WO2004102305A2

WO2004102305A2 - A method of providing website searching service and a system thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2004102305A2
Application number: PCT/KR2004/001156
Authority: WO
Inventors: Seung Hyun Lee; Ki Jeong Choi
Original assignee: Nhn Corporation
Priority date: 2003-05-16
Filing date: 2004-05-17
Publication date: 2004-11-25
Also published as: WO2004102305A3; KR20040098890A; KR100667917B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and system for providing a search service in which information on a predetermined website is provided on the Internet where a variety of different kinds of information are positioned. To achieve the foregoing objects and to resolve the problems of the conventional art, there is provided a method of searching a website in a search engine, comprising the steps of maintaining a web page information database where at least one web page identifier corresponding to at least one web page contained in a predetermined website and web page information corresponding to the web page identifiers are recorded; maintaining a site index database where predetermined website information, site identifiers corresponding to the website information, and first web page identifiers of the web pages contained in the website are recorded; maintaining a keyword index database where predetermined keywords and second web page identifiers of predetermined web pages containing the keywords are recorded; receiving a search request for a predetermined keyword or a predetermined website from a user; extracting the first web page identifier corresponding to the website from the user by referring to the site index database; extracting the second web page identifier corresponding to the keyword from the user by referring to the keyword index database; obtaining a third web page identifier by performing an operation on the first web page identifier and the second web page identifier; extracting the web page information corresponding to the third web page identifier of the website identifiers by referring to the web page information database; and providing the extracted web page information to the user.

Description

A METHOD OF PROVIDING WEBSITE SEARCHING SERVICE AND A SYSTEM

THEREOF

Technical field The present invention relates to a method and system for providing a search service in which information on a predetermined website is provided on the Internet where a variety of different kinds of information are positioned. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for providing a website search service in such a manner that information on a predetermined website is searched more conveniently.

Background Art

A system for providing typical search services, such as Daum (http://www.daum.net) and Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com), is commonly composed of a database for classifying, storing and managing website information based on predetermined criteria, a search robot implemented by software for mechanically collecting new website information while continuously wandering the web, and search engine software for making the collected data into a database to allow a user using the search engine to search the collected data. With this configuration, the system processes and provides the predetermined collected information to the user.

Such a method for providing a web page search service according to the prior art accepts a predetermined search word from the user and provides a great deal of corresponding website information to the user. However, there is a problem with this method in that it does not support a search function for a website itself. For example, if "Korean Intellectual Property Office" (KIPO) is entered into a search window, only information on the uniform resource locator of KIPO (www.kipo.go.kr) along with brief explanation on KIPO is provided. To search a predetermined document contained in the website of KIPO, the user must inconveniently move to the KIPO website and use a predetermined search window which is separately prepared on the KIPO website.

Fig. 1 shows an example of a search screen on a predetermined website according to such a conventional method. The screen as shown in Fig. 1 is an example of a screen provided to a user when the user connects to the KIPO website along a predetermined uniform resource locator, which is provided to the user when "Korean Intellectual Property Office" is entered into the search window in the search engine. Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a separate search word input portion 110 on the KIPO web page for searching for the KIPO web page itself.

The aforementioned problem burdens a number of website operators in that they must prepare a separate search tool on their website, as web pages contained in the website increase and the amount of information contained in the web pages also increases. Accordingly, implementing a search service providing a method capable of performing a search of web pages themselves contained in a predetermined website as described above will maximize user convenience of the search service as well as to greatly enhance utilization of the search service.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 shows an example of a search screen on a predetermined website according to such a conventional method.

Fig. 2a to Fig. 2c is shown the structure of a web page database in a website where predetermined data stored in the database are classified on a field basis according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a method for providing a search service of a web document within a site in a website search service providing method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figs. 4a to 4c are diagrams showing an example of a search screen according to the method for providing a keyword search service within a site in the website search service providing method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of the configuration of a system for providing a web page search service according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6 is an internal block diagram of a general-purpose computer system which can be employed in the method and system for providing a website search service according to the present invention. Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for providing a website search service in which user convenience of a search service can be maximized by providing a broader search range to the user. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for providing a website search service in which user and website operator convenience of a search service is sought by enabling a search for at least one web page contained in a predetermined website.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for providing a website search service in which search functions built on separate websites are incorporated into one search service providing system by enabling search for at least one web page contained in a predetermined website, thus broadening the search service range provided by a search service provider.

To achieve the foregoing objects and to resolve the problems of the conventional art, there is provided a method of searching a website in a search engine, comprising the steps of maintaining a web page information database where at least one web page identifier corresponding to at least one web page contained in a predetermined website and web page information corresponding to the web page identifiers are recorded; maintaining a site index database where predetermined website information, site identifiers corresponding to the website information, and first web page identifiers of the web pages contained in the website are recorded; maintaining a keyword index database where predetermined keywords and second web page identifiers of predetermined web pages containing the keywords are recorded; receiving a search request for a predetermined keyword or a predetermined website from a user; extracting the first web page identifier corresponding to the website from the user by referring to the site index database; extracting the second web page identifier corresponding to the keyword from the user by referring to the keyword index database; obtaining a third web page identifier by performing an operation on the first web page identifier and the second web page identifier; extracting the web page information corresponding to the third web page identifier of the website identifiers by referring to the web page information database; and providing the extracted web page information to the user.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for providing a website search service in a website search system, comprising of a search engine; an interface unit for receiving a predetermined search input from a user, and transmitting predetermined search result data to the user; a web page information database where web page identifiers contained in a predetermined website and web page information corresponding to the web page identifiers are stored; a keyword index database where predetermined keywords and web page identifiers of predetermined web pages corresponding to the keyword are recorded; a database managing unit for managing the databases; and a search result providing unit for searching the databases to extract the web page identifiers and performing an operation on the extracted web page identifiers to produce the search result data.

Best mode for Carrying Out the Invention Hereinafter, a method and system for providing a website search service according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Database means where a variety of data collected by a search robot are classified and stored based on a variety of fields are used in a method and system for providing a website search service according to the present invention.

Figs. 2a to 2c are diagrams showing the structure of databases in a method and system for providing a website search service according to an embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 2a, there is shown the structure of a web page database in a website where predetermined data stored in the database are classified on a field basis according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 2a, the web page database in the website is classified into fields of "site identifier (ID)," "site uniform resource locator (URL)," "site title," "site description," "category identifier (ID)" to which sites belong, "web page identifier (ID)" of at least one web page contained in the site, "web page uniform resource locator (URL)," and "hypertext markup language (HTML) data contained in the web page." The site identifier (ID), the web page identifier (ID), and the like shown in Fig.

2a may be arbitrarily accorded in the system for providing the website search service according to the present invention, and the type of code does not matter only if the code satisfies a condition that it is a unique identifier that can identify the site, which corresponds to one of a number of sites.

In the web page database in the website shown in Fig. 2a, "sIDxxxxxx" is allocated as the site identifier, a uniform resource locator of the site is "www.naver.com," a site title is "Naver," the description on the site is "search site," and a category identifier is "cIDyyyyyy." Further, at least one web page may be contained in the site, wherein a web page identifier as a unique identifier is accorded to each of the web pages. In Fig. 2a, "pIDzzzzzz 1" as an example of the web page identifier, www.naver.com/xxx as a web page uniform resource locator corresponding to the web page identifier, and "<title="naver"> " as hypertext markup language data contained in the web page are recorded. The web page database in the website shown in Fig. 2a can be built through a task of classifying, on a website basis, data the search robot mechanically collects while wandering each website. First, all information of web pages contained in a specific website are collected, a site identifier is accorded to the website and is recorded in the web page database in the website, and the uniform resource locator, title, description, and category identifier for a category to which the website belongs, of the website, are recorded. Further, it is possible to build the web page database of the website by according a predetermined web page identifier to each of web pages contained in the website, and storing a variety of information on the web page identified by the web page identifier in the web page database of a website. In Fig. 2b, there is shown the structure of a keyword index database where predetermined data stored in the database are classified on a field basis according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 2b, the keyword index database according to the present invention can be classified into a predetermined "keyword" field, and a "web page identifier" field of web pages containing the keyword.

In the keyword index database shown in Fig. 2b, "patent" as a keyword, and web page identifiers (pIDxxxxxx_3, pIDxxxxxx_7, etc.) of web pages containing the keyword, "patent," within hypertext markup language data are recorded.

The keyword index database shown in Fig. 2b can be built by selecting and storing predetermined keywords in the keyword field, parsing the HTML sources of a number of web pages collected by a search robot, and recording web page identifiers of web pages containing the keyword in the page identifier field. Alternatively, it may be built by parsing the HTML data present in a "page HTML" field by referring to the web page database in the website, extracting identifiers of web pages including a specific keyword, and recording the identifiers in the page identifier field of the keyword index database. Further, as another example of the method for building the keyword index database, there may be a method of parsing the HTML data of web pages collected by the search robot to perform morphological analysis, extracting a predetermined keyword (e.g., noun, proper noun, or the like), recording the extracted keyword in the keyword index database, and recording web page IDs of web pages containing the keyword in the keyword database. In the case of this method, it is possible to implement the keyword index database so that the keyword is recorded in the keyword index database each time a keyword is extracted. Alternatively, it is possible to implement a keyword index database so that the keyword is recorded in the keyword index database when the keyword is extracted more than a predetermined number of times. Alternatively, it is possible to implement a keyword index database by using a keyword index database that has been already built in an existing search engine.

In Fig. 2c, there is shown the structure of a database where predetermined data stored in the site index database are classified on a field basis according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 2c, the site index database according to the present invention can be classified into a predetermined "site identifier (ID)" field, and a "page identifier" field for web pages contained in the site.

In the site index database shown in Fig. 2c, "sIDxxxxxx" is recorded as the site identifier, "pIDxxxxxx_l" and "pIDxxxxxx_2" are recorded as identifiers of web pages contained in a site identified by "sIDxxxxxx," and so on.

The site index database shown in Fig. 2c may be built by selecting a predetermined site to accord a site identifier for identifying the site and recording the identifier in the database, and by searching web pages included in the site to accord identifiers for identifying the web pages and recording the identifiers in the database. Alternatively, it may be built by extracting the site identifiers and the web page identifiers of the web pages belonging to the site identifier by referring to the web page database in the website shown in Fig. 2a and by storing them in the database.

The web page database, the keyword index database, and the site index database in the website shown in Figs. 2a to 2c may be built through the aforementioned method, and thus the databases may be employed in the method and system for providing a web page search service as they are, which will be described below.

Referring to Fig. 3, the website search service providing method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps.

A web page information database is maintained (S301). The web page information database may be the aforementioned web page database in the website shown in Fig. 2a. Alternatively, the web page information database may be a database having only predetermined fields which are separately extracted and recorded from the fields of the web page database within the website. Web page identifiers of web pages contained in a predetermined website and hypertext markup language data contained in the web pages are recorded in the web page information database.

A keyword index database is maintained (S302). The keyword index database may be identical with the aforementioned keyword index database shown in Fig. 2b. That is, predetermined keywords and web page identifiers of predetermined web pages containing the keywords are recorded in the keyword index database.

A site index database is maintained (S303). The site index database may be the aforementioned web page database within the website shown in Fig. 2a. Alternatively, the site index information database may be a database having only predetermined fields which are separately extracted and recorded from the fields of the web page database within the website. Website identifiers corresponding to predetermined websites and web page identifiers of web pages contained in the websites may be recorded in the site index database. An example of such a site index database is as previously described in Fig. 2c.

The keyword index database and the site index database in steps 302 and 303 are databases derived from the web page database in the website described in Fig. 2a. The keyword index database and the site index database according to another embodiment of the present invention are not separately maintained as separate database means and may be temporarily built by extracting relevant fields using the aforementioned web page database in the website when there is a search request from a user.

A website search request is received from the user (S304) and a predetermined keyword is accepted from the user (S305). Steps 304 and 305 may be perfoπned at a predetermined time interval. Alternatively, it is possible to simultaneously receive relevant information by accepting a website search request and a predetermined keyword together on one input window. With respect to the web site specified by the search request, a web page identifier of a web page contained in the website (a first web page identifier) is extracted by referring to the site index database (S306). Further, it is determined whether there is the same keyword as the input keyword in the keyword field of the keyword index database by referring to the keyword index database in response to the input keyword, and a web page identifier corresponding to the same keyword (a second web page identifier) is extracted (S307). Some of the first and second extracted web page identifiers may be the same and others may be different from each other. The web page identified by a common web page identifier among the first and second extracted web page identifiers is a web page contained in a website requested by the user and simultaneously a web page including the keyword input by the user, and thus the web page can be determined to be a web page the user desires to search. To obtain the same web page identifier among the first web page identifier and the second web page identifier as describe above, the first web page identifier and the second web page identifier are subject to an operation (S308). According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the operation process is to perform an AND operation on the first web page identifier and the second web page identifier. That is, if the first web page identifier and the second web page identifier are subject to the AND operation in each combination, a common web page identifier (a third web page identifier) can be extracted from the first web page identifier and the second web page identifier. This AND operation may be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, it may be implemented in such way that the web page identifiers are translated into binary data and the two binary data are subject to the AND operation.

If the third web page identifier is obtained in step 308, a web page identifier identical with the third web page identifier among web page identifiers recorded in the web page identifier field of the web page information database is searched by referring to the web page information database, and web page information corresponding to the web page identifier is extracted (S309). The user interface screen is reconstructed by using the web page information (HTML data contained in the web page) extracted in step 309 and is provided to the user (S310).

Figs. 4a to 4c are diagrams showing an example of a search screen according to the method for providing a keyword search service within a site in the website search service providing method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 3. In Fig. 4a, there is shown an example of a search screen according to the method for providing a search service of a web document of a given website in the website search service providing method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 3. An example of the search screen shown in Fig. 4a is a screen of providing search result data which are searched through a category search method serviced by the site, http://www.naver.com.

Referring to Fig. 4a, a website title ("a road to Japan") 411 and website information on the website among predetermined search data are provided to the user, and a separate button 412 referred to as "web document search" is prepared at the side of the screen. In Fig. 4b, there is shown an example of a search screen according to the method for providing a web document search service within a website in the website search service providing method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 3. An example of the search screen shown in Fig. 4b is a case of search including typical web document search or the like. Referring to Fig. 4b, a website title ("a road to Japan") 421 and website information on the website among predetermined search data is provided to the user, and a separate button 422 referred to as a "web document search" may be placed at the side of the screen.

The "web document search" buttons 412 and 422 shown in Figs. 4a and 4b may be used when a web page containing a predetermined keyword among web pages contained in a relevant website is to be searched. When the "web document search" buttons 412 and 422 shown in Figs. 4a and 4b are clicked, a pop-up window shown in

Fig. 4c may be provided to the user.

In Fig. 4c, there is shown an example of a pop-up window provided when the "web document search" buttons 412 and 422 are clicked in the website search service providing method according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 4c, guide wording for notifying the user that search for web pages contained in a website URL (www.tojapan.co.kr) 430 of a predetermined website

("a road to Japan") will be perfoπned, and a search word input window for specifying a web page containing a certain keyword among the web pages contained in the relevant website may be contained in the pop-up window.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of the configuration of a system for providing a web page search service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The system for providing a web page search service according to the present invention is composed of an interface unit 550, a search request receiving unit 530, a search result providing unit 540, a site index database 501, a keyword index database 502, a web page information database 503 and a database management system (DBMS) 520. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the interface unit 550 and database management system 520 may be implemented in a physically single server means. The site index database 501 functions to classify site identifiers coπesponding to predetermined websites and web page identifiers of web pages contained in these websites on a field basis and to store the above identifiers in the site index database.

The keyword index database 502 functions to classify predetermined keywords and web page identifiers of web pages containing the keywords on a field basis and to store the identifiers.

The web page information database 503 functions to classify site identifiers coπesponding to predetermined websites and web page identifiers of at least one web page contained in the websites on a field basis and to store the identifiers.

The site index database 501 and the web page information database 503 as described above can be incorporated as a unified whole into the web page database in the website described above in Fig. 2a. That is, since the web page database in the website includes all of the fields contained in the site index database 501 and the web page information database 503, one web page database in a website may serve these functions, which are performed by the databases 501 and 503, by sorting predetermined data according to predetermined fields. Further, as will be noted by those skilled in the art, it is apparent that the aforementioned databases 501 to 503 are only classified simply in view of a logical or functional aspect and can be implemented in a physically single database server.

The database management system 520 serves to manage the databases 501 to 503. The database management system 520 of the website search service providing system according to the present invention may be implemented according to the object of the present invention by using a relational database management system (RDBMS) such as Oracle, Infomix, Sybase, or DB2, or by using an object-oriented database management system (OODBMS) such as Orion, O2, or the like.

The search request receiving unit 530 functions to parse keyword or search request information input through the user web browser 560 and to extract the type of input keyword or search request.

The search result providing unit 540 functions to search the database to extract a web page identifier, perform an operation on the extracted web page identifier to produce predetermined search data, and construct a user interface screen in a predetermined manner to provide the screen to the user. The site index database 501, the keyword index database 502, and the web page information database 503 as described above are only classified functionally depending on attributes of the stored and managed information. They may be implemented as a physically single database (e.g., a web page database in a website), and may be rearranged on each field basis if necessary. Further, it is apparent that at least one database is capable of storing and managing the aforementioned web page related information according to implementations.

In addition, embodiments of the present invention further relate to computer readable media that include program instructions for performing various computer-implemented operations. The media may also include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, tables, and the like. The media and program instructions may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media such as floptical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). The media may also be a transmission medium such as optical or metallic lines, wave guides, etc. including a caπier wave transmitting signals specifying the program instructions, data structures, etc. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter.

Fig. 6 is an internal block diagram of a general-purpose computer system which can be employed in the method and system for providing a website search service according to the present invention.

The computer system includes any number of processors 640 (also refeπed to as central processing units, or CPUs) that are coupled to storage devices including primary storage 660 (typically a random access memory, or "RAM"), primary storage 670 (typically a read only memory, or "ROM"). As is well known in the art, primary storage 660 acts to transfer data and instructions uni-directionally to the CPU and primary storage 660 is used typically to transfer data and instructions in a bi-directional manner. Both of these primary storage devices may include any suitable type of the computer-readable media described above. A mass storage device 610 is also coupled bi-directionally to CPU 640 and provides additional data storage capacity and may include any of the computer-readable media described above. The mass storage device 610 may be used to store programs, data and the like and is typically a secondary storage medium such as a hard disk that is slower than primary storage. A specific mass storage device such as a CD-ROM 620 may also pass data uni-directionally to the CPU. Processor 640 is also coupled to an interface 630 that includes one or more input/output devices such as such as video monitors, track balls, mice, keyboards, microphones, touch-sensitive displays, transducer card readers, magnetic or paper tape readers, tablets, styluses, voice or handwriting recognizers, or other well-known input devices such as, of course, other computers. Finally, processor 640 optionally may be coupled to a computer or telecommunications network using a network connection as shown generally at 650 With such a network connection, it is contemplated that the CPU might receive information from the network, or might output information to the network in the course of performing the above-described method steps. The above-described devices and materials will be familiar to those of skill in the computer hardware and software arts.

The hardware elements described above may be configured (usually temporarily) to act as one or more software modules for performing the operations of this invention.

Industrial Applicability

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method of searching a website in a search engine, comprising the steps of: maintaining a web page information database where at least one web page identifier corresponding to at least one web page contained in a predetermined website and web page information corresponding to the web page identifiers are recorded; maintaining a site index database where predetermined website information, site identifiers coπesponding to the website infoπnation, and first web page identifiers of the web pages contained in the website are recorded; maintaining a keyword index database where predetermined keywords and second web page identifiers of predetermined web pages containing the keywords are recorded; receiving a search request for a predetermined keyword or a predetermined website from a user; extracting the first web page identifier coπesponding to the website from the user by referring to the site index database; extracting the second web page identifier coπesponding to the keyword from the user by referring to the keyword index database; obtaining a third web page identifier by performing an operation on the first web page identifier and the second web page identifier; extracting the web page information coπesponding to the third web page identifier of the website identifiers by refeπing to the web page information database; and providing the extracted web page information to the user.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining the third web page identifier comprises the step of performing an AND operation on the first web page identifier and the second web page identifier.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the search request for the predetermined website is a request for search within web pages contained in the website.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the web page information is information represented by hypertext markup language (HTML) contained in the web page.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of: providing a predetermined user interface screen to the user in response to receiving the search request for the keyword or the website from the user, wherein the step of receiving the search request for the keyword or the website from the user is performed through the user interface screen.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the website information database and the site index database are incorporated and implemented into single database means.

7. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for implementing a method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is recorded.

8. A system for providing a website search service in a website search system, comprising: a search engine; an interface unit for receiving a predetermined search input from a user, and transmitting predetermined search result data to the user; a web page information database where web page identifiers contained in a predetermined website and web page information coπesponding to the web page identifiers are stored; a keyword index database where predetermined keywords and web page identifiers of predetermined web pages corresponding to the keyword are recorded; a database managing unit for managing the databases; and a search result providing unit for searching the databases to extract the web page identifiers and performing an operation on the extracted web page identifiers to produce the search result data.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8, further comprising: a site index database where a site identifier coπesponding to the predetermined website and web page identifiers of web pages contained in the website are recorded.