11. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions, tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, for execution by a processor to perform a method for classifying an object in a taxonomy, the taxonomy including a plurality of nodes associated with a plurality of classes, the object being external to the taxonomy, the method comprising: (A) identifying a first plurality of search strings based on a plurality of class keywords associated with the plurality of nodes, wherein identifying comprises, for at least one particular node N in the plurality of nodes: (A)(1) traversing a first branch in the taxonomy linking a root node of the taxonomy to node N; and (A)(2) for each node M in the first branch, selecting a class keyword associated with node M and adding the selected class keyword to a first one of the plurality of search strings associated with node N, whereby the first one of the plurality of search strings contains a second plurality of class keywords; (B) performing a plurality of searches on the object using the plurality of search strings to produce a plurality of search scores corresponding to the plurality of search strings; (C) identifying one of the plurality of nodes based on the plurality of search scores; and (D) classifying the object in a class associated with the identified node.
11. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions, tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, for execution by a processor to perform a method for classifying an object in a taxonomy, the taxonomy including a plurality of nodes associated with a plurality of classes, the object being external to the taxonomy, the method comprising: (A) identifying a first plurality of search strings based on a plurality of class keywords associated with the plurality of nodes, wherein identifying comprises, for at least one particular node N in the plurality of nodes: (A)(1) traversing a first branch in the taxonomy linking a root node of the taxonomy to node N; and (A)(2) for each node M in the first branch, selecting a class keyword associated with node M and adding the selected class keyword to a first one of the plurality of search strings associated with node N, whereby the first one of the plurality of search strings contains a second plurality of class keywords; (B) performing a plurality of searches on the object using the plurality of search strings to produce a plurality of search scores corresponding to the plurality of search strings; (C) identifying one of the plurality of nodes based on the plurality of search scores; and (D) classifying the object in a class associated with the identified node. 16. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein (C) comprises: (C)(1) identifying one of the plurality of search scores having a maximum value among the plurality of search scores; (C)(2) identifying one of the plurality of search strings that produced the search score having the maximum value; and (C)(3) identifying one of the plurality of nodes associated with a plurality of class keywords on which the identified one of the plurality of search strings was based.