Searching Inside Items

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for facilitating a search of published works, non-published works, and/or other works using both visual and text search elements. Upon receipt of an image, the search engine application determines whether the item depicted in the image includes searchable content. Once the search engine application determines that the item depicted in the image contains searchable content, the search engine application facilitates receipt of the search string that may be used to search the searchable content of the item. The search engine application may generate one or more search results in response to the search.

Therefore, the following is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, in at least one computing device, an image that depicts a published work;   performing, in the at least one computing device, a first search of the published work based at least in part upon the image, thereby generating a first plurality of search results from the first search to be rendered in a user interface;   selecting, in the at least one computing device, at least one of the first plurality of search results rendered in the user interface;   determining, in the at least one computing device, that at least one of the first plurality of search results includes searchable content;   initiating, in the at least one computing device, a second search of the searchable content based at least in part upon on a search string entered via the user interface, thereby generating a second plurality of search results from the second search, wherein the search string is associated with at least one of a review of the published work that includes the searchable content, a preview of the published work that includes the searchable content, or a trailer associated with the published work that includes the searchable content;   storing, in the at least one computing device, the image, the search string, the first plurality of search results and the second plurality of search results; and   encoding, in the at least one computing device, at least a subset of the second plurality of search results in a user interface, wherein the subset of the second plurality of search results is displayed according to a ranking based at least in part on a location of keywords in the search string.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a first one of the second plurality of search results containing keywords that appear closer in proximity in relation to other words in the first one of the second plurality of search results is ranked higher than a second one of the second plurality of search results containing keywords that appear farther away in proximity in relation to other words in the second one of the second plurality of search results, and method further comprises storing, in the at least one computing device, the first one of the second plurality of search results. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining, in the at least one computing device, an edition of the published work based at least in part upon the image stored. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining, in the at least one computing device, an edition of a published work depicted in the image from a selection of the at least one of the first plurality of search results rendered in the user interface.   
     
     
         5 . A system, comprising:
 at least one computing device; and   a plurality of computer instructions executable by the at least one computing device, wherein when executed, cause the at least one computing device to at least:
 receive an image from a client, wherein the image depicts an item; 
 perform a first search of the image, thereby generating a first plurality of search results from the first search to be rendered in a user interface; 
 select at least one of the first plurality of search results rendered in the user interface; 
 determine that the at least one of the first plurality of search results includes a searchable content; 
 facilitate a second search of the searchable content based at least in part on a search string entered via the user interface, thereby generating a second plurality of search results, wherein the search string is associated with at least one of a review of the item that includes the searchable content, a preview of the item that includes the searchable content, or a trailer of the item that includes the searchable content; 
 store the image, the search string, the first plurality of search results and the second plurality of search results in association with a user account; and 
 encode at least a subset of the second plurality of search results in a user interface. 
   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein individual ones of the subset of the second plurality of search results are displayed according to a ranking based at least in part upon how often keywords in the search string appear in a portion of the item. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the image is captured via a camera associated with a mobile device and the individual ones of the subset of the second plurality of search results are transmitted to the mobile device. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein each of the first plurality of search results is associated with an edition of the item. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the second plurality of search results comprise a plurality of excerpts of text. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the second plurality of search results comprise a plurality of page numbers of a publication. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of computer instructions further causes the at least one computing device to determine a display order of the first plurality of search results. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the display order is determined based at least in part on a sales ranking of the item. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the item corresponds to an audio book, and the second plurality of search results comprise a plurality of timestamps, each of the timestamps corresponding to a particular point of the audio book. 
     
     
         14 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, in a computing device, an image;   performing, in the computing device, a first search based at least in part on the image, thereby generating a first plurality of search results to be rendered in a user interface;   selecting, in the computing device, at least one of the first plurality of search results rendered in the user interface;   determining, in the computing device, that the at least one of the first plurality of search results includes a searchable content;   performing, in the computing device, a second search of the searchable content based at least in part upon a search string, thereby generating a second plurality of search results from the second search, wherein the search string is associated with at least one of a review of the at least one of the plurality of search results that includes the searchable content, a preview of the at least one of the plurality of search results that includes the searchable content, or a trailer associated with the at least one of the plurality of search results that includes the searchable content;   storing, in the computing device, the image, the search string, the plurality of the first search results and the second plurality of search results in association with a user account; and   encoding, in the computing device, at least a subset of the second plurality of search results for rendering for display.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the search string is extracted from the image and the second search is performed in response to the search string being extracted from the image. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising determining, in the computing device, an edition of a published work depicted in the image from a selection of the at least one of the first plurality of search results rendered in the user interface. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising determining, in the computing device, an edition of a published work depicted in the image based at least upon an input from a user. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the published work depicted in the image is an audio book, and the second plurality of search results further comprise a plurality of timestamps, each of the timestamps corresponding to a particular point of the audio book. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein a display order of the first plurality of search results is determined based at least in part on a browse history of each of the first plurality of search results. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the search string is entered via a voice command received from a mobile device.