Search Engine Location Alias Resolution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current search engines lack the ability to efficiently allow users to refer to geographical locations using aliases or nicknames, leading to inconvenience when searching for information related to specific locations without pre-defined addresses.
Innovation Solution
A search engine system that permits users to use location aliases, allowing them to enter nicknames like 'home' or 'work' instead of addresses, and automatically determines the corresponding location by prompting the user to specify it, storing this information for personalized search results.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If users are required to enter full addresses for location searches, then location precision is improved, but user convenience and ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces location aliases as intermediary terms that users can employ instead of full addresses. The system maintains a mapping between these aliases and actual locations, allowing users to search using convenient nicknames while the system resolves them to precise locations for accurate search results
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows users to define their own location aliases that have personal meaning to them. The search engine automatically learns and adapts to user-defined aliases, enabling users to search using terms they are most comfortable with while maintaining high location precision through automatic alias resolution
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system stores and processes user-specific location aliases, then personalized search capability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-storing location alias mappings in a database before searches are executed. When users define aliases or when the system infers them from search patterns, this information is cached and readily available for future searches, eliminating the need for complex real-time processing during each search operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates simplified copies of location information in the form of aliases. Instead of storing and processing complex address data for every search, the system uses lightweight alias strings that map to actual locations, reducing computational complexity while maintaining personalized search capabilities
3Measurement precision
If the system prompts users to specify locations for aliases in real-time, then alias disambiguation accuracy is improved, but search response time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs alias resolution in advance by storing predefined location mappings and user-defined aliases before searches are conducted. This preliminary preparation allows the system to quickly resolve aliases to specific locations during search operations without requiring real-time user interaction
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from user search behavior to automatically learn and refine alias mappings over time. By analyzing patterns in how users search for locations, the system can infer commonly used aliases and pre-resolve them, reducing the need for explicit user prompts while maintaining high disambiguation accuracy
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for using location aliases. In some implementations, a query is received, and a user that submitted the query is identified. It can be determined that one or more terms of the query represent an alias for a user-specific geographical location that has not been designated for the identified user. In response, a prompt can be provided to the user to specify a geographical location corresponding to the one or more query terms, data indicating a geographical location is received, and data is stored that indicates that, for the identified user, the one or more terms are an alias for the geographical location. One or more search results responsive to the query are provided, where the alias corresponds to the geographical location input in response to the prompt.