Search Engine Integrating Social Graph People Results
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Solution Overview
Problem
Search engines are inadequate in providing answers to queries that require subjective information, as they primarily rely on objective data sources, failing to satisfactorily address queries that benefit from personal opinions or expertise, such as restaurant recommendations.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating the identification of relevant individuals into search results who can provide subjective answers, based on their relationships and attributes, allowing users to initiate conversations with them, in addition to traditional objective results.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If search engines provide only objective information from data sources, then the reliability of search results is improved, but the ability to answer subjective queries is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines objective information sources (documents, data sources) with subjective information sources (people, their profiles, and opinions) into a unified search result system. This merging allows the search engine to simultaneously provide reliable objective data and relevant subjective perspectives, resolving the contradiction between reliability and adaptability for different query types.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the composition of search results based on the nature of the query. For objective queries, the results are primarily document-based; for subjective queries, the system dynamically incorporates people results alongside or instead of traditional documents, making the system adaptable to different information needs while maintaining reliability through user-controlled engagement.
2Adaptability or versatility
If search engines include people results in addition to objective results, then the versatility of search functionality is improved, but the complexity of the search system is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments search results into distinct categories: traditional objective results (documents, data) and people results (profiles, opinions, connections). This segmentation allows the system to handle different types of information separately through dedicated processing pipelines, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining versatility. Each segment can be optimized independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary classification mechanism that determines whether a query is subjective or objective, routing queries to appropriate result types. This intermediary layer simplifies the complexity by providing a clear decision framework for when to include people results, rather than requiring complex analysis for every query.
3Reliability
If search engines provide detailed information about people's relationships and attributes, then the relevance of search results is improved, but the loss of information privacy is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by selectively disclosing people's information based on their relationship to the user and the specific query context. Sensitive attributes are revealed only when necessary and appropriate, while less sensitive information is always available. This localized information disclosure maintains relevance without uniformly exposing all private data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by obtaining user permission before accessing and displaying detailed information about their connections. This preliminary consent mechanism ensures privacy protection is built into the system architecture, allowing relevant information to be disclosed only when the user has authorized it, thus maintaining both relevance and privacy.
Data Source
AI summary
Search results may include both objective results and person results. In one example, a search query is evaluated to determine whether it is the type of query that a user might want to ask to a friend. If the query is of such a type, then the search engine may examine a social graph to determine which friends of the user who entered the query may have information that is relevant to answering the query. If such friends exist, then the friends may be displayed along with objective search results, along with an explanation of each friend's relevance to the query. Clicking on a person in the results may cause a conversation to be initiated with that person, thereby allowing the user who entered the query to ask his or her friend about the subject of the query.