Searching for Application Content with Social Plug-ins

Abstract

A method includes receiving a query identifying a first entity from a first user interface of a first application of a first content provider. A deep-link index is accessed, and one or more records associated with the first entity of the query are identified. Each identified record from the deep-link index includes an entity-identifier matching an entity-identifier of the first entity, an application-identifier corresponding to a second application of a second content provider specified by the query, and a deep link to a display state of the second application and associated with the first entity. Instructions for presenting a second user interface are sent to a client device responsive to the query, and the second user interface displays content items corresponding to respective deep links of the identified records such that the content items are isolated from the first application.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising, by one or more computing devices:
 receiving, from a first user interface of a first application of a first content provider and running on a client device, a query inputted via the first user interface identifying a first entity;   identifying, from a deep-link index comprising a plurality of records of indexed deep links to a plurality of applications, one or more records of the deep-link index, wherein each identified record comprises:
 a respective entity-identifier matching a first entity-identifier of the first entity of the query, 
 a respective application-identifier matching an application-identifier of a second application of a second content provider of the query, and 
 a deep link to a display state of the second application associated with the first entity of the query; and 
   sending, responsive to the query, to the client device, instructions for presenting a second user interface associated with the second application, wherein the second user interface displays one or more content items associated with respective deep links of one or more of the identified records, wherein the displayed one or more content items are isolated from the first application.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the deep-link index is stored on one or more servers of an online social network. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the deep-link index further comprises a plurality of additional records, each additional record comprising:
 an entity-identifier of a respective entity of the online social network;   an application-identifier of a respective application associated with the respective entity; and   a deep link to a display state of the respective application.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second user interface overlaps a portion of the first user interface. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the second user interface is presented in an interactive element overlapping the portion of the first user interface. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the interactive element is persistently displayed on the user interface until the client device receives a user input selecting the interactive element. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, from the second user interface associated with the second application, a selection of a first content item from among the displayed one or more content items; and   sending, to the client device, instructions for displaying content from the second content provider in the second user interface.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the displayed content corresponds to the display state of the second application corresponding to the respective deep link of the selected first content item. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the query is received from the first application of the client device via a social plug-in associated with an online social network. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 prior to sending the one or more content items, requesting authentication information from the client device to access the one or more content items, wherein the authentication information is sent via the social plug-in and is not accessible by the first application.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more content items are sent to the client device via the social plug-in. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more content items sent via the social plug-in are not accessible by the first application. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein presenting the second user interface comprises redirecting a viewing user from the first user interface to the second user interface. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more content items correspond to respective categories of content provided by the second application. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying a third application related to the second application; and   sending, responsive to the query, to the client device, instructions for further presenting one or more additional content items associated with the third application in the second user interface.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 ranking the one or more content items, wherein the one or more content items are presented in ranked order based on their respective rankings.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the one or more content items are ranked based on a degree of separation between an entity associated with a respective identified record and the first entity of the query on a social graph of an online social network. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the one or more content items are ranked based on a type of content associated with each content item. 
     
     
         19 . One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed to:
 receive, from a first user interface of a first application of a first content provider and running on a client device, a query inputted via the first user interface identifying a first entity;   identify, from a deep-link index comprising a plurality of records of indexed deep links to a plurality of applications, one or more records of the deep-link index, wherein each identified record comprises:
 a respective entity-identifier matching a first entity-identifier of the first entity of the query, 
 a respective application-identifier matching an application-identifier of a second application of a second content provider of the query, and 
 a deep link to a display state of the second application associated with the first entity of the query; and 
   send, responsive to the query, to the client device, instructions for presenting a second user interface associated with the second application, wherein the second user interface displays one or more content items associated with respective deep links of one or more of the identified records, wherein the displayed one or more content items are isolated from the first application.   
     
     
         20 . A system comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors operable when executing the instructions to:
 receive, from a first user interface of a first application of a first content provider and running on a client device, a query inputted via the first user interface identifying a first entity;   identify, from a deep-link index comprising a plurality of records of indexed deep links to a plurality of applications, one or more records of the deep-link index, wherein each identified record comprises:
 a respective entity-identifier matching a first entity-identifier of the first entity of the query, 
 a respective application-identifier matching an application-identifier of a second application of a second content provider of the query, and 
 a deep link to a display state of the second application associated with the first entity of the query; and 
   send, responsive to the query, to the client device, instructions for presenting a second user interface associated with the second application, wherein the second user interface displays one or more content items associated with respective deep links of one or more of the identified records, wherein the displayed one or more content items are isolated from the first application.