Do We Allow for Ambiguities in Search Engine?

It is widely believed that many queries submitted to search engines are inherently ambiguous (e.g., java and apple). ... Third, we propose a supervised learning approach to automatically identify ambiguous queries. Experimental results show that we can correctly identify 87% of labeled queries with the approach.

What is ambiguous query?

An ambiguous query is a query that contains one or more objects that can potentially return more than one type of information.

What is a broad query?

A broad query generally has results within a single top-level category, e.g., shirts are all in clothing. The results vary within the children of that top-level category.

Maya Lin-Takahashi

Maya Lin-Takahashi

Consumer Tech & Gadget Reviewer

Maya is a hardware enthusiast who tests and reviews smart home devices, smartphones, wearables, and audio gear. She focuses on practical consumer value and build quality.