Abstract: In a method for a direct answer for search, a search query is received over a network, one or more answer candidate snippets for the search query are received, with an answer candidate snippet having at least a portion of content available over the network for an answer candidate, one or more answer entities are determined within a selected answer candidate snippet, a frequency of the one or more answer entities found within the one or more answer candidate snippets for the search query is determined, a confidence score is adjusted for the selected answer candidate in accordance with the frequency of the one or more answer entities found within the one or more answer candidate snippets, and at least one answer candidate snippet is sent for a response to the search query.

Abstract: A correlator extracts a plurality of related queries corresponding to each one of a plurality of answers. A classifier matches each one of the related queries corresponding to the answer with a category. A statistical tool determines the relevance of each category relative to the categories matched to the related queries corresponding to the answers.

Abstract: In a method for a direct answer for search, a search query is received over a network, one or more answer entities are determined from one or more answer candidate snippets, with an answer candidate snippet having at least a portion of content available over the network for an answer candidate, a content identifier is determined for an answer candidate, a title is tokenized for the content identifier, a comparison is performed between a vector of tokens for the title and a vector of the one or more answer entities, an indicator of the relevance is adjusted for the content identifier in accordance with the comparison, and at least one answer candidate snippet is sent for a response to the search query.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing a response to a query. Multiple users' search engine activity in regard to a query is correlated. A response is provided based upon this correlated search engine activity information. For one embodiment of the invention, in the context of search engine result optimization, the user activity and/or user information of multiple users, during a search session, is correlated with queries to effect an evolving association between queries and the organization and presentation of documents. Systems in accordance with such embodiments employ the ability to store users' activity over the entire search session, thus making possible the correlation of a number of different types of user activity and user information. The use of correlated user input allows such systems to provide relevant search results without the limitations imposed by the key-word-based systems of the prior art.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing a response to a query. Multiple users' search engine activity in regard to a query is correlated. A response is provided based upon this correlated search engine activity information. For one embodiment of the invention, in the context of search engine result optimization, the user activity and/or user information of multiple users, during a search session, is correlated with queries to effect an evolving association between queries and the organization and presentation of documents. Systems in accordance with such embodiments employ the ability to store users' activity over the entire search session, thus making possible the correlation of a number of different types of user activity and user information. The use of correlated user input allows such systems to provide relevant search results without the limitations imposed by the key-word-based systems of the prior art.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing a response to a query. Multiple users' search engine activity in regard to a query is correlated. A response is provided based upon this correlated search engine activity information. For one embodiment of the invention, in the context of search engine result optimization, the user activity and/or user information of multiple users, during a search session, is correlated with queries to effect an evolving association between queries and the organization and presentation of documents. Systems in accordance with such embodiments employ the ability to store users' activity over the entire search session, thus making possible the correlation of a number of different types of user activity and user information. The use of correlated user input allows such systems to provide relevant search results without the limitations imposed by the key-word-based systems of the prior art.

Abstract: In a method for a direct answer for search, a search query is received over a network, one or more answer entities are determined from one or more answer candidate snippets, with an answer candidate snippet having at least a portion of content available over the network for an answer candidate, a content identifier is determined for an answer candidate, a title is tokenized for the content identifier, a comparison is performed between a vector of tokens for the title and a vector of the one or more answer entities, an indicator of the relevance is adjusted for the content identifier in accordance with the comparison, and at least one answer candidate snippet is sent for a response to the search query.

Abstract: In a method for a direct answer for search, a search query is received over a network, one or more answer candidate snippets for the search query are received, with an answer candidate snippet having at least a portion of content available over the network for an answer candidate, one or more answer entities are determined within a selected answer candidate snippet, a frequency of the one or more answer entities found within the one or more answer candidate snippets for the search query is determined, a confidence score is adjusted for the selected answer candidate in accordance with the frequency of the one or more answer entities found within the one or more answer candidate snippets, and at least one answer candidate snippet is sent for a response to the search query.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing a response to a query. Multiple users' search engine activity in regard to a query is correlated. A response is provided based upon this correlated search engine activity information. For one embodiment of the invention, in the context of search engine result optimization, the user activity and/or user information of multiple users, during a search session, is correlated with queries to effect an evolving association between queries and the organization and presentation of documents. Systems in accordance with such embodiments employ the ability to store users' activity over the entire search session, thus making possible the correlation of a number of different types of user activity and user information. The use of correlated user input allows such systems to provide relevant search results without the limitations imposed by the key-word-based systems of the prior art.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing a response to a query. Multiple users' search engine activity in regard to a query is correlated. A response is provided based upon this correlated search engine activity information. For one embodiment of the invention, in the context of search engine result optimization, the user activity and/or user information of multiple users, during a search session, is correlated with queries to effect an evolving association between queries and the organization and presentation of documents. Systems in accordance with such embodiments employ the ability to store users' activity over the entire search session, thus making possible the correlation of a number of different types of user activity and user information. The use of correlated user input allows such systems to provide relevant search results without the limitations imposed by the key-word-based systems of the prior art.

Abstract: Methods and systems for generating query and result-based relevance indexes are provided. For one embodiment, a plurality of queries is received from a plurality of users. Each query of the plurality of queries is measured based on one or more metrics. The measured data of each query is stored. The queries are associated into topical query categories. A performance of a first query category is calculated based on at least one metric of the one or more metrics. A metric data request for a select category is received from a client. Lastly, the stored measured data of the selected category is transmitted to the client in response to the metric data request.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing a response to a query. Multiple users' search engine activity in regard to a query is correlated. A response is provided based upon this correlated search engine activity information. For one embodiment of the invention, in the context of search engine result optimization, the user activity and/or user information of multiple users, during a search session, is correlated with queries to effect an evolving association between queries and the organization and presentation of documents. Systems in accordance with such embodiments employ the ability to store users' activity over the entire search session, thus making possible the correlation of a number of different types of user activity and user information. The use of correlated user input allows such systems to provide relevant search results without the limitations imposed by the key-word-based systems of the prior art.

Abstract: The invention provides a computer system, including a memory, a plurality of answers stored in the memory, and a classifier for matching each one of the answers with a category among a plurality of categories.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing a response to a query. Multiple users' search engine activity in regard to a query is correlated. A response is provided based upon this correlated search engine activity information. For one embodiment of the invention, in the context of search engine result optimization, the user activity and/or user information of multiple users, during a search session, is correlated with queries to effect an evolving association between queries and the organization and presentation of documents. Systems in accordance with such embodiments employ the ability to store users' activity over the entire search session, thus making possible the correlation of a number of different types of user activity and user information. The use of correlated user input allows such systems to provide relevant search results without the limitations imposed by the key-word-based systems of the prior art.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing a response to a query. Multiple users' search engine activity in regard to a query is correlated. A response is provided based upon this correlated search engine activity information. For one embodiment of the invention, in the context of search engine result optimization, the user activity and/or user information of multiple users, during a search session, is correlated with queries to effect an evolving association between queries and the organization and presentation of documents. Systems in accordance with such embodiments employ the ability to store users' activity over the entire search session, thus making possible the correlation of a number of different types of user activity and user information. The use of correlated user input allows such systems to provide relevant search results without the limitations imposed by the key-word-based systems of the prior art.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing a response to a query. Multiple users' search engine activity in regard to a query is correlated. A response is provided based upon this correlated search engine activity information. For one embodiment of the invention, in the context of search engine result optimization, the user activity and/or user information of multiple users, during a search session, is correlated with queries to effect an evolving association between queries and the organization and presentation of documents. Systems in accordance with such embodiments employ the ability to store users' activity over the entire search session, thus making possible the correlation of a number of different types of user activity and user information. The use of correlated user input allows such systems to provide relevant search results without the limitations imposed by the key-word-based systems of the prior art.

Abstract: Techniques to retrieve, rank and display data objects retrieved form a database are described. In particular, methods to assign a global ranking value to a data object based on a combination of that object's link-based (e.g., vector-space cluster analysis) and text-based (e.g., word frequency) ranks are described. Additional techniques to determine a set of concepts, topics or key words associated with each retrieved data objects are described.

Abstract: Techniques to assign a ranking value to objects in a database such as a collection of cross referencing documents, the World-Wide Web or a hyperlinked database are described. The ranking value assigned to a given data object represents a cross-cluster strength metric and is a function of the object's importance across all groups or clusters in which the object is classified. The cross-cluster strength metric may be particularly beneficial in enhancing the performance of web-based search engines because it emphasizes the importance of objects that appear in multiple groups while de-emphasizing the importance of objects that, while highly linked within one or a few groups, are relatively unlinked to objects in other groups.

Abstract: Methods and systems for generating query and result-based relevance indexes are provided. For one embodiment, a plurality of queries is received from a plurality of users. Each query of the plurality of queries is measured based on one or more metrics. The measured data of each query is stored. The queries are associated into topical query categories. A performance of a first query category is calculated based on at least one metric of the one or more metrics. A metric data request for a select category is received from a client. Lastly, the stored measured data of the selected category is transmitted to the client in response to the metric data request.

Abstract: The invention provides a system and method for providing an output in response to a user reference query. A user reference query is received and an answer to the user reference query is determined. A unique entity identifier (EID) for the answer is determined and used to query a reference system to determine one or more reference elements, e.g. a reference summary, a picture, or a video, for example. The one or more reference elements and a text of the answer are provided to an output provider. The output provider combines the one or more reference elements and the answer text into a single output. In one exemplary configuration, the single output is a graphical user interface transmitted as an extensible markup language (XML) file, which integrates the answer text and the one or more reference elements.