JP2002109429A - Point exchange method in incentive type information delivery system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the exchange of points between users in an incentive type information delivery system that is configured to store in a server the points given to be used as a benefit by every user and every condition. SOLUTION: This method requests a user who wants to exchange points to input a point exchange request data that contains at least the users name, the exchange source points owned by the user, the exchange target point requested by the user to be exchanged to the equivalents of above exchange source points and the exchange time limit, displays this point exchange request data inputted in response to the input request to make each user possible to peruse it through the above bi-directional communication means, informs the user who made the input considering the point exchange is realized of the point exchange request data when a user other than the user who inputted the point exchange request data inputs the intention to accept the point exchange through this means and at the same time, rewrite the points of both users in the above server.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to the Internet and C
The present invention relates to a point exchange method in an incentive type information distribution system distributed through two-way communication means such as an ATV.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present applicant has obtained Japanese Patent No. 2948752 relating to a "distribution system using interactive media". According to this patent invention, in response to a request from a commercial client (advertiser), an advertisement broadcast relating to the product or service of the advertiser is distributed via a bidirectional communication means such as a telephone line, CATV, or the Internet,
The advertisement viewing data indicating that the user has viewed this through the monitor is cumulatively recorded on a recording medium connected to the monitor.

[0003] This patent invention is the forerunner of so-called incentive-type commercials, and for advertisers, it is possible to enhance the effect of stimulating product demand by advertising and to clearly grasp the correlation between advertisement viewing and product demand (sales performance). Therefore, there is an advantage that marketing and ordering / ordering can be performed accurately and promptly, and on the other hand, there is an advantage that a user can receive a privilege (incentive) according to cumulative viewing of advertisements.

In this system, when a user views an advertisement, an advertisement viewing point classified by an advertiser can be given. That is,
As an advertisement viewing point, any one of a limited viewing point that is effective only when purchasing a specific product or a product provided by a specific advertiser and a non-limited viewing point that does not specify a product or an advertiser is arbitrarily set. be able to.
Here, the limited viewing points are called closed money, and the non-limited viewing points are called open money.

[0005]

In the above-described embodiment, the user who has acquired the close money makes full use of the value as a privilege when purchasing a product to which the close money can be applied. However, since it is not applicable to purchase of other products, it cannot always be used for desired product purchase. In such a case, the user wants to exchange his own close money for another person's close money. Even if the exchange of closed money is permitted, the operation of the entire system will not be hindered, but rather the benefits (open money and closed money) provided by each advertiser will be effectively distributed and used in the operation of the entire system. Therefore, it is considered to be a preferable mode.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for exchanging privilege points limited to purchased products for other privilege points in an information distribution system such as an incentive type commercial system. With the goal.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention according to claim 1 distributes information from a plurality of information providers through two-way communication means such as the Internet and browses information from a specific information provider. A user is provided with points that can be used as a privilege when purchasing a product with certain conditions related to the specific information provider, and the points are stored in the server for each user and each purchaseable product condition. In an incentive-type information distribution system, for a user who wants to exchange points, the purchaser can purchase the commodity conditions and the number of points owned by the user,
The user requests the input of purchasable merchandise conditions of the exchange destination that desires equivalent exchange with the exchanging source points and the point exchange desired data including at least the number of points. On the condition that a point number equal to or greater than the point number is currently stored in the server as a balance, a point exchange request from the user is established, and the point exchange request data is transmitted to each user through the bidirectional communication means. Are displayed so that they can be browsed, and a means for confirming whether or not there is an intention to respond to the point exchange request is also displayed, and when a user inputs a point exchange acceptance intention through the means. The point exchange accepting user is not the same user as the point exchange requesting user; and
It is considered that the point exchange has been established on condition that the number of points equal to or greater than the number of points for the purchaseable commodity condition of the conversion destination that has accepted the point exchange is currently stored in the server as a balance, and A point exchange method in an incentive-type information distribution system, characterized in that the exchange requesting user is notified of the fact and the points of both parties are rewritten in the server.

[0008] For example, when a user who browses information from a specific information provider is given points that can be used as a privilege when purchasing only products manufactured and sold by the specific information provider, The “commodity manufactured and sold by the specific information provider” is the “purchasable commodity condition”. In general, "purchaseable product conditions" are set by specifying the name of a company that is an information provider, and the server can use the company name and purchase of products manufactured and sold by the company for each user. The points and the current balance owned by each user are stored as a pair of data.

[0009] Here, "goods" includes so-called services, and "purchase of goods" also includes a form of using services. For example, the point exchange method of the present invention is applied to a system in which a user who browses information provided by a specific hotel is given points as a privilege when using the hotel (accommodation, eating and drinking, etc.). can do.

The point exchange request data further includes:
It may include an exchange deadline, which is the final deadline for establishing the point exchange. In this case, the point exchange desired data whose exchange period has expired is automatically deleted, and thereafter, the data cannot be viewed by each user.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an incentive type commercial system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system includes a system center 1 that manages and operates the entire system, an advertisement client (client) 2 that contracts with the system center to request advertisement distribution, and a communication terminal including a monitor for browsing advertisements of the client. And a registered user 3 who owns, owns, or carries the device (for example, a personal computer or a mobile phone).

The system center 1 establishes a homepage 4 on the Internet, and publishes an advertisement according to each client's request on this homepage. Each user can access this homepage through the contract provider 5, and can display and browse advertisements on the monitor.

The home page 4 has a large number of clients 2
It is preferable that the advertisement of the product or service desired by the user (hereinafter, simply referred to as a product) be browsed easily and quickly as a hierarchical structure. For this reason, when the user accesses the homepage 4, an index page on which a number of products or clients are listed is displayed as a first display screen, and the user designates one specific product or client desired on the index page. (click)
And a second display screen on which the specific content of the commercial relating to the product or the client is displayed. For example, the second display screen may be a homepage established by the client, and the first display screen may be the first display screen.
Can be set to jump to the home page of a specific client when a specific client is specified on the display screen.

A user who wishes to use this service registers as a member. Member registration is possible on the homepage 4. At the time of registration, your address, name, gender, date of birth,
The user is requested to input telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, occupations, annual income, family structure, hobbies, and the like. The user profile data input by the user in response to the input request is registered in a server provided in the center 1 for each user. As a result, the client can perform various marketing researches in accordance with the conditions such as the age and the region based on the advertisement viewing tendency, online shopping results, and the like.

After inputting the user profile data, the center assigns a unique ID number to the user and obtains a password input from the user, thereby completing the user registration. Temporary use by general users as well as registered members may be permitted.

As described above, when a client requests distribution of a product advertisement to a center, the client receives an advertisement viewing point as a privilege given to the user when the user views the advertisement (when viewing the second display screen). Set. The advertisement viewing point is displayed on an advertisement screen that can be browsed on the homepage, and the user who has viewed the advertisement can recognize how many advertisement viewing points are specifically acquired. Preferably, also on the first display screen, an advertisement viewing point given by the advertisement viewing is displayed on the index-displayed advertisement.

How the advertisement viewing point is set is optional for the client. If the advertisement viewing point is set relatively high, the merits when the user purchases the product will increase, and it is considered that the effect of inviting the purchase will be increased. The advertisement viewing point is given for one viewing of an advertisement of a specific product or a specific client, and whether or not the advertisement viewing point can be accumulated for a plurality of viewings is added. The rate, the upper limit setting, etc. are also optional for the client. For example, 100 points are given to one advertisement viewing, and 100 points x number of times can be accumulated up to 10 times and the upper limit is 1000.
You can also set it to terminate at points. Or 100 points are given for the first advertisement viewing, but 2 points
From the first time to the fifth time, 50 points may be given each time, and from the 6th to 10th times, 30 points may be given each time.
Conversely, the additional points may be increased as the number of times of advertisement viewing increases.

[0018] The advertisement viewing point can have an expiration date. It is practical that the expiration date is several months to one year from the date of issue (ad viewing date). By setting the expiration date in this way, the user's willingness to purchase a product can be increased.

The client can assign a type to the advertisement viewing point. In other words, limited viewing points that are effective only when purchasing a specific product or a product provided by a specific client as advertising viewing points,
It is possible to arbitrarily set any of the non-limited viewing points that do not specify the product or the client. Here, the limited viewing points are called closed money, and the non-limited viewing points are called open money.

[0020] In this case, the memory built in the communication terminal of each user stores the close money for each product or client related to the advertisement when viewing the advertisement targeted for the close money. And a second storage area for storing open money when viewing an advertisement targeted for open money. Close money stored for each product or each client in the first storage area is valid only when the user purchases the specific product or the product provided by the specific client, and is stored in the second storage area. The stored open money is widely effective in non-restrictive product purchases.

According to a preferred embodiment, home page 4
In addition to the advertisement of each client, there is a shopping mall where various products of each client can be purchased online. Alternatively, the configuration may be such that when the user is accessing a specific advertisement, a product related to the advertisement can be purchased on the advertisement display screen. When the user purchases a product via the input device 13 of the communication terminal, the order is transmitted to the system center 1. The system center 1 creates delivery data corresponding to the product order and requests the distribution center 6 to deliver the product. The distribution center 6 receives the merchandise from the client 2 or an affiliated company and delivers the merchandise to the user home of the order source or another designated place.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic structure of a communication terminal owned, owned or carried by each user. The CPU (central processing unit) 10 performs data processing and operation control of each unit, and is connected to the CPU 10. A display 11, a memory 12, and an input device 13. Further, a communication control device 15 is connected to the CPU 10 via an interface (I / F) 14, and reception data (advertising viewing data) received from the telephone line by the antenna 16 is processed by the CPU 10 and displayed on the display 11. And is stored in the memory 12.
Is transmitted from the antenna 16 via a telephone line.

The display 11 is generally an LCD or CRT.
The display 12 is configured as a display, the memory 12 is generally configured as a memory chip or an IC card, and the input device 13 is generally configured as a key array including ten keys or other operation keys or a touch panel, but is not particularly limited. As described above, the memory 12 includes the area 121 for storing closed money and the area 122 for storing open money. Storage contents (balance and history of closed money and open money) stored in areas 121 and 122 of the memory 12 of each user's communication terminal
Are also stored in the server of the system center 1 with the same contents. When each user purchases goods using close money and / or open money, the points spent on the purchase of the goods are subtracted, and the system center 1
Is updated in the server (e.g., the user's point balance), and the area 121 of the memory 12 of the communication terminal 12 owned, owned or carried by the user.
The storage contents (point balance) of 122 are updated. The user can display the current balance of the closed money and the open money accumulated in the areas 121 and 122 of the memory 12 on the display 11 by a required operation on the input device 13 to check the current balance.

On the index page or other pages on the home page 4, a list of the closed money exchange request data from the user is displayed. This gives a user who wishes to exchange closed money, which can only be used for purchasing a specific product, equivalent to other closed money which can be used for purchasing another product, to give an opportunity to express his / her desire. If the user accepts the money, the user can exchange the closed money as desired under certain conditions, which is related to the features of the present invention. The details will be described below.

A user who wishes to exchange close money inputs desired point exchange data on a close money exchange request registration screen on the homepage 4.
The point exchange request data includes the name of the person, the name of the former company and the number of points that the person wants to exchange, the name of the company and the number of points of the exchange destination, the exchange period, and the like. The input point exchange request data is first subjected to data processing by the CPU 10 of the user's communication terminal. For example, if the exchange request source and the exchange request destination are the same company, an error is generated.

The user name entered here may be a nickname. Since the user is required to enter his ID number and password when accessing the homepage 4 or the close money exchange request registration screen, the system center 1 has identified that this user is a member at this time.

Although the number of points of the source company and the number of points of the destination company are basically the same, they may be different depending on the user's request. For example, the user may wish to exchange 100 points of the company A's current close money for 80 points of the company B's close money. Further, the exchange of the closed money of the company A with the open money may be permitted.

The input point exchange desired data is CP
After processing in U10, the data is transmitted from the antenna 16 to the system center 1 via a telephone line, and data is processed by a CPU provided in the system center. Here, if the point balance currently owned by this user for the entered exchange source company is less than the desired number of points, the exchange cannot be established, so this is checked against the stored contents of the server and confirmed. If the current balance is less than the desired number of points, an error is generated and an error message is transmitted to the user terminal.

The system center 1, after confirming that there is no defect in the inputted point exchange desired data, registers it in the server. The registered point exchange desired data is displayed in a list in the order of new registration date, and can be browsed on the homepage 4 at any time by each member. In this case, if a search function of the exchange source company and / or the exchange destination company is provided, it is easy for a user who is willing to accept the exchange to search for registered data corresponding to his / her own request. It is. The point exchange request data whose exchange period has expired is automatically deleted from the list.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a list screen on which point exchange desired data is displayed. When the user who browses this list screen thinks that he / she can accept the exchange, he / she clicks a check button (indicated by a square in the figure) to the left of the point exchange desired data.

For example, when a user who wants to respond to the point exchange request at the top of FIG. 3 clicks a check button on the left, a confirmation screen as shown in FIG. 4 appears. On this confirmation screen, the user confirms the exchange conditions selected by the user, and displays the point balance of the closed money owned by the user for the exchange source and exchange destination companies and the point balance after the exchange is established, and displays the user To reconfirm. Here, if the point balance of the closed money owned by the user with respect to the company to be exchanged is less than the number of points of the exchange condition, the exchange is not established, so click "Exchange" on the confirmation screen of FIG. Even an error occurs.

If the closed money has an expiration date, it is to be exchanged in chronological order. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the breakdown of 200 points of close money owned by the user for company B is: a 40 points Expiration date: October 20, 2000 b 50 points Expiration date: November 2000 4 Date c 40 points Expiration date: January 18, 2001 d 70 points Expiration date: If it is February 10, 2001, 100 points are extracted in order from the oldest one, so that a + b = 90 points. 10 points are added to make a total of 100 points and transferred to Momosan. Therefore, after this user exchanges B
The breakdown of 100 points of close money owned by the company is c'30 points Expiration date: January 18, 2001 d 70 points Expiration date: February 10, 2001 Similarly, 100 points of the close money of the company A to be transferred from Momosan to this user are similarly extracted in order from the one whose expiration date comes earlier.

Since the ID number of the user who has accepted the exchange request has already been entered, it is possible to collate with the ID number of the previous exchange applicant (Momo in this example). As a result, if the exchange applicant and the exchange acceptor are the same person, an error occurs even if “exchange” is clicked on the confirmation screen of FIG.

When the final intention of the exchange is confirmed on the confirmation screen shown in FIG. 4, the exchange under this condition is established. When the exchange is established, the exchange applicant (in this example, Momosan) is notified by e-mail. The content of the e-mail is, for example, "You want, Company A / 10
A trade to exchange 0 points for Company B / 100 points has been established with Nickname XX. Your balance after exchange is 0 points for Company A (10 points before exchange)
0 points), Company B 500 points (400 points before exchange). ].

At the same time, the data of the point balance stored in the server provided in the system center 1 for both parties involved in the exchange is updated based on the exchange establishment condition. As a result, immediately after the exchange is completed, Momo can purchase goods by online shopping or the like using 500 points of the closed money accumulated for the company B.

In the above, the case where the present invention is applied to an incentive type commercial system has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of information providers can be provided through two-way communication means such as the Internet. Points that can be used as a benefit when distributing information from a user and browsing information from a specific information provider to purchase a product with certain conditions related to the specific information provider The present invention is applicable to any incentive-type information distribution system that is configured to give the points and store the points in the server for each user and for each purchaseable product condition.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, in an incentive type information distribution system, privilege points with restrictions can be exchanged for other privilege points at the time of product purchase. The benefits to the user are great, and the benefits provided by each advertiser are effectively distributed and utilized, which is beneficial in achieving smooth operation of the entire system.

According to the present invention, the point current balance of the privilege (close money) owned by each user for each client (purchasable product condition) is stored and centrally managed in a server provided in the system center. Therefore, whether or not the exchange requesting user satisfies the conditions of the exchange source desired (whether or not the exchange source client has a current balance exceeding the number of points desired to be exchanged),
And storing in the server whether another user who intends to accept the condition satisfies the conditions of the exchange destination (whether or not the current balance exceeds the number of points desired to be exchanged for the exchange destination client). By collating with the contents, it is possible to confirm immediately, without establishing a fictitious exchange transaction that is originally invalid, and only a valid transaction between users who truly want to exchange is realized.

Furthermore, by actively accepting the exchange of points given as a privilege for browsing information, the interest of the user who wants to exchange can be immediately changed from the client product of the exchange source to the client product of the exchange destination (mind change). It is also possible to immediately grasp that the user who has accepted the exchange has a tendency of a mind change from the client product of the exchange destination to the client product of the exchange source. By tracing, more accurate marketing research can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an incentive-type commercial system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication terminal owned, owned, or carried by each user in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram exemplifying a list screen displaying a list of point exchange desired data.

4 is a diagram exemplifying a confirmation screen that appears when a user who wants to respond to any point exchange request on the list screen in FIG. 3 clicks a check button on the left side thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 system center 2 client (advertising client) 3 user 4 homepage 5 provider 6 distribution center 10 CPU (memory rewriting means) 11 display 12 memory 121 first storage area for storing closed money (limited viewing point) 122 open money ( Second storage area for storing non-limited viewing points) 13 Input device 14 Interface 15 Communication control device 16 Antenna

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method of distributing information from a plurality of information providers through a two-way communication means such as the Internet, and providing a user who browses information from a specific information provider to a user associated with the specific information provider. Points that can be used as a privilege when purchasing a product with the conditions described above, and the points are provided to the incentive-type information distribution system stored in the server for each user and each purchaseable product condition. , The purchaser's condition of the exchange source owned by the user and the number of points,
The user requests the input of purchasable merchandise conditions of the exchange destination that desires equivalent exchange with the exchanging source points and the point exchange desired data including at least the number of points. On the condition that a point number equal to or greater than the point number is currently stored in the server as a balance, a point exchange request from the user is established, and the point exchange request data is transmitted to each user through the bidirectional communication means. Are displayed so that they can be browsed, and a means for confirming whether or not there is an intention to respond to the point exchange request is also displayed, and when a user inputs a point exchange acceptance intention through the means. The point exchange accepting user is not the same user as the point exchange requesting user; and
A point exchange is established on condition that the same number or more points as the number of points for the purchase target product condition of the conversion destination of the user who has accepted the point exchange is stored as the current balance in the server. A point exchange method in an incentive-type information distribution system, characterized in that a point exchange request user is notified of the fact and points of both parties are rewritten in the server. 2. The point exchange request data further includes an exchange expiration date, which is the final expiration date for which the point exchange is established, and automatically deletes the point exchange request data whose exchange expiration date has passed. 2. The point exchange method according to claim 1, wherein browsing is impossible.