JP2002082641A - Method and apparatus for delivering information, method and apparatus for providing advertisement, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an information delivering service using the Internet or the like to easily provide a client with information correlated with certain information. SOLUTION: An information delivering server 110 is provided with a means 114 for holding an access history of information read by a user and regularly sent from an information access server 120, a means 116 for holding source information (correlation detecting condition) for detecting a correlation from a client 100, a means 113 for detecting correlated information (correlation information) from the access history using the correlation detecting condition as a key, and a means 112 for delivering the correlation information to the client 100.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to the Internet,
The present invention relates to an information delivery system for delivering information (items) through media and networks such as digital interactive television and other information home appliances, and an advertisement providing system in interactive media.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the use of the Internet and the like has been remarkable, but users can only browse information such as accessed Web pages or obtain a list of search results. For example, if you search for a book on a book sales site, you can obtain a list of books that match the search conditions, but you can also obtain other related books or other information (corresponding to users). Are not readily available.

[0003] In marketing information analysis,
It is premised on preprocessing such as an evaluation value for each item input by the customer or a genre classification for the item. Further, it was necessary to set complicated conditions for correlation detection.

[0004] On the other hand, interactive media such as the Internet, which can immediately return a reaction to an advertisement, are attracting attention because they can acquire users more easily. Ads in these media are
It is important not just how many users show the advertisement, but also how many users have issued a request to acquire additional information to the advertisement.

[0005] There are mainly the following methods for displaying advertisements on such interactive media.

(1) Random output method (2) Random output method (3) Statistic output method using user's static attribute information (4) Explicit input of user's interest at any time (1) and (2) are general methods used in conventional mass media. Since newspaper advertisements and the like are widely read, they correspond to (1). Also, since a television advertisement or the like is provided for each specific program, it corresponds to (2). Even in the Internet WWW service, there is a method of advertising only specific contents.

[0007] In (1) and (2), since it is not clear who actually refers to the advertisement, the methods (3) and (4) must be interactive in order to increase the request for acquiring additional information. Mainly used in the media. However, (3)
And (4) also have the following problems.

I) A user must input information such as user attributes. It is difficult for the user to take such trouble.

Ii) Since the user uses the information inputted at a certain time, the information of the user is fixed or becomes old.

Iii) The user does not know whether to input correct information.

Conventionally, an advertisement distribution device via the Internet or a network simply distributes an advertisement of an item of the same or similar genre to an item purchased by a customer in the past to the customer, an advertisement target item. To be delivered to customers who have accessed information about items of the same genre (Double Cli
ck's banner advertisement distribution technology), and analyze past purchase histories, such as correlation analysis, to extract the distribution of attributes such as the hobby, age group, gender, and occupation of the customer who purchased the advertised item,
Among the above attribute distributions, there are distributions that are distributed to customers having attributes that occupy a large proportion.

However, the conventional advertisement distribution device has the following problems.

[0013] Prior registration of attribute information such as hobbies, ages and occupations is required for customers, and the prior registration of the attributes becomes a barrier, and the number of customers themselves does not increase.

Unless the attribute registration is updated, even if there is a change in the attribute of the customer, the change in the attribute is not reflected.

It is necessary to register attribute information such as a genre (category) for an item, and management is troublesome. Here, if the genre is only classified roughly, the troublesomeness of management is reduced, but for example, when a Hollywood movie, a French movie, and a Japanese movie are grouped into the same general genre of "movie", Even if an advertisement of a French movie is distributed to a person who enjoys "movie" as a hobby, the accuracy of narrowing down an advertisement distribution destination is deteriorated so that a person who likes a Hollywood movie has no effect.

Since the distribution destination of the advertisement is tied to the category and the genre, the advertisement cannot be distributed to customers (potential customers) who have a cross-genre correlation and are highly likely to be interested.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to perform information evaluation input for correlation detection and complicated condition setting in the Internet, digital interactive television, and other services for distributing information over a network. An object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily provide information having correlation with certain information to a client.

[0018] Further, the present invention eliminates the trouble of having a user input information one by one in displaying an advertisement in interactive media,
It is an object to automatically extract users who are likely to be interested and to provide optimal advertisements to the users.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an advertisement to a potential customer so as to distribute an advertisement only to a customer who has a high probability of purchasing an item without registering the attribute of the customer and the attribute of the item.

[0020]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention comprises a step of managing an access history of access to an information item by a user, and a correlation detection condition indicating at least one information item from a client. Receiving, based on the access history, detecting a related user who has accessed the at least one information item, based on the access history,
An information delivery method, comprising: extracting a correlation information item accessed by the related user; and delivering the correlation information item to a client.

Further, in the present invention, the extracting step extracts, as the correlation information item, a correlation information item accessed by the relevant user other than the at least one information item indicated by the correlation detection condition. It is characterized by the following.

Further, in the present invention, the extracting step extracts the correlation information item periodically, and the delivering step periodically delivers the correlation information item.

In the present invention, the managing step manages an access history recorded when the user browses or purchases the information item.

Further, in the present invention, the step of detecting may include a step in which, among users who have accessed the at least one information item based on an access history, the number of times the at least one information item has been accessed is relatively large. Is detected as the related user.

Further, in the present invention, the step of extracting includes the step of extracting a predetermined number of information items of which the number of accesses by the related user is relatively large among the information items accessed by the related user based on the access history. An item is extracted as the correlation information item.

In the present invention, the step of detecting includes selecting a selected information item in a correlation detection condition in which the total number of accesses is greater than a predetermined threshold, and selecting the selected information item based on the access history. Detecting the related user by selecting any of a predetermined number of users who accessed earlier than other users or a user who accessed any of the selected information items within a predetermined period, and extracting the relevant user The extracting step is characterized in that the correlated information item is extracted by selecting an information item accessed by the related user within a predetermined period.

In the present invention, in the detecting step, the selected information item is selected from information items in the correlation detection condition having a specific attribute, and the related user is assigned a predetermined attribute. Detected from users who have
The extracting is characterized in that the correlated information item is extracted from the information item having the specific attribute.

In the present invention, the specific attribute indicates a specific information item classification, and the predetermined attribute indicates a predetermined user type.

Further, in the present invention, the delivering step delivers the correlated information items in descending order of the number of times each correlated information item is accessed by the related user.

Further, in the present invention, the delivering step delivers the correlation information items in descending order of the number of users who have accessed the correlation information items among the related users.

Further, in the present invention, the delivering step includes delivering the correlation information items in an order of early access time of each correlation information item by at least one of the related users.

Further, the present invention provides means for managing an access history of access to an information item by a user, means for receiving a correlation detection condition including at least one information item from a client, Means for detecting a related user who has accessed the at least one information item, means for extracting a correlation information item accessed by the related user based on an access history, and transmitting the correlation information item to the client. And a means for delivering the information.

Further, the present invention is based on a program code for managing an access history of a user accessing an information item, a program code for receiving a correlation detection condition including at least one information item from a client, and an access history. A program code for detecting a related user who has accessed the at least one information item, a program code for extracting a correlation information item accessed by the related user based on an access history, and the correlation information item. And a program code for distributing the information to the client.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an access history of a user's access to information provided by an information provider, and a client who is a user accessing a predetermined target information. Managing the additional information that is to be provided to the client and the advertising information associated with the additional information accessible from the client, and a virtual user accessing both the target information and the additional information. Adding the access history of the advertising agent to the access history,
Detecting the advertising agent as a related user who has accessed the target information other than the client based on the access history, and extracting and extracting the additional information as correlation information accessed by the related user based on the access history Delivering the advertisement information managed in association with the added additional information to the client, thereby providing an advertisement in response to a request from the client. .

In the present invention, a step of detecting other related users who have accessed the target information other than the client and the advertising agent based on the access history,
Extracting potential target information accessed by the other related user based on the access history; and accessing another advertising agent that is a virtual user accessing the additional information and the potential target information. Adding a history to another client that has accessed the potential target information, and providing the different advertising agent as another related user who has accessed the potential target information other than the other client based on the access history. To detect
Extracting the additional information as correlation information being accessed by the another related user based on the access history,
Delivering the advertising information managed in association with the extracted additional information to the another client;
Is further provided.

Further, in the present invention, the providing step includes providing the advertisement information in a form linked to the additional information.

In the present invention, the managing step manages the advertisement information specified by an advertiser, the additional information, and the target information.

Further, in the present invention, the step of totalizing the number of times of distribution of the advertisement information and the number of times of additional information access by the actual advertisement providing operation is performed. Charging an advertisement fee.

According to the present invention, the advertiser pays the guaranteed minimum advertising information delivery count and / or minimum additional information access count for the advertiser so that the advertiser pays the advertising fee prior to the actual advertisement providing operation. Charging the number of times the advertisement information has been delivered and the number of times the additional information has been accessed by the actual advertisement providing operation. Or extending the advertisement posting period in which the actual broad providing operation is performed until the minimum additional information access count is reached.

According to the present invention, the advertiser pays the guaranteed minimum advertisement information delivery count and / or minimum additional information access count for the advertiser so that the advertiser pays the advertisement fee prior to the actual advertisement providing operation. Charging the number of times the advertisement information has been delivered and the number of times the additional information has been accessed during an actual advertisement providing operation during a predetermined advertisement posting period; and calculating the minimum number of times the number of times the advertisement information has been delivered and / or the number of times the additional information has been accessed. Refunding at least a part of the advertisement fee corresponding to the difference between the number of times of advertisement information delivery and / or the minimum number of times of additional information access.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an access history of a user's access to information provided by an information provider and information to be provided to a client who is a user accessing predetermined target information. Means for managing, from the information, additional information accessible to the client and advertisement information associated therewith, and an access history of an advertisement agent being a virtual user accessing both the target information and the additional information Means for adding to the access history, detecting the advertising agent as a related user who has accessed the target information other than the client based on the access history, and correlation information being accessed by the related user based on the access history Extracting the additional information and managing the extracted additional information in association with the extracted additional information. By delivering advertising information that the client provides an advertisement providing apparatus characterized by comprising means for providing an advertisement in response to a request from the client, the.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an access history of a user's access to information provided by an information provider and information to be provided to a client who is accessing a predetermined target information. A program code for managing the client-accessible additional information and associated advertisement information from the information;
A program code for adding an access history of an advertisement agent, which is a virtual user accessing both the target information and the additional information, to an access history; and a relation related to accessing the target information except for a client based on the access history. Detecting the advertising agent as a user, extracting the additional information as correlation information being accessed by the related user based on the access history,
And a program code for providing an advertisement in response to a request from the client by delivering the advertisement information managed in association with the extracted additional information to the client. A computer program.

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a method for managing an access history of access to an information item by a user, comprising the steps of:
Detecting a direct user who has accessed the advertised information item or the information item related to the advertised information item; extracting a related information item accessed by the direct user based on the access history; An advertisement providing method, comprising: determining a potential user who has accessed the related information item based on an access history; and delivering the advertisement target information item to the potential user. I do.

Further, in the present invention, the step of extracting includes information items accessed directly by the user based on an access history, other than the advertisement target information items or information items related to the advertisement target information items. Is extracted as the related information item, and the determining step determines a user who has accessed the related information item other than the direct user as the potential user based on an access history. .

Further, in the present invention, the managing step manages an access history recorded when the user browses or purchases the information item.

In the present invention, the managing step manages an access history indicating at least an access user ID and an accessed information item ID.

Further, the present invention further comprises a step of generating a potential user list in which the potential users are arranged in an order based on the access history of the potential users, and the step of delivering comprises: And delivering the advertising target information item to the potential user based on a list of users.

Further, in the present invention, the delivering step includes delivering the advertisement target information item only to a predetermined number of the potential users based on the potential user list.

[0049] In the present invention, the delivering step delivers the advertising target information item by sending an advertising message to the potential user via a network.

Further, in the present invention, the delivering step includes delivering the advertisement target information item by displaying a banner advertisement of the advertisement target information item in response to access from any of the potential users. Features.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the method further comprises the step of charging the advertiser of the information item to be advertised with the advertisement fee.

Further, in the present invention, the charging step charges the advertisement fee on a pay-per-use basis based on the number of times of advertisement delivery.

Further, in the present invention, the charging is performed by charging the advertisement fee on a fixed rate system that guarantees a predetermined number of times of advertisement delivery.

Further, in the present invention, the charging step charges the advertisement fee on a pay-as-you-go basis based on the number of advertisement responses.

Further, in the present invention, the charging is performed by charging the advertisement fee on a fixed rate system that guarantees a predetermined number of times of response to the advertisement.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided means for managing an access history of access to an information item by a user, and access to an advertisement target information item or an information item related to the advertisement target information item based on the access history. Means for directly detecting a user, means for extracting a related information item accessed by the direct user based on the access history, and determining a potential user who has accessed the related information item based on the access history And a means for delivering the advertisement target information item to the potential user.

Further, the present invention provides a program code for managing an access history of an access to an information item by a user, and an access to an advertisement target information item or an information item related to the advertisement target information item based on the access history. A program code for detecting a direct user who has made the relevant information item, a program code for extracting a related information item accessed by the direct user based on the access history, and a potential use for accessing the related information item based on the access history. A computer code for providing an advertisement, comprising: a program code for determining a user; and a program code for delivering the advertisement target information item to the potential user.

[0058]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

Here, the Internet is targeted, and information such as information that can be browsed by a client, stored in a basket or the like, or purchased by a client, information such as a product, an advertisement, and a Web page title is referred to as an item. . An item can be uniquely identified by an item identifier (ID) such as a Web URL or a product code.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of the present embodiment. In the figure, 100 is a client, 110 is an information delivery server (item delivery server), 120 is an information browsing server (item browsing server), and 130 is a network such as the Internet connecting these. Generally, many clients 100 exist on the network 130.

The client 100 is a Web-accessible device such as a personal computer, a digital TV, and a mobile phone, and has a browser 105. Browser 105
It is an information access unit such as a Web browser for searching for an item, purchasing an item, and receiving an item recommendation. Client 1
00 as an input unit for performing a contract action for correlated item delivery to the information distribution server 110 and as an output unit for displaying a list of correlated items. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to Web browsers.

Information browsing server (item browsing server) 1
Reference numeral 20 denotes a search server or an EC server capable of browsing and purchasing merchandise and information via a network, and holds an item browsing / purchasing history such as browsing and purchasing items. The item browsing / purchasing history is held in a format including information such as “user identifier, item ID, browsing date and time”, and includes a means for using the access history of the Web server and a unique history holding means. . The user identifier is an identifier for globally and uniquely identifying a user who uses the information browsing server 120.
Assigned to the user's terminal by the information browsing server.

It is to be noted that a plurality of information browsing servers 120 may be provided on the network 130 (generally, this is generally the case). In this case, items representing the same information and the same product must have the same item ID. There is also a need to be able to confirm that the user identifier is the same user even across web servers.

For this purpose, although omitted in FIG. 1, item browsing / purchasing histories of each information browsing server are collected in a log management server through a network or the like so that the whole can be managed collectively. Then, the user identifier is uniformly managed. Alternatively, the user identifier is assigned by the information browsing server, but when assigning a unified identifier to a plurality of information browsing servers, a unique identifier is assigned by inquiring of the log management server.

Information delivery server (item delivery server) 1
10 is an information browsing server 12 for browsing item browsing / purchasing history.
From 0, it is periodically acquired and stored, and the correlated item is delivered to the client 100 that has registered the correlated item delivery in advance by using the stored item browsing / purchase history.

[0086] The information delivery server 110 sends the Web page 1
11, server engine 112, inter-item correlation detection unit 1
13, a browsing / purchase history database 114, a client management unit 115, a base item holding unit 116, a correlation item holding unit 117, and a charging management unit 118.

The server engine 112 receives the HTTP request for accessing the Web page 111 identified by the URL, and provides the Web page 111 to the client 100. Here, the HTTP request is sent to the client 10
0 can indicate that a registration operation for requesting distribution of a correlation item has been performed, and a list of correlation items can be displayed on the client 100.

The inter-item correlation detection unit 113 periodically performs a correlation item detection process. As a method of detecting a correlation item, a statistical method such as class discrimination, a data mining method using a neural network, a genetic algorithm, a demographic clustering, or the like can be used. In the present embodiment, information is obtained by social filtering (SF). A method of detecting information correlation (similarity) is used. Social filtering will be described later.

The browsing / purchasing history database 114 holds item browsing / purchasing histories periodically acquired from the information browsing server 120. The item browsing / purchasing history is held in a format including information such as “user identifier, item ID, browsing date and time”.

The client management section 115 manages the delivery destination of the correlation item. When the client 100 registers the correlation item delivery for the first time, it assigns a client identifier for globally and uniquely identifying the client, and at the same time manages the client identifier together with the keyword received from the client. When the client 110 is accessed, the client is identified.

The base item holding unit 116 holds a list of items from which a correlated item is detected, together with a client identifier.

The correlation item holding unit 117 holds a list of the latest correlation items obtained by the detection processing of the inter-item correlation detection unit 113 together with the client identifier.

The charge management unit 118 manages the amount charged for correlated item delivery. It manages a fixed amount or a pay-as-you-go billing value according to the amount of information delivered together with the client identifier.

The operation of this system is roughly divided into acquisition of access history, registration of a client of a correlated item delivery destination, registration of a correlated item delivery, detection of a correlated item, delivery and billing of a correlated item, and totaling of billing information. Hereinafter, the operation will be described in this order.

[Acquisition of Access History] FIG. 2 shows a processing flow of access history acquisition. The information browsing server 120
The browsing / purchase history is periodically sent to the information delivery server 110 (step 201). The information delivery server 110 browses the browsing / purchase history received from the information browsing server 120 /
Stored in purchase history database 114 (step 20)
2). The browsing / purchase history in the browsing / purchase history database 114 is deleted, for example, after a lapse of a predetermined period.

[Client Registration] FIG. 3 shows a processing flow of client registration. This is the client identifier (user identifier) for the client to which the correlated item is delivered.
And must be performed prior to the next correlation item delivery registration.

The client 100 accesses the information delivery server 110 via the network 130 such as the Internet using the browser 105 (step 3).
01), the keyword is sent to the information delivery server 110 together with the client identifier registration request (step 302).
The information delivery server 110 generates a globally unique user identifier as a client identifier (step 3).
03), the generated client identifier (user identifier) and the keyword received from the client 100 are registered in the client management unit 115 (step 30).
4). The client identifier and the keyword registered in the client management unit 115
It is used to specify the client 100 when there is an access from.

Next, the information delivery server 110 sends the client identifier (user identifier) to the client 100 together with the client identifier registration response (step 305). When the client 100 receives the client identifier together with the client identifier registration response,
The client identifier (user identifier) is displayed (step 306). Thereafter, the client 100 sends the client identifier and the previous keyword sent from the information delivery server 110 to the information delivery server 110,
A base item can be registered and a correlated item can be delivered. Note that the client identifier is Coo
Using a function such as kie, it is also possible to hold it on the client side.

[Registration of Correlated Item Delivery] FIG. 4 shows a registration item delivery registration flow. This is a process of registering a base item list and a charging type from the client. The base item list is a correlation detection condition, that is, a list of information (items) from which a correlation item is detected. Client 100
By registering the base item in the information delivery server 110 in advance, it becomes possible to receive from the information delivery server 110 an item group correlated with the base item group described in the base item list.

The client 100 accesses the information delivery server 110 via the network 130 such as the Internet using the browser 105 (step 40).
1). When accessing the information delivery server 110, the server engine 112 of the information delivery server 110
By receiving an HTTP request for accessing the Web page (correlated item delivery registration page) identified by the above, the Web page is provided to the client 100.

The client 100 sends the client identifier (user identifier) and the keyword assigned earlier together with the client authentication request to the information delivery server 110.
(Step 402). The information delivery server 110
When the client identifier and the keyword are received together with the client authentication request, a pair of the client identifier and the keyword stored in the client management unit 115 is searched to confirm that the client is already registered (step 403). A response and a normal authentication message are returned to the client 100 (step 404). If the client is not a registered client, the information delivery server 110 returns a client authentication response and a denial message to the client 100, and ends the processing.

When the client 100 receives the client authentication response and the normal authentication message, the information delivery server 110 sends the correlation item delivery registration request together with the client identifier, the base item list and the charging type.
(Step 405). The list of base items is
This is a list of items from which a correlated item is detected, and the charging type is, for example, a fixed amount system or a metered system. In order to avoid the danger of security, the client 100 may always send the keyword together with the correlation item delivery registration request, and the information delivery server 110 may always authenticate the client identifier.

The information delivery server 110 records the base item list sent from the client 100 together with the client identifier in the base item holding unit 116 (step 406). Next, the information delivery server 110
The accounting type and accounting information are recorded in the accounting management unit 118 together with the client identifier (step 407). The billing information is a billing value for each fixed period (for example, every month) when the billing type is a fixed-rate system, and a billing value according to the amount of information delivered when the billing type is a pay-as-you-go billing. .

[Detection of Correlated Item] Information Delivery Server 1
Numeral 10 periodically (for example, every day) performs a correlation item detection process. FIG. 5 shows an overall flow of the correlation item detection.

First, a pair of a client identifier and a base item list held in the base item holding unit 117 is extracted (step 501). A client identifier and a list of base items are passed to the inter-item correlation detection unit 113 together with the correlation detection request (step 502). The inter-item correlation detection unit 113 extracts a list of correlated items from the browse / purchase history database 114 based on the base item list, and stores the correlated item list together with the client identifier in the correlated item holding unit 11.
7 (step 503). Hereinafter, until there is no more data stored in the base item storage unit 116,
Steps 501 to 503 are repeated (Step 50
4).

FIG. 6 conceptually shows correlation item detection.
A list of basic items (a list of items from which a correlated item is detected) is G1, and a list of users who browsed G1 other than the users of the base item list is G2.
And G2 is called a browsing user list. A list of items browsed by the browse user list G2 that does not include G1 is referred to as a correlated item list G3 of G1. That is, it is estimated that G3 is also interested in the user of G1. Actually, G2 and G3 are given a weight (the number of times of browsing), and a predetermined number is selected from those with the highest weight.

FIG. 7 shows a processing flow of the inter-item browsing detection unit 113. The inter-item correlation detection unit 113 first extracts, from the browsing / purchase history database 114, a browsing person (user) browsing each item for each item included in the base item list (G1), and browsing. Store as a user list (G2) (step 70)
1). This is repeated for each item in the base item list (step 702). Next, for each user in the browsing user list, count how many times the items included in the base item list have been browsed, sort the items in descending order of the number of browsing, leave only the upper predetermined number, and newly browse It is stored as a user list (step 703).

Next, the browsing / purchase history database 114
Thus, for each user in the browsing user list obtained in step 703, the items that each user is browsing are extracted,
It is stored as a correlation item list (G3) (step 704). This is repeated for each user in the browsing user list (step 705). Next, for each item in the correlated item list, the items included in G1 are removed, the number of browsing times from each browsing user included in the browsing user list is counted, and the items are sorted in descending order of browsing frequency. , Leaving only the predetermined number in the upper order, a new correlation item list (step 706).

This correlation item list is stored in the correlation item storage unit 117 together with the client identifier corresponding to the base item list (step 50 in FIG. 5).
3). Thus, the correlation item holding unit 117 holds the latest correlation item list corresponding to the base item list for each client. When the client changes the base item list, the correlation item list in the correlation item holding unit 117 is changed accordingly.

[Delivery and Charge of Correlated Item] FIG. 8 shows a processing flow of delivery and charge of the correlated item.

The client 100 uses the browser 105 to access the information delivery server 110 via the network 130 such as the Internet (step 80).
1). When accessing the information delivery server 110, the server engine 112 of the information delivery server 110
An HTTP request for accessing a Web page (correlated item delivery page) identified by the URL is received, and the Web page is provided to the client 100.

The client 100 sends a client identifier and a keyword to the information delivery server 110 together with the client authentication request (step 802). When the information delivery server 110 receives the client identifier and the keyword together with the client authentication request from the client 100, the information delivery server 110 searches for the pair of the client identifier and the keyword held in the client management unit 115,
It is confirmed that the client is already registered (step 803), and a client authentication response and a normal authentication message are returned to the client 100 (step 80).
4). If you are not a registered client,
The information delivery server 110 returns a client authentication response and a denial message to the client 100, and ends the processing.

Upon receiving the client authentication response and the normal authentication message, the client 100 sends a client identifier to the information delivery server 110 together with the correlation item delivery request (step 805). In order to avoid the danger of security, the client 100 may always send the keyword together with the correlation item delivery request, and the information delivery server 110 may always authenticate the client identifier.

The information delivery server 110 sends the client identifier from the client 100 to the correlation item holding unit 117 together with the correlation item read request (step 806). The correlation item holding unit 117 reads a list of correlation items that match the client identifier based on the client identifier received with the correlation item read request (step 807). Next, the information delivery server 110 sends the client identifier and the number of items included in the read correlation item list to the accounting management unit 118 together with the correlation item delivery record request (step 808). Charge management unit 118
Records the client identifier, the number of items, and the current date and time (step 809).

Thereafter, the information delivery server 110 sends a correlation item delivery response and a list of correlation items to the client 100 that has received the correlation item delivery request (step 810). The client 100 displays the list of correlation items received from the information delivery server 110 on the browser 105 (Step 811).

[Calculation of Billing Information] FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a billing information tallying process. The information delivery server 110 activates the charging management unit 118 periodically (for example, every month) and performs the charging process based on the charging information.

The information delivery server 110 periodically (for example, every month) sends a billing request to the billing management unit 118 (step 901). The accounting management unit 118 sequentially reads out the accounting type and the accounting information for each client type (step 902). Then, if the registered charging type is the fixed-rate system, after confirming that the delivery of the correlation item is performed periodically, the charging value is integrated as the billing amount (steps 903 and 904). Further, when the registered charging type is the pay-as-you-go system, the billing amount is multiplied by the charging value multiplied by the delivery number of the correlation item (steps 903 and 905). Thereafter, the charging management unit 118 repeats steps 902 to 905 until the charging process for all the registered clients is completed (step 906).

FIG. 10 shows a specific processing image of correlated item delivery by the present system. A correlated item is detected based on an access log stored by the information distribution server and viewed by a user who browses information and the like. For example, an access log obtained by searching for a book on a book sales site and browsing an outline or the like is represented by WWW
Stored as server log. The information to be stored is, for example, “access user identifier, information identifier, access date and time”. In FIG. 10, the processing is performed as follows.

(1) A client to which information (item) is to be delivered registers a correlation detection condition, that is, a base item in advance. The correlation detection condition is a list of information (items) from which a correlation item is detected.

(2) The information delivery server detects a list of correlated information (items) from the access log based on the information list (base point item) given in (1).

(3) The information delivery server delivers correlated information (correlated item list) to the client for each correlated item delivery request from the client or for each of a predetermined period.

(4) The client pays a fixed fee for each information amount (item amount) delivered.

Although the first embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the following various changes and extensions are possible.

(1) The network is not limited to the Internet. There are a digital interactive TV, an information home appliance network, and the like.

(2) Clients include PCs, mobile phones, digital two-way TV sets, information home appliances, communicable word processors, communicable game machines, communicable watches, PDAs
There are terminals that can perform mobile communication.

(3) The input / output information medium is not limited to the Web.
Using an electronic mail, a correlation item delivery request, a client identifier, and the like are transmitted as an electronic mail document or as a title. An email address can be used instead of the client identifier. The correlated item list can also be sent as an e-mail document.

(4) The correlation item list can be displayed, for example, on a television screen and on a game display.

(5) The timing of providing the correlated item list need not be limited to when the client issues a correlated item delivery request. The information delivery server can automatically access the storage device of the client periodically and write the correlation item list.

(6) Correlation item detection processing does not need to be performed periodically (for example, every day). For example, a correlation item detection process may be performed when a correlation item delivery request is received from a client, and the detected correlation item may be immediately returned. Thereby, the correlation item holding unit can be omitted. Alternatively, the base item may be sent when the client makes a correlation item delivery request. Thereby, the base item holding unit can also be omitted.

(7) There are various variations in the billing method. For example, at the time of registration of a base item, a minimum guarantee is made for the number of correlated items to be acquired and a fee is paid in advance. In addition, at the time of registration of the base item, a minimum guarantee is made for the number of correlated items to be acquired and a fee is paid in advance. Further, payment is made after the end of a predetermined service period based on the total number of correlated items.

(8) The processing of the inter-item correlation detection unit 113 shown in FIG. 7 can be modified as follows.

First, as a first modification, a method of extracting a trendy item from all the item groups will be described.

First, items whose total number of accesses is equal to or greater than the set value are extracted from the base item list (G1), and the extracted base items are extracted from the popular base item list (G1 ').
And

From the browsing / purchase history database 114,
For each item included in the popular base item list (G1 '), a viewer (user) who is browsing each item is extracted. At this time, a preset number of users or users who enter a preset period are extracted in the order of access after the preset date and time. For example, suppose that the preset date and time is the oldest date and time in the data, and that m people who have accessed sequentially since that date and time are extracted. This is the group of users who recognized the item first. The user extracted in this manner can be regarded as a user who has paid attention to the popular item quickly, that is, a pioneer of fashion.

The obtained user group is displayed in the browsing user list (G
Store as 2). This is repeated for each item in the popular base item list.

Next, the browsing / purchase history database 114
Thus, for each user in the browsing user list, the items that each user is browsing are extracted. At this time, items that have been accessed at a preset date and time or period are extracted. For example, items that have been accessed in the past n days from now are extracted. The extracted items are stored as a correlation item list G3. this,
Repeat for each user in the browsing user list.

The correlation item list obtained in this manner can be regarded as an item that the pioneer of fashion is paying attention to, that is, an item that is predicted to be fashionable next time.

Next, as a second modification, a method of extracting a trendy item from an item group having a specific attribute and a user group having a specific attribute will be described.

First, those having a specific attribute and whose total number of accesses is equal to or larger than a set value are extracted from the base point item list (G1). The extracted base item is used as a popular base item list (G1 ′). The specific attribute is, for example, an item included in a preset genre (eg, cosmetics, clothes, etc.).

From the browsing / purchase history database 114,
For each item included in the popular base item list (G1 '), each item is browsed, and a viewer (user) having a specific attribute is extracted. Here, the specific attribute is, for example, a user type (for example, a woman in teens to thirties) based on information obtained from a profile.

Further, at this time, a preset number of users or users who enter a preset period are extracted in the order of access after the preset date and time. For example, it is assumed that the preset date and time is the oldest date and time in the data, and m persons who have accessed sequentially from that date and time are extracted. This is the group of users who recognized the item first. The user extracted in this way can be regarded as a user who has paid attention to the popular item as early as possible, that is, a pioneer of fashion of a specific genre among users of a specific user type.

The obtained user group is displayed in the browsing user list (G
Store as 2). This is repeated for each item in the base item list.

Next, the browsing / purchase history database 114
Thus, for each user in the browsing user list, an item that each user is browsing and has a specific attribute is extracted. The specific attribute is the same genre (for example, cosmetics, clothes, etc.) used to obtain the popular base item list.

At this time, items that have been accessed at a preset date and time or period from now are extracted. For example, items that have been accessed in the past n days from now are extracted. The extracted items are stored as a correlation item list. This is repeated for each user in the browsing user list.

The correlated item list obtained in this way is predicted to be the item that is being watched by the pioneer of the trend of the specific genre, that is, the next trend in the specific genre among users of a specific user type. Items can be considered.

In the first and second modifications, the correlation items in the extracted correlation item list can be arranged in various orders. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, there is a method of counting how many times each browsing user included in the browsing user list has accessed and sorting them in descending order of browsing frequency. In addition, there is a method of counting the number of viewers among the respective viewers included in the browsing user list, and arranging them in descending order of the number of accessed viewers. In some cases, the date and time of access are rearranged in chronological order.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention relating to an advertisement providing method will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

In this embodiment, in order to save the trouble of having the user input each time, the Internet, etc.
The access history of the interactive service user is used. When a user refers to information of his / her interest, the information service provider keeps a record of the reference. When a specific action is taken, a record of the action is kept. By periodically collecting the information, information at a certain date and time or a reference record collection (access history) having performed a certain action can be obtained for each user. An advertisement is provided to the user using the reference record collection. This allows
The user does not need to input user attributes or the like again, and uses the information actually referred to, so that the latest and correct user information can be obtained.

The following describes a method for providing an advertisement to a user using this reference record collection. Here, an algorithm for calculating the similarity between a plurality of reference record collections will be used. This similarity calculation is generally called social filtering (SF).

FIG. 13 conceptually shows the basic principle of introducing SF information. Assuming that the reference information group of the user U0 is G1, G
The user group other than U0 referring to 1 is referred to as a related user group G2. G2 is the information group that related users of G2 are referring to.
The reference information group not included in 1 is G3. This G3 is G
1 is regarded as reference information having a high degree of similarity to 1, that is, U0
Presumes that the information is of interest, and provides this G3 to U0 as introduction information.

Here, each related user of G2 is assigned a value indicating the degree of similarity (the number of times of reference, etc.), and using that information, each reference information (introduction) of the reference information group of G3 is used. Information). As a result, it is possible to provide a mechanism, for example, to introduce from the one with the highest estimated interest degree.

Also, attributes are set for the user and the information. As a result, it is possible to select the related user to be G2 according to the attribute (filtering) and to select the introduction information to be G3.

FIG. 11 is a system configuration diagram of the present embodiment. In the figure, 1100 is an advertiser terminal, 1110 is a user terminal, 1120 is an advertisement providing server, 1130 is a log management server, 1140 is an information service providing server, 11
Reference numeral 50 denotes the Internet and other networks connecting these. Generally, a large number of user terminals 1110 and information service providing servers 1140 exist on a network 1150. Advertiser terminal 1100, advertisement providing server 1
120 and a plurality of log management servers 1130 may exist on the network 1150.

Here, the advertisement providing server 1120 includes an advertisement information management section 1121, a user history management section 1122, a latent target information generation section 1123, an advertisement information selection section 1124, an advertisement provision frequency management section 1125, and an advertisement charge calculation section 1126. Etc.

The advertisement information management unit 1121 manages advertisement information for which an advertiser has requested advertisement posting. User history management unit 1
Reference numeral 122 manages an access history to each information of the information service providing server 1140, that is, a reference record collection for each user. The user history management unit 1122 also manages the access history of an advertising agent, which is a virtual user described later.

The latent target information generating unit 1123 generates, based on the access history of the user, latent target information having a high degree of similarity from target information related to the advertisement information. The advertisement information selection unit 1124 selects optimal advertisement information based on the access history of the user and the access history of the advertisement agent, and provides the user with the optimum advertisement information.

[0137] The advertisement provision frequency management unit 1125 manages the advertisement reference frequency and the additional information acquisition frequency of the user. The advertisement fee calculating unit 1126 calculates an advertisement fee to be paid by the advertiser based on the number of times of advertisement reference, the number of times of obtaining additional information, and the like.

First, the collection of the access history of the user (log collection) will be described. Each user is a user terminal 111
0, each information of the various information service providing servers 1140 is referred to.
Has obtained the access histories of these users. The primary collection location of the log is the information service providing server 1140 (web site) that acquires this access history.

For log collection, for example, the access history of each information page or product page of a website that provides information or products is used. In general, there are a plurality of web sites that hold access histories. In such a case, it is necessary that the access indicating the same information or the same product be recorded with the same name. Also, the user identifier needs to be able to confirm that the user is the same even across sites.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the log information of the information service providing server 1140 is collected in the log management server 1130 through the network 1150, and the whole can be managed collectively. User identifiers are also managed uniformly.

In some cases, the log management server 1130
And the information service providing server 1140 may be the same. For example, in a Web directory service in which information of each Web site is provided by a certain site, which site a user has selected and moved is collected as an access history. If a log management server is also running in the site, the access history can be passed without going through the network. If the access history can be obtained from the information service providing server and the relay server of the user terminal, the log can be used.

On the other hand, a site providing a large-scale service often has a plurality of service providing servers. In that case, the access history of each server is sent to one log management server via a network and managed. The same applies to the case where the service history is held by a network provider such as an ISP.

The user identifier is usually the service providing server 1
140 assigns, but when assigning a unified identifier at a plurality of sites, there may be cases where sites are unified, or a unique identifier is assigned by inquiring of the log management server 1130, or the like.

The log management server 1130 sends the access history of each user to the advertisement providing server 1120 through the network 1150 automatically at regular intervals or in response to a request from the advertisement providing server 1120. In the advertisement providing server 1120, the access history of the user sent from the log management server 1130 is managed by the user history management unit 1122. As a result, the user history management unit 1
At 122, the latest access history is managed. FIG. 20 shows an example of the access history of the user managed by the user history management unit 1122.

Note that the advertisement providing server 1120 itself may also serve as the log management server 1130. Further, the advertisement providing server 1120 itself may be one of the information service providing servers.

Next, in the advertisement providing server 1120,
A process of providing an advertisement using a user's access history will be described.

FIG. 12 shows the overall flow of the advertisement providing process. The advertiser makes an advertisement posting request, generates a latent target information list, sets an advertisement agent, and provides users with advertisements, additional information, and the like. In addition, the number is tabulated and reported to the advertiser, and the fee is paid.

Hereinafter, the flow of the processing will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Note that an advertisement provided to a user is referred to as advertisement information, and information that can be referred to by the user is referred to as reference information.

(1) The advertiser uses the advertiser terminal 1100 to send advertisement information to be submitted to the advertisement providing server 1120. At that time, the advertiser will also be notified of the content of the advertisement, the submission period, and the location where additional information will be saved. In the advertisement providing server 1120, the advertisement information sent from the advertiser terminal 1100 is managed by the advertisement information management unit 1121. FIG. 21 shows the advertisement information management unit 1
An example of the advertisement information managed by 121 is shown.

[0150] Further, the advertiser selects one or more pieces of target information (an information page of a website, a product page, etc.) related to the advertisement information to be posted when requesting the advertisement, and selects an advertisement providing server. 1120. The target information may be selected and notified by an advertiser's agent, agency, or the like. FIG. 22 shows an example of the target information.

(2) The latent target information generation unit 1123 of the advertisement providing server 1120 converts the target information into the G1 of FIG.
Then, the latent target information which is G3 is extracted. FIG.
4 shows a conceptual diagram of the extraction of the latent target information, and FIG. 15 shows a processing flowchart of the extraction of the latent target information.

First, a group G2 of users (related users) referring to the target information G1 is extracted from the collected user access history (step 1501). Next, if the number of extracted users (the number of related users) is large,
The number is reduced to a certain number (step 1502). This is performed, for example, by examining the number of times the target information has been referred to for each extracted user (step 1502-1), and narrowing down the information in descending order of the number of times of reference (step 1502-2).

Next, from the log-collected user access history, a group of information other than the target information G1 among the information referred to by the extracted users (related users) is collected (step 1503). . This is the latent target information G3 for the target information G1. Here, if there are many collected information groups (latent target information groups), the number is reduced to a certain number (step 1504). This method is the same as the case of reducing the number of related users (steps 1504-1 and 1504-1).
04-2). FIG. 23 shows an example of the latent target information.

(3) The user history management section 1123 of the advertisement providing server 1120 sets and uses a virtual user (referred to as an advertisement agent) using the additional information, the target information, and the potential target information as reference information. To the user access history. That is, it is as if the advertising agent referred to the additional information, target information, or latent target information. Here, a virtual fixed user identifier is assigned to the advertisement agent. At this time, the advertisement agent is provided with an advertisement attribute, and the additional information is also provided with the advertisement attribute.

FIG. 24 shows an example of the virtual access history of the advertisement agent obtained from FIGS. FIG. 25 shows an example of attribute setting of a user identifier and a reference information identifier. In some cases, the latent target information may be omitted, and the advertising agent may use only the additional information and the target information as reference information, or may use both the target information and the latent target information and the additional information as reference information. Good.

(4) The advertisement information selection unit 1124 of the advertisement providing server 1120 selects the advertisement information most suitable for the user based on the algorithm in FIG. 13 for the advertisement information within the advertisement posting period. However, the user appearing in G2 is a person having an advertisement attribute, that is, only an advertisement agent, and the introduction information appearing in G3 is only information having an advertisement attribute, that is, only additional information. The contents of the advertisement are obtained from the additional information, and the contents of the advertisement are linked to the additional information and provided to the user. FIG. 16 is a conceptual diagram of the advertisement posting processing algorithm, and FIG. 17 is a processing flowchart.

First, the information (reference information) G1 referred to by the user of the advertisement providing partner is extracted from all user access histories (including virtual advertisement agent access histories) (step 1701). Next, a group G2 of users (advertising agents) that refer to the reference information and have an advertising attribute is extracted (step 1702). Specifically, a group of users (related users) other than the advertisement providing user who is referring to the reference information G1 is extracted from all access histories, and a group of users having an advertisement attribute is extracted from the group of users. Extract a group of (advertising agents). Next, when the number of extracted users (advertising agents) G2 is large,
The number is reduced to a certain number (step 1703). This is performed, for example, by examining the number of times the reference information has been referred to for each extracted user (step 1703-1), and narrowing down the number of persons who referred to the information to a certain number in order (step 1703-2).

Next, a group G3 of information (additional information) with the advertisement attribute referred to by each user (advertisement agent) with the extracted advertisement attribute is extracted (step 1704). Specifically, from all user access history,
Extract the information group referred to by the advertising agent G2,
Information (additional information) with the advertisement attribute is extracted from the information group. Again, if there are many additional information groups extracted,
The number is reduced to a certain number (for example, the number necessary for display) (steps 1705, 1705-1, 1705-2).

Next, the advertisement content associated with the extracted additional information is obtained, the additional information is linked to the advertisement content, and the advertisement content is transmitted to the user terminal 1 of the advertisement providing user.
It is sent to 110 (step 1706).

In this way, optimal advertisement information is provided to the user according to the reference information (access history) of each user. It should be noted that the provision of advertisement information to the user, for example, upon request from the user,
Can be performed at regular intervals.

(5) The user refers to the contents of the advertisement using the browser of the use terminal 1110, and if interested, requests additional information from the advertisement providing server 1120 and acquires the additional information. FIG. 18 shows a specific image thereof.

(6) The advertisement provision frequency management unit 1125 of the advertisement provision server 1120 records the number of times a user has referred to an advertisement and the number of times additional information has been acquired. Further, the advertisement fee calculation unit 1126 calculates an advertisement fee based on the number of times of advertisement reference and the number of times of acquiring additional information.

The advertisement providing server 1120 makes a predetermined report to the advertiser through the advertiser terminal 1100 at any time or after the end of the advertisement posting period based on the advertisement reference record, the additional information acquisition record, and the charge calculation result. Request payment for the price.

FIG. 19 shows various methods for paying for the advertisement. FIG. 19A shows a method of determining an advertisement price at the stage when an advertisement is determined. Although such a conventional payment method can be used, the present invention is particularly suitable for a model that determines the price of an advertisement by comparing the number of advertisement references and the number of acquired additional information with regulations. (2) to (4) of FIG. 19 are examples.

FIG. 19 (2) shows a case where a minimum number is guaranteed for the number of advertisement references and / or acquisition of additional information at the time of posting an advertisement, and a fee is paid in advance. This is a way to extend the period.

FIG. 19 (3) shows the minimum number guarantee for the number of advertisement references and / or acquisition of additional information at the time of posting an advertisement and pays a fee in advance. Is a method to refund a part or all of the fee corresponding to the difference.

FIG. 19D shows a method of making a payment after the posting period based on the total number of advertisement references and the number of acquired additional information.

Specific examples are shown below. Here, a banner advertisement on the WWW will be described as an example, assuming a certain web service that provides product information on the Internet. It is assumed that the user is referring to various Web pages with this Web service.

The advertiser or his / her agent prepares a banner advertisement for a new portable personal computer with a camera and requests the posting of an advertisement. At this time, the contents of the advertisement (advertisement image, catch phrase) and the URL of additional information to be further referenced by a user interested in the advertisement are set. Normally, it is set as link information for this advertisement content. FIG. 26 shows a specific example of the advertisement information.

[0170] Further, the advertiser or the agent transmits a Web page (target information) related to the advertisement to the Web page.
Choose some from the services page. Here, FIG.
It is assumed that the Web page is selected.

In the advertisement providing server 1120, first, a page related to the selected Web page (latent target information)
Is extracted. That is, the web page group of FIG.
After extracting the related user of G2, the latent target information is extracted as G3. G1 to G2 or G2 here
The history used when extracting G3 from
Logs accessed within the service. FIG. 28 shows a specific example of the latent target information.

When the target information is recorded in the access history of the advertisement agent as information directly related to the advertisement recorded as the additional information, the advertisement can be sent to the client accessing the target information. Similarly, when the potential target information is recorded in the access history of the advertisement agent, the advertisement can be sent to a client who has not accessed the target information but has access to the potential related information related to the target information. That is, the advertisement can be delivered to clients who are potentially interested in the advertisement.

Next, the user ID of the advertisement agent
And records (access history) that the user ID refers to the additional information URL, the target information URL, and the latent target information URL. Here, the access history of the advertisement agent is as shown in FIG. Also, at this time, as shown in FIG.
The advertisement attribute is set in D and the advertisement attribute is set in the additional information URL.

When a general user tries to refer to an advertisement when using the Web service, the advertisement providing server 1120
Operates and introduces advertisements. At this time, the user entering G2 is assumed to be only the user of the advertisement attribute, that is, the advertisement agent, and the user entering G3 is also assumed to be the user having the advertisement attribute, that is, only the additional information. The contents of the advertisement are obtained from the extracted additional information. Therefore, what is introduced is only advertisements.

The user checks the displayed advertisement and obtains additional information if necessary. Specifically, the advertisement image is clicked as shown in FIG. Advertising server 11
At 20, the access record is also saved.

As shown in FIG. 19, several cases are prepared for fee payment. Generally, a fee is paid when an advertisement posting request is made, but here, three other options are prepared.

In the first option of posting until the number of advertisement references and the number of additional information obtained do not exceed the guaranteed number of advertisement references and the number of additional information obtained, the guaranteed number of advertisement references and the guaranteed number of advertisement references as shown in FIG. Since the additional information acquisition number did not exceed, the posting period was delayed as shown in FIG. 33, and the advertisement was posted until the guaranteed advertisement reference number and the additional information acquisition number were reached.
In this example, the posting period was 4 / 1-30,
This means that he was delayed until May 15.

In the second option of refunding the number of advertisements if the number of advertisements does not exceed the guaranteed number of advertisement references and the number of acquired additional information, the guaranteed number of advertisement references and the number of advertisements as shown in FIG. Because the number of additional information obtained did not exceed,
Refund. In this example, 71,000 yen (rounded down to the nearest 1,000 yen) was refunded.

In the third option for determining a fee based on the actual number of advertisement references and the number of additional information acquisitions, the unit price of the number of advertisement postings is 3 yen and the unit price of the number of additional information acquisitions is 100 yen in a charge table as shown in FIG. Yes, as a result of posting up to 4 / 1-30, calculated based on the actual number of advertisement references and the number of additional information obtained as shown in FIG.
Was charged.

According to this embodiment, in posting an advertisement in interactive media, a user who is likely to be interested and a user who is likely to be interested are found, and the latest access log of the user is used. Can select and provide appropriate advertisement information. As a result, in the advertising fee structure based on the number of advertisement references and the number of additional information obtained,
Even if the number of advertisement references is the same, the number of acquisitions of additional information increases, and there is a merit of obtaining more income.

Further, according to this embodiment, if a plurality of pieces of target information are set, a user who refers to a plurality of specific contents is targeted more than a user who refers to only one specific content. Can be. In addition, the target can be broadened by determining the target user based on the latent target information in addition to the target information.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 37 and 38 are block diagrams showing the configuration of the advertisement distribution system according to the present embodiment.

The client shown in FIGS. 37 and 38 has an input / output device 61 for browsing item information, purchasing an item, and displaying an advertisement, and a client I.
Web-accessible device such as a personal computer having a customer ID storage unit 62 holding D, a digital interactive TV set, a customer terminal 60 such as a telephone and a mobile phone.

The input / output device 61 has an output unit having a display, a printer, a television screen, a liquid crystal screen, and the like. The input unit has a mouse, various pointing devices, a keyboard,
It has an infrared remote controller, a mobile phone push key, and the like.

[0186] The customer ID storage unit 62 stores the customer ID allocated from the online shopping server 10.

On the other hand, in response to the request from the customer terminal 60, the server side displays the item information, receives the purchase order of the item, the online shopping server 10, and obtains the potential of the advertisement distribution target item from the access history of the online shopping server 10. It comprises a potential customer extraction server 20 for extracting customers, an advertisement transmission server 30 for displaying or distributing advertisements to the customer terminal 60, and a charging information management server 40 for managing charging information for advertisement distribution.

The customer terminal 60, online shopping server 10, potential customer extraction server 20, advertisement transmission server 30, and charging information management server 40 are connected by a network N such as the Internet.

The online shopping server 10 uses Am
azon.com (http://www.amazon.com/) and Outpost.com (ht
tp: //www.outpost.com/) and Rakuten Ichiba (http: //www.raku
An EC server or the like that can browse item information and actually purchase items via a network site such as ten.com.jp/), and receives an item information browsing request or purchase request from the customer terminal 60. , An online shopping processing unit 12 for displaying information and ordering a purchase order, an access history list 50 for recording an access (browsing / purchasing) history of the item such as browsing / purchasing of the item, and a customer ID to the customer terminal 60. And an ID information management unit 13 that holds customer ID information in a customer data storage unit 14, an item data storage unit 15 that holds item information and an item ID, and a control unit 11 that controls each unit. Be composed.

The item is information or a product that can be viewed, stored in a basket, or purchased through the customer terminal 60, and is unique by an item ID such as a Web URL or a product code. Can be identified.

The customer ID is a globally unique identifier.
Alternatively, the existing ID is confirmed.

The potential customer extraction server 20 includes an access history collection unit 22 that collects an access history list 50 from one or a plurality of online shopping servers 10,
The collected access history list 50 for a certain period of time is stored in the access history list storage unit 23, and based on the history of the access history list storage unit 23, the potential customer extraction request received from the input unit 25 Of the potential customers, an output unit 26 that outputs a list of the extracted potential customers, and a control unit 21 that controls these.

[0193] The advertisement transmission server 30 includes an output unit 34 for transmitting the designated advertisement target item ID to the potential customer extraction server 20, and an input unit 33 for receiving the potential customer list.
An advertisement distribution processing unit 32 for transmitting an advertisement to a customer terminal having a customer ID described in the potential customer list; a customer data storage unit 35 similar to the customer data storage unit 14 of the online shopping server 10; Part 36
And a control unit 31 for controlling these.

[0194] The billing information management server 40 bills by sending an advertisement, responding to the advertisement (clicking on a banner, etc.), browsing item information, purchasing an item, etc. as a trigger, and advertiser of the item. This is a management server for charging a fee to a company, and includes a charging condition management unit 42, an advertisement distribution number management unit 43, an advertisement response management unit 44, an input unit 45, an output unit 46, and a control unit 41.

The charging condition management unit 42 manages the type of advertisement, the number of transactions (number of advertisement distributions, the number of advertisement responses), and the contract fee for each item ID, and the number of transactions (advertisements) using the item ID and the type of advertisement charging as keys. (The number of distributions, the number of advertisement responses) and the contract fee.

The following types of advertisement charging types are possible.

[0197] Pay-as-you-go billing for each number of advertisement distributions: The number of advertisement distributions of the contract target item x the fee per distribution.

[0198] Flat-rate billing of a predetermined number of advertisement distributions: A charge on condition that the number of advertisement distributions of the contract target item reaches a predetermined number.

Pay-as-you-go billing per number of advertising responses: The number of responses to the advertisement delivery of the contract target item × the fee per response.

[0200] Flat-rate billing of the predetermined number of advertisement responses: A charge on condition that the number of responses to the advertisement distribution of the contract target item reaches a predetermined number.

• Charging by the above combination: A fixed amount of fixed fee is set on condition that a certain number of advertisements are distributed, and if a certain number or more is delivered, additional usage-based charging / amount if the certain number is not reached Refund of the amount according to.

FIG. 39 shows an online shopping server 10 of the advertisement distribution system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an access history list 50 generated in FIG.

The access history list 50 contains at least “access customer ID 51, accessed item ID 5
2 ”, and further has accompanying information such as the access date and time 53. For example, there is a means for using the access history of the Web server and a means by a unique history holding means.

FIG. 41 is a diagram showing an advertisement target item list 80 input to the potential customer extraction server 20 of the advertisement distribution system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

The advertising target item list 80 is described in a format including at least “advertising target item ID 81, priority 82”. For example, a means for describing in a comma-separated value (CSV) file format, or a description using a unique description format There is a way.

[0206] In the advertisement target item list 80, in addition to the item ID 81 of the item to be advertised, the item ID of an item related to the item may be described.

FIG. 42 is a view showing a potential customer list 90 output from the potential customer extraction server 20 of the advertisement distribution system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

The potential customer list 90 is described in a format including at least “priority order 91, customer ID 92”. For example, there are means for describing in a comma-separated CSV file format and a description method using a unique description format. .

Next, the detailed operation of each unit will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

<Assignment of Customer ID> FIG. 43 is a flowchart showing an operation of assigning a customer ID in the online shopping server 10.

(1) The customer uses the customer terminal 60 to access the online shopping server 10 via the network 11 such as the Internet. (Step 2100) (2) When confirming the connection to the online shopping server 10, the customer terminal 60 sends the customer ID stored in the customer ID storage unit 62 together with the "customer terminal authentication request". At this time, when the customer ID is not held, a NULL code indicating that there is nothing is transmitted. (Step 2110) (3-1) The online shopping server 10 that has received the “customer terminal authentication request” and the customer ID receives the customer ID NUL.
If it is an L code (step 2120), the ID
The information management unit 13 generates a customer ID, which is a new globally unique identifier (step 2140).
D is stored in the customer data storage unit 14 (step 215).
0), the customer ID is sent to the customer terminal 60 together with the "customer terminal authentication response" (step 2160).

(3-2) “Customer terminal authentication request” and customer I
If the customer ID is not a NULL code, the online shopping server 10 receiving D (step 212)
0), inquire of the ID information management unit 13 and confirm whether or not it exists in the customer data storage unit 14;
If not (step 2130), the customer terminal 6
0, and discards the customer ID received from ID information management unit 1
3, a new customer ID, which is a globally unique identifier, is generated (step 2140), and the customer ID is stored in the customer data storage unit 14 (step 2150). Customer terminal 6
0 (step 2160).

(3-3) “Customer terminal authentication request” and customer I
If the customer ID is not a NULL code, the online shopping server 10 receiving D (step 212)
0), inquire of the ID information management unit 13 and confirm whether or not it exists in the customer data storage unit 14;
(Step 2130), the customer ID is sent to the customer terminal 60 as it is together with the "customer terminal authentication response" (Step 2160).

(4) The customer terminal 60 that has received the “customer terminal authentication response” and the customer ID receives the customer ID.
Is written into the customer ID storage unit 62 (step 217).
0).

In this series of processing, the ID information management unit 13 stores and manages the password together with the customer ID, performs a password check in the processing of the customer authentication request (2) to (3), and performs security of the customer ID. Can also be increased.

<Generation of Access History> FIG. 44 is a flowchart showing an access history generation operation in online shopping server 10.

(1) The customer uses the customer terminal 60 to browse item information on the online shopping server 10 or transmit a purchase request for the item via the network N such as the Internet (step 220).
0).

(2) Customer I of the customer terminal that has accessed
The access history is added to the access history list 50 so as to include at least D and the item ID of the item to be viewed / purchased (step 2210).

The information to be recorded on the access history is not limited to the above. Information such as browsing / purchasing is recorded and used as a parameter for prioritizing a potential customer extraction operation described later. Is also possible.

<Collection of Access History> FIG. 45 is a flowchart showing an access history collection operation in the potential customer extraction server 20.

(1) In the potential customer extraction server 20,
An access history collection request is transmitted from the control unit 21 to the access history collection unit 22 at a time designated in advance, and an access history collection operation is started (step 2300).

(2) In the potential customer extraction server 20,
The access history collection unit 22 stores the access history list 50 on the online shopping server 10 on the network N
(Step 2310) by using a protocol such as FTP GET.

(3) Online shopping server 10
The access history collection unit 22 that has collected the access history list 50 holds the access history list storage unit 23. At this time, an access history of browsing / purchasing by the customer is stored in a format that allows reading of an access history of browsing / purchasing of the item using the item ID as a key (step 2320).

In the collection operation (2), the number of online shopping servers 10 to be collected is not limited to one, but may be collected from a plurality of servers 10. Further, the method is not limited to the method of collecting the access history from the access history collection unit 22, but may be a method of transmitting the access history from the online shopping server 10 to the access history collection unit 22 periodically or at the time of access.

<Potential Customer Extraction> FIG. 46 is a flowchart showing the operation of the potential customer extraction in the potential customer extraction server 20.

(1) In the potential customer extraction server 20,
The input unit 25 receives the input of the advertisement target item list together with the “lead customer extraction request” (Step 240)
0).

The information of the advertisement target item list is not limited to the item ID of the item to be actually advertised, but may include the item ID of the item related to the advertisement target item specified by the advertiser. Good.

(2) The input unit 25 having received the potential customer extraction request transmits a potential customer extraction request to the control unit 21.
A potential customer extraction operation is started (step 2410).

(3) The control unit 21 having received the potential customer extraction request transmits a potential customer extraction start request to the potential customer extraction processing unit 24 (step 2420).

(4) Upon receiving the potential customer extraction start request, the potential customer extraction processing unit 24 reads the advertisement target item list from the input unit 25, and stores all the item IDs in the advertisement target item list in the target item group 71. (Hereinafter G
(Refer to FIG. 40) (step 243).
0).

(5) In the potential customer extraction processing section 24,
From the access history list storage unit 23, using the G1 item ID as a key, an access history in which the customer has browsed / purchased the item in the past is acquired, and all the customer IDs in the access history are accessed by the customer who has accessed the G1 item ( It is set in a direct customer) group 72 (hereinafter referred to as G2: see FIG. 40) (step 2440).

(6) In the potential customer extraction processing section 24,
In the same manner as in 5), using the customer ID in the G2 as a key, an access history in which the customer has viewed / purchased an item in the past is acquired from the access history list storage unit 23,
G1 other than G1 among all item IDs in the access history
Are set in an item group 73 (hereinafter referred to as G3: see FIG. 40) closely related to the item (step 2450).

(7) In the same manner as in 5) in the potential customer extraction processing section 24, the access history list storage section 23 uses the item ID in G3 as a key to access / view the item by the customer in the past. A history is acquired, and among all the customer IDs in the access history, a customer ID that is not in G2 is a customer (potential customer) group 74 (hereinafter referred to as G4) that is likely to be potentially interested in the item of G1: FIG. (See step 2460).

(8) In the potential customer extraction processing section 24,
The output unit 26 uses the G4 customer ID as a potential customer list.
(Step 2470).

(9) Output unit 2 that has received the potential customer list
6 outputs a list of potential customers to the external interface (step 2480).

According to the above operation, it is possible to extract a customer group having an access tendency similar to the customer group accessing the target item for which an advertisement is to be placed. Since it can be said that a customer group having an access tendency similar to the direct customer has a similar interest tendency, that is, a customer group (potential customer) that is likely to purchase the advertisement target item is extracted. become.

In the processes (4) to (7), for example, the number of accessed items in the group (the amount of overlap)
, Access date and time, number of past access items for customers,
By using the past number of accessed customers of the item as a key and sorting the order, the priority is determined, and by narrowing down to the top n items in the sorted order,
It is possible to increase the accuracy of the similarity of the access tendency.

<Advertisement Distribution Operation> FIG. 47 is a flowchart showing the operation of the advertisement transmission server 30 for distributing an advertisement to a potential customer.

(1) In the advertisement transmission server 30, the input unit 33 receives the input of one or more advertisement target item IDs together with the “advertisement distribution request” (step 2).
500).

(2) The advertisement transmission request is transmitted from the input unit 33 to the control unit 31 in the advertisement transmission server 30, and the advertisement distribution processing operation is started (step 2510).

(3) The controller 31 having received the advertisement distribution request transmits an “advertisement target item ID output request” to the output unit 34 (step 2520).

(4) The output unit 34 that has received the advertisement target item ID output request reads the advertisement target item ID from the input unit 33 (step 2530).

(5) From the output unit, the potential customer extraction server 20
The advertisement target item ID is transmitted together with the “lead customer extraction request” (step 2540).

(6) In the potential customer extraction server 30,
A potential customer extraction operation is performed on the advertisement target item (step 2550 / steps 2400 to 2480).

(7) The potential customer list output from the potential customer extraction server 20 is stored in the input unit 3 of the advertisement transmission server 30.
3 receives (step 2560).

(8) The potential customer list is transmitted from the input unit 33 of the advertisement transmission server 30 having received the potential customer list to the advertisement distribution processing unit 32 (step 2570).

(9) From the advertisement distribution processing unit 32 that has received the potential customer list, the customer ID described in the potential customer list
The advertisement is transmitted to the customer terminal 60 corresponding to the above by using means such as an e-mail or a push distribution device (step 2580).

The advertisement distribution method is not limited to the method of directly transmitting the electronic mail or the push distribution device, but displays the banner advertisement when the customer terminal 60 accesses the online shopping server 10. It may be a method.

According to this embodiment, the advertisement distribution destination can be narrowed down to the potential customers based only on the past access history of the customers. Therefore, it is unnecessary to register the attribute information in advance from the customers (attribute input).・ It is easy to attract customers because it does not take much time) ・ It is not necessary to register attribute information for the item (it does not take care of maintenance) ・ We can distribute advertisements to potential customers of advertising items, and customers are interested in advertising items In other words, it is possible to reduce the trouble of the customer and the trouble of management, and to increase the probability of browsing / purchasing the advertisement target item.

The present invention is not limited to the above. For example, advertisement distribution can be displayed on the top page of the online shopping server 10 in the form of a recommended item in a menu.

[0251] In addition to the Internet application, in media and networks where it is difficult to input attributes such as digital two-way TVs and home information appliances, it is effective when determining an advertisement distribution destination only with an access history.

Also, online shopping server 1
0, the potential customer extraction server 20, the advertisement transmission server 30, and the billing information management server 40 may be independent devices, or any combination or all of them may be implemented by one server.

As described above, in the online shopping server such as the Web EC site, the history (access history) in which the customer browsed the item information or purchased the item is stored. The stored information is, for example, “customer ID, item ID, access date and time”.

When collecting the above access history and distributing the advertisement of item A, as shown in FIG. 4, “the group of customers G2 who browsed / purchased the group of items G1 composed of item A and its related items is browsed in common. The basic logic is to deliver an advertisement to a "customer (potential customer) group G4 who is likely to browse / purchase G1w" who sees the "purchased" item group G3 in the same way. is there.

Thus, according to this embodiment,
It becomes possible to distribute advertisements to customers who are likely to browse / purchase target items to which advertisements are to be distributed based on only the access history (without the need for advance registration of attributes).

As should be apparent to those skilled in the computer art, the above embodiments of the present invention may be conveniently implemented using a conventional general purpose digital computer programmed in accordance with the teachings herein. Often, appropriate software code is easily created by a programmer based on the teachings of the present disclosure.

Particularly, the information delivery server, the advertisement providing server, the online shopping server,
Various server devices, such as a potential customer extraction server and an advertisement transfer server, may conveniently be provided in the form of software.

Such a software package may be a computer program product that uses a recording medium that contains recorded computer code used to program a computer to perform the disclosed functions and processes of the present invention. . Recording media include conventional floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic disks.
Optical disk, ROM, RAM, EPROM, EEPROM
It may be, but is not limited to, an OM, magnetic or optical card, or any other suitable medium for storing electronic instructions.

[0259]

As described above, in the first embodiment of the present invention, since the data from which the correlation is detected is only the access history, there is no need to input information for evaluation. There is no need to register the genre category for the information, etc., and the use of the ever-changing access history enables the correlation information (correlation item) that follows the change of the user's interest at that time. Detection becomes possible.

Further, in the first embodiment of the present invention, only the base information (item) is used as a condition for detecting the correlation of information, so that it is necessary to set complicated conditions for detecting the correlation. Since this is not performed, there is an effect that conditions can be easily specified. Further, the condition for correlation detection is often company confidential, and by specifying only the information list, only the information list needs to be transmitted as the condition for correlation detection (there is no danger of information leakage or the like). )effective.

Further, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, in posting an advertisement in interactive media, a user who is likely to be interested and a user who is likely to be interested are found, and And can provide appropriate advertisement information based on the latest access log.
As a result, in an advertisement fee system based on the number of advertisement references and the number of additional information acquisitions, the number of additional information acquisitions increases even with the same number of advertisement references, and there is a merit of obtaining more income.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention,
By setting a plurality of pieces of target information, it is possible to target a user who has referred to a plurality of specific contents rather than a user who has referred to only one specific content. In addition, the target can be broadened by determining the target user based on the latent target information in addition to the target information.

Further, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, browsing of a target item to which an advertisement is to be distributed is performed based on only the access history (there is no need to pre-register attributes of a customer or an item). / It is possible to distribute advertisements to customers who are likely to purchase. As a result, the number of browsing / purchasing can be increased as a result.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a processing flowchart of access history acquisition in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a registration process of a correlation item delivery destination client in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a registration process of correlated item delivery in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an overall processing flowchart of correlated item detection according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of correlation item detection according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a detailed processing flowchart of correlated item detection in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a processing flowchart of delivery and charging of a correlation item in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the accounting information totaling process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of correlated item delivery in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a system configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flow of an entire process of introducing an advertisement in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram of a social filtering information introduction algorithm according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram of a latent target information extraction algorithm according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a process of extracting latent target information in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a conceptual diagram of an advertisement introduction algorithm according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an advertisement introduction process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a specific image of advertisement introduction according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing types of payment methods in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is an example of an access history according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is an example of advertisement information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is an example of target information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is an example of latent target information in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is an example of creating an access history of an advertisement agent in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is an example of a user identifier and information attribute setting according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a specific example of advertisement information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a specific example of target information in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a specific example of latent target information in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a specific example of creating an access history of an advertisement agent according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 30 is a specific example of attribute settings of a user identifier and information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a specific example of the number of guarantees at the time of contract according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 32 is a specific example of a report after an advertisement posting period in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 33 is a specific example of a report after additional posting in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 34 is another specific example of the report after the advertisement posting period in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 35 is a specific example of a unit price at the time of contract according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 36 is still another specific example of the report after the advertisement posting period in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 37 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an advertisement distribution device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 38 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an advertisement distribution device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 39 is an explanatory diagram showing an access history list generated by the online shopping server of the advertisement distribution device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 40 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of potential customer extraction according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 41 is an explanatory diagram showing an advertisement target item list input to a potential customer extraction server of the advertisement distribution device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 42 is an explanatory diagram showing a potential customer list output from a potential customer extraction server of the advertisement distribution device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 43 is a flowchart showing a customer ID assignment operation in the online shopping server according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 44 is a flowchart showing an access history generation operation in the online shopping server according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 45 is a flowchart showing an access history collection operation in the potential customer extraction server according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 46 is a flowchart showing a potential customer extraction operation in the potential customer extraction server according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 47 is a flowchart showing an operation of delivering an advertisement to a potential customer in the advertisement transmission server according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 online shopping server 11 control section 12 online shopping processing section 13 ID information management section 14 customer data storage section 15 item data storage section 20 potential customer extraction server 21 control section 22 access history collection section 23 access history list storage section 24 potential customer extraction Processing unit 25 Input unit 26 Output unit 30 Advertisement transmission server 31 Control unit 32 Advertisement distribution processing unit 33 Input unit 34 Output unit 35 Customer data storage unit 36 Item data storage unit 40 Charging information management server 41 Control unit 42 Charging condition management unit 43 Ad delivery count management unit 44 Ad response management unit 45 Input unit 46 Output unit 50 Access history list 60 Customer terminal 61 Input / output device 62 Customer ID storage unit 100 Client 110 Information delivery server 111 Web page 112 server Engine 113 Inter-item correlation detection unit 114 Browsing / purchasing history database 115 Client management unit 116 Base item storage unit 117 Correlated item storage unit 118 Charging management unit 120 Information browsing server 130 Network 1100 Advertiser terminal 1110 User terminal 1120 Advertisement providing server 1121 Advertisement information management unit 1122 User history management unit 1123 Latent target information generation unit 1124 Advertisement information selection unit 1125 Advertisement count management unit 1126 Advertisement charge calculation unit 1130 Log management server 1140 Information server provision server 1150 Network

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 17/60 ZEC G06F 17/60 ZEC (72) Inventor Yuichiro Oshikawa 2-chome Otemachi 2-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 1 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Yusuke Ichikawa 2-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo F-Term within Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (Reference) 5B075 KK07 KK13 ND16 ND23 NS01 PQ02 PQ42 PR03 UU40

Claims (38)

[Claims] The method includes: managing an access history of access to an information item by a user; receiving a correlation detection condition indicating at least one information item from a client; Detecting a related user who has accessed the information item; extracting a correlation information item accessed by the related user based on an access history; and delivering the correlation information item to a client; An information delivery method comprising: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the extracting includes extracting, as the correlation information item, a correlation information item accessed by the relevant user, other than the at least one information item indicated by the correlation detection condition. 2. The information delivery method according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The information delivery method according to claim 1, wherein the extracting step periodically extracts the correlation information item, and the delivering step periodically delivers the correlation information item. 4. The information delivery method according to claim 1, wherein the managing step manages an access history recorded when the user browses or purchases the information item. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the detecting includes, among users who have accessed the at least one information item based on an access history, a predetermined number of users who have relatively accessed the at least one information item. 2. The information delivery method according to claim 1, wherein the information is detected as the related user. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the extracting step includes, among the information items accessed by the related user based on an access history, correlating a predetermined number of information items accessed relatively frequently by the related user with the correlation item. 2. The information delivery method according to claim 1, wherein the information is extracted as an information item. 7. The detecting step includes selecting a selected information item in a correlation detection condition having a total number of accesses greater than a predetermined threshold, and selecting one of the selected information items based on an access history. Detecting the related user by selecting a user who accessed earlier than a predetermined number of users or any of the selected information items within a predetermined period, and the extracting step comprises: 2. The information delivery method according to claim 1, wherein the correlation information item is extracted by selecting an information item accessed within a predetermined period by the related user. 8. The detecting step includes selecting the selected information item from information items in the correlation detection condition having a specific attribute, and selecting the related user from a user having a predetermined attribute. 8. The information delivery method according to claim 7, wherein the detecting and extracting step extracts the correlation information item from the information item having the specific attribute. 9. The information delivery method according to claim 8, wherein the specific attribute indicates a specific information item classification, and the predetermined attribute indicates a predetermined user type. 10. The information delivery method according to claim 7, wherein the delivering step delivers the correlation information items in descending order of the number of times each correlation information item is accessed by the related user. 11. The information delivery method according to claim 7, wherein said delivering step delivers the correlation information items in descending order of the number of users who have accessed each correlation information item among the related users. Method. 12. The information according to claim 7, wherein said delivering step delivers the correlation information items in the order of time when each correlation information item was accessed by at least one of the related users. Shipping method. 13. A means for managing an access history of an access to an information item by a user; a means for receiving a correlation detection condition including at least one information item from a client; Means for detecting a related user who has accessed the information item; means for extracting a correlation information item accessed by the related user based on an access history; and means for delivering the correlation information item to the client. An information delivery device, comprising: 14. A program code for managing an access history of an access to an information item by a user; a program code for receiving a correlation detection condition including at least one information item from a client; A program code for detecting a related user who has accessed one information item; a program code for extracting a correlation information item accessed by the related user based on an access history; and A computer program for information delivery, comprising: a program code for delivery; 15. An access history of a user's access to information provided by an information provider and information to be provided to a client who is a user accessing predetermined target information. Managing the additional information accessible to the client and the advertisement information associated with the client; and the access history of the advertisement agent, which is a virtual user accessing both the target information and the additional information, as the access history. Adding, detecting the advertisement agent as a related user who accessed the target information other than the client based on the access history, and the additional information as correlation information being accessed by the related user based on the access history Is extracted and managed in association with the extracted additional information. That by delivering advertisement information to the client, the advertisement providing method characterized by comprising the steps of providing an advertisement in response to a request from the client, the. 16. A step of detecting another related user who has accessed the target information other than the client and the advertisement agent based on the access history, and a potential object accessed by the other related user based on the access history. Extracting information; adding an access history of another advertising agent that is a virtual user accessing the additional information and the latent target information; and another client accessing the latent target information. On the basis of the access history, the other advertising agent is detected as another related user who has accessed the latent target information other than the another client, and based on the access history, The additional information is extracted as the correlated information being accessed, and the extracted additional information is associated with the extracted additional information. 16. The advertisement providing method according to claim 15, further comprising the step of: delivering the advertisement information which is managed separately to the another client. 17. The advertisement providing method according to claim 15, wherein the providing step provides the advertisement information in a form linked to the additional information. 18. The advertisement providing method according to claim 15, wherein the managing step manages the advertisement information designated by an advertiser, the additional information, and the target information. 19. Aggregating the number of times of advertisement information delivery and the number of times of additional information access by an actual advertisement providing operation; and charging an advertiser an advertisement fee based on the number of times of advertisement information delivery and / or the number of times of additional information access. The advertisement providing method according to claim 15, further comprising: 20. A step of charging the advertiser for the guaranteed minimum number of times of delivery of the advertisement information and / or the minimum number of times of access to the additional information so that the advertiser pays the advertisement rate prior to the actual advertisement providing operation. Totalizing the number of times the advertisement information is delivered and the number of times the additional information is accessed by the actual advertisement providing operation; 16. The advertisement providing method according to claim 15, further comprising: extending an advertisement posting period in which an actual broad providing operation is performed until the number of accesses is reached. 21. A step of charging the advertiser for the guaranteed minimum number of times of delivery of advertisement information and / or the minimum number of times of access to additional information so that the advertiser pays the advertisement rate prior to the actual advertisement providing operation. Totaling the number of times of distribution of advertisement information and the number of times of additional information access by an actual advertisement providing operation during a predetermined advertisement posting period; the number of times of distribution of advertisement information and / or the minimum number of times of distribution of advertisement information of the number of times of additional information access 16. The advertisement providing method according to claim 15, further comprising: refunding at least a part of an advertisement fee corresponding to a difference from the minimum number of times of additional information access. 22. An access history of a user's access to information provided by an information provider, and information to be provided to a client who is a user accessing predetermined target information. Means for managing the additional information accessible by the client and the associated advertisement information; and the access history of the advertisement agent, which is a virtual user accessing both the target information and the additional information, as the access history. Means for adding, detecting the advertising agent as a related user who has accessed the target information other than the client based on the access history, and the additional information as correlation information being accessed by the related user based on the access history And an advertisement managed in association with the extracted additional information By delivering the broadcast to the client, the advertisement providing apparatus characterized by comprising means for providing an advertisement in response to a request from the client, the. 23. An access history of a user's access to information provided by an information provider, and information to be provided to a client who is accessing a predetermined target information. A program code for managing additional information accessible to a client and associated advertisement information; and an access history of an advertisement agent, which is a virtual user accessing both the target information and the additional information. A program code to be added to, the advertisement agent is detected as a related user who accessed the target information other than the client based on the access history, and the correlation information is accessed as the correlation information accessed by the related user based on the access history. Extract additional information and associate it with the extracted additional information Is by delivering advertisement information managed by the client, the computer program for advertising provided, characterized in that it comprises program code for providing an advertisement in response to a request from the client, the. 24. A step of managing an access history of an access to an information item by a user, and, based on the access history, a direct user who has accessed an advertisement target information item or an information item related to the advertisement target information item. Detecting, based on an access history, extracting a related information item accessed by the direct user; determining, based on the access history, a potential user who has accessed the related information item; Delivering the advertisement target information item to the potential user. 25. The method according to claim 25, wherein the extracting step includes the step of extracting information items other than the advertisement target information item or the information items related to the advertisement target information item which are directly accessed by the user based on an access history. 25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the step of extracting as the item and determining the user who accesses the related information item other than the direct user is determined as the potential user based on an access history. How to serve ads. 26. The advertisement providing method according to claim 24, wherein the managing step manages an access history recorded when the user browses or purchases the information item. 27. The management method according to claim 24, wherein the managing step manages an access history indicating at least an access user ID and an accessed information item ID.
The advertising method described. 28. A step of generating a potential user list in which the potential users are arranged in an order based on the potential user's access history, and the delivering step includes the steps of: 25. The advertisement providing method according to claim 24, wherein the advertisement target information item is delivered to the potential user. 29. The advertisement providing method according to claim 28, wherein, in the delivering step, the advertisement target information item is delivered to only a predetermined number of the potential users based on the potential user list. 30. The advertisement providing method according to claim 24, wherein, in the delivering, the advertising information item is delivered by sending an advertising message to the potential user via a network. 31. The method according to claim 31, wherein the delivering step includes delivering the advertisement target information item by displaying a banner advertisement of the advertisement target information item in response to access from any of the potential users. Item 2
4. The advertisement providing method according to 4. 32. The advertisement providing method according to claim 24, further comprising the step of charging an advertisement fee to an advertiser of the information item to be advertised. 33. The advertisement providing method according to claim 32, wherein, in the charging step, the advertisement fee is charged on a pay-per-use basis based on the number of times of advertisement delivery. 34. The advertisement providing method according to claim 32, wherein in said charging step, said advertisement fee is charged on a fixed rate system which guarantees a predetermined number of times of advertisement delivery. 35. The advertisement providing method according to claim 32, wherein, in the charging step, the advertisement fee is charged on a pay-per-use basis based on the number of advertisement responses. 36. The advertisement providing method according to claim 32, wherein in said charging step, said advertisement fee is charged on a fixed rate system which guarantees a predetermined number of advertisement responses. 37. A means for managing an access history of access to an information item by a user, and, based on the access history, a direct user who has accessed an advertisement target information item or an information item related to the advertisement target information item. Means for detecting, means for extracting a related information item accessed by the direct user based on an access history, means for determining a potential user who has accessed the related information item based on an access history, Means for delivering the advertisement target information item to the potential user. 38. A program code for managing an access history of an access to an information item by a user, and a direct user who accesses an advertisement target information item or an information item related to the advertisement target information item based on the access history. And a program code for extracting a related information item accessed by the direct user based on the access history, and determining a potential user who has accessed the related information item based on the access history. A computer program for providing an advertisement, comprising: a program code; and a program code for delivering the advertisement target information item to the potential user.