JP2002123663A - Method and device for calculating dividend to home page supporter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control popularity among plural home pages by collecting supporters by providing a dividend to the supporter of the home page, and controlling the number of supporters. SOLUTION: Information on a dividend rate determined for each of plural home pages or plural home page groups is disclosed on the Internet, the will of support to any one of plural home pages or plural home page groups is received from the supporter, and the supporter having the received will of support and the correspondent home page or home page group are stored while being related. Then, evaluation data for evaluating the degree of popularity concerning the plural home pages or plural home page groups are collected, the dividend is calculated for each of home pages or home page groups on the basis of the evaluation data and the dividend rate each time fixed conditions are satisfied, and a dividend rate to be used for the next dividend rate disclosure step is calculated on the basis of the evaluation data or the dividend.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for calculating a payout according to the degree of popularity of a homepage for a homepage supporter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic commerce has been widely performed due to the development of the Internet. Electronic commerce is carried out by publishing a homepage presenting goods on the Internet, receiving an order from a customer who has viewed the homepage, and shipping the goods. In order to operate such e-commerce homepage efficiently, a homepage that supervises the e-commerce homepage is set up, a link to each e-commerce homepage is set on this homepage, and A so-called shopping mall site that can also process orders and settlements at once is widely used. Sales of these individual e-commerce homepages are highly dependent on the number of times a customer views the homepage. Therefore, in order to increase the number of accesses to these homepages, a method of displaying an advertisement called a banner on another popular homepage or displaying an advertisement on a mailing list or the like is generally adopted. These advertisements have a link to a homepage indicating the target of the advertisement.

[0003]

However, banner advertisements and advertisements by mailing lists are often ignored, and the advertisement effect often does not increase much. On the other hand, homepages with a high access rate often have an increase in the number of accesses as a result of the reputation being spread by word-of-mouth. From this, it is considered effective to increase the number of access to the homepage by gathering supporters who are the starting points of many word-of-mouth. Also, from the viewpoint of shopping mall operators, access to popular homepages is concentrated while access to unpopular homepages hardly occurs. There is. It is considered that such a difference in the number of accesses to the homepage can be eliminated if the number of supporters can be adjusted. Therefore,
The present invention aims to attract the supporters of the homepage by providing dividends to the supporters of the homepage as part of the advertising expenses, and to adjust the popularity among multiple homepages The purpose is to make adjustments.

[0004]

The present invention for solving the above problems has the following configuration. The invention according to claim 1 is a method for calculating a dividend to a supporter of a homepage published on the Internet by using a computer, and in a dividend rate disclosure step, a plurality of homepages or a plurality of homepage groups are provided. Disclose information on the determined dividend rate on the Internet, accept supporters' intention to support the plurality of homepages or any of the plurality of homepage groups in a supporter reception step, and support intentions in a supporter storage step Is stored in association with the supporter who has received the request and the corresponding homepage or the homepage group. Then, in the evaluation data collection step, evaluation data for evaluating the degree of popularity of the plurality of homepages or the plurality of homepage groups is collected, and each time a certain condition is satisfied in the payout calculation step, the evaluation data and the payout rate are calculated. Based on the evaluation data or the payout, a payout is calculated for each of the homepages or homepage groups on the basis of the payout rate, and in a payout rate calculation step, a payout rate used in a next payout rate disclosure step is calculated. Here, the “certain conditions” include, for example, elapse of a certain period, collection of evaluation data in an evaluation data collection step, reception of an instruction from an operator, and the like. This is the same for the “fixed condition” in claim 4.

[0005] In the present application, the term "payout" suffices as long as it provides some benefit to the supporter, and includes not only money but also goods and services. Also,
The "information on the payout rate" may be any information that is sufficient to compare the payout rates, such as the rank of the payout rate, as well as the payout rate itself. In addition, not only the case of publishing on the Internet but also the case of sending an e-mail with information on the payout rate in response to a request is included. By performing such an operation, the supporter determines a homepage or a homepage group to be supported from a plurality of homepages or homepage groups while referring to the dividend rate. Then, the payout is determined according to the degree of popularity and the payout rate. Thereafter, the payout rate is adjusted for the next payout calculation, and the adjustment is made public to the supporters again, whereby the number of supporters of each homepage or homepage group is controlled.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the payout rate calculation step, the payout rate is increased from the one with a lower degree of popularity indicated by the evaluation data or the calculated payout being lower. As a result, a highly popular homepage has a low payout rate, and a low-popular homepage has a high payout rate. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the homepage or homepage group to be evaluated is a homepage or homepage group forming a shopping mall on the Internet, and in the evaluation data collecting step, the number of accesses to the homepage or sales by the homepage is used as evaluation data. At least one of the heights is used. As a result, one of the most important data of the number of accesses and sales is used as the evaluation data as data for measuring the degree of popularity of the homepage forming the shopping mall, and the popularity between the homepages forming the shopping mall is adjusted from now on. Will be

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the method for calculating a payout, a conference means for communicating with a plurality of persons on the Internet in the conference room setting step is provided for each of the homepages or the homepage groups. Examples of the meeting means include an electronic bulletin board and a mailing list. Then, in the authentication code notifying step, the authentication code is notified to the supporter stored in the supporter storage step, and the authentication code is received from the supporter in the authentication code inquiry step to check whether the authentication code is appropriate. When the inquiry result that the authentication code is proper in the authentication code inquiry step is obtained in the authentication code inquiry step in the conference room participation permission step, the conference corresponding to the homepage or the homepage group supported by the supporter is displayed to the supporter. Permit the use of the means. By such an operation, communication is performed by specific conference means only by the supporters of the specific homepage or homepage group.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for calculating a dividend to a supporter for each of a plurality of homepages or a plurality of homepage groups formed by a server connected to a client computer and a communication line. The dividend rate storage means stores the dividend rate for each homepage or each homepage group, and the dividend rate transmitting means displays the dividend rate information indicating the information on the dividend rate for each homepage or each homepage group. Send to the client computer. Then, the support data receiving unit receives, from the client computer, support data indicating a supporter's willingness to support one of the plurality of homepages or the plurality of homepage groups, and, based on the support data received by the supporter storage unit, each supporter Is stored in association with the homepage or each of the homepage groups. Furthermore, evaluation data for evaluating the degree of popularity for each of the homepages or the homepage groups is received by the evaluation data receiving means, and when certain conditions are satisfied by the payout calculating means, each homepage is based on the evaluation data and the payout rate. Alternatively, numerical data indicating a payout is calculated for each homepage group. Then, the payout rate change means changes the payout rate used in the next calculation by the payout calculation means according to the evaluation data or the numerical data, and stores the change in the payout rate storage means. By transmitting the dividend rates for a plurality of homepages or a plurality of homepage groups to the client computer on the Internet by such an operation, the user of the client computer selects one of the homepages or the homepage group with reference to the dividend rates. And become a supporter. Then, numerical data indicating the payout is calculated based on the evaluation data of the homepage or homepage group selected for the supporter. Then, the payout rate for calculating numerical data indicating the next payout is changed from the evaluation data or the numerical data, and the change is transmitted to the client computer again.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the payout rate changing means sets a higher payout rate from the smallest numerical data. As a result, the payout rate, which can be a means of attracting supporters to a homepage with a low degree of popularity and a small payout, is set high. The invention according to claim 7, wherein the payout calculation device is a server that operates a shopping mall on a homepage or
The homepage or the homepage group is a homepage forming a shopping mall, and the evaluation data receiving means is connected to the number of homepages counted by the server operating the shopping mall or for each homepage. Is used as evaluation data. Thereby, supporters of the home page or the home page group forming the shopping mall are gathered, and the popularity of the home page or the home page group can be adjusted. In addition, the evaluation data is obtained directly from the server that operates the shopping mall.

[0010] In the invention according to claim 8, the payout calculating apparatus further comprises a conference means provided for each of the homepages or homepage groups, for storing data transmitted from a client computer and showing the data to another client computer. And transmitting the authentication code to the supporter stored in the supporter storage means by the authentication code transmission means. Then, the authentication code inquiry means receives the authentication code from the supporter, inquires whether the authentication code is appropriate or not, and, when an inquiry result indicating that the authentication code is appropriate is obtained, the homepage or homepage group supported by the supporter. The transmission of data to the conference room means and the acquisition of data from the conference room means are permitted. By such an operation, data can be exchanged by the meeting means only with the supporter who supports the specific homepage or the homepage group.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an outline of a device configuration of a system for providing a shopping mall service deployed on the Internet used in the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the shopping mall service includes a server A on the service provider side that provides the shopping mall service and a plurality of client computers B connected to the server A, and these exchange information via the Internet. The supporter payout calculation apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is realized as a function of server A.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of a hardware configuration of the server A. As shown in the figure, server A
CPU 11 for performing arithmetic processing, RAM 12 as a work area for CPU 11, ROM 13 for storing fundamental programs and data, clock 14 for measuring operation timing of CPU 11, hard disk 1 for recording various programs
5. It includes a network interface 16 including a modem for transmitting and receiving data via the Internet, a terminal adapter, a data service unit, and the like. Furthermore, a CRT 17 for displaying to a user, a keyboard 18 and a mouse 19 as input devices for the user to input data and the like are connected. The supporter payout calculation device formed in the server A is realized by incorporating a program for realizing the following functions and operations in the hard disk 15 in such a configuration.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the function of the supporter payout calculation device X. Supporter dividend calculation device X
Functionally, the data transmission / reception unit 101, the registered HP master 102, the HP registration unit 103, the payout rate storage unit 104, the HP
Data storage unit 105, HP data transmission unit 106, support data reception unit 107, supporter master 108, supporter file 109, evaluation data reception unit 110, dividend rate change unit 11
3. It includes an authentication code generation unit 114 and an authentication code inquiry unit 115. Note that the supporter dividend calculation device X can acquire data from the shopping mall operation unit Y in cooperation with a shopping mall operation unit Y realized by another program in the same server.

The data transmitting / receiving section 101 exchanges data with the client computer B via the Internet. The registered HP master 102 stores a homepage for collecting supporters and providing a dividend to the supporters.
FIGS. 4A1 and 4A2 schematically show the record contents of the registered HP master 102. FIG. The registered HP master 102 is shown in FIG.
Homepage ID is assigned to each homepage shown in (a1)
And a homepage file for storing the URL and name, and a belonging group ID for each predetermined group to which each homepage shown in FIG. 4 (a2) belongs, and a homepage file belonging to the group. An affiliation group file for storing homepage IDs. Here, it is assumed that there are three affiliation groups: group A, group B, and group C. Group A collects homepages of industries with relatively few accesses, and group C collects homepages of popular industries. In Group B, homepages of intermediate businesses are collected.

The HP registration unit 103 receives instructions from the operator, accesses the homepage data, checks whether there is a new homepage, and displays a new homepage on the display unit 103a. Upon receiving the designation, it registers with the registered HP master 102. The dividend rate storage unit 104 stores a dividend rate for each homepage group stored in the registered HP master 102.
FIG. 4B schematically shows the record contents of the payout rate storage unit 104. The payout rate storage unit 104 stores the payout rate for each belonging group ID. The initial payout rate is arbitrarily determined. Here, 2.0 for group A, B
It is assumed that a payout rate of 1.0 is set for the group and a payout rate of 0.5 is set for the C group.

The HP data storage unit 105 stores home page data transmitted to the client computer. The display registration screen,
A registration notification screen, a bulletin board initial screen, and a bulletin board screen are included. FIG. 5 shows an example of the display registration screen 500. As shown in the figure, the display registration screen 500 includes a payout rate display area 500.
a, a group selection area 500b, a supporter ID input area 500c, a supporter attribute input area 500d, a send button 500e, and a cancel button 500f. The payout rate display area 500a includes a payout rate display section 500aa that displays a payout rate for each group, and a homepage display section 500a that displays the name of a homepage that belongs to each group.
b. The display of the payout rate display section 500aa reflects the storage content of the payout rate storage section 104, and the display of the belonging homepage display section 500ab reflects the storage content of the registered HP master 102. ing. A link to the home page is set in the character string of the home page name displayed on the home page display section 500ab. It has become.

The affiliation group selection area 500b is an area where the supporter selects a homepage group designated by the supporter, and the supporter selects the radio button by using the pointing device. Supporter ID input area 5
00c is when the ID has already been given to the supporter,
This area is used to input the ID of the supporter who has selected the belonging group in order to specify the supporter. The ID of the supporter is given when the supporter is registered in the homepage group as described later, and the person who has registered the supporter in the past owns the supporter ID in principle. The supporter attribute input area 500d is an area for inputting the supporter's attribute in order to identify the supporter who has selected the belonging group when registering the supporter for the first time. The attributes to be entered here are the name, address, and e-mail address of the supporter. Supporter I
D input area 500c and supporter attribute input area 500d
When a character is input to one side, no character can be input to the other side. The transmission button 500e is a button for confirming the input data and transmitting the data to the supporter payout calculation device X, and the affiliation group ID of the affiliation group selected by selecting with the pointing device and the input supporter ID or supporter. Attribute information of the supporter is the supporter payout calculation device X
Sent to. The cancel button 500f is a button for resetting input data.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the registration notification screen 600. As shown in the figure, on the registration notification screen 600, a supporter ID display area 600a for displaying a supporter ID to be described later, a bulletin board initial screen URL display area 600b for displaying a URL of the bulletin board initial screen, and a supporter to be described later are set. A password display area 600c for displaying a password for using a bulletin board of a group of supported homepages is provided. FIG. 7 shows an example of the bulletin board initial screen 700. As shown in the figure, on the bulletin board initial screen 700, a bulletin board selection area 700a for selecting a bulletin board provided for each group by a radio button, an ID password input area 700b for inputting an ID and a password set for each supporter, A transmission button 700c for fixing data and transmitting the data to the payout calculation apparatus X, and a cancel button 700d for canceling the input data are included. The three bulletin board screens displayed in the bulletin board selection area 700b of the bulletin board initial screen 700 are also stored in the HP data storage unit 105. Since a general bulletin board is used, the description is omitted here. HP data transmission section 106 receives a request for transmission of home page data stored in HP data storage section 105 from client computer B, and transmits the requested home page data to client computer B.
Send to When the HP data transmitting unit 106 transmits the display registration screen, the HP data transmitting unit 106 configures a dividend rate transmitting unit, and when transmitting the registration notification screen, configures an authentication code transmitting unit.

The support data accepting unit 107 determines whether the supporter ID transmitted from the display registration screen 500 or the supporter's attribute information and the affiliation group ID of the affiliation group to be supported to the homepage included in the affiliation group are determined. Accepted as support data shown. When the support data receiving unit 107 receives the attribute information of the supporter, the support data reception unit 107 checks whether the attribute information is duplicated in the supporter master 108 and then newly sets the supporter I.
D is added to the supporter master together with the attribute information.
The support data receiving unit 107 receives the supporter ID.
Alternatively, the newly added supporter ID and the affiliation group ID are associated with each other and registered in the supporter file 109. The authentication code generation unit 114 attaches a password as an authentication code for further entering the bulletin board to the supporter accepted by the support data accepting unit 107. Authentication code generator 11
4 registers the assigned password in the supporter file 109 in association with the corresponding supporter ID, and further displays, via the HP transmission unit 106, a registration notification screen 600 shown in FIG. Send to supporters.

The supporter master 108 stores attribute information for each supporter. FIG. 4C schematically shows the record contents of the supporter master 108. As shown in the figure, the supporter master 108 stores a name, an address, and an e-mail address using the supporter ID as a primary key. Supporters File 109
Stores the affiliation group to be supported for each supporter, the registered date, and the password. FIG. 4D schematically shows the record contents of the supporter file 109. As shown in the figure, the supporter file 109 stores a supporter ID, an affiliation group ID, a registration date, and a password in association with each other. The evaluation data receiving unit 110 receives evaluation data for evaluating the degree of popularity of the homepage group from the shopping mall operation unit Y. Here, it is assumed that the value of the access counter of the homepage belonging to each homepage group and the sales are received as evaluation data every month.

The payout calculation unit 111 calculates a payout to each supporter based on the evaluation data received by the evaluation data receiving unit 110 and the payout rate stored in the payout rate storage unit 104 when certain conditions are satisfied. It should be noted that the payout is limited to those who are registered for one month or more calculated from the registration date. Here, the fixed condition is that the evaluation data receiving unit 110
Has received new evaluation data. Here, the calculation of the dividend is calculated as follows: (dividend per one belonging group) = (100,000 × total number of homepages / K) × ((sales of belonging group × 0.6 / total sales) + (number of accesses of belonging group × 0.4 / total number of accesses)) × (dividend rate) / (number of supporters of affiliated group) K is (((sales of affiliated group × 0.6 / total sales) + The sum of (number of access to belonging group × 0.4 / total number of accesses) × (dividend rate)) (Equation 1) is calculated. In the above formula, 100000 indicates the amount of money invested by the operator of each homepage as advertising expenses, and the total investment amount can be obtained by multiplying this by the number of homepages. Further, 0.6 and 0.4 in the above equation are weighting coefficients for adjusting the balance between the sales and the number of accesses, and are selected so that the sum is 1.0. This formula is set so that the dividend does not exceed the total investment amount, but the formula is not limited to this, and if the investment amount is to be converted by sales and number of accesses, For example, a formula such as (dividend per member belonging to group) = (fixed amount) × ((sales of group belonging / total sales) + (number of group group accesses / total number of accesses) × (dividend rate) may be used. Various choices are possible.

The payout storage unit 112 cumulatively stores the payout calculated by the payout calculation unit 111 for each supporter. FIG. 4D schematically shows the contents of the record in the payout storage unit 112. As shown in the figure, the payout storage unit 112 stores the supporter ID.
And the corresponding payout amount are stored. Although the description is omitted, the supporter can know his / her current dividend amount from the home page specified by the supporter ID. In addition, the supporter can use this payout amount as a price for purchasing a product in a shopping mall. When the paid out amount is used, the supporter receives information from the shopping mall operation section Y and receives the payout amount. The payout amount in the storage unit 112 is reduced. The payout rate changing unit 113 changes the payout rate for the next payout rate calculation based on the evaluation data of the evaluation data receiving unit 110. Specifically, the payout rate of a group of popular homepages is reduced, and the payout rate of a group of less popular homepages is increased. The calculation of the dividend rate is, for example, (dividend rate of belonging group) = (1− (sales of belonging group / total sales)) + (1− (number of accesses of belonging group / total number of accesses)) (expression) 2) It is calculated by the following equation. Any formula may be used for calculating the payout rate.

When the supporter inputs a supporter ID and a password as an authentication code from the bulletin board initial screen 700 shown in FIG. 7 and transmits the same, the supporter file determines whether or not the password is correct. 109 is searched and inquired. And if the password is correct,
Via the HP transmission unit 106, a bulletin board dedicated to the homepage group corresponding to the password stored in the HP data storage unit 105 is transmitted to the client computer B that transmitted the password. If the password is not correct, the home page displaying the text to that effect is transmitted to the client B that transmitted the password.

Next, the operation of the supporter payout calculation device X having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the supporter payout calculation device X. First, as a premise, a plurality of supporters access the supporter payout calculation apparatus X by the client computer B to display the display registration screen shown in FIG. 5, and transmit a homepage group to be supported and attribute information to the support data receiving unit 107. It is assumed that these pieces of information are stored in the supporter master 108 and the supporter file 109 with the supporter ID.
Here, for example, it is assumed that there are registered 80 supporters in the A group, 60 supporters in the B group, and 100 supporters in the C group. Also,
It is assumed that six homepages belong to each of the groups A, B, and C in the registered HP master 102.
Further, the payout rate stored in the payout rate storage unit 104 is A
It is assumed that the group is 2.0, the group B is 1.0, and the group C is 0.5.

In this state, the evaluation data receiving unit 110
At the evaluation time every month (s101), the number of accesses and sales of all the homepages registered by the shopping mall operation section Y are called and accepted (s102). Here, for example, the total number of accesses in Group A is 10,000 times, the sales are 3 million yen, the total number of accesses in Group B is 50,000 times, the sales are 5 million yen, the total number of accesses in Group C is 140000 times, and the sales are Assume that the price was 12 million yen. Next, a payout is calculated by the payout calculation unit 111. Here, when the calculation is performed by applying the received value and the stored value to the above (Equation 1), the dividend per supporter of Group A is 6,266 yen, and the dividend per supporter of Group B is 9,494 yen. And the payout per supporter of the group C is 7291 yen. When the payout is calculated, the payout calculated for each supporter is accumulated and stored in the payout storage unit 112 (s104).

Subsequently, the payout rate for the next payout calculation is calculated by the payout rate changing unit 113 based on the evaluation data, and the payout rate is changed (s105). here,
From the above (Equation 2), the dividend rate is 1.7 for the group A, the dividend rates 1, 5 for the group B, and the dividend rate 0.7 for the group C.
Becomes When the dividend rate is changed, the dividend rate storage unit 10
4 is rewritten to a new payout rate for each group (s106), and the payout rate displayed on the display registration screen shown in FIG. 5 is updated to the rewritten payout rate (s106). s107). The above operations from s101 to s107 are repeated unless the operator gives an instruction to stop (s108).

Next, the operation when the supporter uses the dedicated bulletin board will be briefly described. First, when the user becomes a supporter of the homepage group through the support data receiving unit 107, the supporter ID, the password, and the URL of the bulletin board initial screen are notified through the registration notification screen shown in FIG. The supporter who intends to use the dedicated bulletin board transmits the URL of the bulletin board initial screen to the Internet through the client computer B. Then, the HP transmitting unit 106 sets the URL
The data is accepted, and a bulletin board initial screen as shown in FIG. 7 stored in the HP data storage unit 105 is transmitted to the client computer B which has transmitted the URL data.
The supporter selects a bulletin board from this screen, inputs a supporter ID and a password, and transmits the input to the payout calculation device X. In the payout calculation device X, the authentication code inquiry unit 115 accepts the inquiry and inquires whether the supporter ID and the password are registered in the supporter file in association with the belonging group ID of the selected homepage group. Here, if the password is determined to be correct as a result of the inquiry, the HP transmitting unit 106
Is transmitted to the client computer B via the selected bulletin board. On the other hand, if the password is incorrect, a home page displaying text indicating that the supporter ID and the password are different is transmitted via the HP transmission unit 106. With such an operation, only the supporters can use the dedicated bulletin board.

As described above, the supporter payout calculation apparatus according to the present embodiment performs the above-described operation, and as a result, the supporters gather according to the payout rate and the degree of popularity, and the supporters can collect according to the number of accesses and the sales. Since the dividend is determined, it is expected that it will contribute to improving the access rate of the homepage by conducting word-of-mouth advertising activities to increase the dividend. In addition, since the evaluation data sets a higher dividend rate from the most popular to the less popular, a high dividend rate is set even for a group of unpopular homepages. Can be increased. Also,
As a result, the number of accesses is averaged as a whole, and the operating efficiency of the shopping mall is improved. Furthermore, it is expected that only the supporters of each homepage group will discuss various ideas in order to increase the dividend using the dedicated bulletin board. As a result, the homepage operator can incorporate various opinions and wishes of the user into his / her homepage, and can make improvements useful for improving the access rate and the sales rate.

In the above embodiment, the payout is given as electronic money which is money at a shopping mall. However, a cash check or gift certificate for money may be sent.
There are various ways of giving a dividend. In the above embodiment, since the dividend is calculated so as not to exceed the total investment amount of the homepage operator, the influence of the number of supporters increases, so that in the calculation of the dividend rate, the one with many supporters has a small dividend rate. For example, the number of supporters may be considered. Further, in the above embodiment, the supporters are gathered for the homepage group. However, the payout rate may be set for each homepage and the supporters may be gathered for each homepage.

[0030]

From the above description, the present invention has the following effects. In the inventions set forth in claims 1 and 5, since the dividend is determined according to the degree of popularity of the support to the homepage or the homepage group, each supporter can be expected to advertise the homepage by word of mouth and the like. Then, after that, the dividend rate is adjusted for the next dividend calculation,
This will be released again. Thus, the supporters are expected to determine the homepages or homepage groups to be supported with reference to the dividend rate, so that the number of supporters of each homepage or homepage group can be adjusted. According to the second and sixth aspects of the present invention, a popular home page has a low dividend rate, and a low-popular home page has a high dividend rate. It can be expected that the number of supporters of low popularity homepages will increase.

According to the third and seventh aspects of the present invention, any one of the most important data such as the number of accesses and the sales amount is used as the evaluation data as the data for measuring the degree of popularity of the homepage forming the shopping mall. Since the adjustment of the popularity between the homepages forming the shopping mall is performed, the sales between the homepages forming the shopping mall can be appropriately adjusted, and the operation efficiency of the entire shopping mall can be improved. According to the inventions set forth in claims 4 and 8, since only the supporters of the specific homepage or homepage group communicate in a specific meeting means, the supporters increase the dividend for the specific homepage or homepage group. It is expected that the discussion will be carried out for the purpose, and the opinions discussed by the meeting means can be reflected on each homepage or homepage group to achieve improvement.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a system for providing a shopping mall service according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a hardware configuration of a server.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram schematically showing functions of a supporter payout calculating apparatus.

4A and 4A are diagrams showing a record structure of a registered HP master, FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a record structure of a dividend rate storage unit, and FIG. 4C is a record structure of a supporter master; (D) is a diagram illustrating a record structure of a supporter file, and (e) is a diagram illustrating a record structure of a payout storage unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display registration screen.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a registration notification screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a bulletin board initial screen.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the supporter payout calculation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A server B client computer X supporter payout calculation device Y shopping mall operation unit 104 dividend rate storage unit 105 HP data storage unit 106 HP transmission unit 107 support data reception unit 109 supporter file 110 evaluation data reception unit 111 payout calculation unit 112 dividend Storage unit 113 Dividend rate change unit

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 4, 2001 (2001.12.
4)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claim 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claim 4

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A method for calculating, using a computer, a dividend to a supporter of a homepage published on the Internet, comprising: information on a dividend rate determined for each of a plurality of homepages or a plurality of homepage groups. A dividend rate disclosure step to be disclosed on the Internet; a supporter reception step of receiving from the supporter an intention to support the plurality of homepages or the plurality of homepage groups; and a supporter who has received the support intention. A supporter storing step of storing the home page or the home page group in association with each other; and an evaluation data collecting step of collecting evaluation data for evaluating a degree of popularity of the plurality of home pages or the plurality of home page groups. Before each period A payout calculating step of calculating a payout for each of the homepages or homepage groups based on the evaluation data and the payout rate; and, after the payout calculating step, a payout rate used in the payout rate disclosure step next time is calculated using the evaluation data or the payout. And calculating a payout rate based on the dividend. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, in the step of calculating the payout rate, the payout rate is increased from the one with the lower degree of popularity indicated by the evaluation data or the one with the calculated payout being lower.
The dividend calculation method described in 1. 3. The homepage or homepage group to be evaluated is a homepage or homepage group forming a shopping mall on the Internet, and the evaluation data collecting step includes, as the evaluation data, at least the number of accesses to the homepage or the sales by the homepage. 3. The payout calculation method according to claim 1, wherein one is used. 4. A method for calculating a payout, comprising the steps of: setting up a conference room for setting up conference means for communicating with a plurality of persons on the Internet for each of the homepages or the homepage groups; An authentication code notifying step of notifying an authentication code to a person; an authentication code inquiry step of receiving the authentication code from the supporter and inquiring whether or not the authentication code is appropriate; 2. A conference room participation permission step of permitting the supporter to use the conference means corresponding to a homepage or a group of homepages supported by the supporter when a query result that the supporter obtains the request is provided. 5. The payout calculation method according to any one of items 1 to 4. 5. An apparatus for calculating a dividend to a supporter for each of a plurality of homepages or a plurality of homepage groups formed by a server connected to a client computer by a communication line, wherein each of the homepages is Or a payout rate storing means for storing a payout rate for each homepage group; and a payout rate transmitting means for transmitting payout rate data indicating the information on the payout rate to each of the homepages or each of the homepage groups to the client computer. A support data receiving unit that receives support data indicating a support intention of a supporter for any of the plurality of homepages or the plurality of homepage groups from a client computer; and determining whether or not each supporter is the homepage or the homepage from the received support data. Flock of Supporter storage means for storing in association with each; evaluation data receiving means for receiving evaluation data for evaluating the degree of popularity for each of the homepages or the homepage groups; under certain conditions, the evaluation data and the payout A payout calculating means for calculating numerical data indicating a payout for each homepage or a group of homepages based on the payout rate; and changing the payout rate used in the next calculation by the payout calculating means in accordance with the numerical data and storing the payout rate And a payout rate changing means for storing the payout rate in the means. 6. The payout rate calculation device according to claim 5, wherein said payout rate changing means sets a higher payout rate from a smaller value of said numerical data. 7. The server for operating a shopping mall based on a homepage, or the server connected to the server, wherein the homepage or the homepage group is a homepage forming a shopping mall, and the evaluation data. 7. The payout calculation device according to claim 5, wherein the accepting unit uses at least one of the number of accesses to the homepage counted by the server operating the shopping mall or the sales per homepage as the evaluation data. 8. A meeting room means for storing the data transmitted from a client computer and provided to another client computer, provided for each of the homepages or homepage groups, in the payout calculating apparatus; Authentication code transmitting means for transmitting an authentication code to the supporter that has been received, an authentication code is received from the supporter, an inquiry is made as to whether the authentication code is appropriate, and if an inquiry result indicating that the authentication code is appropriate is obtained, 8. An authentication code inquiry means for permitting transmission of data to the conference room means corresponding to a homepage or a group of homepages supported by the supporter and acquisition of data from the conference room means. 2. The payout calculation device according to claim 1.