Person Search Utilizing Entity Expansion

Abstract

Presented are systems and methods, as well as computer-readable media, for responding to a search query for content (or references to content) relating to a person identified in the search query. According to various embodiments, upon receiving a search query from a computer user, related entity data is obtained from at least one related entity source for the identified person. Related entity data comprises at least one of a related entity (or entities) or a category associated with the identified person. An expanded search query is generated according to the search query from the computer user and the related entity data. Search results are obtained according to the expanded search query and a search results presentation is generated and returned to the computer user in response to the search query.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for responding to a search query, the method comprising:
 receiving a search query, the search query identifying a person for which content relating to the person is sought;   obtaining related entity data from a related entity source, the related entity data comprising at least one of a related entity to or a category associated with the identified person of the search query;   generating an expanded search query based on the received search query and the related entity data;   obtaining search results according to the expanded search query;   generating a search results presentation according to the obtained search results; and   returning the search results presentation in response to the search query.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 :
 wherein generating an expanded search query comprises incorporating query terms derived from the related entity data with query terms of the received search query; and   wherein obtaining search results according to the expanded search query comprises obtaining search results according to query terms of the received search query and optionally according to the query terms derived from the related entity data.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2  further comprising obtaining related entity data from a plurality of related entity sources. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the category associated with the identified person is included in the expanded search query as a query term derived from the related entity data. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the related entity data comprises a plurality of categories associated with the identified person. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein the related entity data includes category data corresponding to each category in the related entity data, and wherein the category data includes one or more category entities that are incorporated as query terms into the expanded search query. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2  further comprising selecting a search model from a plurality of search models and applying the selected search model to the generation of the expanded search query. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein selecting a search model from a plurality of search models comprises selecting a search model according to information corresponding to a requesting computer user. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein selecting a search model from a plurality of search models comprises selecting a search model according to information corresponding to the identified person. 
     
     
         10 . A computer-readable medium bearing computer-executable instructions which, when executed on a computing system comprising at least a processor executing the instructions retrieved from the medium, carry out a method for responding to a search query, the method comprising:
 receiving a search query, the search query identifying a person for which content relating to the person is sought;   obtaining related entity data from a related entity source, the related entity data comprising at least one of a related entity to or a category associated with the identified person of the search query;   selecting a search model from a plurality of search models ;   generating an expanded search query by incorporating query terms derived from the related entity data with query terms of the received search query in accordance with the search model;   obtaining search results according to the expanded search query, comprising obtaining search results according to query terms of the received search query and optionally according to the query terms derived from the related entity data;   generating a search results presentation according to the weighted set of search results; and   returning the search results presentation in response to the search query.   
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises obtaining related entity data from a plurality of related entity sources. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the category associated with the identified person is included in the expanded search query as a query term derived from the related entity data. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the related entity data comprises a plurality of categories associated with the identified person. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the related entity data further comprises category data corresponding to each category in the related entity data, and wherein the category data includes one or more category entities that are incorporated as query terms into the expanded search query. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein selecting a search model from a plurality of search models comprises selecting a search model according to information corresponding to a requesting computer user. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein selecting a search model from a plurality of search models comprises selecting a search model according to information corresponding to both the identified person and a requesting computer user. 
     
     
         17 . A computer system for responding to a search query for content related to a person, the system comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor executes instructions stored in the memory as part of or in conjunction with additional components to respond to a search query for content related to a person, the additional components comprising:
 a query topic identification component configured to determine the identity of a person from the search query for which related content is sought;   a related entity retrieval component for obtaining related entity data corresponding to the identified person from a related entity source;   an expanded query generator to generate an expanded query from the search query for content related to the identified person and from the related entity data, wherein the related entity data comprises at least one of a related entity or a category associated with the identified person of the search query;   a search results retrieval component configure to obtain search results from a content store, the search results referencing content corresponding to the identified person, according to the expanded search query; and   a search results presentation generator configured to generate a search results presentation according to the search results referencing content corresponding to the identified person and return the search results presentation to the computer user.   
     
     
         18 . The computer system of  claim 17 , wherein the search results retrieval component obtains search results corresponding to the identified person according to the expanded search query by obtaining search results according to query terms of the received search query and optionally according to the query terms incorporated into the expanded search query from the related entity data. 
     
     
         19 . The computer system of  claim 17  further comprising:
 a search model component configured to select a search model from a plurality of search models; and supply the search model to the expanded query generator for generating an expanded query from the search query from the related entity data according to the search model; 
 wherein the expanded query generator generates an expanded query according to the search model; and 
 wherein the search results presentation generator generates the search results presentation according to the search model. 
 
     
     
         20 . The computer system of  claim 19 , wherein the search model component is configured to select a search model from a plurality of search models according to information corresponding to the computer user.