Michael B Cameron

US Patent:

7774339, Aug 10, 2010

Filed:

Jun 11, 2007

Appl. No.:

11/811596

Inventors:

Ryen W. White - Kirkland WA, US
Mikhail Bilenko - Bellevue WA, US
Nicholas E. Craswell - Cambridge, GB
Michael M. Cameron - Redmond WA, US
Hugh E. Williams - Redmond WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 17/30

US Classification:

707722, 707706, 707707

Abstract:

It has been found that user navigation that follows search engine interactions provides implicit endorsement of resources (such as web resources) that are preferred by users, and which may be particularly valuable for exploratory search tasks. Thus, a combination of past searching and browsing user behavior is analyzed to identify additional information that augments search results delivered by a search engine. The additional information may include a display of hyperlinks to locations which are derived from the past searching and browsing user behavior, given a specific input query. The additional information may be provided to supplement web search results.

US Patent:

8190601, May 29, 2012

Filed:

May 22, 2009

Appl. No.:

12/471116

Inventors:

Sanaz Ahari - Kirkland WA, US
Xiaoxin Yin - Bothell WA, US
Farid Hosseini - Redmond WA, US
Sarthak Shah - Kirkland WA, US
Adam Troy - Redmond WA, US
Daniel C. Fain - Redmond WA, US
Brian MacDonald - Bellevue WA, US
Nikhil Dandekar - Seattle WA, US
Michael Cameron - Redmond WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 7/00
G06F 17/30

US Classification:

707722, 707723, 707731

Abstract:

Computer-readable media and computerized methods for automatically organizing search results according to task groups are provided. The methods involve aggregating a gallery of entities (e. g. , search queries that share a common categorization) into a query class and assigning a dictionary (e. g. , list of terms that are drawn from various sources) to the query class. The task groups are identified from the list of terms within the dictionary. The process of identification includes analyzing patterns of user search behavior to select terms from the list of terms, which reflect popular user search intents, and ranking the selected terms based on predetermined parameters to produce an ordering. Based on the ordering, a set of the selected terms that are highest ranked are declared the task groups. The task groups are employed to arrange the search results on a UI display and to provide a consistent and intuitive format for refining a search.

US Patent:

8195653, Jun 5, 2012

Filed:

Jan 7, 2009

Appl. No.:

12/349938

Inventors:

Nikhil Dandekar - Seattle WA, US
Michael Cameron - Redmond WA, US
Evan Despault - Seattle WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 7/00
G06F 17/30

US Classification:

707724, 707759

Abstract:

Computer systems, methods, and media improving the relevance of the search results presented to a user for queries having an implicit local intent are provided. Utilizing the systems and methods described herein locally-biased queries are identified, despite such queries being void of any location-specific terms. A location of a computing device associated with the user is determined and localized web search results associated with the data item pair comprising the input query and the user's determined location are generated and presented to the user.

US Patent:

8510262, Aug 13, 2013

Filed:

May 21, 2008

Appl. No.:

12/124975

Inventors:

Amit Aggarwal - Redmond WA, US
Nitin Agrawal - Redmond WA, US
Michael Maxwell Cameron - Redmond WA, US
Nicholas Eric Craswell - Cambridge, GB
Nikhil Bharat Dandekar - Bellevue WA, US
Tabreez Govani - Mukilteo WA, US
Hugh Evan Williams - Redmond WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 7/00
G06F 17/00

US Classification:

707603, 707708, 707723, 707741, 707771

Abstract:

A computer system, method, and media for associating locations with ranked websites are provided. The computer system includes a search engine, a log database, and a location database that are employed to respond to search requests from users by returning appropriately ranked websites to the user. The websites are ranked using the location of the website and the location of the user to select websites to receive high ranks. Additionally, the search engine includes a correction feature that reevaluates locations for a website or user when a large number of obtained locations suggest a different location than a currently associated location for the website or the user.

US Patent:

8543592, Sep 24, 2013

Filed:

Jan 29, 2010

Appl. No.:

12/696938

Inventors:

Nitin Agrawal - Redmond WA, US
Tabreez Govani - Mukilteo WA, US
Jamie P. Buckley - Redmond WA, US
Michael Maxwell Cameron - Redmond WA, US
Liwei Chen - Seattle WA, US
Hugh Evan Williams - Redmond WA, US
Sanaz Ahari - Kirkland WA, US
Yang Yang Zhang - Bellevue WA, US
Srinath Reddy Aaleti - Redmond WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 17/30

US Classification:

707769

Abstract:

Methods, computer-storage media, and graphical user interfaces are provided for identifying and presenting rich related sites for task-oriented search queries. Upon receipt of a search query input by a user, one or more query logs are analyzed to determine if the search query is a related to a task being performed by the user. If the query is determined to be a task-oriented search query, search results are identified, as is one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) related to a particular search result. The related URL is presented to the user in association with the particular search result. Additional controls, e. g. , search tools that facilitate querying of those URLs determined to be relevant to a particular search result, may also be provided to aid the user in performing the task at hand.

US Patent:

8572074, Oct 29, 2013

Filed:

Apr 24, 2012

Appl. No.:

13/454637

Inventors:

Sanaz Ahari - Kirkland WA, US
Xiaoxin Yin - Bothell WA, US
Farid Hosseini - Redmond WA, US
Sarthak Shah - Kirkland WA, US
Adam Troy - Redmond WA, US
Dan Fain - Redmond WA, US
Brian MacDonald - Bellevue WA, US
Nikhil Dandekar - Seattle WA, US
Michael Cameron - Redmond WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 7/00
G06F 17/30

US Classification:

707722, 707723, 707731

Abstract:

Computer-readable media and computerized methods for automatically organizing search results according to task groups are provided. The methods involve aggregating a gallery of entities (e. g. , search queries that share a common categorization) into a query class and assigning a dictionary (e. g. , list of terms that are drawn from various sources) to the query class. The task groups are identified from the list of terms within the dictionary. The process of identification includes analyzing patterns of user search behavior to select terms from the list of terms, which reflect popular user search intents, and ranking the selected terms based on predetermined parameters to produce an ordering. Based on the ordering, a set of the selected terms that are highest ranked are declared the task groups. The task groups are employed to arrange the search results on a UI display and to provide a consistent and intuitive format for refining a search.

US Patent:

8583670, Nov 12, 2013

Filed:

Oct 4, 2007

Appl. No.:

11/867408

Inventors:

Michael Cameron - Redmond WA, US
Hugh Williams - Redmond WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 7/00
G06F 17/30

US Classification:

707765, 707748, 707751, 707766, 707916

Abstract:

Presenting one or more suggested search-engine queries based on an initial search-engine query is described herein. Once the initial query is received, a search engine determines whether any web content is relevant thereto. If not, a query-suggestion service determines whether any suggested queries can be substituted for the initial query. If not, the query is spell-corrected, if necessary, and parsed into individual terms. Each parsed term is then checked to see whether it can be associated with alternative search terms. Terms than can are combined and their combination is also checked for alternative search terms. All of the alternative search terms are scored and then assembled into a list of suggested search terms that is presented to the user.

US Patent:

8613021, Dec 17, 2013

Filed:

Jun 1, 2012

Appl. No.:

13/486371

Inventors:

Hongqiao Li - Bellevue WA, US
Steve Beck - Bothell WA, US
Michael M. Cameron - Redmond WA, US
Alejandro Dominguez - Richmond, CA

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 17/30

US Classification:

725 45, 725 47

Abstract:

Methods are provided for identifying media files that are related to a user-selected media file. Initially, a first set of media files that have previously been determined to be related to the selected media file is identified. It is determined that the number of media files in the first set of media files does not exceed a minimum number. A query is constructed based on the title or description of the selected media file to locate more related media files. A media database is searched and the results are combined with the first set of media files to be displayed.