WO2022172221A1

WO2022172221A1 - Systems and methods for improving search results to a target audience

Info

Publication number: WO2022172221A1
Application number: PCT/IB2022/051249
Authority: WO
Inventors: Luke Pierre VAN BELLEGHEM
Original assignee: Van Belleghem Luke Pierre
Priority date: 2021-02-11
Filing date: 2022-02-11
Publication date: 2022-08-18

Abstract

An example method for improving search results to a target audience is provided. The method includes receiving an originating request to generate a target identifier, the originating request including a target website and a set of attributes defining a target audience of the target website; storing an association between the target identifier, the target website, and the set of attributes defining the target audience; and providing a hyperlink to the target website, the hyperlink encoding the target identifier. The target identifier may be verified by a search engine to improve the search results to the target audience.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING SEARCH RESULTS TO A TARGET

AUDIENCE

FIELD

[0001] The specification relates generally to indexing websites, and more particularly to systems and methods for improving search results to a target audience by indexing the target audience.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Search engines often identify many potential search results for a given search request. In order to rank the results, the search engine may review backlinks to each of the potential results. This heavily weights search results towards large companies which are subject to many backlinks, and may leave some relevant smaller businesses lower ranked.

SUMMARY

[0003] According to an aspect of the present specification, a method for improving search results to a target audience is provided. The method includes receiving an originating request to generate a target identifier, the originating request including a target website and a set of attributes defining a target audience of the target website; storing an association between the target identifier, the target website, and the set of attributes defining the target audience; and outputting a hyperlink to the target website, the hyperlink encoding the target identifier. [0004] According to another aspect of the present specification, a server for improving search results to a target audience is provided. The server includes a memory storing a repository to index websites and target audiences; a communications interface; a processor interconnected with the memory and the communications interface. The processor is to receive, via the communications interface, an originating request to generate a target identifier, the originating request including a target website and a set of attributes defining a target audience of the target website; generate the target identifier; store, in the repository, an association between the target identifier, the target website, and the set of attributes defining the target audience; and output a hyperlink to the target website, the hyperlink encoding the target identifier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0005] Implementations are described with reference to the following figures, in which: [0006] FIG. 1 depicts an example system for improving search results to a target audience;

[0007] FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of certain internal components of a server for improving search results to a target audience in the system of FIG. 1 ;

[0008] FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart of an example method for improving search results to a target audience in the system of FIG. 1 ;

[0009] FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart of an example method of providing an indexed hyperlink in the system of FIG. 1 ;

[0010] FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of an example method of providing attributes of a target audience in the system of FIG. 1 ; and [0011] FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart of an example method of ranking search results based on a target audience in the system of FIG. 1 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] Search results are often based on the expected viewing preferences of the searcher. Examples provided herein improve search results (i.e. , a ranking of a webpage) for a website based on the target audience of that website. Specifically, hyperlinks may be encoded with a target identifier representing a set of attributes defining a target requestor context for a target website. Upon evaluating the backlinks to rank the target website in a list of search results, a search engine may consider the requestor context by validating the target identifier and rank the target website accordingly. Thus, the system provides a way to improve search results to the target audience based on the requestor context.

[0013] FIG. 1 depicts an example system 100 for improving search results to a target audience. The system 100 includes a server 104 interconnected with a first computing device 108, a second computing device 112, and a search engine 116 via communication links. The communication links may be wired or wireless, or a combination of wired and wireless, including direct links, or links that traverse one or more networks. For example, the communication links may utilize networks including any one of, or any combination of, a local area network (LAN) defined by one or more routers, switches, wireless access points or the like, any suitable wide area networks (WAN) including cellular networks and the internet, and the like. [0014]The server 104 is generally configured to improve search results to a target audience based on the requestor context. Specifically, the server 104 indexes target attributes of the requestor context and allows the index to be used to improve search results to the target audience, and accordingly may be referred to as an indexing server. In particular, the indices allow a target website to be ranked higher for requestors satisfying the requestor context based on indices encoded into backlinks to the target website, as will be described further herein. Certain internal components of the server 104 will be described in greater detail below. The server 104 may be based on any suitable server environment, including a stand-alone server, multiple cooperating servers, a cloud-based computing environment, or the like.

[0015]The first computing device 108 and the second computing device 112 are computing devices such as servers, desktop computers, kiosks, and the like, or mobile computing devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, laptop computers, and the like. In particular, the first computing device 108 and the second computing device 112 may include processors, memories, communications interfaces, input and/or output devices, and the like to enable the functionality described herein.

[0016] The search engine 116 may be a series of servers, computing devices, or the like in cooperation. Generally, the search engine 116 is configured to receive search requests and provide search results, for example to the first and second computing devices 108, 112, and/or to other computing devices (not shown). The search engine 116 may also be configured to communicate with the server 104 to identify the context of the target audience and improve search results to the target audiences. [0017] In some examples, the server 104 and the search engine 116 may be integrated. For example, the server 104 may implement the search engine 116, and/or the server 104 and the search engine 116 may be implemented in an intranet serving at least the first computing device 108 and the second computing device 112. In other examples, the search engine 116 and the server 104 may be independently operated.

[0018] Generally, in operation, the server 104 stores attributes representing the target requestor context for a given website and indexes the attributes against a target identifier (e.g., an alphanumerical string or the like to provide a single identifier encoding the potentially many attributes of the target requestor context). The server 104 may additionally provide these target identifiers and/or indexed hyperlinks encoding these target identifiers to allow other web pages to link to the target website using the indexed hyperlink. Thus, when the search engine 116 is evaluating these backlinks to the target website, the search engine 116 may request, from the server 104, the attributes for the target requestor context and compare them to the actual requestor context. When the target requestor context and the actual requestor context match, the search engine 116 may place a higher weight on the backlink. The search engine 116 may therefore use the target requestor context of the target website to better rank the target website amongst other potential results. Advantageously, the target website may better be able to reach its target audience by specifying the target requestor context to achieve a higher ranking for requestors matching its target requestor context. This may be particularly beneficial for small and local businesses, since they may be able to target a more specific requestor context and achieve a higher ranking for those searchers, while larger companies may target a broader requestor context, and hence lower their ranking. [0019] Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of certain internal components of the server 104 is depicted. The server 104 includes a processor 200 interconnected with a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as a memory 204, and a communications interface 208.

[0020]The processor 200 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a processing core, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or similar. The processor 200 may include multiple cooperating processors. The processor 200 may cooperate with the memory 204 to realize the functionality described herein.

[0021 ]The memory 204 may include a combination of volatile (e.g., Random Access Memory or RAM) and non-volatile memory (e.g., read-only memory or ROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory or EEPROM, flash memory). All or some of the memory 204 may be integrated with the processor 200. The memory stores applications, each including a plurality of computer-readable instructions executable by the processor 200. The execution of the instructions by the processor 200 configures the server 104 to perform the actions discussed herein. In particular, the applications stored in the memory 204 include a hyperlink management application 212.

[0022] Specifically, the hyperlink management application 212 includes a target identifier generator 220 to generate target identifiers, a hyperlink generator 224 to generate hyperlinks, and a backlink validator 228 to validate backlinks. As will be apparent, in other examples, the components of the application 212 may be separated into distinct applications or combined into other sets of components. Some or all of the components illustrated as part of the hyperlink management application 212 may be implemented as dedicated hardware components, such as one or more FPGAs or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0023]The memory 204 may further include a repository 216 to index the requestor context. In particular, the repository 216 stores associations between target identifiers (e.g., alphanumeric strings or other suitable indices), their target websites, and attributes representing the target requestor context.

[0024]The server 104 further includes the communications interface 208 interconnected with the processor 200. The communications interface 208 may be configured for wireless (e.g., satellite, radio frequency, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or other suitable communications protocols) or wired communications and may include suitable hardware (e.g., transmitters, receivers, network interface controllers, and the like) to allow the server 104 to communicate with other computing devices, including, but not limited to, the first computing device 108, the second computing device 112, and the search engine 116. The specific components of the communications interface 208 are selected based on the types of communication links that the server 104 communicates over.

[0025] In some examples, the server 104 may further include one or more input/output devices (not shown), such as a monitor, display, keyboard, mouse, or the like, to allow an operator to interface with the server 104.

[0026]The server 104 may additionally host a website including a web interface to allow users to interface with the hyperlink management application 212, for example to specify the parameters representing the target requestor context, receive an indexed hyperlink, and the like. [0027]The functionality of the hyperlink management application 212 will now be described in greater detail. Turning now to FIG. 3, a flowchart of a method 300 of indexing a hyperlink is shown. The method 300 will be described in conjunction with its performance in the system 100 and with reference to the components illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. In other examples, the method 300 may be performed by other suitable systems. [0028]The method 300 is initiated at block 305. At block 305, the server 104, and in particular the communications interface 208, receives an originating request to generate a target identifier. The originating request includes a target website and a set of attributes representing the target requestor context. For example, the requestor context can include attributes of the target audience members, including demographic factors, geographical factors, and the like. For example, the attributes may include one or more of a location, an age group, a gender group, or the like of members of the target audience. In other examples, the requestor context may include non-audience specific target parameters, such as time-based events (e.g., calendar events, daily, monthly or seasonal events, or the like), astrological or meteorological events, including proximity-based events (e.g., a hurricane), or the like.

[0029] For example, the originating request may be received from an owner of the target website operating the first computing device 108. The owner of the target website may specify expected or common attributes of members of the target audience for the website. For example, a university or college operating in Los Angeles may specify the Los Angeles area, or the southern California area as a target geographical location of its target audience, as well as users between the ages of 16 and 24, based on an average age of its student base. [0030] In another example, the target website may include various help or documentation pages for an intranet context. For example, a help page for requesting seasonal winter vacation on an intranet may specify the target requestor context as occurring during the months of November and December. A help page for using an accounting software may specify the target requestor context as users being in the accounting department.

[0031] The target requestor context may be specified using a web interface of the website hosted by the server 104.

[0032] At block 310, the server 104, and in particular, the processor 200 via execution of the target identifier generator 220, generates a target identifier. Specifically, the target identifier may be an alphanumeric string representing at least the target requestor context (i.e. , the set of attributes representing the context for the target audience) for the target website. The target identifier may be randomly or pseudo-randomly generated or may be a hash of the set of attributes representing the target requestor context. In other examples, the target identifier may also encode or represent the target website.

[0033] At block 315, the server 104 stores an association between the target identifier, the target website, and the target requestor context. Specifically, the association may be stored in the repository 216. That is, the target identifier is stored in the repository 216 to index the target website and its target audience.

[0034] At block 320, the server 104, and in particular, the processor 200 via execution of the hyperlink generator 224, encodes the target identifier into a hyperlink, where the hyperlink leads to the target website. A hyperlink encoding the target identifier may also be referred to herein as an indexed hyperlink, as the hyperlink is indexed against the target website and its target audience via encoding of the target identifier. The target identifier may be encoded into a hypertext markup language (HTML) attribute of the hyperlink or the uniform resource locator (URL) of the hyperlink.

[0035] Additionally, at block 320, the server 104 may output the indexed hyperlink. For example, the server 104 may return the indexed hyperlink to the owner of the target website by returning it in the web interface. In other examples, the server 104 may simply store the indexed hyperlink, for example in the repository 216, for further processing. [0036] Referring now to FIG. 4, an example method 400 of providing an indexed hyperlink is provided. The method 400 will be described in conjunction with its performance in the system 100 and with reference to the components illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. In other examples, the method 400 may be performed by other suitable systems.

[0037] At block 405, the server 104, and in particular, the communications interface 208, receives a hyperlink request from the second computing device 112 to generate an indexed hyperlink to the target website. Specifically, the hyperlink request includes an identification of the target website. For example, a third party may utilize the second computing device 112 to use the web interface to submit a request for an indexed hyperlink to the target website. In particular, rather than linking the target website directly, a backlink to the target website may use the indexed hyperlink. Since the indexed hyperlink still links back to the target website, the linking functionality is still achieved, however the hyperlink is indexed so that when the backlink is evaluated by a search engine, such as the search engine 116, the search engine 116 may use the indexing to better weight the backlink and rank the target website.

[0038] At block 410, the server 104, and in particular, processor 200 via execution of the hyperlink generator 224, obtains the indexed hyperlink based on the target website. For example, the server 104 may retrieve, from the repository 216, the indexed hyperlink, if the indexed hyperlink is stored in the repository 216. In other examples, the server 104 may retrieve, from the repository 216, the target identifier associated with the target website. Subsequently, the server 104 may generate an indexed hyperlink based on the target identifier. In such examples, the same target website may have multiple different indexed hyperlinks base on the generation of the indexed hyperlink at the time of the request (e.g., if the indexed hyperlink is generated randomly or pseudo-randomly based on the target identifier).

[0039] At block 415, the server 104 outputs the indexed hyperlink to the second computing device 112. For example, the server 104 may return the indexed hyperlink in the web interface at the second computing device 112.

[0040] Referring now to FIG. 5, a flowchart of an example method 500 for providing attributes of a target audience to a search engine is provided. The method 500 will be described in conjunction with its performance in the system 100 and with reference to the components illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. In other examples, the method 500 may be performed by other suitable systems.

[0041] At block 505, the server 104, and in particular the communications interface 208, receives a validation request from the search engine 116. The validation request includes a backlink hyperlink. Specifically, the validation request is for the server 104 to validate the target identifier encoded into the backlink hyperlink. For example, while ranking potential pages, the search engine 116 may evaluate the number and quality of the backlinks leading to each potential page. When the search engine 116 identifies a backlink having a target identifier encoded therein, the search engine 116 may extract the target identifier and send the validation request to the server 104 based on the extracted target identifier. In other examples, rather than extracting the target identifier, the search engine 116 may send the entire backlink hyperlink as part of the validation request. [0042] At block 510, the server 104, and in particular the processor 200 via execution of the backlink validator 228, retrieves the set of attributes defining the target audience based on the target identifier. For example, the server 104 may first extract the target identifier from the backlink hyperlink provided at block 505, if the validation request includes the full backlink hyperlink. In other examples, the server 104 may simply extract the target identifier from the validation request directly.

[0043] In some examples, the server 104 may validate the backlink hyperlink, for example by comparing the target identifier and the website linked by the hyperlink against records in the repository 216. If the backlink hyperlink is validated, that is, if the repository 216 includes a record for the target identifier from the backlink hyperlink, the server 104 may retrieve the set of attributes corresponding to the target identifier from the repository 216. If the backlink hyperlink is not validated, that is, if the repository 216 does not include a record for the target identifier from the backlink hyperlink, the server 104 may return an error to the search engine 116 to indicate that the backlink hyperlink is not a valid indexed hyperlink in the system 100.

[0044] At block 515, the server 104 provides the set of attributes obtained at block 510 to the search engine 116. For example, the server 104 may return the set of attributes via the communication link between the search engine 116 and the server 104.

[0045]To better illustrate how the indexed hyperlinks and backlinks improve the search results to a target audience, the function of the search engine 116 will now be described in conjunction with FIG. 6. FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method 600 of providing search results. The method 600 may be performed by the search engine 116 or another suitable system. The method 600 may be performed by a processor of the search engine 116 via execution of a control application stored on a computer-readable medium (e.g., a memory) of the search engine 116. In some examples, the method 600 may be performed by the server 104 implementing the search engine 116.

[0046] At block 605, the search engine 116 receives a search request from a requesting computing device. The requesting computing device may be one of the first or second computing devices 108 or 112, or another computing device. The search engine 116 may generate a list of potential results (e.g., websites) satisfying the search request.

[0047] At block 610, the search engine 116 reviews backlinks to each of the potential results. Traditionally, the backlinks are used to rank the potential results, based on the total number of backlinks, and a determined rank of the source website of the backlink. In the present example, such an evaluation may still be employed.

[0048] In addition, at block 610, the search engine 116 reviews the backlinks for embedded target identifiers. For example, the search engine 116 may determine whether the backlink includes any embedded attributes specifying the target identifier. Further, the search engine 116 may extract any target identifiers in the backlinks.

[0049] In other examples, the search engine 116 may skip block 610 and proceed directly to block 625 to send a validation request to the server 104. That is, rather than conditionally sending a validation request to the server 104 based on the presence or absence of a target identifier in the backlink, the search engine 116 may simply send each backlink to the server 104 to evaluate, and rely on the server 104 to validate the backlink against the repository 216.

[0050] At block 615, if one or more backlinks includes a target identifier, the method 600 proceeds to block 625. If none of the backlinks include target identifiers, the method proceeds to block 620.

[0051] At block 620, the search results are output according to the ranking system of the search engine 116.

[0052]At block 625, the search engine 116 requests, from the server 104, attributes defining the target audience. Specifically, the search engine 116 may send a validation request including the backlink to the server 104. The validation request includes a backlink from at least one of the potential results. In some examples, the search engine 116 may first extract the target identifier and send the target identifier to the server 104, rather than the entire backlink.

[0053] For each backlink sent to the server 104, the search engine 116 receives the set of attributes defining the target audience for the target website of the backlink.

[0054] At block 630, the search engine 116 uses the set of attributes defining the target requestor context to rank the potential results. Specifically, the search engine 116 may utilize known information about the searcher (e.g., obtained via cookies, login IDs or the like) and match the known information to the set of attributes. The search engine 116 may further utilize objective context information (e.g., date, time, current events, or the like) and match the objective context information to the set of attributes. Potential results having more matching criteria may thus be given more weight and a higher ranking. For example, the search engine 116 may define a similarity score for between the actual requestor context of the searcher (requestor) and the target requestor context. For example, the similarity score may be a percentage-based score, based on the number of matching criteria. In other examples, the similarity score may be based on the quality of match of the criteria - i.e., an actual requestor context which satisfies a more specific target requestor context may be given a higher similarity score than the same actual requestor context satisfying a broader requestor context. The search engine 116 may then base the weight of the back link at least in part on the similarity score. Thus, a requestor having a higher similarity to the target requestor context of a given target website will have that target website weighted more heavily than a requestor having almost no similarity to the target requestor context. The higher weighted backlink will therefore allow the search engine 116 to rank the target website higher for the requestor with the higher similarity to the target requestor context for that website.

[0055]The search engine 116 may thus iterate through each of the potential results and the set of attributes defining the target audience (if any) of each respective potential results to rank the search results based on the target audience. If the target website does not specify any target requestor context, the search engine 116 may assign a neutral score in order to weight the target website relative to those specifying a target requestor context.

[0056] At block 635, the search engine 116 outputs the ranked search results.

[0057] As described above, the system provides a way to improve search results to a target audience by encoding a target identifier representing a set of attributes defining a target audience of a target website. The target identifier may be encoded into hyperlinks, and in particular backlinks, so that search engines may use the target identifiers to identify the target audience and rank the target website according to its target audience. The attributes of the target audience may vary, including, but not limited to, locations, age groups, gender groups, calendar events, astrological events, meteorological events, or the like.

[0058]The scope of the claims should not be limited by the embodiments set forth in the above examples but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.

Claims

1 . A method comprising: receiving an originating request to generate a target identifier, the originating request including a target website and a set of attributes defining a target audience of the target website; storing an association between the target identifier, the target website, and the set of attributes defining the target audience; and providing a hyperlink to the target website, the hyperlink encoding the target identifier.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, from a second computing device, a hyperlink request to generate an indexed hyperlink to the target website, the hyperlink request including the target website; retrieving, based on the target website, the target identifier; encoding the target identifier into the indexed hyperlink; and providing the indexed hyperlink to the second computing device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising; receiving, from a search engine, a validation request to validate the target identifier encoded into a backlink hyperlink; retrieving, based on the target identifier, the set of attributes defining the target audience; and providing the set of attributes to the search engine.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of attributes is selected from: (i) a location;

(ii) an age group;

(iii) a gender group;

(iv) a calendar event;

(v) an astrological event; and

(vi) a meteorological event.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target identifier is encoded into a hypertext markup language (HTML) attribute of the hyperlink or a uniform resource locator (URL) of the hyperlink.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target identifier comprises an alphanumeric string.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target identifier is randomly or pseudo-randomly generated.

8. A server comprising: a memory storing a repository to index websites and target audiences; a communications interface; a processor interconnected with the memory and the communications interface, the processor to: receive, via the communications interface, an originating request to generate a target identifier, the originating request including a target website and a set of attributes defining a target audience of the target website; generate the target identifier; store, in the repository, an association between the target identifier, the target website, and the set of attributes defining the target audience; and provide, via the communications interface, a hyperlink to the target website, the hyperlink encoding the target identifier.

9. The server of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive, from a second computing device, a hyperlink request to generate an indexed hyperlink to the target website, the hyperlink request including the target website; retrieve, based on the target website, the target identifier; encode the target identifier into the indexed hyperlink; and provide the indexed hyperlink to the second computing device.

10. The server of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to; receive, from a search engine, a validation request to validate the target identifier encoded into a backlink hyperlink; retrieve, based on the target identifier, the set of attributes defining the target audience; and provide the set of attributes to the search engine.

11 . The server of claim 8, wherein the set of attributes is selected from:

(i) a location;

(ii) an age group;

(iii) a gender group;

(iv) a calendar event;

(v) an astrological event; and (vi) a meteorological event.

12. The server of claim 8, wherein the target identifier is encoded into a hypertext markup language (HTML) attribute of the hyperlink or a uniform resource locator (URL) of the hyperlink.

13. The server of claim 8, wherein the target identifier comprises an alphanumeric string.

14. The server of claim 8, wherein the target identifier is randomly or pseudo-randomly generated.

15. A search engine comprising: a memory; a processor interconnected with the memory, the processor configured to: receive a search request from a requesting computing device; generate a list of potential results satisfying the search request; send a validation request to an indexing server, the validation request including a backlink from at least one of the potential results; receive, from the indexing server, a target requestor context; compare the target requestor context with an actual requestor context obtained based on the search request; and rank the potential results based on the comparison.

16. The search engine of claim 15, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the actual requestor context based on one or more of cookies, login identifiers, and objective context information.

17. The search engine of claim 15, wherein, to compare the target requestor context with the actual requestor context, the processor is configured to define a similarity score between the target requestor context and the actual requestor context.

18. The search engine of claim 17, wherein to rank the potential results, the processor is configured to weight the backlink to the at least one potential result based on the similarity score.