JP2002055906A - Information distributing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To distribute information regarding an event without troubling a user. SOLUTION: The user when viewing a football game accesses the football broadcasting site on a server side from the user side (data T1), selects a providing style for the halfway progress of a relay from the spot or mail relay (data T2 to T6), and grasps the real state of the game through a direct latest- information display in case of the relay from the spot (process S3). When the mail relay is selected, necessary items (mail address) are sent and the address is registered on the server side (process U1). In response to events during the game (W1 to W4), the server side generates (S8 to T11) and sends mail data to the registered user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an information distribution method, and more particularly to an information distribution method for providing information relating to the progress of an event via a communication line such as the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of information communication infrastructure in recent years, it has become possible for a personal computer (PC) to participate in a network as an information terminal to transmit and obtain various information. . Recently, the Internet has been known as a network that can be used easily, and information can be easily exchanged only by preparing a PC including a communication device, that is, bidirectional information exchange is possible. Using the advantages of this network, via networks such as PC communication and the Internet,
Providing breaking news that can refer to the results of news, sports (competitions) and events has attracted attention.

[0003] For example, in sports, in response to a user's desire to know the results of a match or scoring at an early stage, when the game is completed, information on the game is provided as breaking news. Thus, when the user watches an event such as a sport via a network such as the Internet,
Since it is not clear when the event that will affect the trend will occur in the middle of the event, always connect and keep up with the latest information or update at the interval determined by the user, so that the event is overlooked I was not there.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, in order not to overlook the event that determines the trend of the event,
If the connection is always made or updated at regular intervals, an unspecified number of connections are concentrated on the information transmission side, that is, the server, so that the load becomes enormous. For this reason, a connection failure or information update may be delayed.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an information distribution method capable of distributing information related to an event without causing a user to feel troublesome in consideration of the above fact.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to an event in which sequential information relating to the progress can be provided from a viewer terminal connected to a communication line via a communication line. According to the request from the viewing side terminal,
An information distribution method for distributing information related to the event, wherein distribution request information relating to the viewing terminal for distribution to the viewing terminal is received in advance via a communication line, and the received distribution request information is received. And generating distribution information for transmission via a communication line based on the sequential information corresponding to an event occurring during the event and according to the progress of the event, and communicating the generated distribution information The data is transmitted to the registered viewing-side terminal via a line.

[0007] In the present invention, information related to an event is provided to the viewing-side terminal. The viewing-side terminal is connected to a communication line such as the Internet, and is provided with events that occur during the progress of events such as sports, that is, sequential information related to the progress. This information is provided by a request from the viewing side terminal via the communication line, and the request is made in advance by providing, via the communication line, distribution request information related to the viewing side terminal for distribution to the viewing side terminal. receive. The distribution request information includes an e-mail address, an IP address,
There is address information indicating a position on the user side or the terminal side such as a URL. The received distribution request information is registered. This registration can be performed, for example, by storing the information in a memory on the server side or a recording unit designated in advance.

During the holding of an event, an event occurs depending on the progress. This event corresponds to sequential information. That is, an event that occurs in the middle of an event is reported as information by an information provider who is present at a site such as a live broadcast or views a relayed broadcast. This sequential information can be distributed in a form that can be exchanged over a communication line such as the Internet. Distribution information to be transmitted via a communication line is generated based on the sequential information corresponding to the event that occurs during the event and that occurs according to the progress. The distribution information is converted into a form that can be presented at the user-side or terminal-side position indicated by the e-mail address, IP address, URL, or the like as the distribution request information as described above. The information is transmitted to the registered viewing-side terminal via a communication line. In this way, even if an event that influences the trend of the event occurs without constantly connecting or updating at regular intervals, the user whose distribution request information has been registered can reliably register the event with the distribution information. You can figure out. Therefore, it is possible to suppress concentration of an unspecified number of connections on the information transmission side, that is, the server, and it is possible to prevent the user from feeling troublesome, such as a connection failure due to a huge load.

In the information distribution method, the event may be one that is held within a predetermined time. In general, many events have a limited period such as a period or required time. For this reason, if the information distribution method is provided for an event that is held within a predetermined period of time, it is possible to eliminate the trouble such as a connection failure due to a huge load only during that period.

In the method for presenting merchandise information, the event may employ a predetermined competition. In sports and other sports, the player competes for scores in the middle, competes for distance, competes for time. In the course of such a competition, the process that eventually leads to the result may be important as a trend of the competition. Therefore, by adopting a competition as an event, for example, the progress of the competition,
The delivery request information can be reliably delivered to the registered user, and the user can easily grasp the event.

It is desirable that the transmission of the distribution information be performed by a simple means for the user. For this reason, the transmission of the distribution information via the communication line preferably employs notification by electronic message distribution. It is preferable that the notification by the electronic message distribution be mail distribution such as E-mail. Thus, the user can easily grasp the event only by receiving the delivered mail.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment,
The present invention is applied to a case in which information on a game is exchanged on a network between a viewer who views the game using a soccer game as an example and a provider that provides the progress of the game.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a network system to which the present invention can be applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the network system 80 includes a plurality of computers 82 operated by the same or different operators and a plurality of the same or different computers 84 each including a modem, a router, and a TA (Terminal Adapter: Terminal).
It is connected to a network (for example, the Internet) 88 via a connection device 86 such as an adapter. The plurality of computers 82 and 84 are configured to be able to exchange information via a network 88 by mutual communication.

In the following description, as shown in FIG. 1, at least one of the plurality of computers 82 provides various information to a viewer (hereinafter, referred to as a “server computer”). )
83, and at least one of the computers 84 functions as a computer (hereinafter, referred to as an “event computer”) 87 that transmits an event in progress of the match from the scene, and furthermore, At least one computer 84 is a computer (hereinafter, referred to as a “user computer”) at which a user grasps at least a game event.
The configuration functioning as 85 will be described as an example. In addition, although the user computer 85, the server computer 83, and the event computer 87 are described as one each, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of computers may be used.

The user computer 85 corresponds to the viewing terminal of the present invention. Further, the network 88 corresponds to a communication line of the present invention. Further, the communication line of the present invention includes a network such as the Internet or an intranet, and may have any configuration as long as a plurality of devices can be connected wirelessly or by wire. For example, it includes a configuration in which a plurality of local area networks are connected by a telephone line or a wireless communication line. Further, a relay station for connection to a telephone line or a wireless communication line may be provided in the network, and a terminal connected to the telephone line or the wireless communication line may participate in the network via the relay station.

In this embodiment, a case where the Internet is applied as a network will be described. In this case, at least one computer is a World Wide Web (WWW).
eb) It can function as a server, and other machines can also function as WWW clients.

More specifically, a WWW browser is installed in each user computer 85, and this WWW browser is
By starting the WW browser, the network 88
Arbitrarily can access the server computer 83 via the. At this time, the access position (the data composed of the position of the access destination server computer 83 and the position of the information in the server computer 83) is a URL.
(Uniform Resource Locator). It is also assumed that each computer has at least a module (program) that enables transmission and reception of mail.

When the server computer 83 receives an access request from the user computer 85, the server computer 83 sends the URL
Is transmitted to the access source user computer 85 via the network 88. At this time, data is generally stored in an HTTP (Hyper
Text Transfer Protocol).

Note that an IP (Internet Protocol) address is used to identify the user computer 85. In addition, the user operating the user computer 85 can be identified using a user's own input or a user ID such as a predetermined code. Further, as the user computer 85, a small mobile terminal such as a mobile phone or a PDA can be used.

The above-mentioned computers are provided with input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse for inputting instructions with the computers, and a display for displaying the results of processing by the computers.
Note that the computer has a general and general hardware configuration, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing transmission and reception of information by the computer having the above configuration. The present system can be configured by being classified into a server computer 83, a user computer 85, and an event computer 87. Note that these computers are not limited to one computer, and a plurality of computers may be connected to each other via a network to function as a system. In the present embodiment, assuming that a plurality of users refer to information provided from the server side, the user computer 8
5 is a user computer 85A, 85B, 85C,
85D,..., Are connected.

The server computer 83 comprises an application section 12, a content section 14, and a database section 16. These units may be configured by a computer and connected so that information can be exchanged. The application unit 12 is a functional unit that mainly performs information exchange with other computers and various processes. Content section 14
Is a functional unit that mainly refers to and retrieves various contents such as players of all teams involved in the game and events that occur. The database unit 16 is a functional unit that refers to and retrieves various tables and data of players and events that occur. Examples of the items included in the database unit 16 include a player table, a match master (combination table of matches), a rule master (items of various events), and the like.

As the event computer 87, a notebook computer is generally used to facilitate coverage and carry to a game place. By installing a program to be described later in this notebook computer, it is possible to provide information on the progress of the game at the game site in response to an event. Note that a program to be described later may be installed and executed on a permanent computer. In the following description, the event computer 8
Although a notebook computer will be described as 7, the present invention is not limited to this, and mobile phones and PDs
A small portable terminal such as A can be used as the event computer 87.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. Note that, in the present embodiment, the server computer 83
Functions as a WW (World Wide Web) server,
The case where the computer 85 functions as a WWW client will be described. Also, a case will be described in which the event computer 87 functions as a WWW client that provides information on the progress of the match. In this case, a network-accessible program (so-called WW) is stored in the user computer 85 and the event computer 87.
A W browser is installed, and by activating the WWW browser, the server computer 83 can be accessed via the network 88. The access position (the data composed of the position of the server computer 83 to be accessed and the position of information in the server computer 83) is a so-called URL (Uniform Resource).
Locator).

FIG. 3 conceptually shows information exchange between the server, the site, and the user (client) in the information distribution system according to the present embodiment.

First, when a user requests viewing of a soccer game, the user sends a server
A request is made to the computer 83 for access to the soccer live site (center) (data T1), and on the server side, initial information for presenting the live state information of the game, that is, a form in the middle of being provided to the user computer 85 The format information of the selection screen (FIG. 7) is generated and the data is generated and transmitted to the user side (data T2). On the user side, a live broadcast or a mail relay is selected, the selected data is generated (process S1 or process S2), and the process according to the selection is continued.

Regarding the presentation of live game information on the server side, the live information that is presented in real time or periodically corresponds to the sequential information of the present invention.

When the live broadcast is selected by the user,
In order to continuously check the live state of the game on the WWW browser, a relay request indicating that fact is transmitted (data T6), and when the mail relay is selected, the processing on the WWW browser is terminated and the game by mail is completed. In order to confirm the actual situation, a registration request indicating that fact is transmitted (data T3). Less than,
Each of these options will be described.

When the user selects the live broadcast and transmits a relay request (data T6), the server receives the data from the user and displays the request, that is, display information on the live broadcast of the game, ie, the user computer. The format information of the screen (FIG. 9) to be displayed on the screen 85 is generated and the data is generated and transmitted to the user side (data T7). Note that this user computer 85
(FIG. 9), the data updated to the latest information at that time is transmitted at an arbitrary time by an update instruction to the latest information from the user (a so-called redirection instruction), and the latest data is transmitted by the data. The live screen of.

In the course of the game broadcast, if an event related to the game occurs, or if a reporter at the site generates an event for which notification is desired, the event computer 8
7 accesses the server computer 83 (soccer live site) and transmits event data (data W1, W2, W3, W4) relating to the event that has occurred. The server receives the event data and updates the live game information (process U2).

The user can receive the data from the server (for each so-called redirect) and display the latest information to grasp the current situation of the game (process S3).

On the other hand, when mail relay is selected on the user side and a registration request is transmitted (data T3), the server receives data from the user side and performs the request, that is, the live broadcast of the game by mail. , Ie, the format information of the screen (FIG. 8) to be displayed on the user computer 85 and the data thereof,
The data is transmitted to the user (data T4). The user receives and displays the data from the server, fills in necessary items (for example, a mail address), and transmits the entered data as registration data (data T5).

The server receives the registration data (T5) from the user and registers the address (process U1). On the server side, the game is played live on the WWW browser, and an event occurs.
Each time the data (data W1, W2, W3, W4) is received (timing P1, P2, P3, P4), the data W1 to W4 is transmitted to the mail data (T8, T9, T10,
As T11), it transmits to the registered user.
The user receives the e-mail and grasps the event in the middle of the match (processes S4, S5, S6, S7).

The registration data transmitted to the server as the data T5 corresponds to the distribution request information of the present invention. The process U1 of registering an address corresponds to the process of registering distribution request information of the present invention. Each time the event data W1 to W4 is received (at timings P1 to P4).
4), the data W1 to W4 are converted into mail data T8 to T
The process 11 is equivalent to the process of generating distribution information of the present invention. The process U2 of transmitting the mail data T8 to T11 corresponds to the process of transmitting the distribution information of the present invention to the viewing terminal.

Next, the processing of each section of the user computer 85, event computer 87 and server computer 83 will be described in detail. First, the user computer 85 executes the processing routine shown in FIG.
In step 100 of FIG. 4, an initial display process is executed. This initial display process receives and displays information provided to the user side, that is, initial information for selecting live broadcast or mail relay, that is, screen format information to be displayed on the user computer 85. Therefore, it corresponds to the transmission processing of the data T1 and the reception processing of the data T2.

FIG. 7 shows the user computer 8 based on the initial data transmitted from the server computer 83.
5 shows an example of the initial screen displayed. As shown in FIG. 7, the screen 200, which is the initial screen, includes a display area 202 related to the current time and a display area 204 for selection information. The screen 200 includes a button 210 to be pressed at the bottom of the screen 200 when the operation is stopped and the process is instructed to end.

A display area 204 is a display area for selecting whether to relay a live broadcast or a mail. A display area 206 for requesting a live broadcast and displaying the same, a request to relay a mail or a request to cancel the relay of a mail. Input and a display area 208 for displaying the input. These display areas 206 and 208 transmit requested (selected) data to the server via a communication line in response to a user's instruction (for example, clicking with a mouse).

At step 102 in FIG. 4, it is determined whether or not the instruction (request) by the user is mail registration. If the live broadcast is selected by the user, the result in step 102 is denied, and in the next step 104, the game is switched to the live broadcast mode, the WWW browser is continuously executed, and the so-called redirect is performed to update the latest information at that time at an arbitrary time. Receive updated data and get the latest live screen.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the game relay mode screen displayed on the user computer 85 based on the data transmitted from the server computer 83. As shown in FIG. 9, a screen 240, which is a game relay screen, includes a display area 242 showing the current time, a display area 244 showing the team and location of the game, the names and player numbers of the players who are participating as homes (organizing teams). , A display area 248 for displaying the player details of the away (competition team), a display area 250 for displaying the scoring trend of the match, a reporter's And a display area 252 for displaying comments. Also,
Display areas 256 and 258 are provided below the display areas 242 to 252 related to these matches (the lower side in FIG. 9). The display area 256 is an information display area for prompting that mail relay is being performed, and displays information (a so-called hyperlink) such as a URL that allows the user to browse detailed contents by clicking. The display area 258 is an area for displaying an advertisement, and presents an advertisement determined by predetermined conditions described in detail below. The screen 240 includes a button 254 for returning to the immediately preceding process (FIG. 7) at the bottom.

On the other hand, if mail relay is selected on the user side, the result in step 102 of FIG. 4 is negative, the process proceeds to step 106, and the process proceeds to mail registration processing. The e-mail registration process is a process of registering various kinds of information necessary for receiving a live broadcast of a game by e-mail. First, the server requests a registration screen, that is, format information of display information (a screen to be displayed on the user computer 85, FIG. 8) for performing a live broadcast of the game by e-mail, and receives and displays it. Next, necessary items (mail address) are entered in the display items, and the entered data is transmitted as registration data (data T5). Thereafter, the WWW browser is terminated and the apparatus enters a mail waiting state.

In the above, the case where the user always registers the mail has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the mail registration process can include a process of a user who has already been registered and a process of a user who newly registers. If the user has already been registered, only an instruction is necessary, but if it is newly registered, it is necessary to register various information for relaying mail. That is, when the user selects the mail relay (FIG. 7), the server side receives this data,
It is determined whether the user is a registered user or an unregistered user. This determination can be easily performed by registering information (for example, a user ID or an IP address) representing a user in a database at the time of new registration and determining whether or not the request appears from a database search result at the time of a request from the user. it can. Therefore, the registered user can receive the end instruction of the WWW browser according to the search result of the database and shift to the mail waiting state. On the other hand, for a newly registered user, the processing is performed as described above.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a registration screen displayed on the user computer 85 based on the data transmitted from the server computer 83. As shown in FIG.
The screen 220 that is a registration screen includes a display area 222 that indicates that the screen is a registration screen, and a display area 22 that prompts an address input.
4. Display area 226 for displaying the input address
Contains. On the bottom of this screen 200, a button 228 for instructing registration, a button 230 for instructing to cancel the operation and cancel the address registration, and a button for returning to the previous process (FIG. 7) 232.

The item (FIG. 8) to be registered in the mail registration process only needs to have at least destination information (for example, a mail address) indicating a destination to the user, but is not limited to this item. For example, as personal information,
Name, full name, gender, age, zip code, address,
At least one of a telephone number and a hobby can be added as an attribute. Furthermore, a questionnaire can be added.

The processing in step 104 is the same as the processing in FIG.
The processing in step 106 corresponds to the processing in step S2 and subsequent steps in FIG.

Next, the processing of the server computer 83 will be described. In the server computer 83, the processing routine shown in FIG. 5 is executed. Specifically, it is executed in the application unit 12 constituting the server computer 83. In step 120 of FIG. 5, the process waits until an access request is made from the user computer 85 (No in step 120, and the determination is repeated). When an access request is made from the user side, step 120
In the next step 122, format information of a screen to be displayed on the user computer 85 and data are generated as initial settings. Specifically, an instruction is given to the content section 14 so that various contents stored in the content section 14 in the server computer 83 can be referred to. As a result, the statically arranged information is read from the content section 14. Then, the data is transmitted to the user computer 85. Accordingly, the user computer 85 presents the initial screen shown in FIG.

The user selects the type of information while referring to the initial screen presented on the user computer 85. When the form is selected by the user, selection data is transmitted from the user computer 85 to the server computer 83, and the server computer 83 makes a selection determination in step 124 of FIG. When the user selects the mail relay and receives the transmitted registration request, the result in step 124 is affirmative and the result in step 12 is affirmative.
In step 6, the data (mail address) transmitted from the user as a registration request is registered, and this routine ends. The processing for the user who has already been registered ends this routine as it is. On the other hand, if the user receives the relay request transmitted by selecting the game relay, a negative determination is made in step 124, and in step 128, the above-described game relay processing (processing for generating the screen information in FIG. 9) is executed. This routine ends.

Next, the processing of the server computer 83 by transmitting an event from the event computer 87 will be described. Reporters who report the live situation of the match
An event is input by the computer 87.

FIG. 10 shows an event computer 87.
An example of the editor screen displayed in the above is shown. As shown in FIG. 10, a screen 260 which is a game progress input screen
Includes a display area 262 representing the current time, a display area 264 representing the team and location of the match, and display areas 266, 274, 280 for displaying events to be input. This screen 260 includes a button 282 for instructing the transmission of the input event, a button 284 for deleting the input, and a button 286 for returning to the previous process at the bottom of the screen 260. When the button 282 is pressed (clicked with a mouse or the like), the following various data is transmitted as event data to the server.

In the example of FIG. 10, an area for displaying an event reported by a reporter or the like includes a display area 266 for writing an event at the time of a normal broadcast, a display area 274 for writing an event for a change of players, and a score display area. The information is classified and displayed in a display area 286 for writing an event regarding a trend.
Note that this classification is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

The display area 266 is composed of a display area 268 for displaying an event occurrence time, a display area 270 for displaying the type of event, and a display area 272 for writing comments of a reporter or the like and displaying the comment. The display area 268 is
An area 268A for inputting and displaying the first and second half of the game selectable by a pull-down menu, and an area 268B for inputting and displaying the elapsed time from the start of the first or second half which can be selected by a pull-down menu. These inputs may be made directly from an input device such as a keyboard. A display area 270 is an area 270A representing an event such as a yellow card, an area 270B for selecting and displaying whether the event is a home player or an away player, and inputting the number of a player who is the target of the event. And area 270C for display
It is composed of The display area 272 is an area for freely writing a comment of a reporter or the like in text and displaying the comment.

The display area 274 is composed of a display area 276 on the home side and a display area 278 on the away side, which are the target events related to the change of players. The display area 276 has an area 276A for inputting and displaying a uniform number that can be selected by a pull-down menu for players who participate on the home side, and an area 276A for inputting and displaying a uniform number that can be selected by using a pull-down menu for players who exit on the home side. And an area 276B. The display area 278 is provided with a pull-down menu selectable area 278A for players participating on the away side for inputting and displaying uniform numbers, and a uniform number input / display for the players exiting on the away side selectable from the pull-down menu. And an area 278B. In addition,
These inputs may be made directly from an input device such as a keyboard.

The display area 280 includes a display area 280A for inputting and displaying a score on the home side, and a display area 280B for inputting and displaying a score on the away side with respect to an event relating to a score trend. This input may be selected from a pull-down menu or may be directly performed from an input device such as a keyboard.

In the server computer 83, an interrupt processing routine shown in FIG. 6 is executed at regular intervals. In step 130 of FIG. 6, the event computer 87
It is determined whether or not the event data from has been received. If there is no reception, the result in step 130 is NO, and this interrupt routine is terminated. On the other hand, when event data is received from the event computer 87, step 13
If affirmative, the process proceeds to step 132 and the received event data is registered in the database. That is, for the game currently being played, the event occurrence time and the content are linked to data and registered. In this step 132, the event data received from the event computer 87 is converted and registered into data for WWW browser and data (text data) for mail distribution as described later. In the next step 134, the registered data for the WWW browser is read, and the WWW browser is updated to the latest information based on this data. In the next step 136, the registered mail data is read out, the address of the user to be delivered is read out, mail data for the registered user is generated and transmitted, and this routine ends.

Note that generating mail data for registered users corresponds to generating distribution information of the present invention, and in particular, mail data corresponds to distribution information.
Also, mail transmission corresponds to message distribution according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 9, a display area 258 for displaying an advertisement is provided below the screen 240, which is a game relay screen. This advertisement display will be described. The server computer 83 can provide information such that advertisement information of the team sponsor, the support maker, and the like is displayed in the display area 258. This advertising information may be the same at all times, but it is preferable that the advertising information be switched or become different advertising information in order to enhance recognition. In the present embodiment, the following settings are set in the server computer 83 as advertisement display conditions. As described below, in order to distribute an advertisement, by setting when to distribute each advertisement as in the above-described condition, the advertisement information can be reliably and effectively presented.

[Condition 1] Advertisement presentation by event Event 1: scoring company A event 2: player change B company event 3: fal C company When these events occur during a match, they correspond to the display area 258 of the advertisement. The data is generated so that an advertisement of a company or the like is displayed, that is, the screen 240 is configured. The corresponding events are not limited to the above three events, and one or more events may be determined, and may be set for each event that occurs in connection with a match.

[Condition 2] Ad presentation by publication time Time zone 1: 1: 00-1: 30 Company A time zone 2: 1: 30-2: 00 Company B time zone 3: 2: 00-2: 30 C During each of these hours, the advertisement display area 258
Then, data is generated such that an advertisement of a corresponding company or the like is displayed, that is, the screen 240 is configured. Note that the time zone is not limited to the above three time zones, and one or more time zones may be determined, and year, month, day,
The time zone may be determined using any of the time.

[Condition 3] Advertisement presentation by distribution number Distribution number: 1 to 1000 Company A Distribution number 2: 1000 to 2000 Company B Distribution number 3: 2000 to 3000 Company When each of these distribution numbers is met Generates data such that the advertisement of the corresponding company or the like is displayed in the advertisement display area 258, that is, the screen 240 is configured. The number of distributions is not limited to the above three, but may be one or more.

Note that the advertisement information displayed in the display area 258 can be added to the above-described mail information (mail data for the user) to be delivered to the user. That is, if the advertisement presentation by the event of the condition 1 is applied, the advertisement can be distributed in association with the registration of the user rather than the normal banner advertisement by distributing the information about the event and the advertisement together, so that the advertiser can distribute the advertisement. , You can advertise reliably. In addition, if the content is distributed for each event, the user will see the advertisement each time, so that the recognition rate can be improved. Condition 2
By applying the advertisement presentation based on the posting time, it is possible to selectively deliver an effective advertisement when the number of users differs in the time zone. Further, by applying the advertisement presentation based on the number of distributions of the condition 3, it is possible to selectively distribute an effective advertisement when the number of users is different.

User registration information is effective as an application for narrowing down a target when delivering an advertisement.
That is, the advertisement information can be determined based on the attribute of the user registration. If information such as gender, age, and address is input in advance as the information for identifying the user as described above, the advertiser may provide the advertising information to the intended target user based on the attribute. it can.

As described above, in this embodiment, the position (for example, the address) for transmitting the event information on the progress of the game is registered in the server in advance. When the event occurs, the information about the event is notified to the pre-registered user by a notification means such as an e-mail. As a result, the user can receive information on the event when the event occurs without constantly accessing a site that provides information on the progress of the match as information. Accordingly, the number of accesses to the server computer 83 for confirming the progress in real time can be reduced.
As a result, the concentration of accesses to the server computer 83 can be suppressed. In addition, the user does not need to actively perform the process of checking the progress in real time, and the server computer 83 only needs to recognize the report by e-mail because the server computer 83 has the report. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the user from feeling uneasy that the trend fluctuates during the course of the match.

In the above embodiment, the user computer 85 connected to a communication line such as the Internet has been described as the viewing terminal. However, the viewing terminal of the present invention is a small portable terminal such as a mobile phone or a PDA. Is preferred. Recently, mobile terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs having a function of receiving e-mail have been increasing. The user only needs to register the address that can be received on the mobile terminal,
Regardless of where the user is, the event of the game that the user wants to view can be received by the mobile terminal.

FIG. 11 is an image diagram showing an example of the portable terminal 90. When an event occurs in the middle of the game and the server sends mail to the user (client), the mobile terminal 90 receives the sent mail as shown in FIG. 11A. Will be reported. At the time of this report, the user's recognition effect can be enhanced by notifying by combining a buzzer, vibration, or the like as a function of the mobile terminal 90. Then, as shown in FIG. 11B, by referring to the contents of the mail, an event occurs in the middle of the match, and the contents of the event can be easily grasped.

In the above embodiment, the event computer 8 connected to a communication line such as the Internet is used.
Although the description has been made with respect to FIG. 7, a small portable terminal such as a mobile phone or a PDA may be employed. That is, the event
The computer 87 only needs to be able to report on various events when they occur. Therefore, a mobile phone or a PDA having a function of transmitting an e-mail or a function of connecting to a network.
The information related to the event of the game can also be transmitted by using a portable terminal such as.

In the above embodiment, the user terminal 85 connected to a communication line such as the Internet or a small portable terminal such as a portable telephone having a function of receiving e-mail has been described as a preferred example of the viewing terminal. However, the present invention does not limit the distribution information transmitted to the viewing-side terminal to electronic mail. That is, when an event occurs, any form that can transmit information corresponding to the event may be used. For example, terminals that can be connected to a communication line include a dedicated line broadcast (so-called cable television) and a satellite broadcast receiver. In recent years, digital broadcast electronic information has been selectively received by the receiver. Assuming that the satellite broadcast receiver is a digital terminal, a function capable of selectively receiving digital information may be used instead of the function capable of receiving e-mail. For example, a user can receive an event, such as a game, which the user desires to view, on the digital terminal only by registering an address (receiver identifier) that can be received by the digital terminal. That is, the information transmitted to the registered viewing-side terminal via the communication line can be received.

In the present embodiment, a competition is an example of an event that can provide sequential information related to the progress.
In particular, the case where a soccer game is taken as an example has been described, but the present invention is not limited to a soccer game. For example, it may be a practice scenery or a situation of moving to a match. Nor is it limited to soccer.
Other sports may be ball games and athletics. In addition, not only a competition in which a plurality of players participate, but also a competition by a single player such as swimming, judo, marathon, and the like.

The event is not limited to a competition. For example, it can be applied to an event that occurs in the same space such as a meeting or a general meeting. Further, the present invention can be easily applied to an event itself in a theme park.

In the present embodiment, the form of information transmitted to the user is not particularly limited. For example, information in a form described in an HTML sentence or information in a form described in a compact HTML sentence may be used.
Alternatively, the information may be information described in a sentence of a standard such as SGML or XML. Alternatively, the information may be converted into information in a form depending on the model. In this case, the server may convert the information into a model-dependent information.

It is desirable that the process of transmitting information to the user side be an automatic process. For example, in information transmission by an event, a process of transmitting some information at the time when the event occurs may be performed. That is, information transmission to the user is not limited to mail. For example, the user stores a program for real-time display. This program is a processing program that operates on data transmitted from the server side. The server stores a program for operating the user's real-time display program.

When the connection state between the user computer 85 and the server computer 83 is established, the server computer 83 sets the IP address of the user computer 85 (client) to a request corresponding to the mail transmission request (delivery request information). ) And register it. On the user side, the above-described program for real-time display is activated. When an event related to the distribution request occurs, the server transmits the distribution information to the registered users who need to transmit the event. The distribution information can be updated in display by a program activated on the user side, that is, the relevant part can be updated and displayed on the user side in response to the updated data being transmitted from the server side. It has become. Therefore, the display is updated on the user side based on the received distribution information, and when an event occurs, the user can view the latest information in real time without any operation. As an example, this is possible during the IP connection of the computer, and can be achieved by inter-socket communication using a protocol for setting a communication-dedicated port in a higher layer of TCP / IP. As a result, real-time performance can be improved as compared with the automatic generation of mails and documents.

[0071]

As described above, according to the present invention, distribution information corresponding to an event occurring in the course of an event such as a sport is generated toward a viewing terminal connected to a communication line such as the Internet. The user can check the events that occur without any inconvenience, and even if an event that affects the trend of the event occurs, the user for whom the distribution request information has been registered can be reliably transmitted. There is an effect that the event can be grasped by the information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for information exchange in the network system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in a system for exchanging information regarding a soccer game according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in a user computer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in a server computer.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of interrupt processing when an event occurs in the server computer.

FIG. 7 is an image diagram showing an example of a form selection screen of a progress report displayed on a user computer.

FIG. 8 is an image diagram showing an example of an information registration screen for receiving an in-progress event displayed on a user computer by e-mail.

FIG. 9 is an image diagram showing an example of a competition status screen displayed on the user computer.

FIG. 10 is an image diagram showing an example of an editing screen displayed on the event computer.

FIG. 11 shows an example in which a portable terminal is adopted as a user computer.
(B) is an image diagram showing an example of display at the time of content display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 80 Network System 82 Computer 83 Server Computer 85 User Computer 87 Event Computer 88 Network 90 Mobile Terminal

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) // G06F 17/60 146 G06F 17/60 146Z (72) Inventor Jin Niwa 24 Nihonbashi Hakozakicho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo No. 1 Softbank Broadmedia Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5B049 AA06 BB61 FF01 GG00 5B075 PP02 PQ02 PQ05 UU24 5C064 BA01 BC18 BC20 BD02 BD08 BD14

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An event which can provide sequential information related to the progress status, in response to a request from a viewing terminal connected to a communication line from the viewing terminal via a communication line, information relating to the event. A delivery request information related to the viewing-side terminal for delivery to the viewing-side terminal, which is received in advance via a communication line, and the received delivery request information is registered. Generating distribution information to be transmitted via a communication line based on the sequential information corresponding to an event occurring according to the progress status during the event, and registering the generated distribution information via the communication line An information distribution method, wherein the information is transmitted to a selected viewing-side terminal. 2. The information distribution method according to claim 1, wherein the event is held within a predetermined period of time. 3. The information distribution method according to claim 1, wherein the event is a predetermined game. 4. The information distribution method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission of the distribution information via a communication line is notification by electronic message distribution.