Search Result Page Previews with Page Tears and Zoom
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current search systems provide limited information in search results, requiring users to click multiple links and navigate through pages to find data in preferred formats, as snippets do not adequately convey content context, format, or display characteristics, making it difficult for users to determine relevant resources.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of page previews that visually represent resources with query-relevant content from different portions of a web page, using page tears to indicate non-contiguous sections, allowing users to view more relevant content in a single preview slot adjacent to search results, and providing zoom features to enhance legibility and detail examination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If search results display only text snippets, then the search results page remains simple and easy to navigate, but users cannot determine the format or display characteristics of the resource content
Solution Approach 1:
The search results page is segmented into multiple preview slots, each displaying a different visual representation (thumbnail, excerpt, formatted preview) of the resource. This allows users to view multiple content formats simultaneously without overwhelming the interface, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and information completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from one-dimensional text snippets to multi-dimensional previews by incorporating visual elements (thumbnails, formatted layouts) alongside text. This dimensional expansion provides users with comprehensive information about content format while maintaining an organized, easy-to-navigate structure through the slot-based layout.
2Measurement precision
If users click multiple search results to find preferred formats, then they can access detailed information, but the time required to locate desired content increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by generating and displaying multiple visual previews of search results before users need to access the actual content. Users can evaluate content formats and relevance in advance through the preview slots, allowing them to make informed decisions about which results to access, thereby reducing the time spent searching and navigating multiple pages.
3Device complexity
If search snippets provide minimal text information, then the search results page remains concise and readable, but users cannot assess whether the resource provides data in their preferred format
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges multiple types of information representations (text snippets, visual thumbnails, formatted excerpts) into a unified search results structure. Each preview slot combines different content elements to provide comprehensive context about the resource while maintaining a consistent, organized layout that does not excessively increase structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different preview slots display content with varying levels of detail and different visual qualities tailored to the specific resource type. For example, image resources display thumbnails with captions, while text resources show formatted excerpts. This local differentiation provides rich contextual information where needed while maintaining overall structural simplicity.
4Productivity
If the search system provides comprehensive content previews, then users can determine resource relevance without visiting pages, but the system complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and displays only the most relevant visual and textual elements from each resource to create previews. By selectively extracting key content features (such as main images, headings, and prominent text passages) rather than processing entire resources, the system achieves comprehensive previews while managing computational complexity through targeted extraction algorithms.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for providing search result page previews. In one aspect, a method includes receiving data that specify a set of search results responsive to a search query. Query-relevant content is selected to be included in a page preview for at least one of the search results. In turn, data that cause presentation of the page preview are provided. The data provided can cause presentation of the query-relevant content at an initial zoom level and at a higher zoom level, where the initial zoom level is a zoom level at which both the query-relevant content and other content from the resource are presented. The page preview can include a page tear that defines multiple portions of the page preview for a resource.