Search engine system supporting inclusion of unformatted search string after domain name portion of url

Abstract

A web site system provides functionality for searching a repository of information, such as the World Wide Web, by including a search string at the end of a URL without any special formatting. In one embodiment, when the system receives a request for a URL of the form www.domain_name/char_string, where char_string is a character string that may include spaces and non-alphabetic characters, the system initially determines whether the character string includes a prefix that identifies the URL as a non-search-request URL. If no such prefix is present, the character string is used in its entirely as a search string to execute a search, and the results of the search are returned to the user.

1 - 22 . (canceled)  
   
   
       23 . A web site system, comprising: 
 a web server system capable of receiving and responding to URL requests from user computer devices; and    a query server capable of using search strings included in said URL requests to execute searches;    wherein the web server system is responsive to a request for a URL that includes a domain name, followed immediately by a single character, followed immediately by a search string, by causing the query server to use the search string to execute a search, and by returning a search results page with results of said search.    
   
   
       24 . The web site system of  claim 23 , wherein the search string consists of a keyword or keyword phrase.  
   
   
       25 . The web site system of  claim 23 , wherein the URL contains no special formatting for identifying the URL as a search request URL.  
   
   
       26 . The web site system of  claim 23 , wherein the query server is configured to execute the search by applying the search string to an index of web pages and/or other content.  
   
   
       27 . The web site system of  claim 23 , wherein the web server system is responsive to a request for a second URL that includes said domain name, followed immediately by said single character, followed immediately by a character string that includes a set of characters that identifies the second URL as a non-search-request URL, by returning a web page without invoking said query server.  
   
   
       28 . The web site system of  claim 27 , wherein the set of characters consists of non-alphabetic characters.  
   
   
       29 . A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program which embodies a method that comprises the steps of: 
 receiving a URL request that specifies a URL, said URL including a domain name followed immediately by a single character followed immediately by a character string; and    responding to the URL request by causing the character string to be used in its entirety as a search string for executing a search, and by returning a search results page with results of said search.    
   
   
       30 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 29 , wherein the URL does not contain any special characters or formatting for indicating the presence of a search string.  
   
   
       31 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 29 , wherein the step of causing the character string to be used in its entirety as a search string is performed in response to determining that the character string does not include a predefined character sequence that identifies the URL as a non-search-request URL.  
   
   
       32 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 29 , wherein the method further comprises: 
 receiving a second URL request that specifies a second URL, said second URL including said domain name, followed immediately by said single character, followed immediately by a second character string that includes a predefined character sequence, said predefined character sequence identifying the second URL as a non-search-request URL; and    responding to the second URL request by returning non-search-result content referenced by the second URL.    
   
   
       33 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 32 , wherein the predefined character sequence consists of non-alphabetic characters.  
   
   
       34 . A computer-implemented method of conducting a search, the method comprising the steps of: 
 generating a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) request message that specifies a URL, said URL including a domain name, followed immediately by a single character, followed immediately by a search string for conducting a search, said domain name corresponding to a web site system that implements a search engine; and    sending the URL request message on a computer network to the web site system to cause the web site system to execute a search using said search string and to return a search results page with results of the search.    
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the single character is a forward slash.  
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the URL does not contain any special formatting to indicate to the web site system that the URL contains a search string.  
   
   
       37 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the search string consists of a single keyword or a keyword phrase.  
   
   
       38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the URL ends with said search string.  
   
   
       39 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising: 
 generating a second URL request message that specifies a second URL, said second URL including said domain name, and including a character sequence that identifies the second URL as a non-search-request URL; and    sending the second URL request message on the network to cause the web site system to return an object referenced by the second URL without executing a search.    
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the character sequence consists of non-alphabetic characters.  
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the second URL includes said domain name, followed immediately by a forward slash, followed immediately by said character sequence that identifies the second URL as a non-search-request URL.  
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the second URL specifies a directory for retrieving the object from a directory structure.  
   
   
       43 . A web site system, comprising: 
 a web server system capable of receiving and responding to URL requests from user computer devices; and    a query server capable of using search strings included in said URL requests to execute searches;    wherein the web server system is capable of processing a URL request by at least (1) determining whether the requested URL includes a set of characters that identifies the requested URL as a non-search-request URL, (2) when the requested URL is identified as a non-search-request URL, responding to the URL request without invoking the query server; and (3) when the requested URL is not identified as a non-search-request URL, causing the query server to execute a search using a search string included in the URL, and returning results of said search.    
   
   
       44 . The web site system as in  claim 43 , wherein the set of characters consists of non-alphabetic characters.  
   
   
       45 . The web site system as in  claim 43 , wherein the web server system checks for said set of characters immediately following a forward slash that immediately follows a domain name portion of the URL.  
   
   
       46 . The web site system as in  claim 43 , wherein the web server system checks for said set of characters at the end of the requested URL.  
   
   
       47 . The web site system as in  claim 43 , wherein the web server system is capable of responding to a requested URL that includes a domain name, followed immediately by a single character, followed immediately by a character string, by causing the query server to use the character string in its entirety to execute a search.