Abstract: Described are a system and method for invisible authorization of a visitor to a web site. A system uses a specially formed URL that provides visitors access to secure content without requiring a sign-in and/or sign-up step, yet, if the URL is forwarded to others the content is not accessible. The URL can be delivered in an electronic message.

Abstract: Front end preprocessing modifies queries to get them in better form for presentation to a variety of data sources. The queries are modified by grouping terms as phrases, correcting spelling errors, and augmenting the query with category terms that trigger query execution on certain data sources. Context information about a particular user as well as information about previous queries by other uses are also used to modify the query to better reflect the user's intent.

Abstract: A system and method for executing a query on a plurality of data sources which may include remotely located data sources having specialized data. These data sources might include, for example, data relating to retail sales, travel, entertainment and the like. The data source may also contain only data that is local to a given community or group of communities. The system includes a pre-processor which accepts an input query and modifies its form to provide a resultant query. This modification can include corrections in spelling for example. The system classifies the resultant query based on the presence of classifier terms and user provided classification data from previously submitted queries or recognized patterns in the query. The system then selects a subset of data sources upon which to execute the query based on this query classification. The query is then executed on the selected data sources.