Incremental searching in ecommerce

Abstract

A method for optimizing identification and access to product records in a product database, the method executed as a set of stored instructions by a computer processor to implement the steps of: receiving over a communications network textual information representing a potential portion of multiple different words or phrases, the textual information being a sequence of characters; searching metadata of each of a set of product listings stored in the product database for one or more of said multiple different words or phrases in the metadata matching the sequence of characters by having the sequence of characters included as a portion of the one or more of said multiple different words or phrases; executing a search query against the set of product listings using the one or more of said multiple different words or phrases to return a query search result containing a plurality of product listings matching the search query; selecting a product listing subset from the query search result, each product listing in the product listing subset associated with respective said metadata containing the sequence of characters; sending over the communications network the product listing subset for display on a user interface as a list of user selectable links, each of the user selectable links in the list for each said product listing coupled to a respective product record of the product records; and receiving over the communications network a link selection from the list of user selectable links and returning the respective product record associated with the link selection.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for use in incremental searching of a product database, the method comprising:
 receiving over a communications network from a querying device of a user a partial query comprising a query string;   determining one or more suggested search terms by searching metadata descriptors of product records of the product database for matches to the query string of the partial query;   searching the product database using the one or more suggested search terms;   receiving in response to searching the product database product information of one or more product records stored in the product database;   returning the one or more suggested search terms to the querying device for display to the user; and   returning one or more respective product summary links to the querying device for display to the user, each of the one or more product summary links comprising a subset of the product information of a respective product record.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving over the communications network from the querying device of the user an updated partial query comprising an updated query string, wherein the query string forms a start portion of the updated query string;   determining one or more updated suggested search terms by searching the metadata descriptors of product records of the product database for matches to the updated query string of the updated partial query;   searching the product database using the one or more updated suggested search terms;   receiving in response to searching the product database updated product information of one or more updated product records stored in the product database;   returning the one or more updated suggested search terms to the querying device for display to the user; and   returning one or more respective updated product summary links to the querying device for display to the user, each of the one or more updated product summary links comprising a subset of the updated product information of a respective product record.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving from the querying device a user selected search term of the one or more suggested search terms;   searching the product database using the user selected search term;   receiving in response to searching the product database product information of one or more product records corresponding to the user selected search term stored in the product database; and   returning one or more respective user selected search term product summary links to the querying device for display to the user, each of the one or more user selected search term product summary links comprising a subset of the product information of a respective product record corresponding to the user selected search term.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more product summary links each comprise a link to a respective product and a representative image of the respective product. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 preprocessing the a query string to correct for spelling errors based on a list of word misspellings associated with the metadata descriptors.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein returning the one or more respective updated product summary links comprises filtering the product information according to a filtering rule. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein searching the metadata descriptors comprises searching the metadata descriptors stored in a data store separate from the product database. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein searching the metadata descriptors comprises searching the metadata descriptors stored in the product database. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a selection of one of the product summary links from the querying device; and   returning product details of the product record corresponding to the selected product summary link to the querying device for display to the user.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising formatting the product details returned to the querying device. 
     
     
         11 . A computer device for use in incremental searching of a product database, the computer device comprising:
 a processor for executing instructions; and   a memory storing instructions, which when executed by the processor configure the computer device to:
 receive over a communications network from a querying device of a user a partial query comprising a query string; 
 determine one or more suggested search terms by searching metadata descriptors of product records of the product database for matches to the query string of the partial query; 
 search the product database using the one or more suggested search terms; 
 receive in response to searching the product database product information of one or more product records stored in the product database; 
 return the one or more suggested search terms to the querying device for display to the user; and 
 return one or more respective product summary links to the querying device for display to the user, each of the one or more product summary links comprising a subset of the product information of a respective product record. 
   
     
     
         12 . The computer device of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions stored in the memory, when executed by the processor, further configure the computer device to:
 receive over the communications network from the querying device of the user an updated partial query comprising an updated query string, wherein the query string forms a start portion of the updated query string;   determine one or more updated suggested search terms by searching the metadata descriptors of product records of the product database for matches to the updated query string of the updated partial query;   search the product database using the one or more updated suggested search terms;   receive in response to searching the product database updated product information of one or more updated product records stored in the product database;   return the one or more updated suggested search terms to the querying device for display to the user; and   return one or more respective updated product summary links to the querying device for display to the user, each of the one or more updated product summary links comprising a subset of the updated product information of a respective product record.   
     
     
         13 . The computer device of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions stored in the memory, when executed by the processor, further configure the computer device to:
 receive from the querying device a user selected search term of the one or more suggested search terms;   search the product database using the user selected search term;   receive in response to searching the product database product information of one or more product records corresponding to the user selected search term stored in the product database; and   return one or more respective user selected search term product summary links to the querying device for display to the user, each of the one or more user selected search term product summary links comprising a subset of the product information of a respective product record corresponding to the user selected search term.   
     
     
         14 . The computer device of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more product summary links each comprise a link to a respective product and a representative image of the respective product. 
     
     
         15 . The computer device of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions stored in the memory, when executed by the processor, further configure the computer device to:
 preprocess the a query string to correct for spelling errors based on a list of word misspellings associated with the metadata descriptors.   
     
     
         16 . The computer device of  claim 11 , wherein returning the one or more respective updated product summary links comprises filtering the product information according to a filtering rule. 
     
     
         17 . The computer device of  claim 11 , wherein searching the metadata descriptors comprises searching the metadata descriptors stored in a data store separate from the product database. 
     
     
         18 . The computer device of  claim 11 , wherein searching the metadata descriptors comprises searching the metadata descriptors stored in the product database. 
     
     
         19 . The computer device of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions stored in the memory, when executed by the processor, further configure the computer device to:
 receive a selection of one of the product summary links from the querying device; and   return product details of the product record corresponding to the selected product summary link to the querying device for display to the user.   
     
     
         20 . The computer device of  claim 19 , wherein the instructions stored in the memory, when executed by the processor, further configure the computer device to format the product details returned to the querying device. 
     
     
         21 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon which when executed by a processor of a computing device configure the computing device to:
 receive over a communications network from a querying device of a user a partial query comprising a query string;   determine one or more suggested search terms by searching metadata descriptors of product records of the product database for matches to the query string of the partial query;   search the product database using the one or more suggested search terms;   receive in response to searching the product database product information of one or more product records stored in the product database;   return the one or more suggested search terms to the querying device for display to the user; and   return one or more respective product summary links to the querying device for display to the user, each of the one or more product summary links comprising a subset of the product information of a respective product record.