inserted into the network code, the marker code indicating to the user the presence in the network code of each detected identifier. Both the network code and each inserted marker code are then displayed, whereby the presence in the network code of each detected identifier is made visible to the user. The identifiers include network address links and text strings. The identifiers are preferably downloaded into and stored in the user's local processing system from each participating provider via a public network. When a user is viewing network content, the invention can therefore make the user aware, for example, that a particular link or phrase on the page is associated with a participating provider, who may, for example, offer benefits such as price discounts to the user.

(1) Abstract - The present invention provides for a method of updatig an internet search engine database with the results of a user's selection of specific web page listings from the general web page listing provided to the user as a result of his initial keyword search entry. By updating the database with the selections of many different users, the database can be updated to prioritize those web listings that have been selected the most with respect to a given keyword, and thereby presenting first the most popular web page listings in a subsequent search using the same keyword search entry.

(1) Abstract - A method and system for providing a set of search terms in response to a user input are disclosed. A first set of search terms is selected from a master set of search terms based upon a match between the input and the search terms or based upon a predefined association between the input and the search terms. A second set of search terms is selected from the first set of search terms in response to a value score that is established for each of the search terms. The value score is selected based at least in part upon the amount of revenue that each search term generates for the system's operator.

The present invention provides a method and system for listing network search results. The network has a plurality of sites. Each site has a plurality of pages. The method and system comprise searching the network based on a search term and saving original results from the search and modifying the results of the search wherein at least one of the plurality of pages of a site containing the search term is excluded from reference in the search results and a reference to the home page of the site is included in the search results. Through the use of a method and system in accordance with the present invention, the number of result hits listed on the results list produced by a web search engine will be dramatically reduced. Tens or hundreds of result pages are potentially eliminated. A user will also be able to quickly locate web pages, within each of the individually listed web sites, that contain the search term(s). As a result, a user within a network system such as the Internet is no longer burdened with having to review page after page of irrelevant information related to his/her searches, where the information is duplicative or undesirable because of its relation to a web site that is of no interest to the user.

(1) Abstract - A search engine system assists users in locating web pages from which user-specified products can be purchased. Web pages located by a crawler program are scored, based on a set of rules, according to likelihood of including an online product offering. A query server accesses an index of the scored web pages to locate pages that are both responsive to a user's search query and likely to include a product offering. In one embodiment, the responsive web pages are listed on a composite search results page together with products that satisfy the query.

(1) Abstract - A method of generating a search result list also provides related searches for use by a searcher. Search listings which generate a match with a search request submitted by the searcher are identified in a pay for placement database which includes a plurality of search listings. Related search listings contained in a related search database generated from the pay for placement database are identified as relevant to the search request. A search result list is returned to the searcher including the identified search listings and one or more of the identified search listings.

An improved human user computer interface system, wherein a user characteristic or set of characteristics, such as demographic profile or societal "role", is employed to define a scope or domain of operation. The operation itself may be a database search, to interactively define a taxonomic context for the operation, a business negotiation, or other activity. After retrieval of results, a scoring or ranking may be applied according to user define criteria, which are, for example, commensurate with the relevance to the context, but may be, for example, by date, source, or other secondary criteria. A user profile is preferably stored in a computer accessible form, and may be used to provide a history of use, persistent customization, collaborative filtering and demographic information for the user. Advantageously, user privacy and anonymity is maintained by physical and algorithmic controls over access to the personal profiles, and releasing only aggregate data without personally identifying information or of small groups.

The advertiser-supported Web site is one of several business models vying for legitimacy in the emerging medium of the World Wide Web on the Internet (Hoffman, Novak, and Chatterjee 1995). Currently, there are three major types of advertiser-supported sites: 1) sponsored content sites like Hotwired, ESPNET Sportszone, and ZD Net, 2) sponsored search agents and directories like InfoSeek, Excite, and Yahoo, and 3) entry portal sites like Netscape. At present, these three classes of sites are split at about 55 percent, 36 percent and 19 percent, respectively, in terms of advertising revenue (Jupiter Communications 1996).

This dissertation investigates whether the automatic grouping of similar documents (document clustering) is a feasible method of presenting the results of Web search engines. We identify several key requirements for document clustering of search engine results: clustering quality, concise and accurate cluster descriptions, and speed. In response, we present a novel clustering algorithm – Suffix Tree Clustering (STC) specifically designed for this task in several respects. First, STC groups documents based on shared phrases. Second, it allows overlapping clusters. Finally, STC is a fast, incremental, and linear-time (in the number of documents) algorithm. We have evaluated the clustering quality of STC and showed it superior to other commonly used algorithms on Web search engine results. We have also shown STC to be significantly faster than other linear-time algorithms when clustering search engine snippets. We have incorporated STC into the Grouper system, which is available at http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/clustering. Grouper is, to our knowledge, the first implementation of a post-retrieval document-clustering interface to a Web search engine. Inspired by STC’s success, we studied the use of phrases for clustering across a variety of clustering algorithms. Phrases contain more information than single words (information regarding proximity and order of words) and have the equally important advantage of having a higher descriptive power. We have shown that using phrases substantially improves the performance of all algorithms tested including hierarchical group-average, k-means, single pass, Fractionation and Buckshot.

Description of the Open Text pay for placement in search results business model

Article describing the history of Yahoo!'s key-word pay for placement search marketing services that predate the '450 patent.

Describes the business model of GoTo.com which includes a pay for placement in search results.

(1) Abstract - A method and system for automatically managing an auction for determining relative priority for a service in a system wherein priority is based on the relative value of related bids is disclosed. The method comprises checking for whether a first bid exceeds a second bid in an auction for determining continuing priority for providing an ongoing service for at least a first and second bidder, wherein the relative priority for providing the service for the first bidder is dependent on whether the value of the first bid exceeds the value of the second bid, and wherein the relative priority for providing the service for the second bidder is dependent on whether the value of the second bid exceeds the value of the first bid. The method further comprises incrementing the first bid to a value exceeding the second bid if the first bid does not exceed the second bid, thereby causing the relative priority for providing service for the first bidder to exceed the priority for providing service for the second bidder. The steps of checking and incrementing may be executed a plurality of times. The system may pause for a fixed period of time between each series of steps of checking and incrementing.

(1) Abstract - The present invention provides a system and method for enabling a web site promoter using a computer network to influence a position within a search result list generated by an Internet search engine. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method to enable a web site promoter to define a search listing for a search result list, select a search term relevant to the promoter's web site, and influence a search result list position for the search listing on an Internet search engine. When an Internet user enters the search terms in a search engine query, the search engine will generate a search result list with the web site promoter's listing in a position influenced by one or more parameters defined by the promoter.