Authority management for electronic searches

Abstract

A presentation of search results may be improved. An indication that identifies a user may be received. A search authority model may be formed to represent information related to the user. A search query may be received from a searching user. Search results may be determined based on the terms included within the search query and the search results may be ranked or grouped based on the search authority model. Additionally, or alternatively, the search query may be adjusted based on the search authority model and search results may be determined based on the adjusted search query. In either case, the search results may be made perceivable to the searching user.

1 - 55 . (canceled) 
     
     
         56 . A system, comprising:
 a storage device; and   at least one processor coupled to the storage device, the storage device storing instructions for controlling the at least one processor when executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor being configured with the instructions to:
 identify a search term provided by a first user, the search term being relevant to a topic; 
 obtain a first interest profile of the first user and a second interest profile of a second user, the second user being an authority on the topic; 
 identify first and second weightings established by the first user, the first weighting to be applied to the first interest profile, and the second weighting to be applied to the second interest profile; 
 generate a combined interest profile by performing a weighted combination of the first and second interest profiles in accordance with the identified first and second weightings; and 
 determine search results in response to the search term based on the combined interest profile. 
   
     
     
         57 . The system of  claim 56 , wherein:
 the first interest profile comprises first information indicative of at least one interest of the first user;   the second interest profile comprises second information indicative of least one interest of the second user; and   the at least one processor is further configured to generate a first feature vector based on the first interest profile and a second feature vector based on the second interest profile, the first feature vector comprising numerical values representative of the first interest information, and the second feature vector comprising numerical values representative of the second interest information.   
     
     
         58 . The system of  claim 57 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 compute a combined feature vector based on the first and second feature vectors; and   determine at least a portion of the search results based on the combined feature vector.   
     
     
         59 . The system of  claim 58 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 generate a query feature vector representative of a search query, the search query comprising a plurality of search terms, and the query feature vector comprising numerical values representative of the search terms;   obtain a plurality of document feature vectors, the document feature vectors being representative of information within corresponding documents; and   compute at least one of distances or angles between the query feature vector and that document feature vectors.   
     
     
         60 . The system of  claim 59 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 identify at least one of a computed distance or a computed angle associated with a corresponding one of the documents;   determine whether the at least one computed distance or angle falls below a predetermined threshold distance or angle; and   establish the corresponding document as one of the search results, in response to the determination that the at least one computed distance or angle falls below the predetermined threshold distance or angle.   
     
     
         61 . The system of  claim 57 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 generate a centroid feature vector by performing a weighted combination of the numerical values of the first and second feature vectors in accordance with the identified first and second weightings; and   determine at least a portion of the search results based on the centroid feature vector.   
     
     
         62 . The system of  claim 56 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 identify preliminary search results associated with the search term, the preliminary search results identifying a plurality of documents related to the topic; and   generate the search results by filtering the preliminary search results in accordance with the combined interest profile, the search results comprising at least one of the preliminary search results.   
     
     
         63 . The system of  claim 62 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 assign rankings to the preliminary search results, the assigned rankings being indicative of a relevance of corresponding ones of the documents to the topic; and   modify the assigned rankings in accordance with the combined interest profile.   
     
     
         64 . The system of  claim 56 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit information identifying at least a portion of the search results to a device for presentation to the first user. 
     
     
         65 . The system of  claim 56 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive information identifying at least one of the first weighting or the second weighting from a device associated with the first user. 
     
     
         66 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 identifying, using at least one processor, a search term provided by a first user, the search term being relevant to a topic;   obtaining, using the at least one processor, a first interest profile of the first user and a second interest profile of a second user, the second user being an authority on the topic;   identifying, using the at least one processor, first and second weightings established by the first user, the first weighting to be applied to the first interest profile, and the second weighting to be applied to the second interest profile;   generating, using the at least one processor, a combined interest profile by performing a weighted combination of the first and second interest profiles in accordance with the identified first and second weightings; and   determining, using the at least one processor, search results in response to the search term based on the combined interest profile.   
     
     
         67 . The method of  claim 66 , wherein:
 the first interest profile comprises first information indicative of at least one interest of the first user;   the second interest profile comprises second information indicative of least one interest of the second user; and   the method further comprises:
 generating a first feature vector based on the first interest profile and a second feature vector based on the second interest profile, the first feature vector comprising numerical values representative of the first interest information, and the second feature vector comprising numerical values representative of the second interest information. 
   
     
     
         68 . The method of  claim 67 , further comprising:
 computing a combined feature vector based on the first and second feature vectors; and   determining at least a portion of the search results based on the combined feature vector.   
     
     
         69 . The method of  claim 68 , further comprising:
 generating a query feature vector representative of a search query, the search query comprising a plurality of search terms, the query feature vector comprising numerical values representative of the search terms;   obtaining a plurality of document feature vectors, the document feature vectors being representative of information within corresponding documents; and   computing at least one of distances or angles between the query feature vector and document feature vectors.   
     
     
         70 . The method of  claim 69 , further comprising;
 identifying at least one of a computed distance or a computed angle associated with a corresponding one of the documents;   determining whether the at least one computed distance or angle falls below a predetermined threshold distance or angle; and   establishing the corresponding document as one of the search results, in response to the determination that the at least one computed distance or angle falls below the predetermined threshold distance or angle.   
     
     
         71 . The method of  claim 67 , further comprising:
 generating a centroid feature vector by performing a weighted combination of the numerical values of the first and second feature vectors in accordance with the first and second weightings; and   determining at least a portion of the search results based on the centroid feature vector.   
     
     
         72 . The method of  claim 66 , further comprising:
 identifying preliminary search results associated with the search term, the preliminary search results identifying a plurality of documents related to the topic; and   generating the search results by filtering the preliminary search results in accordance with the combined interest profile, the search results comprising at least one of the preliminary search results.   
     
     
         73 . The method of  claim 72 , further comprising:
 assigning rankings to the preliminary search results, the assigned rankings being indicative of a relevance of corresponding ones of the documents to the topic; and   modifying the assigned rankings in accordance with the combined interest profile.   
     
     
         74 . The method of  claim 66 , further comprising generating one or more electronic instructions to transmit information identifying at least a portion of the search results to a device for presentation to the first user. 
     
     
         75 . A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 identifying a search term provided by a first user, the search term being relevant to a topic;   obtaining a first interest profile of the first user and a second interest profile of a second user, the second user being an authority on the topic;   identifying first and second weightings established by the first user, the first weighting to be applied to the first interest profile, and the second weighting to be applied to the second interest profile;   generating a combined interest profile by performing a weighted combination of the first and second interest profiles in accordance with the identified first and second weightings; and   determining search results in response to the search term based on the combined interest profile.