refining a user query is disclosed . in one method , a query is received from a user , and then mapped to one or more search concepts . a list of search concepts associated associated with the query is then displayed . alternatively or additionally , the search concepts associated with the query are used to provide a set of improved search results . in another method , a number of queries from a number of users are analyzed to identify two or more search concepts , and a popularity value is assigned to them based on the queries . thus , the relative popularity of the respective search concepts can be determined . alternatively or additionally , a preferred search query for the search concepts can be determined . the popularity and preferred queries can be used to allow automatic or user - initiated refinement .