Temporal ranking of search results

Abstract

An information dissemination system ranks the search results based on a temporal weight assigned to each search result. The temporal weight is an indication of the importance to a user that varies with time. For each search result, the information dissemination system calculates a temporal weight that is based on the temporal proximity of the event that is related to the search result. The temporal weight may be used to re-rank the search results.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method, performed by a computer having a memory and a processor, for ranking search results, the method comprising:
 for each of a plurality of search results,
 identifying an event corresponding to the search result, wherein the identified event has an associated start time, and 
 determining a temporal weight for the search result based at least in part on a temporal proximity of a current time to the start time associated with the identified event; and 
   ordering the search results based at least in part on the determined temporal weights.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the identified event has an associated end time and wherein determining the temporal weight is further based at least in part on a temporal proximity of the current time to the end time associated with the identified event. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 determining a static weight for each search result; and   ordering the search results based at least in part on the determined static weights.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23  wherein the determined static weight for each search result is based at least in part on an importance of the event corresponding to that search result. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23  wherein the determined static weight for each search result is based at least in part on an importance of the source of that search result. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21  wherein each of the identified events are associated with an activity scheduled by a calendaring application. 
     
     
         27 . A computer-readable storage medium containing instructions for performing steps for generating a user profile, the steps comprising:
 identifying information associated with a user;   extracting terms from the identified information associated with the user;   generating clusters of similar terms from the extracted terms;   identifying a plurality of events;   identifying a generated cluster related to the identified event;   identifying key terms for the identified cluster;   generating a query from the identified key terms; and   placing an indication of the generated query in a profile associated with the user.   
     
     
         28 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 27 , further comprising instructions for performing steps comprising:
 obtaining search results by executing at least one generated query against at least one information source;   ranking the obtained search results; and   rendering the ranked search results to the user.   
     
     
         29 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 27  wherein the identified information includes email messages. 
     
     
         30 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 29  wherein the identified information includes World Wide Web usage information associated with the user. 
     
     
         31 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 30  wherein the identified information includes enterprise resource planning data associated with the user. 
     
     
         32 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 28  wherein an event of the plurality of events is identified from a calendar entry for a meeting with a start time and wherein the steps further comprise executing the query before the meeting and presenting results of the executed query to the user. 
     
     
         33 . A system comprising:
 a component configured to, for each of a plurality of search results,
 identify an event corresponding to the search result, wherein the identified event has an associated start time, and 
 determine a temporal weight for the search result based at least in part on a temporal proximity of a current time to the start time associated with the identified event; and 
   a component configured to order the search results based at least in part on the determined temporal weights.   
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 33  wherein the identified event has an associated end time and wherein the component configured to determine a temporal weights is further configured to determine the temporal weight based at least in part on a temporal proximity of the current time to the end time associated with the identified event. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 a component configured to determine an adaptive weight for each search result wherein the component configured to order the search results is further configured to order the search results based at least in part on the determined adaptive weights.   
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35  wherein the determined adaptive weight for each search result is based at least in part on preference information associated with a user. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 36  wherein the determined static weight for each search result is based at least in part on feedback received from the user. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 a component that determines a static weight for each search result   wherein the component configured to order the search results is further configured to order the search results based at least in part on the determined static weights.   
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38  wherein each of the identified events are associated with an activity scheduled by a calendaring application. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 39  wherein the search results are web pages.