Facebook's US 7,788,260
The first claim of Facebook's US Patent 7,788,260 states:
In a computer system for an online social network that includes a server computer and a database of registered users, a method for generating search results for display at a user computer in response to a search query transmitted to the server computer by a registered user from the user computer, the method being carried out by the computer system and comprising the steps of:
maintaining a database of registered users that stores for each registered user, a user ID of the registered user and an adjacency list that identifies other registered users who are directly related to the registered user within the online social network;
receiving a search query from the user computer;
retrieving records that are responsive to the search query; for each retrieved record,
determining a frequency of relevant clicks on a hyperlink associated with each retrieved record, wherein the relevant clicks are clicks by other registered users who are related within two or more degrees of separation to the registered user within the online social network;
sorting the retrieved records in the order of the frequency of relevant clicks associated with the retrieved records; and transmitting a search result page to the user computer for display at the user computer, wherein the search result page includes the sorted retrieved records and a visual tag next to at least one of the sorted retrieved records, wherein said visual tag is to be displayed next to a retrieved record if the frequency of relevant clicks associated with the retrieved record is greater than a predetermined minimum value, and wherein said visual tag is not to be displayed next to a retrieved record if the frequency of relevant clicks associated with the retrieved record is less than the predetermined minimum value.
From the "summary of invention":
The invention provides still another technique to improve the relevance of search results. According to an embodiment of the invention, search results, including sponsored links and algorithmic search results, are generated in response to a query, and are ranked based on the frequency of clicks on the search results by members of social network who are within a predetermined degree of separation from the member who submitted the query. The predetermined degree of separation is equal to one if the click activities of only the friends of the member who submitted the query are to be examined.
A search result may also be marked based on its click history. In one embodiment, a search result is marked with an image or a text string if there was a single click on the search result by a friend of the member who submitted the query. In other embodiments, the frequency of clicks by members of social network who are within a predetermined degree of separation from the member who submitted the query is examined. If such frequency exceeds a minimum value, the associated search result is marked with an image or a text string.
The Facebook patent is a cip of US 7,478,078 entitled "Method of Sharing Social Network Information with Existing User Databases."
Nick Saint writes:
We aren't aware of Facebook actually using that sort of technology, and, of course, it has since outsourced search to Microsoft. But Google has been experimenting with "social search" for a while now. The experiment isn't worth much right now, since Google doesn't have good data on its users' social connections, but if Google is able to change that with Me, Facebook might try to use this patent as a weapon.
In a computer system for an online social network that includes a server computer and a database of registered users, a method for generating search results for display at a user computer in response to a search query transmitted to the server computer by a registered user from the user computer, the method being carried out by the computer system and comprising the steps of:
maintaining a database of registered users that stores for each registered user, a user ID of the registered user and an adjacency list that identifies other registered users who are directly related to the registered user within the online social network;
receiving a search query from the user computer;
retrieving records that are responsive to the search query; for each retrieved record,
determining a frequency of relevant clicks on a hyperlink associated with each retrieved record, wherein the relevant clicks are clicks by other registered users who are related within two or more degrees of separation to the registered user within the online social network;
sorting the retrieved records in the order of the frequency of relevant clicks associated with the retrieved records; and transmitting a search result page to the user computer for display at the user computer, wherein the search result page includes the sorted retrieved records and a visual tag next to at least one of the sorted retrieved records, wherein said visual tag is to be displayed next to a retrieved record if the frequency of relevant clicks associated with the retrieved record is greater than a predetermined minimum value, and wherein said visual tag is not to be displayed next to a retrieved record if the frequency of relevant clicks associated with the retrieved record is less than the predetermined minimum value.
From the "summary of invention":
The invention provides still another technique to improve the relevance of search results. According to an embodiment of the invention, search results, including sponsored links and algorithmic search results, are generated in response to a query, and are ranked based on the frequency of clicks on the search results by members of social network who are within a predetermined degree of separation from the member who submitted the query. The predetermined degree of separation is equal to one if the click activities of only the friends of the member who submitted the query are to be examined.
A search result may also be marked based on its click history. In one embodiment, a search result is marked with an image or a text string if there was a single click on the search result by a friend of the member who submitted the query. In other embodiments, the frequency of clicks by members of social network who are within a predetermined degree of separation from the member who submitted the query is examined. If such frequency exceeds a minimum value, the associated search result is marked with an image or a text string.
The Facebook patent is a cip of US 7,478,078 entitled "Method of Sharing Social Network Information with Existing User Databases."
Nick Saint writes:
We aren't aware of Facebook actually using that sort of technology, and, of course, it has since outsourced search to Microsoft. But Google has been experimenting with "social search" for a while now. The experiment isn't worth much right now, since Google doesn't have good data on its users' social connections, but if Google is able to change that with Me, Facebook might try to use this patent as a weapon.
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 6:30 PM
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