METHODS FOR COMPLETING A USER SEARCH

摘要

A user may enter a user search into a search field on a webpage one character at a time. A backend of the webpage may receive each character of the user search as entered by the user and attempt to tokenize the user search into one or more tokens. If the last token (which may be the first token if only one token has been entered) is incomplete and/or not a word, the backend may determine possible completions of the last token based on past user searches by the user and/or other users. If the last token is a word, synonyms or other related tokens may be found for the last token. A plurality of suggested searches may be created and displayed on the webpage by using all the tokens except the last token combined with either a possible completion (if the last token is not a word) or a related token (if the last token is a word).

主权项

1. A method, comprising the steps of:
a) receiving in a search field on a webpage a user search comprising a plurality of characters entered by a user; b) tokenizing, by a server, the user search into a first token and a second token; c) determining, by the server, whether the second token is a word by comparing the second token with words in an electronic dictionary; d) if, and only if, the second token was determined to be a word, determining, by the server, a plurality of related tokens that have a similar meaning and/or are related to the second token; e) if, and only if, the second token was determined not to be a word, determining, by the server, a plurality of related tokens that are anticipated completions of the second token to make the second token a word; f) displaying to the user a plurality of suggested searches immediately below the search field, wherein each suggested search in the plurality of suggested searches comprises the first token combined with a related token in the plurality of related tokens; and g) receiving a selection on the webpage from the user for a selected suggested search in the plurality of suggested searches.