Sin duda las cosas que se pueden patentar son bastante impresionantes, y la que ha patentado Google me parece sorprendente ya que es algo bastante estándar en muchos motores de búsqueda y esto puede llevar consecuencias en cuanto a cambios de interfaz en algunos de estos sitios con tal de no tener que pagar al buscador de Mountain View.
En esta ocasión, y basándose en Froogle (lo que actualmente conocemos como Google Product Search), Google ha conseguido la patente llamada Method and apparatus for output of search results en la que se explica cómo se muestran los resultados (en modo lista y modo parrilla) de un buscador que devuelve resultados de tipo «producto».
In another embodiment, the user may even be able to customize an output format. For example, in one embodiment, the user may select the amount, type and format of cues output for each result. For example, the user may select to have or not have displayed a graphic visual cue (e.g., a picture from a website, a picture of a product, a video still) associated with a set of results. On the other hand, the user may select to have high level and/or detailed text cues (e.g., text that includes word(s) from the query, URL, etc.) included or not included with each result. Depending on the type of search engine in which the invention is implemented, the user may further be able to selectively configure the output format of search results. As such, this embodiment of the invention may substantially increase a user’s efficiency in assessing the relevancy of a set of search results. For example, a user who is only aware of, and searching based on, a particular product’s appearance might select a display format that provides a cue in the form of picture for each product but does not include product model/name information, since the latter may be irrelevant and take up unnecessary space on a search result page.
Moreover, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, search result output formats may be substantially more customizable than described with reference to the embodiments of the invention described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, a user may specify how results are to be displayed or otherwise output (e.g., in how many columns, whether audio-visual cues should be included, etc.), what type and format (e.g., size, output format, etc.) of search result cues are to included or excluded for output, or even how advertising or other portions of a search result page should be displayed or otherwise output (e.g., as a series of images, audio, etc.). In one embodiment, the output format is customizable only after a search is performed and results generated for output in accordance with a predefined default output format (e.g., a list view). In another embodiment, a user may be able to select how search results are to be output prior to requesting a search or entering a query.
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