JP2002092198A - Regional information provider and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a regional information provider and a storage medium which provide detailed information over a network by making a network user, who is well acquainted with the information such as a limited region, provide regional information which does not exist over the network or regional information, which is difficult to retrieve using a retrieval engine, such as limited regional information. SOLUTION: A regional information providing server 1 invites the terminals of plural information users connected via the Internet S to provide regional information and stores regional information provided from terminals 2 of information users in a database as information by regional groups and pays compensation for regional information to information users, who have provided regional information, and provides regional information on the basis of regional information stored in the database.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a local information providing apparatus and a storage medium, and more particularly to a local information providing apparatus for providing detailed local information and a storage medium for storing a control program therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, e-mail and Internet connection services using information communication devices such as computers, portable information terminals, and mobile phones have become popular, and the number of users has been increasing rapidly.

[0003] Further, with the rapid increase of users of information and communication equipment, the number of homepages that provide information using the Internet has also increased, and on this homepage, information that can be disclosed by government agencies, products and services provided by companies, and the like. And various information such as sales information, pay information such as music contents, personal information, etc. are disclosed.

[0004] In addition, the number of users who obtain various kinds of information by using these homepages is increasing, and the desired information U
When an RL (Uniform Resource Locator) is not known, a URL of desired information is generally acquired by using a directory type or robot type search engine.

[0005]

However, on the homepage on the Internet, public offices, corporations, individuals, etc., who publish various information, prepare information from their respective positions and publish the information. The above information does not exist systematically to cover all kinds of information.For example, when trying to obtain certain limited area information, the area information may not exist on the Internet .

[0006] When a URL of desired information is searched using a search engine, the search engine may select the URL automatically or artificially. URL of the published homepage
May have been omitted.

For example, a robot-type search engine automatically searches for information on the Internet based on an input keyword or the like. Therefore, a keyword input for information registered artificially in each genre is used. When compared with a directory-type search engine that searches for a keyword, there is a problem that the keyword setting and the genre classification for arriving at necessary information are often not set appropriately.

An object of the present invention is to provide local information that does not exist on a network, such as limited local information, or
A local information providing device capable of providing detailed local information on a network by providing information of local information that is difficult to search by a search engine by a user of a network that is familiar with limited local information, and It is to provide a storage medium.

[0009]

The present invention has the following features in order to achieve the above object. In the following description of the means, a configuration corresponding to the embodiment is exemplified by parentheses as an example. Reference numerals and the like are reference numerals and the like in the drawings described later.

[0010] The invention according to claim 1 is provided from a plurality of information user terminals (for example, information user terminal 2 shown in FIG. 1) connected via a network (for example, the Internet S shown in FIG. 1). A local information providing device (for example, a local information providing server 1 shown in FIG. 1) for obtaining the obtained local information and providing the local information based on the obtained local information; A recruiting unit (for example, the CPU 11 shown in FIG. 2 and step S1 shown in FIG. 16) for recruiting the provision of the regional information, and a regional information storing unit (for storing the regional information provided from the terminal of the information user for each region) For example, the information DB 17k shown in FIG. 14 and steps S11 to S14 and S19 shown in FIG. 16 and the information user who provided the area information are paid for the area information. Source for consideration reducing means (e.g., FIG. 2
And the step S21 shown in FIG.
And information disclosure means (for example, CPU 11 shown in FIG. 2 and steps S22 to S28 shown in FIG. 16) for releasing the regional information stored in the storage means to the information user.
And characterized in that:

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the local information providing apparatus includes a recruiting unit, a regional information storing unit, a value reducing unit, and an information disclosing unit. The user of the information user is invited to provide regional information, the regional information provided by the information user is stored for each region, and the information user who provided the regional information is paid for the regional information. Since the information provided can be shared and the provided local information can be made public, a huge amount of local information can be collected smoothly using the network, and the information user can pay for the value of the provided local information. It can be expected that information users will actively provide local information. Further, the information user can easily browse the regional information classified by region.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an information providing system 100 which is an embodiment of a local information providing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, the configuration will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of an information providing system 100 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, an information providing system 10
0 is the local information providing server 1 and the information user terminal 2 connected to the Internet S;
And an advertisement provider terminal 3 that provides an advertisement to the user.

FIG. 1 shows a case where the system is composed of one regional information providing server 1, two information user terminals 2, and one advertisement provider terminal 3. The number of them and the number of installation locations are not particularly limited.

Here, the information user terminal 2 is a terminal such as a personal computer or a mobile phone having a communication function, and accesses the homepage of the information providing service provided by the local information providing server 1 via the Internet S. Has functions.

The advertisement provider terminal 3 is a provider terminal of an advertisement posted together with various information on a homepage of an information providing service provided by the local information providing server 1. The information is transmitted to the local information providing server 1 via a dedicated line or the like.

The advertisement posting cost provided by the advertisement provider terminal 3 is the price of a commodity or a discount coupon that can be exchanged according to the number of points, which is the price when information is provided from the information user terminal 2. Applied to expenses.

Next, the internal configuration of the local information providing server 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, the local information providing server 1 comprises:
CPU 11, display unit 12, input unit 13, transmission control unit 1
4, a RAM 15, a storage device 16, and a storage medium 17;
Connected by

CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11
Stores an application program specified from various application programs corresponding to the local information providing server 1 stored in the storage medium 17 in the storage device 16 in a work memory area in the RAM 15;
Various processes are executed in accordance with the application programs stored in the RAM 15, and the processing results are stored in a work memory area in the RAM 15, and the display unit 12
To display. Then, the processing result stored in the work memory area is stored in the storage destination of the storage medium 17 in the storage device 16.

The CPU 11 performs an overall process described later (FIG. 1).
6 and 17), when the top page (see FIG. 4) is accessed from the information user terminal 2, it is determined whether information provision has been instructed, information browsing has been instructed, or point redemption has been instructed. I do.

When information provision is instructed, the CPU 11
Determines whether the user of the information user terminal 2 is a new user, and if the user is a new user, issues a user ID.

Further, the CPU 11 transmits an area / genre selection page (see FIG. 5) to the information user terminal 2 to receive the selected area, genre, etc., and respond to the received selection. Information providing page (see Figure 6)
To the information user terminal 2 to obtain the information provided by the information user terminal 2.

Then, the CPU 11 searches the information DB 17k to determine whether or not information similar to the acquired information has already been registered. If information similar to the acquired information has already been registered, the similar information Is transmitted to the information user terminal 2, and if information similar to the acquired information is not already registered, the acquired information is registered in the information DB 17k, and the completion OK page ( 7) is transmitted to the information user terminal 2, and the points corresponding to the information are added to the total number of points in the user DB 17i.

When information browsing is instructed, the CP
U11 transmits the region / genre selection page (see FIG. 9) to the information user terminal 2, receives the selection of the selected region and the information genre, and displays a list of information corresponding to the received selection. The information page shown in FIG. 10 is transmitted to the information user terminal 2, and information selected from the transmitted information page list or information corresponding to the input keyword is further transmitted to the information user terminal 2. .

When point redemption is instructed,
The CPU 11 transmits the point redemption page (see FIG. 11) to the information user terminal 2 and, if there is a redemption request, receives the user ID input by the information user terminal 2 and the redemption target product number, and The total number of points in DB 17i,
The redemption point number corresponding to the redemption target product number is compared.

If the total number of points in the user DB 17i is equal to or greater than the number of redemption points corresponding to the merchandise number to be redeemed,
The CPU 11 subtracts the redemption point number corresponding to the redemption target product number from the total number of points in the user DB 17i, stores the subtracted total number in the total number of points in the user DB 17i, and arranges the shipping of the redemption target product.

The display unit 12 includes a liquid crystal display panel, a CRT
(Cathode Ray Tube) Consists of a display device, etc.
The display data input from U11 is displayed.

The input unit 13 includes a keyboard having cursor keys, numeral input keys, various function keys, and the like, and a mouse as a pointing device. An operation signal is output to the CPU 11.

The transmission control unit 14 has a modem (MODEM:
It is configured by a MOdulator / DEModulator or a terminal adapter (TA: Terminal Adapter), and controls communication with an external device via a communication line such as a telephone line or ISDN. The modem converts the digital data processed by the CPU 11 into an analog signal matching the frequency band of the telephone line in order to communicate with external devices such as the information user terminal 2 and the advertisement provider terminal 3 via the telephone line. This device modulates an analog signal input through a telephone line into a digital signal. The terminal adapter is a device that converts an existing interface into an interface corresponding to ISDN in order to communicate with an external device such as the information user terminal 2 or the advertisement provider terminal 3 via the ISDN line.

A RAM (Random Access Memory) 15
It has a work memory area for storing the above-mentioned designated application program, input instructions, input data, processing results, and the like.

The storage device 16 has a storage medium 17 in which programs and data are stored in advance, and this storage medium 17 is constituted by a magnetic or optical recording medium or a semiconductor memory. The storage medium 17 is fixedly provided in the storage device 16 or is detachably provided. The storage medium 17 includes an overall processing program as the system program and various application programs corresponding to the system. The data and the like processed by the processing program are stored.

The storage device 16 includes various files for providing various types of regional information and a database as a database.
A file group and a database (hereinafter, referred to as DB) shown in FIG.
Call. ).

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the storage device 16 stores a top page file 17a, a regional information genre selection page file 17b, and an information provision page file 1
7c, completed OK page file 17d, completed NG page file 17e, region / genre selection page file 1
7f, information page file 17g, point redemption page file 17h, user DB 17i, local advertisement DB 17
j, an information DB 17k, and a point number DB 17l.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a top page stored in the top page file 17a. The top page is
It has instruction buttons of “information provision”, “information browsing”, and “point reduction”. When the instruction button is pressed by the information user terminal 2, the CPU 11 detects this pressing signal and sets a page corresponding to the pressing signal. Is transmitted to the information user terminal 2.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a local information genre selection page stored in the local information genre selection page file 17b. For the regional information genre selection page, refer to “Region”
And auto filters 20, 2 for selecting "genre"
1 and an “OK” instruction button. When the “OK” instruction button is pressed after the “region” and “genre” are selected by the auto filters 20 and 21, the CPU 11 detects this pressing signal, and An information providing page (see FIG. 6) corresponding to the selected “region” and “genre” is transmitted to the information user terminal 2.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an information providing page stored in the information providing page file 17c. The information providing page has the number of points corresponding to the “region” and “genre” selected on the regional information genre selection page (see FIG. 5), and an input field for inputting information to be provided, and provided information. And an "OK" instruction button to be pressed after the input of "OK".

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a completed OK page stored in the completed OK page file 17d. The completion OK page stores the information provided on the information providing page (see FIG. 6) by the user of the information user terminal 2 in the information DB 17k.
This page is displayed when registration is performed, and includes a message “registered” and the number of points for the registered information.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the completed NG page stored in the completed NG page file 17e. The completion NG page is a page displayed when there is information similar to the information provided by the user of the information user terminal 2 on the information providing page (see FIG. 6), and a message “Not registered” is displayed. And attached similar information.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a region / genre selection page stored in the region / genre selection page file 17f. The region / genre selection page includes auto filters 22 and 2 for selecting “region” and “information genre”.
3 and an "OK" instruction button. When the "OK" instruction button is pressed after "area" and "information genre" are selected by the auto filters 22 and 23, the CPU 11 detects this pressing signal and detects the signal. , Information corresponding to the selected “region” and “information genre” is extracted from the information DB 17k, and the extracted information is listed as an information page (FIG. 1).
0) to the information user terminal 2.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an information page stored in the information page file 17g. The information page includes information titles corresponding to “region” and “genre” selected on the region / genre selection page (see FIG. 9),
Includes a list consisting of contents, date of provision, etc., an input field for entering a narrowing keyword, and an "OK" instruction button. After selecting a title from the list or entering a keyword, the "OK" instruction button is pressed. Then, the CPU 11 detects this pressing signal, and selects the selected “title”,
Alternatively, a page corresponding to the “keyword” is transmitted to the information user terminal 2.

FIG. 11 shows a point reduction page file 1
It is a figure showing the point redemption page which 7h memorizes. The point redemption page is a product of the information user terminal 2 that has obtained points by providing information, a product or a redemption target product when redeeming the obtained points to a discount coupon, or a coupon, and a redemption target product number. , A list indicating the number of points required for redemption of a product, and a “return” instruction button.

After selecting the "product number to be redeemed" from this list and pressing the "return" instruction button, the CPU 1
1 determines whether there is a product corresponding to the selected “product number to be redeemed” or a coupon redemption request instruction.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of the user DB 17i. The user DB 17i includes a user ID issued for user authentication, personal information such as a user name, address, and contact information, a total number of points to be added by providing information,
Is stored.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of the local advertisement DB 17j. The local advertisement DB 17j stores the advertisement provider terminal 3
, And the area where the advertisement provided by the advertisement provider is desired to be posted.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information DB 17k. The information DB 17k stores an information ID for identifying information, a region and an information genre related to the information, and a title, content, and provision date of the information.

Here, the information genres are as follows:
X Stored in association with local information such as a ward, and is composed of, for example, restaurants, amusement facilities, public facilities, transportation, and the like.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the structure of the point number DB 17l. The point number DB 17l stores a region, an information genre, and a point number, and the point number is set in association with each region and the information genre. For example, a high number of points is set for various information genres related to an area with little information or an information genre with a high demand.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 1 shows an overall process executed by CPU 11 of local information providing server 1.
A description will be given based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Here, a program for realizing each function described in this flowchart is stored in a storage medium 17 in the form of a readable program code, and
Numeral 11 sequentially executes operations according to the program code. Further, the CPU 11 can also sequentially execute an operation according to the above-described program code transmitted via the transmission medium. That is, an operation specific to this embodiment can be executed using a program / data externally supplied via a transmission medium other than the storage medium 17.

In FIG. 16, when the information user terminal 2 accesses the local information providing server 1 via the Internet S, the CPU 11 of the local information providing server 1 displays the information providing service top page (see FIG. 4). Transmit (step S1).

Next, the CPU 11 transmits “information provision” from the information user terminal 2 to the transmitted top page,
It is determined whether or not there is an instruction of the instruction button of “information browsing” and “point reduction” (step S2). If there is no instruction of the instruction button (step S2; NO), the process returns to step S2 and the instruction of the instruction button (Step S2; YE)
S), the input instruction is "information provision" or "information browsing"
Or “point reduction” is determined (step S3).

If the input instruction is "information provision" (step S3; information provision), the CPU 11 executes each processing shown in steps S4 to S21. If the input instruction is “information browsing” (step S3; information browsing), the CPU 11 executes each processing shown in steps S22 to S29. If the input instruction is “point redemption” (step S3; point redemption), C
The PU 11 executes each processing shown in steps S30 to S39 shown in FIG.

First, each process shown in steps S4 to S21 relating to "information provision" will be described.

In step S4, the CPU 11
A user ID page (not shown) is transmitted to the information user terminal 2 that has instructed to input “information provision”, and the transmitted user ID
User ID entered by the information user on the page,
Alternatively, input contents such as user registration request are received (step S5).

Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the received input content includes a user ID (step S6), and the received input content includes the user ID. If it is determined that the user ID has been acquired (step S6; YES), the process proceeds to step S11, and it is determined that the received input content does not include the user ID, that is, the information user desires user registration. Then (step S6; NO), a user registration page (not shown) for new registration is transmitted to the information user terminal 2 (step S7).

If there is an input of each registration item from the information user terminal 2 in the transmitted user registration page, C
The PU 11 receives the input registration item contents (step S8), issues a user ID to the information user, and transmits the issued user ID to the information user terminal 2 by e-mail (step S9). In addition, the CPU 11
Each registration item received in step S8 is stored in the user DB
17i (step S10).

Next, the CPU 11 transmits a region information genre selection page (see FIG. 5) for registering a region and a genre related to the information provided by the information user to the information user terminal 2 (step S11). Then, the selection contents such as the region and the genre selected by the information user are received (step S12).

Then, the CPU 11 sets the information user terminal 2
The number of points set in association with the region and genre received from is extracted from the point number DB 17l,
The information providing page (see FIG. 6) to which the extracted number of points is added is transmitted to the information user terminal 2 (step S13),
The provided content, the region, and the information genre input in the provided content input fields of the transmitted information providing page are received (step S14).

Then, the CPU 11 determines whether or not information similar to or identical to the received provided content, region, and information genre is already registered.
k is searched (step S1).
5), the contents of the offer received from the information user terminal 2, the area,
Then, it is determined whether information similar or the same as the information genre has already been registered (step S16).

Contents provided from the information user terminal 2,
If information similar or identical to the region and the information genre has already been registered (step S16; YES), the CP
U11 extracts similar or identical information from the information DB 17k (step S17), and attaches the extracted information to display a completed NG page (see FIG. 8) indicating that the provided content is existing, by using the information user terminal. 2 (step S18), and returns to step S2.

If information similar or identical to the provided content, area, and information genre received from the information user terminal 2 is not registered (step S16; NO),
The CPU 11 registers the provided content, the area, and the information genre received from the information user terminal 2 in the information DB 17k (step S19), and transmits a completion OK page (see FIG. 7) indicating the registration completion to the information user terminal 2. (Step S20).

Then, the CPU 11 executes the user DB for the information user who provided the information registered in the information DB 17k.
The number of points extracted in step S13 is added to the total number of points of step 17i (step S21), and step S21 is executed.
Return to 2.

Next, step S2 relating to "information browsing"
Each process shown in 2 to S29 will be described.

At step S22, the CPU 11
The information user terminal 2 that instructed to input "information browsing"
The genre selection page (see FIG. 9) is transmitted, and the selected content such as the region selected by the information user and the information genre in the transmitted region / genre selection page is received (step S23).

Then, the CPU 11 extracts, from the information DB 17k, the title, contents, and provision date of each information based on the received selection contents, and corresponds to the area and the information genre selected by the information user. A list is generated (step S24), and the information page (see FIG. 10) to which the list and the local advertisement contents corresponding to the list extracted from the local advertisement DB 17j are added is displayed on the information user terminal 2.
(Step S25).

Then, in the list of transmitted information pages, after the selection of a title (for example, an operation such as moving a cursor over the title to be selected) or the input of a keyword, the "OK" instruction button is pressed. CPU1
1 determines whether a title has been selected from the list or a keyword has been input (step S26),
If a keyword has been input (step S26; keyword), the list displayed on the information page is further narrowed down based on the keyword, and an information page (see FIG. 10) to which the narrowed list is added is transmitted to the information user terminal 2. (Step S27).

If a title has been selected from the list (step S26: title selection), the CPU 11
Indicates the information ID corresponding to the selected title in the information DB.
17k, and transmits a detailed information page (not shown) of information corresponding to the acquired information ID to the information user terminal 2 (step S28).

Then, the CPU 11 determines whether the browsing of the information has been completed (step S29). If the browsing of the information has not been completed (step S29; NO), the process returns to step S26, and the browsing of the information is completed. If completed (step S29; YES), the process returns to step S2.

Next, each processing shown in steps S30 to S39 of FIG. 17 relating to "point reduction" will be described.

In step S30, the CPU 11
The information user terminal 2 that has input and instructed "point redemption"
A point redemption page (see FIG. 11) in the case of redeeming the points acquired in the information provision into a product or a coupon is transmitted, and in the list of transmitted point redemption pages,
It is determined whether or not there is a selection of the “reduction target product number” (for example, an operation of placing a cursor on the selected reduction target product number) and whether or not there is an instruction of the “reduction” instruction button (step S31). If there is no selection of the "target product number" and the instruction of the "return" instruction button (step S31;
NO), and return to step S31.

Further, if there is a selection of the "product number to be redeemed" and an instruction of the "return" instruction button (step S3).
1; YES), the CPU 11 acquires the commodity number to be redeemed selected from the information user terminal 2, and transmits a user ID page (not shown) to the information user terminal 2 (step S32). Then, the CPU 11 transmits the transmitted user ID
The user ID input by the information user on the page is acquired (step S33), and the total number of points corresponding to the acquired user ID is read from the user DB 17i (step S34).

Then, the CPU 11 reads the number of redemption points corresponding to the redemption target product number acquired in step S32 from the product DB (not shown) (step S32).
35) It is determined whether or not the total number of points read in step S34 is equal to or greater than the number of return points (step S36).

If the total number of points is not equal to or greater than the number of return points (step S36; NO), the process returns to step S32, and if the total number of points is equal to or greater than the number of return points (step S36; YES), the CPU 11 Subtract the number of return points from the total number (step S
37), the subtracted point number is stored in the total point number of the user DB 17i, and a shipping arrangement page (not shown) of the merchandise to be returned is transmitted to the information user terminal 2 (step S3)
8).

Then, the CPU 11 arranges for shipment of the product (step S39), and returns to step S2 in FIG.

As described above, the local information providing server 1 C
When the information is provided from the information user terminal 2, the PU 11
It is determined whether or not information similar to or similar to the provided content, area, and information genre of the provided information is already registered. If information similar or identical to the provided information is already registered, the information is determined. Is extracted from the information DB 17k, and a completed NG page (see FIG. 8) to which the extracted information is attached is transmitted to the information user terminal 2.

If the information provided from the information user terminal 2 is not registered with information similar to or similar to the provided content, area, and information genre, the provided information is provided as the provided content, area, and information genre. Information DB17
k and the number of points DB 17l in advance in the total number of points in the user DB 17i for the information user who has registered and provided the information.
Add the number of points set in.

The CPU 11 of the local information providing server 1
When the information browsing is instructed from the information user terminal 2, based on the selection of the area selected by the information user terminal 2, the information genre, and the like, the title of each information, the content, the provision date, Is extracted from the information DB 17k, a list corresponding to the region and the information genre selected by the information user is generated, and this list and the advertisement content of the region corresponding to this list extracted from the regional advertisement DB 17j are added. The transmitted information page (see FIG. 10) is transmitted to the information user terminal 2.

The CPU 11 further narrows down the list displayed on the information page based on the selected title or the input keyword, and transmits the narrowed down list or detailed information to the information user terminal 2.

Further, when instructed to redeem points from the information user terminal 2, the CPU 11 transmits a point redemption page (see FIG. 11), and the redemption target product number selected from the information user terminal 2 and the information Acquire the user ID of the user, determine whether the total number of points corresponding to the acquired user ID is equal to or greater than the number of redemption points corresponding to the merchandise number to be redeemed, and if the total number of points is equal to or greater than the number of redemption points, The number of redemption points is subtracted from the total number of points of the information user, and the subtracted number of points is stored in the total number of points in the user DB 17i to arrange the shipment of the product.

Therefore, since the information is obtained from the information user terminal 2 using the Internet S, a huge amount of information can be collected smoothly.

Further, the information user who has provided the information is given points for the provided contents, and the points can be returned to a product or a discount coupon. Can be.

Further, since the number of points given to the information user who has provided the information is set according to the contents of the provision, the degree of demand, and the like, the information user must match the value of the information to be provided. It can be expected that the information users will actively provide information.

Further, when information is provided by an information user, information already registered and stored is not registered, so that duplication of information can be prevented.

Further, the information provided by the information user is classified according to region and genre, so that the information user can freely browse each information of the desired region and genre.

Further, when an information user browses information, by posting an advertisement on the information, an income can be obtained from the advertisement provider.
It can be reduced to coupons.

In the above embodiment, the price that can be received by redeeming points is a product or a coupon. However, the present invention is not limited to this. May be.

When browsing information using this information providing service, a billing system is adopted. The browsing fee is paid by credit card or bank transfer, and points obtained by providing information are used. You may be able to choose between paying and paying.

The information provided by the information user is not only stored in the information DB 17k, but also stored in the information user terminal 2.
Is constantly connected to the Internet S, the information user terminal 2 stores the information content and the information ID, and the information DB 17k of the local information providing server 1 stores the information ID, user ID, region, genre, and the like. You may decide to do so.
In this case, since the data can be distributed and stored, the storage capacity of the local information providing server 1 can be reduced.

Further, it is assumed that the copyright of each information provided by the information user is on the local information providing server 1 side, and the DB storing each provided information is sold to a third party. Accordingly, the information providing service may be operated.

[0090]

According to the first and seventh aspects of the present invention, the provision of local information is solicited for the terminal of the information user connected via the network, and the local information provided by the information user is collected. By storing the information for each region and returning the value to the information user who provided the regional information and releasing the provided regional information, the huge amount of information can be smoothly used by using the network. In addition, the information user can expect a price commensurate with the value of the provided local information, and can expect the information user to actively provide the local information. Further, the information user can easily browse the regional information classified by region.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the local information provided by the information user is recruited by genre and stored by genre, so that the labor of classifying the provided local information can be omitted. In addition, regional information classified by genre can be disclosed to information users.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the information user can return the redeemed points to a product or a discount coupon, the information user who has provided the regional information can receive the price.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the number of points given to the information user who has provided the regional information is set according to the contents of the provision, the degree of demand, and the like. Can expect a price commensurate with the value of the regional information to be provided, and can expect information users to actively provide regional information.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, when the information user provides the regional information, the registered and stored regional information is not registered, so that duplication of the regional information can be prevented.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when new regional information is provided instead of existing regional information, it is possible to return the price. Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an information providing system 100 according to an embodiment.
1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a local information providing server 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a file group and a database included in a storage device 16;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a top page stored in a top page file 17a.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a regional information genre selection page stored in a regional information genre selection page file 17b.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an information providing page stored in an information providing page file 17c.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a completed OK page stored in a completed OK page file 17d.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a completed NG page stored in a completed NG page file 17e.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a region / genre selection page stored in a region / genre selection page file 17f.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing information pages stored in an information page file 17g.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a point redemption page stored in a point redemption page file 17h.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration of a user DB 17i.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of a local advertisement DB 17j.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information DB 17k.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point number DB 17l.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an overall process.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the flow of the entire process following FIG. 16;

[Description of Signs] 1 Regional information providing server 11 CPU 12 Display unit 13 Input unit 14 Transmission control unit 15 RAM 16 Storage device 17 Storage medium 17a Top page file 17b Regional information genre selection page file 17c Information providing page file 17d Completion OK page File 17e Completed NG page file 17f Region / genre selection page file 17g Information page file 17h Point reduction page file 17i User DB 17j Local advertisement DB 17k Information DB 17l Points DB 18 Bus 2 Information user terminal 3 Advertisement provider terminal 20, 21, 22, 23 Auto filter 100 Information providing system S Internet

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 17/30 110 G06F 17/30 110F 170 170Z 210 210D

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An area information providing apparatus for acquiring area information provided from terminals of a plurality of information users connected via a network and providing area information based on the acquired area information, Recruiting means for recruiting the provision of regional information to the information user terminal; regional information storage means for storing the regional information provided from the information user terminal for each region; and It is provided with: a value return means for returning a price for the local information to the information user; and an information disclosure means for releasing the local information stored in the regional information storage means to the information user. A local information providing device characterized by the following. 2. The recruiting means further comprises a genre recruiting means for recruiting the regional information to the information user terminal by genre, and the regional information storage means is provided from the information user terminal. 2. The local information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a genre-based storage unit that stores the obtained regional information as genre-specific information for each region. 3. The value returned by the value return means is a point, and the point corresponding to each information user is added according to the number of area information provided by the information user, and the addition is made. 2. The local information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information user is provided with a product or a discount of various usage fees according to the points given. 4. The points to be added differ according to the demand of the information user. When high-demand area information is provided, the high points are added and low-demand area information is provided. 4. The local information providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the point to be added is set low when the point is added. 5. When the regional information provided by the information user is acquired, the acquired regional information is the same as or similar to the regional information stored in the regional information storage means. A determination unit configured to determine whether there is any area information, wherein when the determination unit determines that the area information is not the same or similar area information, the area information is stored in the area-specific information storage unit. The local information providing device according to claim 1. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the value returned by said value return means is returned to an information user who has provided the regional information stored in said regional information storage means. Regional information providing device. 7. A system for controlling a local information providing apparatus that obtains local information provided from a plurality of information user terminals connected via a network and provides local information based on the obtained local information. A storage medium storing a computer-executable program, comprising: a program code for recruiting the information user terminal to provide local information; and a local information provided from the information user terminal. A program code for storing for each area, a program code for returning a price for the area information to the information user who has provided the area information, and a program code for storing the stored area information to the information user. A storage medium storing a program code for publishing the program and a program including the following.