Categorical exploration facilitation responsive to broad search queries

The present disclosure is directed to dynamically determining the breadth of user intent reflected in a given search query. For example, historical user behaviors are used to construct a mapping that links particular search queries (or their constituent keyword strings) to items that users interact with during a predetermined window of time after submitting the query. The number of categories or browse nodes associated with these items (or a most popular subset thereof) is used to determine whether the search intent is broad or narrow. For broad searches, the present disclosure causes output of a specialized user interface that facilitates browsing of items in the browse nodes or categories, in place of the typical search results user interface.