Abstract: Providing updates to a computing device having a search engine capable of searching a local data store having an index with data related to a plurality of sites located on a wide area network. A first index builder capable of accessing sites on a wide area network is provided. The first index builder retrieves and analyzes data from the sites to create index data related to the sites. The method further includes communicating index data to the locally stored database for incrementally updating the index. A computing device capable of accessing a local data storage device is also provided. The device includes an index stored on the storage device including information related to data stored on the wide area network, a search engine capable of searching the index to retrieve information in response to a query, and a display.

Abstract: Providing updates to a computing device having a search engine capable of searching a local data store having an index with data related to a plurality of sites located on a wide area network. A first index builder capable of accessing sites on a wide area network is provided. The first index builder retrieves and analyzes data from the sites to create index data related to the sites. The method further includes communicating index data to the locally stored database for incrementally updating the index. A computing device capable of accessing a local data storage device is also provided. The device includes an index stored on the storage device including information related to data stored on the wide area network, a search engine capable of searching the index to retrieve information in response to a query, and a display.

Abstract: A source keyword may be received multiple times and each time, in response, a machine-learning algorithm may be used to identify and rank respective matching-keywords that have been determined to match the source keyword. A portion or unit of content may be generated based on one of the ranked matching-keywords. The content is transmitted via a network to a client device and a user's impression of the content is recorded. The machine-learning algorithm may continue to rank matching-keywords for arbitrary source keywords while the recorded impressions and corresponding matched-keywords, respectively, are used to train the machine-learning algorithm. The training alters how the machine-learning algorithm ranks matching-keywords determined to match the source keyword.

Abstract: A question processing system routes questions among participants in a balanced and sustainable manner. Any participant can act as an inquirer (who poses questions) and an expert (who answers questions). In one illustrative case, the question processing system operates by: receiving a question from an inquirer; determining at least one expert that is appropriate to answer the question; and routing the question to the expert. The receiving, determining, and routing are repeated with respect to other inquirers and other experts to achieve a desired balance of information exchange among the plurality of participants of the electronic question processing system.

Abstract: A component presents access to a recommended search provider via a user interface element. In an example embodiment, a device-implemented method for recommending a search provider includes acts of receiving, ascertaining, and modifying. A search query input is received. A recommended search provider is ascertained at least partially responsive to the search query input. A user interface is modified to indicate the recommended search provider.

Abstract: A system that facilitates targeted advertising is described in detail herein. The system includes a receiver component that receives user data that includes historical searching and browsing activity of a user. A profile generator component generates a user profile based at least in part upon a subset of the user data, wherein the user profile includes a plurality of keywords, wherein at least one keyword in the plurality of keywords is assigned a score that is indicative of a probability that an advertisement corresponding to the keyword will be monetized.

Abstract: Described herein is a system that facilitates modifying a relational model. The system includes a first model component that is a relational model that includes a plurality of atoms. The system further includes a modifier component that automatically assigns values to a plurality of atoms in the relational model by clustering atoms of the relational model to create a second model component, wherein the second model component is a relational model.

Abstract: Described herein is a system that includes a receiver component that receives an indication that a user has accessed a search engine to initiate a search session. An analyzer component predicts informational interests of the user upon receipt of the indication and outputs an informational item that corresponds to the predicted informational interests of the user, wherein the analyzer component is configured to output the informational item prior to the user issuing a query to the search engine.

Abstract: Providing updates to a computing device having a search engine capable of searching a local data store having an index with data related to a plurality of sites located on a wide area network. A first index builder capable of accessing sites on a wide area network is provided. The first index builder retrieves and analyzes data from the sites to create index data related to the sites. The method further includes communicating index data to the locally stored database for incrementally updating the index. A computing device capable of accessing a local data storage device is also provided. The device includes an index stored on the storage device including information related to data stored on the wide area network, a search engine capable of searching the index to retrieve information in response to a query, and a display.

Abstract: A unique ranking system and method that facilitates improving the ranking and ordering of objects to further enhance the quality, accuracy, and delivery of search results in response to a search query. The system and method involve monitoring and tracking an object in terms of the number of times it's been accessed and optionally by whom, when, for how long, and an access rate. The user's interaction with the object can be tracked as well. By tracking the objects, a popularity measure can be determined. Popularity based rankings can be computed based on the popularity measure or some function thereof. The popularity measure can be affected by the access time, who accessed it, access duration or the user's interaction with the object upon access. The popularity based rankings can be utilized by a search component to improve the quality and retrieval of search results.

Abstract: A network interface device is provided. The network interface device comprises an enclosure having a first portion coupled to a second portion wherein the first portion and second portion have cavities. The network interface device further comprises a removable case having a plate and a base wherein the plate is adapted to be coupled to the base, wherein the case is adapted to be removably disposed in the cavity of the second portion of the enclosure. A network interface circuit is disposed in the case, the network interface circuit is adapted to provide communication to and from a network and to and from at least one customer premise equipment.

Abstract: A system for associating information comprises an association module that uses anchoring information to associate a first piece of information with a second piece of information, wherein the second piece of information is not part of the first piece of information. The system further includes a rendering module that presents the second piece of information for use. Methods for using such a system are also described.

Abstract: The subject invention leverages a locating means, such as, for example, Internet addresses to provide supplementary information based on the location of network content. This allows additional information to be disseminated with the content without requiring the content itself to be modified to contain the supplementary information. By providing locating means association-based supplementary information, the subject invention permits supplementary information such as, for example, advertising, notes, and chats and the like to be relayed to a user along with the desired unaltered content such as, for example, with a web page. In one instance of the subject invention, advertisements are associated with Internet URLs, allowing advertisers to purchase associations that they deem beneficial to their businesses. In another instance of the subject invention, a function of the locating means is utilized to provide a set of locations to associate supplementary information with.

Abstract: A system for guiding a search for information is presented. The system comprises a user interface that accepts a phrase and receives at least one suggestion based at least in part on the phrase. The system also includes a phrase suggestion engine that matches the phrase with the at least one suggestion. Methods of using the system are also provided.

Abstract: The subject invention relates to a system and/or methodology that facilitate converting structured data (e.g., tabular information) into natural language, thus making it available to question answering systems and search engines. More specifically, the system and method employ the vast quantities of natural language on the particular storage system, database, network, or server that a user wishes to search. For example, the system can utilize natural-language based information located on the Web to assist in the task of converting structured data into natural language. In particular, the system can find at least one sentence or sentence fragment on the Web that refers to at least one tuple (e.g., row) in a given table. Following, those sentences can be generalized across all or substantially all tuples in the table. The resulting body of text can be used by the question answering system to answer user queries.

Abstract: The subject invention relates to systems and methods that provide search and/or query-relevant information and/or links thereto to a user as and/or with a search and/or query result. This information can be determined form summary information that can be included within a tag, header, body, meta-data, etc. of the data. A user can employ a local and/or web search utility along with a search word, phrase, sentence, etc. to search over a data repository to locate and retrieve data that satisfies the search criteria. The summary information of this data is obtained and matched against the results and/or search criteria to determine whether the data is relevant to the search and/or query. The summary information is utilized to determine a snippet that summarizes the data, based on the search and/or query, search criteria, etc. to provide the user with search and/or query-relevant results and/or one or more links thereto.