(12) Ullltfild States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 7,945,571 B2 Wanker (45) Date of Patent: May 17, 2011 (54) APPLICATION OF WEIGHTS TO ONLINE 6,235,999 Bl 9/2001 Page 2,2222 are lass; s::r.:::.ir _ _ 635263440 Bl 2/2003 Bharat (75) Inventor: William Paul Wanker, Santa Fe, NM 6,760,720 B1 7/2004 De Bellis (US) 6,829,606 B2* l2/2004 Ripley ................................ .. l/l 6,996,561 B2 2/2006 de Hilster et al. (73) Assignee: Legit Services Corporation, Santa Fe, §_:1r1(();lZSe(_t:taé11'1‘ NM(U$) 7,024,404 Bl 4/2006 Gerasoulisetal. 7,035,849 B2 4/2006 Tifft ( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 7,249,126 B1 * 7/2007 Ginsburg et al. 707/749 Patent e eeeeeeee er adjusted under as 20033500535; 3;. 15533; gggigj jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj M W, U.S.C. l54(b) by 651 days. 2003/0140309 A1,, 7/2003 Saito et al‘ “““““““““ “ 715/500 (21) Appl. No.: 11/945,243 (C°m1n“ed) (22) Filed: Nov.26,2007 OTHER PUBLICATIONS “Definition of attitudinal,” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, (65) Pl‘l0l‘ Pllbll¢3tl0l1 Data downloaded from http://vvvvw.m-w.com/dictionary/attitudinal, May
US 2009/0138458 A1 May 28, 2009
(51) Int. Cl.
G06F 7/00 (2006.01)
G06F 17/30 (2006.01)
(52) U.S. Cl. ...................................... .. 707/749; 707/731
(58) Field of Classification Search ...................... .. None
See application file for complete search history.
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(Continued)
Primary Examiner — Pierre M Vital
Assistant Examiner — Augustine Obisesan
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Perkins Coie LLP
A mac11ine-implemented search method comprises inputting a search query from a user, and before the query is executed, inputting from the user a weighting factor that has a specified relationship to the query. The method further includes initiating a search by causing the query to be applied according to the weighting factor, and retuming a result of the search to the user. The weighting factor may represent, for example, a weight to be given to one of multiple information sources that are available to be searched in response to the query, such as an online search engine or a merchant online commerce web site. Altematively, the weighting factor may represent a weight to be given to a tenn in the query.
8 Claims, 24 Drawing Sheets 303
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