Search Result Ranking Using Social Graph Connections

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current internet search technologies fail to effectively leverage a user's social graph to provide relevant and trustworthy search results, often presenting unstructured and unreliable information, making it difficult for users to find interesting entities and unknown sources.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that receives a search query, identifies points of interest, determines associated persons from the user's social graph based on their presence or past presence at those points, and generates search results including the point of interest and information about the associated persons, such as their messages and profiles, to enhance the relevance and trustworthiness of search results.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional search technologies are used to provide search results, then the search process is simple and fast, but the results are unstructured, unreliable, and do not leverage user's social graph information

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetrustworthiness of search resultsVSAvoidcomplexity of search system
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges traditional search engine results with social graph data by integrating person information, relationships, and social context into the search result presentation. This combination allows the system to leverage both the structured search capabilities and the trustworthiness of social connections, resolving the contradiction between result reliability and system complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces social graph data as an intermediary layer between the user and search results. By using social connections as a mediator to filter and present information, the system enhances trustworthiness while maintaining a manageable complexity through the use of existing social graph infrastructure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If search results include information from user's social graph, then the results become more relevant and trustworthy, but the processing and integration complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverelevance of search results to userVSAvoidcomplexity of result generation
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-processing and structuring social graph data before it is needed for search results. Social connections, person information, and relationship data are organized in advance, allowing the search system to quickly integrate this pre-processed information without adding significant complexity to the real-time search processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the search result generation process into distinct modules: traditional search result generation, social graph data retrieval, person information extraction, and integrated result presentation. This segmentation allows each component to be developed and optimized independently, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high adaptability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Productivity

If the system integrates social graph data into search results, then user interest and engagement increase, but the data processing requirements and system resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser efficiency in finding interesting entitiesVSAvoidcomputational resources for data processing
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies partial action by selectively integrating social graph information only for search results that benefit from it, rather than processing all search results uniformly. The system identifies when social context adds value and applies the enhanced processing only in those cases, reducing overall computational resource consumption while maintaining high user productivity for relevant queries.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS9471691B1Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for providing search results having contacts from a user's social graph
Publication Date: 2016.10.18 GOOGLE LLC
  • US9471691B1 patent drawing
  • US9471691B1 patent drawing
  • US9471691B1 patent drawing

AI summary

Provided are systems, methods, and computer-readable media for providing search results having contacts from a user's social graph are provided herein. A search query is received from a user of client computer, and a point of interest responsive to the search query is determined. A person associated with the point of interest is identified, and a relationship in a social graph between the person and the user is identified. A search result that includes the point of interest and information about the person in the user's social graph associated with the point of interest is generated, and the search result is transmitted over a network to the client computer.