HK1192339B - Techniques for including collection items in search results - Google Patents

Abstract

It is disclosed techniques for including collection items in search results. Techniques are provided for including collection items in the ranked set of search results that are returned to a user in response to a search query. Collection scoring techniques are also provided for generating relevance scores for collection items in a different manner than relevance scores are generated for base items that are not collections. The collection scoring techniques may be applied to non-base collection items, base collection items, or both. Items that match the search query, including base items and collection items, are ranked in a unified ranking based on their respective relevance scores, thereby allowing searches to readily determine the relevance ranking of matching collection items relative to matching base items.

Description

Techniques for including collection items in search results

This application is a divisional application of an invention patent application having an application date of 2007, 12 and 14, application No. 200780047262.1, filed as yahoo corporation, entitled "technique for including collection items in search results".

Technical Field

The present invention relates to searching, and more particularly to providing search results that include collection items (collection items).

Background

Search engines typically perform searches on a homogenous set of items. A homogenous set of items may be web pages, images, files, songs, videos, goods, etc., depending on the search engine. The type of item for which a search is performed is referred to herein as the "base type" of search. Items belonging to the search base category are referred to herein as "base items".

Objects that represent collections of base items are referred to herein as "collection items". In some cases, the collection item itself is a base item. For example, a "folder" is a file itself, but may contain other files. Similarly, a web page may contain a list of other web pages. Collection items that are base items are referred to herein as "base collection items".

When a search engine performs a search for a particular base type, the search results may include base collection items as well as base items that are not collections. For example, search results for files created on a particular date may include folders created on the specified date, as well as other files. Similarly, the search results for web pages related to "Manhattan hotels" may include web pages for a particular Manhattan hotel, as well as web pages from travel service sites that list the web pages for the Manhattan hotel.

However, collection items that are useful to a searcher are not just such basic collection items. In many cases, the set of base items has been specified in an object that is not itself a base item. For example, a user's set of "bookmarks" corresponds to a set of web pages, but the set of bookmarks itself is not a web page. Thus, the bookmark sets are not listed in the search results performed on the web page. Similarly, a user's playlist corresponds to a group of songs, but the playlist itself is not a song. Therefore, the playlist is not listed in the search result of the search performed on the song.

Collection items that are not themselves base items are referred to herein as "non-base collection items". In some cases, the identification of related non-base collection items may be more useful to the searcher than the identification of related base items. In other cases, the identification of related non-base collection items may not be as useful as the identification of related base items. It is therefore desirable to provide information to the searcher about (a) related base items, (b) related base collection items, and (c) related non-base collection items, and to present the information in a manner that allows the searcher to determine the relative relevance of the various items.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Thus, unless otherwise indicated, any methods described in this section should not be construed as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

Drawings

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating steps for responding to a search query according to one embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computer system in which embodiments of the invention may be implemented.

Detailed Description

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It may be evident, however, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.

Overview

Techniques are provided for including collection items in a set of ranked search results returned to a user in response to a search query. To return non-base collection items in the set of ranked search results, the search engine runs a query against both base items and non-base collection items. After the base items and non-base collection items that match the query are identified, the search engine determines relevance scores for both the base items and the non-base collection items. By including matching non-base collection items in the same set of ranked search results that include matching base items, a user can more easily determine the likelihood that a non-base collection item contains a base item that the user will be interested in. In addition, users are more likely to use non-base collection items to find the information they are looking for when the ranking of the non-base collection items in a set of integrated ranked search results is high rather than being presented separately from the base item ranking.

Collection scoring techniques are also provided for generating relevance scores for collection items in a different manner than relevance scores are generated for base items that are not collections. The collection scoring techniques may be applied to non-base collection items, or both.

In one embodiment, the collection scoring technique is based on various factors, including the characteristics of the base items belonging to the collection item and the characteristics of the collection item itself. The characteristics of the base items used to determine the relevance scores of the collection items may be the same characteristics used to determine the relevance of each base item itself. Collection item characteristics that may be used to determine a relevance score for a collection item include, for example, information associated with the creator of the collection item, the popularity (popularity) of the collection item, and so forth.

When applied to base collection items, the collection scoring technique may produce a different relevance ranking than would be produced by applying the standard base item scoring to the base collection items. For example, the relevance score for a particular base collection item may be generated based at least in part on the relevance scores of the base items represented by the base collection item. Such generated relevance scores may be higher or lower than would be generated by scoring the base collection item without consideration of the base collection item representation collection.

Collection item

Various techniques for including collection items in search results of searches run against various types of base items should be described below. The techniques are not limited to any particular type of search, or any particular type of collection item. The following list of non-basic collection items is provided for illustrative purposes and should not be exhaustive.

Tags (tag) -each tag represents a collection of items that have been tagged with a given tag. Tags can be applied to any type of basic item including web pages, event records, songs, videos, and the like.

Search-each search represents a collection of items that belong to a search result that was generated when the search was performed. The search may be performed for any type of base item. A given search represents a collection of base items having the basic type of search being performed. For example, a search performed against metadata associated with an image represents a collection of images that would result from performing the search.

Bookmark sets — each bookmark set represents a collection of items for which the bookmark set has bookmarks. For example, if a particular user creates bookmarks for web pages that the user prefers, the set of bookmarks created by the user represent the collection of those web pages.

See also- "see also" the list represents a collection of items that are logically related to a given item. For example, an electronic encyclopedia may have web pages that describe a particular topic, and the "see also" list links to web pages that contain the encyclopedia content of the relevant topic. The "see also" list is not a web page itself, but it represents a collection of web pages that contain those related topics.

Playlist-a playlist represents a collection of playable media items (e.g., songs, videos) that belong to the playlist.

Wish list (wishlist) — a wish list represents a collection of purchasable items that have been placed in a wish list.

Catalog-a catalog represents a collection of items that have been assigned to a category corresponding to the catalog. Various items have been categorized into categories. For example, various companies have created an exhaustive list of web sites to help users find the information they seek.

Travel itinerary — a travel itinerary represents a collection of travel items. Travel items may include, for example, ports of check-in, flights, car rentals, sightseeing, and the like.

Examples of base collection items include, but are not limited to, folders (files that can contain other files) and collection web pages (web pages that represent collections of other web pages).

Registering collection items

In order to include collection items in the search results, the index in which the search is performed must include information about the collection items as well as information about the base items. As will be described in more detail below, the search engine does not treat the collection items in the same manner as the base items for scoring or presentation. Thus, the search index includes an indication of which items are base items and which items are collection items. In an index that supports multiple types of collection items, the index includes data identifying the type of each collection item represented by the index.

Information about the collection items will typically have to be obtained using a mechanism separate from the mechanism used to collect information about the base items. For example, one technique for obtaining information about web pages involves "crawling the web" by following links between web pages. However, conventional web crawlers (web crawlers) are not designed to obtain information about the set of bookmarks a user creates to access their favorite web pages. Thus, different mechanisms must be used to gather information about bookmark sets so that bookmark sets can be included in the ranked results of a web page search.

Various types of mechanisms may be used to obtain information about non-base collection items. The present invention is not limited to any particular type of non-basic collection item discovery mechanism. For example, non-base collection items may be explicitly registered with a search engine by the same mechanism used to create the non-base collection items. Thus, a web service that allows users to create and share bookmark sets may register such bookmark sets with a web page search engine. Similarly, a trading web site that allows users to add items to wish lists may register those wish lists with a merchandise search engine. As yet another example, media playback software that allows users to define and share playlists of songs may be designed to register those playlists with a music search engine.

The explicit registration of non-base collection items with the search engine may be automatic or performed at the discretion of the user creating the non-base collection items. For example, a web site that allows users to create and share bookmark sets may provide a user interface control through which the user indicates whether the bookmark sets should be registered with a search engine. Furthermore, even when the user has allowed the registration of non-base collection items to the search engine, the registration mechanism may apply additional criteria to determine whether the non-base collection items should be registered. For example, a site that allows users to create and share bookmark sets may also have a scoring mechanism for determining which bookmark sets are most useful. In these situations, the site may register only those bookmark sets with the search engine that are associated with a usefulness score that exceeds a given threshold.

Non-base collection items may be registered implicitly instead of, or in addition to, an explicit registration mechanism. For example, a discovery mechanism may be used to mine directories of a directory system, and then register the directories so discovered with a web page search engine.

As another example, a discovery mechanism may be run against a repository of files to identify files corresponding to playlists, and then register any playlists discovered in this manner with a music search engine.

In embodiments where the non-base collection items themselves are searches, a search engine for performing web page searches may register all searches that meet certain criteria. For example, a search engine may register all searches submitted to the search engine with a frequency that exceeds a particular threshold.

Registering metadata

When registering a non-base collection item with a search engine, registering includes providing the search engine with the following information about the non-base collection item: the information enables the search engine to (a) determine whether the non-base collection item matches a search criteria specified for the base item, and (b) generate a relevance score for the non-base collection item by which the non-base collection item can be ranked relative to the matching base item.

The information provided to the search engine during registration of a non-base collection item is referred to herein as "registration metadata" for that non-base collection item. The actual information contained in the registration metadata may vary from implementation to implementation and may be based on the type of non-base collection item being registered. Examples of registration metadata include, but are not limited to:

information identifying a base item in the collection represented by the non-base collection item;

information about the creator of the non-base collection item, such as an indication of the creator's reputation, an indication of the creator's interest, an indication of the creator's expertise, an indication of the creator's educational background, an indication of the creator's affiliation (affiliation), and the like.

Information about non-base collection items, such as names assigned to non-base collection items, labels already assigned to non-base collection items, an indication of the popularity of non-base collection items, an indication of the category to which non-base collection items belong (e.g., information about the fact that the playlist is for country music, the wish list is full of items needed to set up an ultimate home theater, etc.).

Scoring collection items

Various scoring techniques for scoring collection items differently than non-collection items should be described below. The collection scoring techniques may be applied to both base collection items and non-base collection items.

The relevance scores generated for the collection items can be based on a variety of factors, including any or all of the enrollment metadata associated with the collection items. Such factors may include, but are not limited to, (1) characteristics of the base items in the collection, (2) characteristics of the collection itself, and (3) characteristics of the collection creator. Each type of factor will be described in more detail below.

Set scoring based on characteristics of base items belonging to a set

In one embodiment, the registration metadata includes information identifying the base items in the collection represented by the collection item. Because the enrollment metadata identifies the base items that belong to the collection, the search engine can take into account the characteristics of these base items when scoring the collection items. For example, the characteristics of the base items that can be used to score a collection are the respective relevance scores of the base items. For example, in one embodiment, generating relevance scores for the collection items includes (1) generating a relevance score for each base item belonging to the collection using conventional base item scoring techniques, (2) determining an average relevance score for the base items belonging to the collection, and (3) generating the relevance scores for the collection based at least in part on the average relevance scores for the base items belonging to the collection.

Other examples of basing the relevance scores of collection items on the characteristics of the base items belonging to the collection items include:

determining a relevance score for a playlist based on a user evaluation assigned to songs in the playlist;

determining a relevance score for a playlist based on a frequency of download of songs in the playlist;

determine a relevance score for a playlist based on an average duration of songs in the playlist;

determining a relevance score for the wish list based on a number of sales of each item in the wish list;

determining a relevance score for a wish list based on a quality assessment associated with each item in the wish list;

determine the relevance of the tags that have been assigned to each event that have been assigned a tag, based on how many people have indicated that they plan to attend the event.

Determine a relevance score for a route based on a safety assessment associated with countries included in the route;

determining a relevance score for a route based on popularity of travel items on the route; and

determine a relevance score for a folder based on modification dates associated with items in the folder.

These examples merely illustrate how the relevance scores of a collection item can be based on the characteristics of the base items belonging to the collection item. The specific characteristics of the base items considered in determining the scores for the collection items will vary from implementation to implementation, based in part on the nature of the base items belonging to the collection.

Set scoring based on characteristics of the set

Instead of, or in addition to, taking into account the characteristics of the base items belonging to the collection, the relevance scores for the collection items may be generated based at least in part on the characteristics of the collection items. Such characteristics may include both metadata explicitly assigned to the collection (e.g., name, tag, etc.), intrinsic characteristics of the collection (e.g., number of items in the collection, total duration of the playlist, total cost of items in the wish list, etc.), and metadata generated based on user behavior related to the collection (e.g., popularity, evaluation, etc.). For example, a particular bookmark set may receive a high usefulness evaluation from the bookmark set user. The usefulness evaluation for the bookmark set can be included in the registration metadata of the bookmark set and can be used by a search engine in generating relevance scores for the bookmark set. Thus, a high usefulness evaluation will increase the relevance score of a bookmark set, while a low usefulness evaluation will decrease the relevance score of a bookmark set.

Other examples of basing the relevance scores of collection items on characteristics of collection items include:

determine a relevance score for the playlist based on the popularity of the playlist;

determine a relevance score for their personal wish list based on how many people have added the content of the wish list to the wish list;

determine a folder's associated score based on the folder's modification data;

determine a relevance of a label that has been assigned to an event based on how often the label is assigned to the event; and

determine the relevance of the bookmark set based on the categories to which the bookmark set has been assigned.

These examples merely illustrate how the relevance scores of a collection item can be based on the characteristics of the collection item. The specific characteristics of the collection items considered in determining the scores for the collection items will vary from implementation to implementation, based in part on the nature of the collection items.

Set scoring based on characteristics of set creator

Instead of or in addition to considering the characteristics of the base items belonging to the collection and the characteristics of the collection items, a relevance score for a collection item may be generated based at least in part on the characteristics of the creator of the collection item. For example, a particular user may have created many shared bookmark sets. Other users may have given those bookmark sets a very high "usefulness" assessment. Thus, the user may have been granted an "authority" level by the bookmark set web site. The fact that the creator of a bookmark set has been marked "authoritative" may be used to increase the associated score for a bookmark set created by a user, even when the score is applied to bookmark sets that have not received a high usefulness assessment.

The characteristics of the collection items and the characteristics of the creators of the collection items may be stored within the search engine index or dynamically determined while the search engine is processing the query. For example, in response to determining that a particular bookmark set matches the query, the search engine may (1) identify the owner of the bookmark set, and (2) dynamically generate a reputation metric for the creator based on current information associated with the user. Similarly, a popularity metric for a collection item, such as a bookmark set, may be dynamically generated as the search query is being processed. By dynamically generating the characteristics as the search query is processed, scoring the collection may take into account events that have occurred since the collection items were registered with the search engine. For example, the popularity of a bookmark set or the reputation of the creator of the bookmark set may change dramatically between the time the bookmark set is registered to a search engine and the time the bookmark set is selected as a matching item for a search query.

Other examples of basing the relevance scores of collection items on characteristics of the creator of the collection item include:

determine a relevance score for the playlist based on the age of the creator of the playlist (e.g., the smaller the difference between the creator's age and the searcher's age, the higher the relevance score assigned to the playlist);

determining a relevance score for the wish list based on a revenue level of a creator of the wish list;

determine a folder's associated score based on where the creator of the folder is located within the company;

determining the relevance of the tags that have been assigned to the events based on whether the creator of the tag is also the person who posted the event tagged with the tag;

determine a relevance of the bookmark set based on whether a creator of the bookmark set has been identified as a source of electronic spam (spam);

determine a relevance of a bookmark group based on a measure of expertise of a creator of the bookmark group;

determine relevance of the bookmark set based on a measure of reputation of the creator of the bookmark set (where the reputation measure may be determined based at least in part on how early the creator made bookmarks for items later determined to be useful); and

determine the relevance of the bookmark set based on the home-state of the creator of the bookmark set.

These examples merely illustrate how the relevance scores of collection items can be based on characteristics of the creator of the collection item. The specific characteristics of the collection item creator to consider in determining the score of a collection item will vary from implementation to implementation, based in part on the nature of the collection item.

Result set comprising collection items

According to one embodiment, after the search engine has identified the base items and collection items that match the search, the search engine generates a relevance score for each matching item. The relevance scores for the base items may be generated based on conventional scoring techniques, while the relevance scores for the collection items are generated based on one or more of the factors described above. Once scores have been generated for the matching items, the matching items are ranked based on their respective relevance scores and returned as a single ranked list of matching items. Using the techniques described herein, the ordered list may include base items, base collection items, and non-base collection items. Because the base items, base collection items, and non-base collection items are all included in the same sorted group, the user can easily determine the relative relevance of these base items, base collection items, and non-base collection items.

Presenting collection items in search results

Once the user has been presented with an ordered set of search results including collection items, the user may wish to select a collection item from the set. According to one embodiment, when a user selects a collection item list from search results, the user is presented with a web page that includes controls for accessing various items belonging to the collection item. In some cases, such a web page will exist when the collection item is registered to a search engine. In that case, the search result list for the collection item may contain a link to the pre-existing web page.

However, in other cases, such a web page will not exist when the collection is registered to a search engine. For example, when a playlist is registered with a search engine, there may not be a web page associated with the playlist. Similarly, there may not be a web page corresponding to a collection item when a bookmark set, route, or wish list is registered with the search engine. Various techniques may be used to enable a search engine to list and present the collection item web page in those situations.

According to one technique, when a collection item is registered with a search engine, if the collection item does not have its own web page, the search engine generates a web page for the collection item. When such collection items are listed in a search result, the search result list includes a link that, when selected, retrieves a web page created by the search engine.

According to another technique, no web page is generated for a collection item when the collection item is registered with a search engine. Rather, the search engine includes a link in the search result list that, when selected, causes the search engine to dynamically generate a web page for the selected collection item.

The search engine may be designed to generate web pages for certain types of collection items when the collection items are registered, and to dynamically build web pages for other types of collection items when a collection item is selected from a search result list. Thus, a search result list generated using the techniques described herein may include any combination of:

a link to a web page associated with the base item;

a link to a pre-existing web page associated with the collection item;

a link to a static web page created by the search engine for the collection item; and

when selected, causes the dynamic generation of links for the web page by the search engine for the collection item.

According to one embodiment, the collection items are displayed differently in the search results than the base items. In particular, the search engine may take advantage of the fact that: more information and types of information may be known about a collection than about a base item. For example, if the collection item is a bookmark set, the search engine may know the creator of the bookmark set and a usefulness evaluation of the bookmark set. Thus, the search engine may include an indication of a usefulness evaluation, a creator's name, a creator's photo, an indication of a creator reputation measure, etc. in the search result list entries of the bookmark set.

Example processing

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating steps for responding to a search query according to one embodiment of the invention. At step 100, a search engine receives a query. At step 102, the search engine compares the search query to metadata associated with the base item, the base collection item, and the non-base collection items to identify matching items. At step 104, the matching base items are assigned relevance scores using a scoring technique, and the matching base collection items and matching non-base collection items are assigned relevance scores using a different collection scoring technique than that used to score the matching base items. At step 106, a single ranked search result list is generated and provided as a result of the search query. The ordered list may include base items, base collection items, and non-base collection items, which are ordered according to their respective relevance scores. As described above, the list entries for non-base collection items may include links to pre-existing web pages, static web pages, or links that would cause web pages to be dynamically generated for the non-base collection items.

Hardware overview

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system 200 upon which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented. Computer system 200 includes a bus 202 or other communication mechanism for communicating information, and a processor 204 coupled with bus 202 for processing information. Computer system 200 also includes a main memory 206, such as a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to bus 202 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 204. Main memory 206 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 204. Computer system 200 also includes a Read Only Memory (ROM) 208 or other static storage device coupled to bus 202 for storing static information and instructions for processor 204. A storage device 210, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is provided and coupled to bus 202 for storing information and instructions.

Computer system 200 may be coupled via bus 202 to a display 212, such as a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), for displaying information to a computer user. An input device 214, including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to bus 202 for communicating information and command selections to processor 204. Another type of user input device is cursor control 216, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 204 and for controlling cursor movement on display 212. Such input devices typically have two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., the x-axis) and a second axis (e.g., the y-axis), that allow the device to specify positions in a plane.

The invention is related to the use of computer system 200 for implementing the techniques described herein. According to one embodiment of the invention, those techniques are performed by computer system 200 in response to processor 204 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 206. Such instructions may be read into main memory 206 from another machine-readable medium, such as storage device 210. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 206 causes processor 204 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the invention. Thus, embodiments of the invention are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

The term "machine-readable medium" as used herein refers to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operation in a specific fashion. In an embodiment implemented using computer system 200, various machine-readable media are involved, for example, in providing instructions to processor 204 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 210. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory 206. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 202. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications. All such media must be tangible to enable the instructions carried by the media to be detected by a physical mechanism that reads the instructions into a machine.

Common forms of machine-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read.

Various forms of machine-readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 204 for execution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk of a remote computer. The remote computer can load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. A modem local to computer system 200 can receive the data on the telephone line and use an infra-red transmitter to convert the data to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detector can receive the data carried in the infra-red signal and appropriate circuitry can place the data on bus 202. Bus 202 carries the data to main memory 206, from which main memory 206 processor 204 retrieves and executes the instructions. The instructions received by main memory 206 may optionally be stored on storage device 210 either before or after execution by processor 204.

Computer system 200 also includes a communication interface 218 coupled to bus 202. Communication interface 218 provides a two-way data communication coupling to a network link 220, network link 220 being connected to a local network 222. For example, communication interface 218 may be an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) card or a modem to provide a data communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line. As another example, communication interface 218 may be a Local Area Network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. Wireless links may also be implemented. In any such implementation, communication interface 218 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information.

Network link 220 typically provides data communication through one or more networks to other data devices. For example, network link 220 may provide a connection through local network 222 to a host computer 224 or to data equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 226. ISP226 in turn provides data communication services through the ten-thousand dimensional packet data communication network now commonly referred to as the "Internet" 228. Local network 222 and internet 228 both use electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams. The signals through the various networks and the signals on network link 220 and through communication interface 218, which carry the digital data to and from computer system 200, are exemplary forms of carrier waves transporting the information.

Computer system 200 can send messages and receive data, including program code, through one or more networks, network link 220, and communication interface 218. In the internet example, a server 230 might transmit a requested code for an application program through internet 228, ISP226, local network 222 and communication interface 218.

The received code may be executed by processor 204 as it is received, and/or stored in storage device 210, or other non-volatile storage for later execution. In this manner, computer system 200 may obtain application code in the form of a carrier wave.

In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to numerous specific details that may vary from implementation to implementation. Thus, the sole and exclusive indicator of what is the invention, and is intended by the applicants to be the invention, is the set of claims that issue from this application, in the specific form in which such claims issue, including any subsequent correction. Any definitions expressly set forth herein for terms contained in such claims shall govern the meaning of such terms as used in the claims. Hence, no element, property, feature, advantage or attribute that is not expressly recited in a claim should limit the scope of such claim in any way. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Claims (21)

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

identifying a set of matching items in response to receiving the search query;

wherein the set of matching items comprises (a) one or more base items and (b) one or more non-base collection items;

wherein each non-base collection item of the one or more non-base collection items represents a plurality of base items and is not itself a base item;

determining a relevance ranking of each matching item in the set of matching items relative to all other matching items in the set of matching items by generating a relevance score for each matching item in the set of matching items; and

responding to the search query by providing search results based on the set of matching terms and the relevance ranking.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the relevance score for a particular non-base collection item of the one or more non-base collection items is generated based at least in part on a characteristic of a creator of the particular non-base collection item.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the characteristic is a measure of reputation of a creator of the particular non-base collection item.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the relevance score for a particular non-base collection item of the one or more non-base collection items is generated based at least in part on a characteristic of the particular non-base collection item other than any base item of the plurality of base items.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing search results comprises providing an ordered list of matching items from the set of matching items, wherein the ordered list is ordered based on a relevance ordering.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more base items are web pages and the one or more non-base collection items are bookmark sets.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more base items are web pages and the one or more non-base collection items are searches.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more base items are web pages and the one or more non-base collection items are alternative search queries.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more base items are audio files and the one or more non-base collection items are playlists.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more base items are merchandise and the one or more non-base collection items are wish lists.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more base items are web pages and the one or more non-base collection items are directories.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more base items are travel-related items and the one or more non-base collection items are routes.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more base items are tagged items and the one or more non-base collection items are tags.

14. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

storing, in an index associated with the system, a first index entry associated with a first set of items that represent a plurality of base items and that are not base items themselves;

storing, within the system, data indicating that a plurality of items indexed by the system are collection items, wherein the plurality of items includes the first collection item;

in response to receiving a search query, identifying a set of matching items, wherein the set of matching items includes one or more base items and the first set of items, wherein identifying the set of matching items includes matching the search query to the first index entry; and

responding to the search query by generating search results based at least in part on the set of matching terms, wherein the search results include:

a) at least one of the one or more base items; and

b) the first collection item.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein generating search results comprises providing an ordered list of matching items from the set of matching items, wherein the ordered list is ordered based on a relevance ordering.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein storing the first index entry is performed in response to a registration.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the registering comprises registering metadata comprising one or more of:

1) information identifying a plurality of base items in a collection represented by the first collection item, 2) information about a creator of the first collection item, or

3) Information about the first collection item.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the registration metadata includes information about the first collection item;

the information about the first collection item comprises a tag that has been assigned to the first collection item;

the method also includes associating the tag with the first index entry;

matching the search query to the first index entry is performed by matching the search query to the tag.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

generating a web page associated with the first collection item, wherein the web page includes a control for accessing the plurality of base items belonging to the first collection item.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein generating the web page is performed in response to receiving a request originating from a set of search results presented to a user, wherein the request is associated with the first collection item.

21. A computer system, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to perform the method recited by any of claims 1-20.