JP2008242681A - Search service system, search server, search service method, and program for search service - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the efficiency in controlling user requests for search results at a search server and to reduce processing loads. <P>SOLUTION: A search server 4 executes a search process based on search information contained in a search request email indicating a search request from a user terminal 1; creates an identification number (ID) for identifying the search result of the search process; creates a search result email reporting the search result; adds the identification number for identifying the search result of the email content to the search result email and sends the email to the user terminal 1; specifies the next search result requested, based on an identification number contained in the next search request email from the user terminal 1 indicating that the next search result is requested; creates the next search result email reporting the next search result specified; and adds an identification number for identifying the next search result of the email content to the next search result email and sends the next search result email to the user terminal 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a search service system, a search server, a search service method, and a search service program that execute a search in response to a search request from a user terminal and provide a search result.

  2. Description of the Related Art Today, various companies provide search engines that can search information published on the Internet using keywords and the like. In addition, search engines for mobile phones as well as personal computers are provided by businesses. However, when a user performs a search using a search engine, there are many operation procedures for starting the search, and there is a problem that it takes time until the search is actually started.

  Therefore, as a system capable of executing a search with a simple operation in as short a time as possible, a system for executing an information search on the Internet by e-mail has been proposed. In this system, when the proxy server receives an e-mail from a mobile phone, it makes a search request for information on the network with the description content as a keyword to the search site. When the proxy server receives the search result from the search site according to the search request, the proxy server creates an e-mail containing the search result as a content and transmits it to the mobile phone. If the number of search results (hits) is large, the proxy server sends an e-mail containing the predetermined number (20) of search results to the user's mobile phone and receives the next from the user. In response to receiving an e-mail requesting a search result (addition request), the search site is requested for the next search result (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-285045 A

  However, in the above system, since the proxy server transmits the addition request to the search site in response to the addition request from the user and acquires the next search result, the next search result is sequentially provided to the mobile phone. Not only is the control complicated, but it is necessary to frequently request search results from the search site, and the processing load increases.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and can provide a search service system capable of improving the efficiency of control for a search result request from a user and reducing the processing load. An object is to provide a search server, a search service method, and a search service program.

  In order to achieve the above object, a search service system according to the present invention includes a user terminal that requests a search, and a search server that executes information search on a network in response to a search request from the user terminal. A search request mail generating and transmitting means for generating and transmitting a search request mail indicating a search request based on the search information, wherein the search server includes a search request mail. A search execution means for executing a search process based on the search information included in the search information, an identification number management means for generating an identification number for identifying a search result of the search execution means, and a search result mail for notifying the search result, A search result mail generating and transmitting means for adding an identification number for identifying the search result of the mail content to the search result mail and transmitting the search result mail. The generation transmission means generates a next search request mail indicating that the next search result is requested when a request for the next search result is input from the input means, and adds an identification number to the next search request mail. And the identification number management means specifies the next search result requested based on the identification number included in the next search request mail, and the search result mail generation means determines the next search specified by the identification number management means. A next search result mail for notifying the result is generated, and an identification number for identifying the next search result of the mail content is added to the next search result mail and transmitted.

  The user terminal includes a number setting unit that sets the number of search results included in the search result mail according to a user operation, and the search request mail generation transmission unit generates a search request mail including the set number. The identification number management means generates an identification number for identifying the search result for each number included in the search request mail, and the search result mail generation transmission means identifies the number of search results in the search result mail. A number may be added and transmitted. According to such a configuration, the number of search results sent at a time from the search server (the number of displayed items) can be freely changed, and the amount of search result mail can be adjusted according to the user's purpose. it can.

  The user terminal includes genre setting means for setting a genre of information search according to a user operation, and the search request mail generation transmission means generates and transmits a search request mail including the set genre, and search execution means May be configured to execute a search process on genre information included in the search request mail. According to such a configuration, the information search target (range) can be narrowed down, and the possibility that the target information can be acquired from the search result can be increased.

  The search execution means determines the priority of the search results to be provided to the user based on the degree of coincidence between the search information and the search result information, and the search result mail generation and transmission means determines the search results arranged in the priority order. It may be configured to generate a search result mail. According to such a configuration, it is possible for the user to easily check whether or not the information requested by the user is included in the search result.

  The search server according to the present invention is a search server that performs information search on a network in response to a search request from a user terminal, and performs search processing based on search information included in a search request mail indicating a search request. The search execution means for executing the search, the identification number management means for generating an identification number for identifying the search result of the search execution means, and the identification for generating the search result mail for notifying the search result and identifying the search result of the mail content A search result mail generation / transmission means for adding a number to the search result mail and transmitting the request, and the identification number management means requests based on the identification number included in the next search request mail indicating that the next search result is requested. The search result mail generation means generates a next search result mail for notifying the next search result specified by the identification number management means. And, and transmits an identification number that identifies the next search result of the mail content is added to the next search result mail.

  The identification number management means generates an identification number for identifying the search results for each number set in the user terminal included in the search request mail, and the search result mail generation transmission means includes the number of search results in the search result mail. It may be configured to add an identification number for identifying and transmitting. According to such a configuration, the number of search results sent at a time from the search server (the number of displayed items) can be freely changed, and the amount of search result mail can be adjusted according to the user's purpose. it can.

  The search execution means may be configured to execute a search process on genre information set at the user terminal included in the search request mail. According to such a configuration, the information search target (range) can be narrowed down, and the possibility that the target information can be acquired from the search result can be increased.

  The search execution means determines the priority of the search results to be provided to the user based on the degree of coincidence between the search information and the search result information, and the search result mail generation and transmission means determines the search results arranged in the priority order. It may be configured to generate a search result mail. According to such a configuration, it is possible for the user to easily check whether or not the information requested by the user is included in the search result.

  The search service method according to the present invention is a search service method for performing information search on a network in response to a search request from a user terminal, wherein the search server control unit indicates a search request according to a control program. Executes search processing based on the search information included in the request mail, generates an identification number that identifies the search result of the search process, generates a search result mail that notifies the search result, and identifies the search result of the mail content The next search result requested is specified based on the identification number included in the next search request email indicating that the next search result is requested. The next search result mail for notifying the search result is generated, and an identification number for identifying the next search result of the mail content is added to the next search result mail and transmitted. And butterflies.

  A search service program according to the present invention is a search service program for executing a search for information on a network in response to a search request from a user terminal, and is included in a search request mail indicating a search request. A search execution process for executing a search based on information, an identification number management process for generating an identification number for identifying a search result of the search execution process, and a search result mail for notifying the search result, and searching for the contents of the mail The search result mail generation and transmission process for adding the identification number for identifying the result to the search result mail and transmitting it is executed by the computer, and the next search request mail indicating that the next search result is requested in the identification number management process The next search result requested based on the included identification number is specified, and the identification number management process is performed in the search result mail generation process. Generating a next search result mail notifying been following search results identified in, and is characterized in that to transmit the identification number that identifies the next search result of the mail content is added to the next search result mail.

  As described above, in the present invention, the search server executes the search process based on the search information included in the search request mail indicating the search request, generates an identification number for identifying the search result of the search process, and A search result mail for notifying the result is generated, an identification number for identifying the search result of the mail content is added to the search result mail and transmitted, and included in the next search request mail indicating that the next search result is requested. The next search result requested based on the identification number is specified, a next search result mail for notifying the specified next search result is generated, and an identification number for identifying the next search result of the mail content is specified as the next search result. Send it with an email. According to such a configuration, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the control for the search result request from the user, and to reduce the processing load.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing the configuration of the search service system of the present invention. In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, a user terminal 1 is a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, a PHS, or a PDA provided in a user who receives a search service. In this embodiment, a mobile phone will be described as an example of the user terminal 1. In addition to the normal call function, the user terminal 1 also has a mail function for sending and receiving electronic mail, a browser function for accessing a Web site, and the like.

  The service center 2 is a management service center of an operator that provides a search service. In the service center 2, a mail server 3 and a search server 4 are installed. The mail server 3 is a server that transmits and receives an electronic mail from the user terminal 1 and an electronic mail to the user terminal 1. In the mail server 3, a mail box for each user terminal 1 that stores mail addressed to the user terminal 1 is provided. The search server 4 is a server that searches information on the Internet in response to a search request based on a predetermined search word (search keyword). Note that the search method may be either a full text search type or a directory type.

  The search service system of the present invention includes a mail server 3 and a search server 4 installed in the service center 2. However, the mail server 3 and the search server 4 may be a single server (mail / search server). That is, one server may perform transmission / reception of mail and search for information on the Internet. Further, the search server 4 is installed in the service center 2, but may be installed outside the service center 2. That is, the search server 4 by an operator different from the operator of the service center 2 may be used.

  An outline of the search service of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to FIG. When a user intends to use a search service, first, a search word is input from a search word input screen. Then, the user terminal 1 creates a search request mail that is an e-mail requesting a search based on the search word in response to the input of the search word, and searches the created search request mail via the mail server 3 of the service center 2. Send to server 4. When the search server 4 receives the search request mail from the user terminal 1, the search server 4 searches for information corresponding to the search word included in the mail. Then, the search server 4 creates a search result mail that is an e-mail notifying the search result, and transmits the created search result mail to the user terminal 1 via the mail server 3. When the user receives the search result mail, the user displays the contents of the search result mail on the screen for browsing.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the user terminal. As shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal 1 includes a communication unit 11, a display unit 12, an input unit 13, a memory 14, and a control unit 15.

  The communication unit 11 is a circuit that transmits and receives data by wireless communication via a base station (not shown). The display unit 12 displays various data on a liquid crystal display screen (color liquid crystal display panel) arranged on the front surface of the main body of the user terminal 1 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 15. The input unit 13 is a circuit that receives a key input from the user and outputs the input interrupt and data to the control unit 15. Examples of keys (buttons) that can be operated by the user include a confirmation key, an arrow key, a CLR key (clear key), and a numeric key. These keys are arranged on the front surface of the user terminal 1 main body.

  The memory 14 is a storage medium that stores various information such as a control program necessary for the operation of the user terminal 1, setting information of the user terminal 1, personal information of the user, and information of the address book. The control unit 15 is an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU that is connected to each unit via a bus and executes control of each unit according to a control program. In this embodiment, the user terminal 1 is provided with an interface dedicated to search by mail (an interface for inputting a search term), and also has a function of automatically generating a search request mail from the input search term. It has been.

  Although not shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal 1 includes a general mobile phone configuration such as an antenna, a microphone, and a speaker.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the search server. As shown in FIG. 3, the search server 4 includes a communication control unit 41, a server control program storage unit 42, a Web data storage database 43 (hereinafter referred to as Web data storage DB 43), a search result storage unit 44, And a search server control unit 45.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 3, the communication control unit 41 executes data transmission / reception processing. Specifically, the communication control unit 41 is connected to the mail server 3 through a dedicated line or the like, receives an e-mail sent from the mail server 3, and performs a process of sending the e-mail to the mail server 3. The communication control unit 41 is connected to the Internet, and transmits and receives data to and from a site on the Internet.

The server control program storage unit 42 is a storage medium such as a hard disk that stores a control program (search service program) for the search server control unit 45 to execute control for providing a search service.

  The Web data accumulation DB 43 is a database that accumulates information (Web data) of collected Web pages on the Internet. The web data may be collected when a large number of web data is automatically collected by a robot such as a robot type search engine, or when web data is collected manually by a directory type search engine. .

  The search result storage unit 44 is a storage medium that stores a result (search result) of a search process executed in response to a search request from a user.

  The search server control unit 45 executes a search process according to a search request, a process for generating and transmitting an e-mail (search result mail) for notifying a search result, a process for managing an identification number (hereinafter referred to as ID), and the like. As shown in FIG. 3, the search server control unit 45 includes search execution means 451, mail generation means 452, and identification number management means 453. The search server control unit 45 includes an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU that executes each of the above processes according to a control program stored in the server control program storage unit 42.

  The search execution means 451 executes a search for Web data stored in the Web data storage DB 43 based on the search word. The mail generation unit 452 automatically generates a search result mail and transmits the generated search result mail. The identification number management unit 453 generates an ID for each search result, and manages the generated ID by attaching the generated ID to the search result.

  Next, the operation of the search service system of the present invention will be described.

  4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the operation of the search service system of the present invention. When a user intends to perform a search by mail, the user operates the user terminal 1 to display a search word input screen on the display screen of the user terminal 1. Then, the user operates the input unit 13 to input a desired search word (search keyword).

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of a search word input screen. When a user inputs a search term, a plurality of search terms can be input by separating the search terms with a space. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, “store liquor” is input as a search term. The search term input screen also includes a “search start button” for starting a search.

  When the user inputs a search word from the search word input screen and then selects (presses) a search start button, the control unit 15 in the user terminal 1 inputs the search word and stores it in the memory 14 (step S1). . Then, the control unit 15 instructs the display unit 12 to display the search setting screen on the display screen, and determines whether or not the setting value has been changed from the search setting screen by the user (step S2).

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of the search setting screen. In this embodiment, as setting values, the mail address of the service center 2 that provides the search service (the mail address of the search server 4) and the number of search results returned at a time are prepared. These set values are stored in the memory 14 of the user terminal 1 in advance. In this embodiment, among the above set values, a change by the user is permitted for the set value of the number of search results returned at a time. For example, assuming that the standard value of the number of search results that are replied at once is 5, if the user wants to change the number of search results, the user can enter “10” in the input field for “number of search results displayed” on the search setting screen. Enter "" or "3".

  It is also conceivable that the user can select an arbitrary search service from a plurality of search services (search server 4). In this case, a change by the user may be permitted for the address of the service center 2. For example, when A to C are prepared as search services that can be searched by e-mail, the user can select one of the search services A to C or the service center that provides the search services A to C. It is possible to input an address.

  Although not shown in FIG. 7, there may be a case where the user wants to search by narrowing down the search target genre. In this case, it is preferable to provide a column for selecting “genre” on the search setting screen so that the user can select “genre”. As the “genre”, genres of products such as personal computers and electrical appliances may be prepared, or genres such as news, sports, and music may be prepared.

  If there is a change in the setting value (Y in step S2), the control unit 15 changes the standard setting value to the setting value input (selected) by the user (step S3), and the process proceeds to step S4. If there is no change in the set value (N in step S2), the control unit 15 proceeds to the process in step S4 without executing the process in step S3.

  In this embodiment, the setting value is changed according to the selection of the search start button by the user. However, the setting value of the user terminal 1 allows the user to change the setting value in advance. May be. In this case, it is not necessary to execute the processing of steps S2 and 3 in response to the input of the search term.

  Next, the control unit 15 automatically generates a search request mail that requests the service center 2 to search based on the input search word (step S4). Here, as shown in FIG. 8, the automatically generated search request e-mail has the e-mail address of the service center 2 entered in the “destination e-mail address”, the search word (store liquor) entered in the “subject” Search conditions (number of displayed items; for example, 10 items) are entered in the “text” of the mail. If the user can select “genre”, as shown in FIG. 8, the genre (for example, department store) selected by the user is input to the “text” of the mail.

  Then, the control unit 15 transmits the automatically generated search request mail to the service center 2 via the communication unit 11 (step S5).

  In the service center 2, when the mail server 3 receives the search request mail from the user terminal 1, the mail server 3 transfers the search request mail to the search server 4. Whether or not it is a search request mail can be determined by whether or not the mail address is the address of the service center 2.

  In the search server 4, when the search server control unit 45 receives the search request mail transferred from the mail server 3 via the communication control unit 41 (step S6), the search server control unit 45 executes a search process based on the received search request mail. (Step S7).

  Specifically, the search execution unit 451 of the search server control unit 45 extracts a search word from the text of the search request mail, and searches the Web data storage DB 43 for Web data that matches (or is similar to) the extracted search word. At this time, if there are a plurality of search terms, AND and OR of those search terms are taken, and AND (all of the search terms) and OR (any of the search terms) of the search terms match (or similar). Web data is searched in the Web data storage DB 43. Then, the search execution unit 451 extracts and acquires the searched Web data as a search result from the Web data storage DB 43.

  When a genre is specified in the search request mail, the search execution unit 451 executes a search only for information of the specified genre that is information stored in the Web data storage DB 43.

  The number of search results is expected to be enormous. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to display information that the user wants to know as a search result first, the search results are arranged in descending order of the hit rate. The hit rate here refers to the probability (probability) that is information that the user is seeking when judging from the search term.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of a search request mail. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the concept of the hit rate. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, when a plurality of search terms are used as search conditions, the hit rate is higher when the AND condition is met than when the OR condition is met. . The hit rate is the highest when all of the search terms match. In addition, when some search terms of a plurality of search terms match, the hit rate is higher when the search term input earlier matches than when the search term input later matches. is doing.

  In the example shown in FIG. 10, when the search word is “alcohol”, “department”, and “wine”, the search result that has been hit under the conditions of “alcohol” AND “department” AND “wine” is the highest hit rate. It is said. The search result hit under the condition of “alcohol” AND “department store” has the next highest hit rate. The search result hit under the condition of “alcohol” AND “wine” is set to the next highest hit rate. The search result hit under the condition of “department” AND “wine” is set to the next highest hit rate. A search result hit under the condition of “alcohol” OR [department store] OR “wine” has a low hit rate.

  Although not shown in FIG. 10, when there is one search word or when only one search word is hit among a plurality of search words, the search word and information in the Web data storage DB 43 are displayed. The higher the similarity is, the higher the hit rate (for example, the higher the number of characters in common with the search word, the higher the hit rate). Further, the hit rate may be changed depending on whether it is a forward match or a backward match.

  The search execution means 451 arranges the search results in descending order of the hit rate. Also, the search results are divided by the number of displayed items. Then, the search execution means 451 stores the search result in the search result storage unit 44.

  In addition, the search result management unit 453 generates a search ID for identifying the execution unit of the search process by the search execution unit 451. In addition, the search result management unit 453 generates a display number ID for identifying the unit of the display number in the search result. Then, the search result management unit 453 stores the search ID and the display number ID in the search result storage unit 44 in association with the display number of the search results.

  Next, the mail generation unit 452 automatically generates a search result mail for notifying the search result based on the search result by the search execution unit 451 (step S8).

  Here, as shown in FIG. 9, the search result is displayed in the mail text of the search result mail. In this case, the search results are arranged in descending order of the hit rate so that the search results with the high hit rate are displayed first (upper). Further, in the example illustrated in FIG. 9, the “number of search results displayed” is five. When the number of search results is larger than the “number of search results displayed”, the mail generation unit 452 writes a “next” tag below the search result of the mail text as shown in FIG. The “next” tag is a tag that is selected when the user requests a search result of the next display number.

  The mail generation means 452 adds the search ID and the display number ID to the generated search result mail and transmits it (step S9). At this time, the destination mail address of the search result mail is the mail address of the sender of the search request mail (the mail address of the user terminal 1 of the user who requested the search). The “subject” of the search result mail may be any name as long as it can be specified that the mail is the search result mail. For example, a name (for example, “RE: store liquor”) with the subject line RE of the search request mail or a name such as “search result” can be considered. The search result mail transmitted from the mail generation unit 452 is transmitted to the mail server 3 via the communication control unit 41 and transmitted from the mail server 3 to the user terminal 1.

  In the user terminal 1, when receiving the search result mail from the search server 4 via the communication unit 11 (step S10), the control unit 15 displays the content of the search result mail on the display screen (step S11). The user looks at the list of search results displayed on the display screen and confirms whether or not the information is requested.

  If the user can find the information he / she wants from the list of initial search results, the process is terminated as it is (N in step S12). On the other hand, when the information requested by the user cannot be found from the list of the first search results, the user operates the input unit 13 to select “Next”. When “next” is selected (Y in step S12), the control unit 15 automatically generates a next search request mail requesting a search result for the next display number (step S13).

  Here, the “destination mail address” of the next search request mail that is automatically generated is the mail address of the service center 2. Further, the search ID and the display number ID attached to the search result mail are attached to the next search request mail. The “subject” and the “text” of the mail may be arbitrary contents. As in the case of the first search request mail, the search term may be input in the “subject” of the mail, and the display number or genre may be input in the “text” of the mail.

  Then, the control unit 15 transmits the automatically generated search request mail to the service center 2 via the communication unit 11 (step S14).

  In the service center 2, when the mail server 3 receives the next search request mail from the user terminal 1, the mail server 3 transfers the next search request mail to the search server 4.

  In the search server 4, when the identification number management unit 453 of the search server control unit 45 receives the next search request mail transferred from the mail server 3 via the communication control unit 41 (step S15), the received next search request mail is received. The search ID and the display number ID are extracted (removed). And the identification number management means 453 collates the extracted search ID with the search ID stored in the search result storage unit 44, thereby specifying the search result requested by the user (search processing execution unit). Further, the identification number management means 453 specifies the search result of the next display number by collating the extracted display number ID with the display number ID stored in the search result storage unit 44 (step S16). Then, the identification number management unit 453 reads the search result and the display number ID of the next display number requested by the user from the search result storage unit 44.

  Next, the mail generation unit 452 automatically generates a next search result mail for notifying the search result of the next display number based on the search result of the next display number read by the identification number management unit 453 (step S17). ). In this next search result mail, the search results are arranged in descending order of the hit rate. Then, the mail generation means 452 adds the search ID and the display number ID to the generated next search result mail and transmits it (step S18). At this time, the destination mail address of the next search result mail is the mail address of the sender of the next search request mail. The next search result mail transmitted from the mail generation unit 452 is transmitted to the mail server 3 via the communication control unit 41, and is transmitted from the mail server 3 to the user terminal 1.

  In the user terminal 1, when receiving the next search result mail from the search server 4 via the communication unit 11 (step S19), the control unit 15 displays the content of the next search result mail on the display screen (step S20). . The user looks at the list of search results displayed on the display screen and confirms whether or not the information is requested.

  If the user can find the information he / she wants from the next list of search results, the process is terminated. On the other hand, when the information requested by the user cannot be found from the list of the next search results, the user operates the input unit 13 to select “next”. As described above, by repeatedly executing the processes of steps S12 to S20, search results are requested one after another from the user terminal 1, and the corresponding search results are transmitted from the search server 4 to the user terminal 1. Become.

  In the search server 4, the search server control unit 45 (for example, the identification number management unit 453) searches the search result storage unit 44 from the search result storage unit 44 when a predetermined time has elapsed since the search result data is stored in the search result storage unit 44. Delete the data. If the search server control unit 45 receives the next search request from the user terminal 1 after deleting the search result data from the search result storage unit 44, it is again based on the search word included in the next search request mail. Executes the search and returns a search result mail indicating the search result.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the search server 4 adds an ID that can specify the execution unit of the search process and the unit of the number of display items to the search result mail and transmits it to the user terminal 1. Based on the ID added to the returned next search request mail, the next search result mail is specified and the next search result mail is transmitted to the user terminal 1. Therefore, it is possible to easily specify the search result of the next display number based on the ID, and as a result, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the control for the search result request from the user and reduce the processing load. it can.

  In addition, since the search server 4 transmits the search result to the user terminal 1 by e-mail, the user terminal 1 can automatically save the search result mail, and display the search result mail at any time to search. The result can be easily confirmed. In addition, since a search request can be made by sending an e-mail without operating the browser, the search operation is simplified. Moreover, since the function of a browser becomes unnecessary, the cost of the user terminal 1 can be reduced.

  In addition, recently, since information retrieval using a mobile phone or the like has been actively performed, access to the search server 4 may take time. However, by making a search request to the search server 4 by mail, the search server 4 Connection time can be shortened, and further, the load on the line can be reduced.

  In addition, since the number of search results (number of display items) sent from the search server 4 at one time can be freely changed, the amount of search result mail can be adjusted according to the purpose. .

  In addition, when the information search genre can be selected, the information search target (range) can be narrowed down, and the possibility that the target information can be acquired from the search result can be increased.

  In addition, the user terminal 1 automatically generates (creates) a search request mail in response to an input of a search word, and automatically generates (creates) a next search request mail in response to the selection of the “Next” button. Therefore, it is possible to reduce a user's operation burden associated with information retrieval.

  Further, the search server 4 sorts the search results in descending order of the hit rate and displays the sorted search results in the search result mail, so that the user can easily include the information he / she wants in the search results. It can be confirmed whether or not

  In the above embodiment, the user terminal 1 is a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, PHS, or PDA, but may be a fixed information terminal such as a personal computer.

  If the user terminal 1 used by the user is compatible with HTML mail, the search result mail is changed to HTML mail, so that not only text but also search results attached with multimedia such as images, maps, music, etc. Can be provided.

  As a method for the user to select a genre of information search, for example, up to the first space may be handled as a genre when a search word is input. In addition, by selecting a genre on the setting screen before inputting a search word, a tag indicating the genre may be attached to the mail body.

  The present invention can be applied to a terminal having a mail function. In particular, the present invention can be applied to a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone.

1 is a system configuration diagram showing a configuration of a search service system of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a user terminal. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a search server. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the search service system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the search service system of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of a search word input screen. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of a search setting screen. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of a search request | requirement mail. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of a search result mail. It is explanatory drawing which shows the view of a hit rate.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 User terminal 3 Mail server 4 Search server 11 Communication part 12 Display part 13 Input part 14 Memory 15 Control part 41 Communication control part 42 Server control program storage part 43 Web data storage DB
44 Search result storage unit 45 Search server control unit

Claims (10)

A user terminal requesting a search;
A search server for performing information search on a network in response to a search request from the user terminal,
The user terminal is
An input means for inputting search information in response to a user operation;
Search request mail generation and transmission means for generating and transmitting a search request mail indicating a search request based on the search information,
The search server
Search execution means for executing a search process based on the search information included in the search request mail;
An identification number management means for generating an identification number for identifying a search result of the search execution means;
A search result mail generating and transmitting means for generating a search result mail for notifying the search result, and adding an identification number for identifying the search result of the mail content to the search result mail for transmission;
The search request mail generation transmission means generates a next search request mail indicating that a next search result is requested when a request for the next search result is input from the input means, and the search request mail generation transmission means Send it with an identification number,
The identification number management means specifies a next search result requested based on the identification number included in the next search request mail;
The search result mail generation means generates a next search result mail for notifying the next search result specified by the identification number management means, and sets an identification number for identifying the next search result of the mail content as the next search result. A search service system characterized by being sent in addition to mail. The user terminal includes a number setting means for setting the number of search results included in the search result mail according to a user operation,
The search request mail generation transmission means generates and transmits a search request mail including the set number of cases,
The identification number management means generates an identification number for identifying a search result for each number included in the search request mail,
The search service system according to claim 1, wherein the search result mail generation and transmission means transmits the search result mail with an identification number for identifying the number of search results added thereto. The user terminal includes genre setting means for setting a genre of information search according to a user operation,
The search request mail generation and transmission means generates and transmits a search request mail including the set genre,
The search service system according to claim 1, wherein the search execution means executes a search process on the genre information included in the search request mail. The search execution means determines the priority order of the search results to be provided to the user based on the degree of coincidence between the search information and the search result information,
The search service system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the search result mail generation / transmission unit generates a search result mail of search results arranged in order of priority. A search server that performs information search on a network in response to a search request from a user terminal,
A search execution means for executing a search process based on search information included in a search request mail indicating a search request;
An identification number management means for generating an identification number for identifying a search result of the search execution means;
A search result mail generating and transmitting means for generating a search result mail for notifying the search result, and adding an identification number for identifying the search result of the mail content to the search result mail for transmission;
The identification number management means specifies the next search result requested based on the identification number included in the next search request mail indicating that the next search result is requested,
The search result mail generation means generates a next search result mail for notifying the next search result specified by the identification number management means, and sets an identification number for identifying the next search result of the mail content as the next search result. A search server characterized by being sent in addition to mail. The identification number management means generates an identification number for identifying a search result for each number set in the user terminal included in the search request mail,
The search server according to claim 5, wherein the search result mail generation / transmission means transmits the search result mail with an identification number for identifying the number of search results added thereto. The search server according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the search execution means executes search processing on information of a genre set at a user terminal included in the search request mail. The search execution means determines the priority order of the search results to be provided to the user based on the degree of coincidence between the search information and the search result information,
The search server according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the search result mail generation / transmission unit generates a search result mail of search results arranged in order of priority. A search service method for performing information search on a network in response to a search request from a user terminal,
The control unit of the search server follows the control program,
Execute the search process based on the search information included in the search request email indicating the search request,
Generating an identification number for identifying the search result of the search process;
A search result mail for notifying the search result is generated, and an identification number for identifying the search result of the mail content is added to the search result mail and transmitted;
Identify the requested next search result based on the identification number included in the next search request email indicating that the next search result is requested;
A search service method for generating a next search result mail for notifying the specified next search result, and adding an identification number for identifying the next search result of the mail content to the next search result mail for transmission. . A search service program for performing information search on a network in response to a search request from a user terminal,
A search execution process for executing a search based on search information included in a search request email indicating a search request;
An identification number management process for generating an identification number for identifying a search result of the search execution process;
Generating a search result mail for notifying the search result, causing the computer to execute a search result mail generating and transmitting process for adding an identification number for identifying the search result of the mail content to the search result mail and transmitting the result;
In the identification number management process, the next search result requested based on the identification number included in the next search request mail indicating that the next search result is requested is specified,
In the search result mail generation process, a next search result mail for notifying a next search result specified in the identification number management process is generated, and an identification number for identifying a next search result of the mail content is searched for the next search. A search service program for sending a result mail.

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