Sourcing terms into a search engine

Abstract

Information may be presented to a user by receiving a selection of one or more terms passively displayed in a document, loading the terms to a search configuration, generating first results responsive to a user's predicted interest as expressed in the search configuration, and enabling display of the first results.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 providing to a user a web page in conjunction with a first search result, the first search result being associated with a first search query comprising one or more terms;   providing, to the user, a selectable option corresponding to a candidate search term, wherein the candidate search term is different than the one or more terms of the first search query;   detecting, using at least one processor, a user selection of the selectable option corresponding to the candidate search term;   generating a second search query, the second search query comprising at least one of the one or more terms of the first search query and the candidate search term corresponding to the user selection; and   providing a second search result corresponding to the second search query.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the selectable option corresponding to the candidate search term comprises providing a plurality of selectable options corresponding to one or more additional candidate search terms. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the selectable option corresponding to the candidate search term comprises providing the selectable option within the web page. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the second search result comprises providing an additional web page in conjunction with the second search result. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 upon providing the second search result, further providing, to the user, a second selectable option corresponding to another candidate search term;   detecting a user selection of the second selectable option corresponding to the another candidate search term;   generating a third search query comprising one or more terms of the second search query and the another candidate search term; and   obtaining a third search result associated with the third search query.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising enabling the user to modify the third search query by removing or adding one or more terms of the third search query. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein enabling the user to modify the third search query comprises presenting another selectable option to modify the third search query. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing additional selectable options corresponding to additional candidate search terms. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 upon providing the second search result, further providing, to the user, a second selectable option associated with a subset of the terms of the second search query;   detecting a user selection of the second selectable option associated with a subset of the terms of the second search query;   generating a third search query comprising the subset of the terms of the second search query; and   obtaining a third search result associated with the third search query.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising providing a plurality of selectable options associated with a corresponding plurality of subsets of the terms of the second search query. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 upon providing the second search result, further providing, to the user, a second selectable option associated with a subset of the terms of the first search query;   detecting a user selection of the second selectable option associated with a subset of the terms of the first search query;   generating a third search query comprising the subset of the terms of the first search query; and   obtaining a third search result associated with the third search query.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 upon providing the second search result, further providing, to the user, a second selectable option corresponding to a modification of one or more terms of the second search query;   detecting a user selection of the second selectable option corresponding to the modification of the one or more terms of the second search query;   generating a third search query comprising a modified second search query; and   obtaining a third search result associated with the third search query.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising visually distinguishing the one or more terms of the first search query and the candidate search term within the additional web page provided in conjunction with the second search result. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein visually distinguishing the one or more terms of the first search query and the candidate search term comprises highlighting the one or more terms of the first search query and candidate search term within a displayed portion of the additional web page. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein visually distinguishing the one or more terms of the first search query and the candidate search term comprises underlining the one or more terms of the first search query and candidate search term within a displayed portion of the additional coffeweb page. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying contextual information associated with the first search query based on content within the web page;   identifying contextual information associated with the second search query; and   determining whether the second search result is contextually relevant to the first search query.   
     
     
         17 . A method comprising:
 receiving, from a user, a first search query comprising at least one term;   providing a first search result associated with the first search query;   providing, to the user, a selectable option corresponding to a candidate search term, wherein the candidate search term is different than the at least one term of the first search query;   detecting, using at least one processor, a user selection of the selectable option corresponding to the candidate search term;   generating a second search query, wherein the second search query comprises the candidate search term corresponding to the user selection; and   providing a second search result corresponding to the second search query.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the first search result is provided to the user in a web page. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the candidate search term is a modified version of the at least one term of the first search query. 
     
     
         20 . A system comprising:
 at least one processor; and   at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
 provide to a user a web page in conjunction with a first search result, the first search result being associated with a first search query comprising one or more terms; 
 provide, to the user, a selectable option corresponding to a candidate search term, wherein the candidate search term is different than the one or more terms of the first search query; 
 detect, using the at least one processor, a user selection of the selectable option corresponding to the candidate search term; 
 generate a second search query, the second search query comprising at least one of the one or more terms of the first search query and the candidate search term corresponding to the user selection; and 
 provide a second search result corresponding to the second search query.