Search device, search program, and search method

Abstract

A search device (2) comprises: a communication part (22) that communicates with a terminal device (5); an acquisition part (212) that acquires, from the terminal device (5) via the communication part (22), one keyword or two or more keywords designated by a user, and acquires weight information for each of the keywords designated by the user; a search part (213) that searches for a search object on the basis of the keyword(s) acquired by the acquisition part (212) and the weight information for the keyword(s), and assigns usefulness for the user to each of the search objects; and a provision part (214) that causes the communication part (22) to transmit, to the terminal device (5), data indicating a list in which the search objects, of which the usefulness assigned by the search part (213) is higher than a predetermined value, are arranged in the descending order of the usefulness.

Description

Search device, search program, and search method

[0001] The present invention relates to a search device, a search program, and a search method for performing a search using a keyword.

[0002] A search engine is a system for searching information (such as web pages) on the Internet. A search engine collects information publicly available on the Internet, generates index data for searching that information, and stores the generated index data and the URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of the information in a database.

[0003] Users input keywords into a search box displayed on a terminal device such as a PC or smartphone equipped with a web browser, and request an information search from a search server equipped with a search engine function. Upon receiving a search request from the user, the search server retrieves information that matches the keywords specified by the user and provides it to the user.

[0004] JP 2009-205220 A JP 2013-238985 A

[0005] A search system is required to be able to provide information that is more useful to users. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 mentioned above describe using weighting in information searches, but the user cannot change or set the weighting for each keyword as appropriate.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide search results that reflect the importance of each keyword and are more useful to the user.

[0007] A search device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device, an acquisition unit that acquires one or more keywords specified by a user from the terminal device via the communication unit and acquires weight information for each of the keywords specified by the user, a search unit that searches for search targets based on the keywords acquired by the acquisition unit and the weight information for the keywords and assigns a level of usefulness to the user to each of the search targets, and a provision unit that causes the communication unit to transmit to the terminal device data indicating a list of search targets that have been assigned a level of usefulness by the search unit that is higher than a predetermined value, in order of decreasing level of usefulness.

[0008] In addition, a search program according to one aspect of the present invention causes a computer to function as an acquisition unit that acquires one or more keywords specified by a user from a terminal device via a communication unit and acquires weight information for each of the keywords specified by the user, a search unit that searches for search targets based on the keywords acquired by the acquisition unit and the weight information for those keywords and assigns a level of usefulness to the user to each of the search targets, and a provision unit that causes the communication unit to transmit to the terminal device data indicating a list of search targets that have been assigned a level of usefulness by the search unit that is higher than a predetermined value, in order of decreasing level of usefulness.

[0009] Furthermore, a search method according to one aspect of the present invention includes an acquisition step of acquiring one or more keywords specified by a user from a terminal device via a communication unit and acquiring weight information for each of the keywords specified by the user; a search step of searching for search targets based on the keywords acquired in the acquisition step and the weight information for the keywords, and assigning a level of usefulness to the user to each of the search targets; and a provision step of causing the communication unit to transmit to the terminal device data indicating a list of search targets that have been assigned a level of usefulness higher than a predetermined value in the search step, in order of decreasing level of usefulness.

[0010] A search device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a display unit, an input unit that acquires one or more keywords specified by a user and inputs weight information for each of the keywords specified by the user, a search unit that searches for search targets based on the keywords and the weight information for the keywords input to the input unit and assigns a level of usefulness to the user to each of the search targets, and a control unit that causes the display unit to display data showing a list of search targets that have been assigned a level of usefulness by the search unit that is higher than a predetermined value, in order of decreasing level of usefulness.

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide search results that are more useful to the user by reflecting the importance of each keyword.

[0012] 1 is a diagram showing an entire information retrieval system configured to include a search device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the main internal configuration of a search device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the main internal configuration of a terminal device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a browser screen having a search box. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which keywords are displayed in the search box. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of search processing by the search device 2. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which keywords are displayed in the search box. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which keywords are displayed in the search box. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which keywords are displayed in the search box. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which keywords are displayed in the search box.

[0013] A search device, a search program, and a search method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the entire information search system including a search device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] The information search system 1 is configured to include a search device 2, multiple web servers 4, and a terminal device 5, all of which are located on a network such as the Internet. The search device 2 is, for example, a search server with a search engine function, which searches for search targets and evaluates the usefulness of each search target to the user. The search device 2 accesses the web server 4 located on the network, searches for information (such as web pages) publicly available on the network, and obtains the search results.

[0015] The terminal device 5 receives search keywords and the like to be used for data search from the user, and transmits the received search keywords to the search device 2 .

[0016] The search device 2 matches the keywords indicated in the search information transmitted from the terminal device 5 with information published on the network, acquires the URL of a site storing information matching the keywords, and transmits it to the terminal device 5.

[0017] 2 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic diagram of the main internal configuration of the search device 2. The search device 2 includes a control unit 21, a communication unit 22, a storage unit 23, an input unit 24, and a display unit 25.

[0018] The communication unit 22 is a communication interface that performs data communication with external devices via a network, such as the web server 4 and the terminal device 5 shown in FIG.

[0019] The storage unit 23 is a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and stores various control programs and the like.

[0020] The control unit 21 includes a processor, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), and a dedicated hardware circuit. The processor may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a micro processing unit (MPU). The control unit 21 includes a control unit 210, an acquisition unit 212, a search unit 213, and a provision unit 214.

[0021] The control unit 21 functions as a control unit 210, an acquisition unit 212, a search unit 213, and a provision unit 214 through operation of the processor in accordance with a search program or the like stored in the storage unit 23. However, the control unit 210 and the like can also be configured by hardware circuits, without relying on operation in accordance with a search program or the like by the control unit 21. Unless otherwise specified below, the same applies to each embodiment.

[0022] The control unit 210 is responsible for overall operational control of the search device 2. The control unit 210 is connected to the communication unit 22 and the storage unit 23, and controls the operation of each of the above-mentioned components connected thereto, and transmits and receives signals or data to and from each of the components.

[0023] The acquisition unit 212 acquires one or more keywords specified by a user via a search box BX ( FIG. 2 ) on the terminal device 5, and weight information for each keyword specified by the user, from the terminal device 5 via the communication unit 22. For example, the acquisition unit 212 acquires a numerical value entered following the keyword in the search box BX from the terminal device 5, and sets the numerical value as the weight of the keyword.

[0024] The search unit 213 accesses the web server 4 on the network via the communication unit 22, searches for information that matches the above keyword from information stored in sites published on the network, and obtains information, such as a URL, for accessing the site that stores that information. The search unit 213 assigns a degree of usefulness to the search information for each site that stores information that matches the above keyword.

[0025] The providing unit 214 acquires URLs of sites whose usefulness levels assigned by the searching unit 213 are higher than a predetermined value (for example, a value that ranks in the top 30 of usefulness levels) from the sites, and generates data showing a list of URLs of each highly useful site sorted in descending order of usefulness. The providing unit 214 causes the communication unit 22 to transmit the generated data to the terminal device 5.

[0026] The input unit 24 is composed of a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and receives various instructions based on user operations, as well as input of search keywords, etc. The display unit 25 is composed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like.

[0027] Next, the configuration of the terminal device 5 will be described. Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram that schematically shows the main internal configuration of the terminal device 5. The terminal device 5 is, for example, a personal computer or a smartphone. The terminal device 5 includes a control unit 51, an operation unit 52, a display unit 53, a communication unit 54, and a storage unit 55. These components can send and receive data or signals to and from each other via a communication bus.

[0028] When the terminal device 5 is a personal computer, the operation unit 52 is configured with a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and receives various instructions based on operations by the user, as well as input of search keywords, etc. The display unit 53 is configured with an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like.

[0029] The communication unit 54 is a communication interface that transmits and receives various data to and from external devices such as the search device 2 and the web server 4 on the Internet.

[0030] The storage unit 55 is a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and stores various control programs and the like.

[0031] The control unit 51 includes a processor, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), and a dedicated hardware circuit. The processor may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a micro processing unit (MPU). The control unit 51 includes a control unit 510.

[0032] The control unit 51 functions as a control unit 510 by the operation of the processor in accordance with a control program 550 stored in the storage unit 55. However, the control unit 510 can also be configured by a hardware circuit, without relying on the operation of the control unit 21 in accordance with the control program 550, etc. Hereinafter, the same applies to each embodiment unless otherwise stated.

[0033] The control unit 510 controls the overall operation of the terminal device 5. The control unit 510 is connected to the operation unit 52, the display unit 53, the communication unit 54, and the storage unit 55, and controls the driving of these units.

[0034] The control unit 510 starts the browser in accordance with the browser application stored in the storage unit 55 and displays the browser screen on the display unit 53. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a browser screen having a search box. The browser screen G1 shown in FIG. 4 has a search box BX for displaying characters entered into the operation unit 52. The control unit 510 displays input information (such as character string information indicating a keyword) entered into the operation unit 52 in the search box. When the user touches the search button BT1 in the browser screen G1, the control unit 510 receives a search instruction via the touch panel to execute a search using the entered input information, and transmits a request for an information search using the input information from the communication unit 54 to the search device 2.

[0035] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which keywords entered into the operation unit 52 of the terminal device 5 are displayed in the search box BX. This example shows an example in which four keywords, "patent," "PCT," "Japan," and "USA," are entered into the operation unit 52, with each keyword followed by a numerical value. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the keyword "patent" is followed by the numerical value "10," the keyword "PCT" is followed by the numerical value "5," the keyword "Japan" is followed by the numerical value "3," and the keyword "USA" is followed by the numerical value "5." Note that, in this example, the control unit 510 accepts the input of the numerical values ​​after a space is entered into the operation unit 52 following a character. Furthermore, when a punctuation mark (here, ",") is entered into the operation unit 52 following the numerical value, the control unit 510 accepts the input of further characters and numerical values ​​after the punctuation mark, and displays the accepted keywords and numerical values ​​together with the punctuation mark in the search box BX. When the control unit 510 receives the search instruction, it transmits search information consisting of the keywords, numbers, and punctuation marks currently being received, and a request for information search using the search information, from the communication unit 54 to the search device 2. Note that with regard to weighting, a larger number indicates a higher weighting (importance).

[0036] Next, an example of search processing by the search device 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. 6. This processing is performed when the acquisition unit 212 of the search device 2 receives search information and a request for information search using the search information from the terminal device 5 via the communication unit 22.

[0037] In the search device 2, when the communication unit 22 receives the search information and a request for an information search using the search information from the terminal device 5, the acquisition unit 212 acquires, based on the search information, the initially input characters "patent," the characters "PCT," "Japan," and "USA" input following the punctuation marks, as keywords, and also acquires the number "10" following the keyword "patent" as weight information indicating a weighting. Similarly, the acquisition unit 212 acquires "5" as weight information for the characters "PCT," "3" as weight information for the characters "Japan," and "5" as weight information for the characters "USA" (S1).

[0038] The search unit 213 uses each keyword acquired by the acquisition unit 212 and the weight information for that keyword to access a web server 4 on the network and perform a search of information (such as web pages) published on the network (S2).

[0039] Next, the search unit 213 assigns a usefulness rating to each site that stores information matching each of the keywords. For example, for each keyword included in the information stored by each site, the search unit 213 calculates a keyword-specific evaluation value by multiplying the number of times the keyword appears per certain number of characters by the weight information for that keyword, and then calculates a total evaluation value by adding up the evaluation values ​​for all keywords (S3). The search unit 213 then assigns a higher usefulness rating to each site the greater the total evaluation value (S4). Here, the usefulness rating is, for example, a value indicating a ranking, with higher rankings being assigned to sites with larger total evaluation values. Note that the above "per certain number of characters" refers to, for example, a predetermined number of characters in the information stored by each site, and may also refer to the total number of characters contained in the information stored by each site.

[0040] For example, if the keyword "patent" appears three times and the keywords "PCT," "Japan," and "USA" appear once each in the information stored in site ST1 as the search target, the search unit 213 calculates the total evaluation value as 43 (= 3 x 10 + 1 x 5 + 1 x 3 + 1 x 5).Also, if the keyword "patent" does not appear in the information stored in site ST2 as the search target, but the keywords "PCT," "Japan," and "USA" appear three times each, the search unit 213 calculates the total evaluation value as 39 (= 0 x 10 + 3 x 5 + 3 x 3 + 3 x 5).

[0041] Although the total number of times the keyword appears on site ST1 is six, which is fewer than the nine times on site ST2, the total evaluation value of site ST1 is greater than that of site ST2. In this case, the search unit 213 assigns a higher level of usefulness to site ST1 than to site ST2. In other words, site ST1 is evaluated as being more useful to the user than site ST2.

[0042] The control unit 510 of the terminal device 5 accepts not only positive values ​​but also negative values ​​as the numerical values ​​input to the operation unit 52. When a punctuation mark is input to the operation unit 52 following the numerical value, the control unit 510 accepts further input of characters and numerical values ​​after the punctuation mark and displays the accepted keywords and numerical values ​​together with the punctuation mark in the search box BX. In this case, when the control unit 510 accepts the search instruction, it transmits, from the communication unit 54 to the search device 2, search information consisting of the keywords, numerical values, and punctuation marks currently being accepted as input, and a request for information search using the search information. The positive value indicates that weighting for the keyword is to be increased in accordance with the magnitude of the value. The negative value indicates that weighting is to be decreased in accordance with the magnitude of the value.

[0043] 7 is a diagram showing another example of a state in which keywords are entered in the search box BX. In addition to the four keywords "patent," "PCT," "Japan," and "USA," the keyword "China" is entered in the search box BX, and the number "-5" is entered after the keyword "China."

[0044] For example, if the keyword "patent" appears three times, the keywords "PCT," "Japan," and "USA" appear once each, and the keyword "China" appears twice in the information stored in the site ST1 that is the search target, the search unit 213 calculates the total evaluation value as 33 (= 3 x 10 + 1 x 5 + 1 x 3 + 1 x 5 + (2 x (-5)).

[0045] Furthermore, the search unit 213 may assign no usefulness to a search target in which even one keyword specified by the user does not appear (for example, assign the lowest usefulness), or assign a lower usefulness to the search target (for example, lower the ranking by one rank from the original usefulness). For example, as shown in Figure 5, when the search information contains four keywords, "patent," "PCT," "Japan," and "USA," the search unit 213 does not assign a usefulness to a search target in which the keyword "patent" does not appear.

[0046] After the search unit 213 assigns a degree of usefulness to each site as a search target as described above, the providing unit 214 acquires the URLs of sites for which the degree of usefulness assigned by the search unit 213 is higher than a predetermined value from the sites, and causes the communication unit 22 to transmit data indicating a list of the URLs of the sites with high degrees of usefulness arranged in descending order of usefulness to the terminal device 5 via the communication unit 22 (S5). Then, the processing ends.

[0047] According to the above embodiment, the user can perform a data search by weighting the keywords used in the search, and therefore, more useful information for the user can be obtained with higher accuracy.

[0048] In the above embodiment, the acquisition unit 212 acquires the weight of a keyword according to a numerical value entered in the search box BX after the keyword and a space, but the method for acquiring the weight of a keyword is not limited to this. Another acquisition method will be described below. Figures 8A to 8F show examples of the display of the search box BX that the control unit 510 displays when a keyword or the like is entered into the operation unit 52.

[0049] (1) The acquisition unit 212 may acquire weights for keywords based on the number of spaces following the keywords included in the search information. The acquisition unit 212 does not use the above-described numerical values ​​to set the weights. In this case, an example of keywords, etc., accepted by the control unit 510 of the terminal device 5 via input to the operation unit 52 is shown in FIG. 8A . When the acquisition unit 212 receives search information consisting of keywords and spaces as shown in FIG. 8A from the terminal device 5 via the communication unit 22, the acquisition unit 212 acquires a weight of "3" for the keyword "patent" based on the three spaces following the keyword "patent," a weight of "2" for the keyword "PCT" based on the two spaces following the keyword "PCT," a weight of "1" for the keyword "Japan" based on the one space following the keyword "Japan," and a weight of "2" for the keyword "USA" based on the two spaces following the keyword "USA." Note that FIG. 8A also shows an example in which the end of a keyword group and spaces is indicated by a punctuation mark "."

[0050] (2) The acquisition unit 212 may also acquire weights for keywords according to the input order (arrangement order) of keywords included in the search information that are arranged with spaces in between. The acquisition unit 212 does not use the above-described numerical values ​​or the number of spaces to set the weights. For example, when the keywords "patent," "PCT," "USA," and "Japan" are input in this order with spaces between them, as shown in FIG. 8B , the acquisition unit 212 acquires a weight for the first keyword "patent" as "4," a weight for the second keyword "PCT" as "3," a weight for the third keyword "USA" as "2," and a weight for the fourth keyword "Japan" as "1."

[0051] (3) The acquisition unit 212 may also acquire weights of keywords according to the number of the same keywords included in the search information. As shown in the example of FIG. 8C , when there are three keywords “patent,” two “PCT,” one “Japan,” and two “U.S.,” the acquisition unit 212 acquires the weighting of “patent” as “3,” the weighting of “PCT” as “2,” the weighting of “Japan” as “1,” and the weighting of “U.S.” as “2.”

[0052] (4) The acquisition unit 212 may also acquire weightings for keywords according to the character type (bold, thin, color, font type, etc.) of the keywords entered in the search box BX, which are included in the search information. In this case, the control unit 510 of the terminal device 5 receives the character type for each keyword along with the keywords via input to the operation unit 52. FIG. 8D shows an example in which the keywords "patent," "PCT," and "USA" are entered in bold, and "Japan" is entered in non-bold (thin) characters. In this case, the acquisition unit 212 acquires, for example, a weighting of "2" for the bolded "patent," "PCT," and "USA," and a weighting of "Japan" in thin (thin) characters.

[0053] (5) The acquisition unit 212 may also acquire weightings for keywords according to the font size (character size) of the keywords included in the search information. In this case, the control unit 510 of the terminal device 5 receives the font size for each keyword along with the keywords via input to the operation unit 52. FIG. 8E shows an example in which the keyword "patent" is input in a large font, "PCT" and "USA" are input in a medium font, and "Japan" is input in a small font. In this case, the acquisition unit 212 acquires, for example, a weighting for "patent" in a large font as "3," a weighting for "PCT" and "USA" in a medium font as "2," and a weighting for "Japan" in a small font as "1."

[0054] (6) The acquisition unit 212 may also acquire weightings for keywords in each line included in the search information based on the number of spaces between the beginning of the line and the keyword. In this case, the control unit 510 of the terminal device 5 accepts information about spaces and line breaks along with the keywords via input to the operation unit 52. FIG. 8F shows an example in which the keywords "patent," "PCT," "Japan," and "U.S." are entered on different lines, with no space before "patent," one space before "PCT" and "U.S.", and two spaces before "Japan." In this case, the acquisition unit 212 acquires a weighting of "1" for "Japan," which has the most spaces, a weighting of "2" for "PCT" and "U.S.", which have the next most spaces, and a weighting of "patent," which has the least spaces, as "3."

[0055] The acquisition unit 212 may use a predetermined weighting stored therein for each keyword included in the search information. In this case, the control unit 510 of the terminal device 5 receives weight information indicating the weighting for each keyword together with the keywords via input to the operation unit 52, and transmits the weighting information in advance from the communication unit 54 to the search device 2. The acquisition unit 212 stores in advance the weighting indicated by the weighting information for the corresponding keyword.

[0056] When weights are predefined for each keyword in this way, the weights indicated by the above-mentioned numerical values ​​or the weights shown in (1) to (6) may overlap. In this case, the acquisition unit 212 (i) invalidates the weights indicated by the above-mentioned numerical values ​​or the weights shown in (1) to (6) and uses predefined weights, or (ii) uses values ​​obtained by adding or multiplying the weights indicated by the above-mentioned numerical values ​​or the weights shown in (1) to (6) by the predefined weights.

[0057]

[0047] For example, in the above embodiment, when the acquisition unit 212 of the search device 2 receives the search information and a request for an information search using the search information from the terminal device 5, the acquisition unit 212 acquires weight information based on the search information (S1), and the search unit 213 executes the above-mentioned search using each keyword and the weight information for the keyword acquired by the acquisition unit 212 (S2). However, instead of this, the input unit 24 may receive input of the search information and an instruction (request) for an information search using the search information, acquire weight information based on the search information and the instruction (S1), and the search unit 213 executes the above-mentioned search using each keyword and the weight information for the keyword acquired by the input unit 24 (S2). In this case, after the search unit 213 performs the processes of S3 and S4 in the same manner as in the above embodiment, the control unit 210, instead of performing the process of S5 above, obtains the URLs of sites that have been assigned a level of usefulness by the search unit 213 that is higher than a predetermined value from the sites, and displays on the display unit 25 an image showing a list of the URLs of each site with a high level of usefulness, sorted in order of decreasing level of usefulness.

[0058] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the configuration and processing shown in the above embodiment using FIGS. 1 to 8F are merely one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not intended to be limited to these configurations and processing.

Claims

1. A search device comprising: a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device; an acquisition unit that acquires one or more keywords specified by a user from the terminal device via the communication unit and acquires weight information for each of the keywords specified by the user; a search unit that searches for search targets based on the keywords and the weight information for those keywords acquired by the acquisition unit and assigns a level of usefulness to the user to each of the search targets; and a provision unit that causes the communication unit to send to the terminal device data indicating a list of search targets that have been assigned a level of usefulness by the search unit that is higher than a predetermined value, in order of decreasing level of usefulness.

2. A search device comprising: a display unit; an input unit that acquires one or more keywords specified by a user and inputs weight information for each of the keywords specified by the user; a search unit that searches for search targets based on the keywords input to the input unit and the weight information for those keywords, and assigns a level of usefulness to the user to each of the search targets; and a control unit that causes the display unit to display data showing a list of search targets that have been assigned a level of usefulness by the search unit that is higher than a predetermined value, sorted in order of increasing usefulness.

3. The search device described in claim 1, wherein the search unit calculates a total evaluation value for each of the search targets by adding up the product of the number of times each of one or more keywords appears and the weighting assigned to that keyword, and assigns a higher level of usefulness to each of the keywords as the total evaluation value increases.

4. The search device described in claim 1, wherein the search unit calculates a total evaluation value for each of the search targets by adding up the product of the number of times each of one or more keywords appears per certain character and the weighting assigned to the keyword, and assigns a higher level of usefulness to each of the keywords as the total evaluation value increases.

5. The search device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires positive and negative values ​​for weighting the keywords.

6. The search device described in claim 5, wherein the positive value acquired by the acquisition unit indicates that weighting for the keyword is to be added depending on the magnitude of the value, and the negative value indicates that weighting is to be subtracted depending on the magnitude of the value.

7. The search device according to claim 1, wherein the search unit does not assign a usefulness level to a search target in which not even one of the keywords appears, or evaluates the usefulness level as low.

8. The search device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires, as the weighting for the keyword, a weighting according to a numerical value following the keyword.

9. The search device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires, as the weighting for the keyword, a weighting according to the number of spaces following the keyword.

10. The search device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires weights according to the order of the keywords as weights for the keywords.

11. The search device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires a weighting for the keyword that corresponds to the number of times the keyword is input.

12. The search device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires weighting according to the character type or font size of the keyword as the weighting for the keyword.

13. The search device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires, for each keyword on each line, a weighting according to the number of spaces from the beginning of the line to the keyword, as the weighting for the keyword.

14. The search device according to claim 1, wherein when the keyword has a predetermined weighting, the acquisition unit does not acquire and invalidates the weighting based on the weight information.

15. A search device as described in claim 1, wherein when the keyword has a predetermined weighting, the acquisition unit acquires a value obtained by adding or multiplying the predetermined weighting to a weighting based on the weight information as the weighting for the keyword.

16. A search program that causes a computer to function as: an acquisition unit that acquires one or more keywords specified by a user from a terminal device via a communication unit and acquires weight information for each of the keywords specified by the user; a search unit that searches for search targets based on the keywords and the weight information for those keywords acquired by the acquisition unit and assigns a level of usefulness to the user to each of the search targets; and a provision unit that causes the communication unit to send to the terminal device data showing a list of search targets that have been assigned a level of usefulness by the search unit that is higher than a predetermined value, in order of decreasing usefulness.

17. A search method comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring one or more keywords specified by a user from a terminal device via a communication unit and acquiring weight information for each of the keywords specified by the user; a search step of searching for search targets based on the keywords acquired in the acquisition step and the weight information for those keywords, and assigning a level of usefulness to the user to each of the search targets; and a provision step of causing the communication unit to transmit to the terminal device data indicating a list of search targets assigned a level of usefulness higher than a predetermined value in the search step, in order of decreasing level of usefulness.

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