Search Intent Preview System for Query Disambiguation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing search engines fail to effectively address tail queries and ambiguous search intents, leading to inefficient user interactions and resource wastage, as they do not provide adequate disambiguation or refinement options before retrieving search results.
Innovation Solution
A system that suggests intent suggestions based on search prefixes, retrieves metadata for entities, and provides an aggregated intent preview without executing the search query, allowing users to refine their intent without committing to search results, using entity-intrinsic signals, query-entity interactions, and query pattern likelihood scores for ranking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If search engines retrieve search results for every query execution, then users can access comprehensive information, but resources are wasted on ambiguous or tail queries with low informational value
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by generating intent suggestions and entity previews before the user executes the search query. This allows users to refine their intent and select specific entities of interest beforehand, ensuring that full search results are only retrieved when the user has a well-defined query, thereby avoiding resource wastage on ambiguous queries while maintaining reliability when needed
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary step between query input and search result retrieval. Instead of directly executing searches, the system presents entity previews and intent suggestions as an intermediate layer, allowing users to disambiguate their intent and select specific entities before triggering actual search result retrieval, thus reducing unnecessary resource consumption
2Ease of operation
If search engines provide immediate search results, then users can quickly access information, but users cannot effectively refine ambiguous search intents
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by presenting entity previews and intent suggestions before the user commits to a search query. This allows users to refine their intent, explore related entities, and select specific targets of interest before executing the search, thereby preventing loss of search intent clarity while maintaining ease of operation through a streamlined workflow
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the search process into distinct stages: intent suggestion generation, entity preview display, user selection, and final search execution. This segmentation allows users to interact with and refine their intent at each stage without being overwhelmed by full search results prematurely, improving both ease of operation and intent clarity
3Quantity of substance
If search engines retrieve and display full search results, then users can access detailed information, but tail queries consume excessive computational resources
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and displays only essential entity information (metadata, previews, key attributes) before the user executes the search query. This extraction approach provides sufficient information for users to refine their intent and select specific entities without retrieving full search results, thereby maintaining information availability while significantly improving query processing efficiency by avoiding unnecessary data retrieval
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial action by retrieving and displaying only the necessary portion of information (entity previews and metadata) required for intent refinement, rather than retrieving complete search results. This partial retrieval strategy provides adequate information for users to make informed decisions about their search intent while conserving computational resources
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, computer storage media, and user interfaces are provided for non-committal intent preview, disambiguation, and refinement of a search. A search prefix comprising one or more characters associated with an unexecuted search query is received. One or more intent suggestions are suggested to a user. For each of the one or more intent suggestions, one or more entity identifications associated with each of the one or more intent suggestions are received. Metadata corresponding to at least one entity associated with the one or more entity identifications is retrieved from an entity data store. Without retrieving search results for the unexecuted search query, an aggregated intent preview based on the retrieved metadata corresponding to the at least one entity is provided.