Visually searching the web for structural content

Abstract

Searching the information is one of the daily activities in our living, where the web is the most common information repository. Effective and efficient search on the web is a key challenge. In this paper we propose a system for web search based on the visual structure (layout and colors) of web pages. Considering that interpretation of visual structures depends on individual perceptual characteristics, the creator and the searcher both participate in a session of expressing their own interpretation of layout and colors of a target web page. Web search is carried out by evaluating similarities between those visual page structures. This search scheme will help people to organize richer social networks with consideration of user's sensibility and preference to visual structural features.