Search Rewrites

Experience Optimizer

Search rewriting is a way of modifying search queries so that they more accurately reflect the intentions of your customers. You can create a misspelling search rewrite, for example, to correct a spelling mistake that commonly occurs when searching for a particular document. The misspelled query will then produce the same results as a correctly spelled search.

There are four rewrite types:

• Head/Tail - improves poorly performing searches.
• Misspelling detection - corrects common spelling mistakes.
• Phrase detection - identifies products with matching phrases.
• Synonym detection - includes alternative words with the same meaning.

Use Experience Optimizer Query Rewrites

You can create query rewrite rules in Experience Optimizer. This is similar to using the Rules Editor to create query rewrite rules, except there are additional options in Experience Optimizer.

1. In Fusion, navigate to Relevance > Rules > Optimizer.
2. Enter a search term or phrase in the search bar.
3. Click Start Task.
4. Hover your cursor next to the query. A + button will appear:
5. Click the + button. A list of query rewrites options will appear: Head/Tail, Misspelling, Phrase, Synonym, and Remove Words.
6. Click on the type of rule you’d like to configure.

Experience Optimizer: Rewrites Manager

The course for Experience Optimizer: Rewrites Manager focuses on how to create search rewrites that optimize your user’s search results.

Take this course on the LucidAcademy.

Head/Tail

You can create a Head/Tail rewrite to improve search results using methods other than correcting for misspellings or synonym expansion. When a poorly defined search term is identified, the original term is replaced by an improved search term.

For example, a search for benefits enrollment could be improved by using the search term benefits enrollment+year:"2021" (in this case making use of the year field in the data).

Most Head/Tail rewrites will typically be created automatically via machine learning. However, if desired, custom rewrites can be manually created using the following steps.

1. From the list of query rewrite options, select Head/Tail. A form will appear:

   

   This form contains the following fields:

   Parameter	Description	Example Value
   Tail Query	The tail query itself.	benefits enrollment
   Improved Query	The query that will replace the tail query phrase.	benefits enrollment+year:"2021"
   Tags	Optional metadata tags that can be used to identify and organize rewrites.	enrollmentpacket

2. Enter one or more improved search terms in the Improved Query field.

3. Click the Save button.

The search is re-run using the improved search term, and a Search box information panel drops down to show that the new query rewrite has fired:

Misspelling

You can create a misspelling query rewrite to detect and correct common spelling mistakes. When a customer enters a search term containing a known misspelling, the incorrect spelling is replaced with the spelling correction.

For example, if your clients frequently misspell or mistype the word questionnaire as questionare, you can set up a query rewrite to automatically correct it.

1. From the list of query rewrite options, select Misspelling. A form will appear:

   

   This form contains the following fields:

   Parameter	Description	Example Value
   Misspelled Term	The phrase itself.	questionare
   Corrected Term	The term that will replace the misspelled term.	questionnaire
   Action	Action to perform.	expand
   Confidence	Confidence score from the phrase job. A confidence level of 1 represents 100% confidence. For rules created automatically via machine learning, the confidence level will reflect the output from the machine learning model.	1
   Tags	Optional metadata tags that can be used to identify and organize rewrites.	enrollmentpacket

2. Enter one or more spelling corrections in the Corrected Term field.

3. Click the Save button.

The search is re-run using the corrected spelling, and a Search box information panel drops down to show that the new query rewrite has fired:

Phrase

You can use query rewriting to identify phrases used in search terms so that products with matching phrases are boosted in the search results. This is helpful when users do not use quotation marks to identify phrases in their search terms.

For example, without phrase detection a search for the words background check would show results for both background and check. With phrase detection, this search would correctly boost results for "background check".

1. From the list of query rewrite options, select Phrase. A form will appear:

   

   This form contains the following fields:

   Parameter	Description	Example Value
   Surface Form	The phrase itself.	background check
   Word Count	Indicates how many words are included in the phrase.	2
   Confidence	Confidence score from the phrase job. A confidence level of 1 represents 100% confidence. For rules created automatically via machine learning, the confidence level will reflect the output from the machine learning model.	1
   Tags	Optional metadata tags that can be used to identify and organize rewrites.	enrollmentpacket
   Phrase Count	Denotes how many times this phrase was found in the source. This value is automatically set via machine learning. It does not need to be set manually.	5
   Boost Factor	The factor to use to boost this phrase in matching queries.	2.0
   Slop Factor	Phrase slop, or the distance between the terms of the query while still considering it a phrase match.	10

2. Enter the number of words in the phrase in the Word Count field.

3. Click the Save button.

The search is re-run, with your search words identified as a phrase, and a Search box information panel drops down to show that the new query rewrite has fired:

Synonym

You can specify synonyms for a specified search term so that alternative words with the same meaning are automatically used in the search query. When a customer enters a search term with a synonym match, the alternative words are used instead of, or in addition to, the original search term.

For example, the search term questionnaire could have the synonyms application and survey.

1. From the list of query rewrite options, select Synonym. A form will appear:

   

   This form contains the following fields:

   Parameter	Description	Example Value
   Surface Form	The term that has synonyms.	questionnaire
   Direction	With a oneway search, the original search term is replaced by the synonym. In the example above, questionnaire would be replaced by the alternative words application and survey. With a symmetric search, the search query is expanded to include the original term and the synonyms, resulting in a greater number of potential hits. In the example above, this time the query would include questionnaire, application, and survey.	symmetric
   Synonym Mappings	Synonyms for the surface form.	application, survey`
   Confidence	Confidence score from the phrase job. A confidence level of 1 represents 100% confidence. For rules created automatically via machine learning, the confidence level will reflect the output from the machine learning model.	1
   Tags	Optional metadata tags that can be used to identify and organize rewrites.	enrollmentpacket
   Count	How many times this term occurred in the signal data when it was discovered. This value is optional when a rewrite is being defined manually.	5

2. Choose whether the direction is oneway or symmetric.

3. Enter one or more alternative words in the Synonym Mappings field.

4. Click the Save button.

The search is re-run using the synonyms, and a Search box information panel drops down to show that the new query rewrite has fired:

Remove Words

The Remove Words feature is available in Fusion 5.4 and later.

You can create a Remove Words query rewrite to remove words from a query. This query rewrite is helpful when a word in the search query does not add value to the search results.

For example, you can rewrite a search query for case study examples to remove examples and then display results for case study.

1. From the list of query rewrite options, select Remove Words. A form appears:

   

2. This form contains the following fields:

Parameter	Description	Example Value
Phrase to remove	The words to remove from the trigger phrase.	examples
Trigger phrases	The query that prompts the removal of the phrase. The trigger phrase is not necessarily a complete query. If the query contains the trigger phrase, then Fusion removes the phrase in the Phrase to Remove field.	case study examples

1. Enter a phrase to remove and a trigger phrase. Note that the phrase to remove is auto-populated with the query.
2. Click Save.

The search is re-run, and a Search box information panel drops down to show that the new query rewrite has fired:

In Experience Optimizer, you can create search rewrites manually. You can also edit, test, review and publish the search rewrites that are generated automatically in Fusion from signals data.

Experience Optimizer: Rewrites Manager

The course for Experience Optimizer: Rewrites Manager focuses on how to create search rewrites that optimize your user’s search results.

Take this course on the LucidAcademy.