| 摘要 |
A system and related techniques generate and maintain a unified product index, to perform searching and browsing in an online product, service, content or information catalog. A user investigating, for example, a set of retail offerings of digital cameras may for instance browse through a Web site layout or taxonomy to locate products of interest, such as cameras having resolution in the range of 3-4 megapixels or in the price range of $200-300. Alternatively, the user may input search terms in a search dialogue box to locate those or other features. Unlike conventional e-commerce platforms in which search may be performed against structured databases while browsing may access unstructured HTML or other descriptive material, according to the invention navigation and searching may be integrated and both access a structured index derived from product descriptions as well as traditional SQL or other structured data. A user may thus transparently move between browsing the Web site and searching the Web site, refining their search or browsing activity in a seamless fashion. The HTML or other unstructured data may in one regard be processed by an index engine to identify product attributes such as type (electronics), size, price, weight or other specifications as well as attribute values, which may be sorted or stored in a separate table. A set of results generated by conducting an initial search may thus be continued or refine by further browsing down to a particular product or other level of detail. Conversely a user who has browsed to a given level of detail, such as digital camcorders priced less than $700, may initiate a search through products at that level of the hierarchy without resetting search terms or position in the taxonomy. Greater ease of use, more efficient location of products or services and less dead-end pathways are thus achieved.
|
