App-Website Association via Secret Code for Search Results
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Solution Overview
Problem
Search engines and information providers often fail to display service-specific apps as search results because they cannot accurately identify the official app associated with a web site, leading to users missing out on optimized app experiences on devices with small form factors.
Innovation Solution
A system where a web site administrator and app developer mutually identify their association through a secret code, which is registered and shared via a web administrator portal, allowing information providers to link the app and web site together in search results.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If information providers display only web sites in search results, then simplicity and ease of operation are maintained, but user experience is suboptimal as users miss out on optimized app experiences for small form factor devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments search results into different types (web sites and apps) and presents them separately but together. Apps are identified as distinct entities from web sites through code verification, allowing the search engine to display both types of results without confusing the user interface while providing optimized experiences for different device types.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimension to search results by including apps alongside web sites. This dimensional expansion allows users to access services through multiple channels (browser or native app) directly from search results, enhancing user experience without complicating the core search functionality.
2Reliability
If information providers attempt to identify relevant apps for search results, then user experience is enhanced, but device complexity increases due to the need for verification mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having web site administrators pre-register codes that identify their associated apps. This advance preparation creates a verification framework where the search engine can simply check for code matches without implementing complex verification logic, reducing the computational complexity while maintaining high identification accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a code as an intermediary element that bridges the web site administrator and the app. This simple token-based system allows verification of app association without requiring direct communication or complex protocols between the search engine and app developers, thereby reducing system complexity while ensuring reliable app identification.
3Device complexity
If no association mechanism is established between web sites and apps, then system complexity is minimized, but information loss occurs as users cannot be directed to the optimal app
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential association information into a separate, manageable component: a code that links web sites to apps. By taking out the association mechanism as a distinct element rather than embedding it in the core search infrastructure, the system maintains simplicity while effectively preventing information loss about optimal service access methods.
Data Source
AI summary
An application (“app”) may be associated with a web site, so that an online service may use the connection between the app and the web site. In one example, the online service is an information provider, such as a search engine or advertising engine. The online service provides a web administrator portal, through which a webmaster provides or generates a secret code. The webmaster gives the secret code to an app developer, who gives the code to an app store when the app is published. If the service provides information about the web site (e.g., as a search result or ad impression), the service may also provide an indication of the app, since the use of the code represents confirmation by both the webmaster and app developer that a relationship exists between the web site and the app.