JP2002259431A - Information retrieval method, information retrieval device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information retrieval method, an information retrieval device and a program that can reduce the search result that a searcher does not desire. SOLUTION: The searcher operates a terminal 4000 to register, through the Internet 2000, his/her membership information with an information retrieval server 1000. The information retrieval server 1000 designates the existing member who has registered his/her membership information similar to the registered membership information while making him/her correspond to the searcher, and designates the existing member. The information retrieval server 1000, from an information providing sites 3000, chooses the sites having the search keyword that the searcher has designated. The information retrieval server 1000 further chooses, from the sites chosen, the site that the member who has been related to the searcher has searched for using the same search keyword and actually accessed, and presents the site as the search result to the searcher.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information search method, an information search apparatus, and a program, and more particularly, to an information search method, an information search apparatus, and a program that can reduce search results that are not desired by a searcher.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of the Internet, the amount of the World Wide Web (WWW) as a source of information has been increasing day by day. Since there is a huge amount of web pages on the Internet, full-text search using keywords is often used as one of the methods for finding out the information required by the user. Such a search function is called a search engine.

[0003] Search engines extract keywords from each page of the web around the world, organize them, create an index, and store it in a database. When a keyword related to information required by a searcher is input, a keyword including the keyword is extracted from an index on a database, and a list of URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of corresponding web pages is provided.

[0004] Such search engines include a robot type and a registration (directory) type. The robot-type search engine extracts keywords by a robot program periodically traversing the web on the Internet, and the registration type artificially extracts keywords from web pages collected manually.

[0005] However, even a robot-type or registration-type search engine cannot accurately represent the contents of a page using only keywords extracted as an index from a web page. As a result, a large number of pages, so-called noise, unrelated to the searcher's intention are mixed in the search output, and there is a problem that it is difficult for the searcher to find a desired page.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an information search method, an information search apparatus, and a program capable of reducing search results that are not desired by a searcher. With the goal.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an information search method according to a first aspect of the present invention provides information desired by a search requester based on inquiry information from the search requester. In an information search method for searching from information provided on a communication network, a member registration step of registering information relating to a search requester as member information, and a member registered by a new member among registered member information. A similar member registration step of searching for member information similar to the information and storing the new member in association with the similar member information for identifying the searched member information, and requesting the previous search result and the search A search history storing step of storing the similar member information indicating the member in association with the similar member information, and displaying the similar member information associated with the member based on the search result requested by the member. Member due out of the past search result that,
A search result selection step of extracting a search result based on the same inquiry information as the inquiry information from the member and selecting the search result; and searching the search result selected in the search result selection step with the communication network. A search result providing step for providing to the member via
It is characterized by having.

[0010] According to such a configuration, when a searcher searches for information (such as a web page) provided via a communication network such as the Internet, for example, the searcher himself / herself is provided with a search server that executes the search. Information about
For example, gender, age, occupation, place of residence, interests,
When such information is registered, the searcher (member) who has already registered information is searched for. Then, of the search results obtained by executing the search at the request of the searcher, those that match the past search results by the member who has registered the similar information are extracted and provided. For this reason, the same search result as that of the person having the same attribute as the searcher is presented, so that the searcher can obtain the search result according to the search intention, and can refer to an undesired search result. Useless actions can be reduced.

In the above information search method, the search result selecting step extracts, from the selected search results, information corresponding to the search results obtained by a member indicated by corresponding similar member information. It is desirable to further sort the search results.

[0010] According to such a configuration, of the search results obtained by executing the search at the request of the searcher, a search result presented by a search performed in the past by a person having an attribute similar to the searcher ( For example, from the URL of a web page)
Since a search result that matches the actually accessed one is extracted and provided, it is possible to provide a search result with higher usefulness for the searcher. Therefore, it is possible to contribute to a decrease in search results that are not desired by the searcher.

In the above information search method, the search result providing step ranks the selected search results according to the number of times that information corresponding to the search results has been obtained by a member indicated by corresponding similar member information. Then, it is desirable to provide to the member.

According to such a configuration, the selected search results are sorted, for example, in descending order of the number of accesses in the past, so that information having higher usefulness for the searcher can be preferentially presented. And unwanted search results can be further reduced.

[0013] In the above information search method, it is preferable that the information search method further comprises an evaluation obtaining step of obtaining an evaluation of the search result provided in the search result providing step from a providing destination of the search result. Accumulates the past search result and the evaluation for the search result obtained in the evaluation obtaining step in association with each other, and the search result providing step stores the selected search result in the selected search result. It is desirable that the members be ranked according to the evaluation corresponding to the past search result that matches with the above and provided to the member.

According to such a configuration, for example, when information corresponding to the presented search result is obtained, that is, when the searcher accesses the URL indicated in the search result,
For example, the information provided on the web page is evaluated based on whether or not the information is desired, and recorded as points, for example. When presenting the search results, for example, the search results are sorted in descending order of the evaluation points corresponding to the search results. As a result, information with higher usefulness for the searcher can be preferentially presented, and undesired search results can be further reduced.

In the above information search method, the inquiry information may be a word string.

In order to achieve the above object, an information search apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention receives inquiry information from a search requester via a communication network, and performs the communication based on the received inquiry information. In an information search device for searching for information desired by a search requester provided on a network, a member registration unit for registering information on the search requester as member information, and a member registration unit similar to the member information registered by a new member. A similar member registration unit that searches for member information that has already been registered in the member registration unit and associates the new member with similar member information that identifies the searched member information; A search history storage unit that stores the search result of the member and the similar member information indicating the member who requested the search in association with each other. A search result selection that extracts a search result based on the same inquiry information as the inquiry information from the member from the past search results by the member indicated in the attached similar member information and selects the search result And a search result providing unit that provides the search result selected by the search result selection unit to the member via the communication network.

In the above information retrieval apparatus, the information retrieval apparatus may further include an evaluation acquisition unit that acquires an evaluation of the search result provided by the search result providing unit from a destination of the search result. And the evaluation for the search result acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit is desirably stored in association with the search result. In this case, the search result providing unit associates the selected search result with the selected search result. It is preferable that the search results are matched to the past search results and ranked and provided to the member.

In the information retrieval device, the inquiry information may be a word string.

In order to achieve the above object, a program according to a third aspect of the present invention comprises a connecting means for connecting a computer to a communication network, and inquiry information comprising a word string from a search requester. Inquiry information receiving means received via the Internet, member registration means for registering information on the search requester as member information, and member information similar to the member information registered by a new member are already registered in the member registration means. A similar member registration unit that searches for the member information that is searched for and associates the new member with the similar member information that identifies the searched member information and stores the communication based on the inquiry information received by the inquiry information receiving unit. Search means for searching for information desired by the search requester provided on a network, Search history storage means for storing past search results in association with similar member information indicating the member who has requested the search, and displaying the similar member information associated with the member from the search results requested by the member. A search result selecting means for extracting a search result based on the same inquiry information as the inquiry information from the member among the past search results by the member, and selecting the search result;
A search result providing unit that provides the search result selected by the search result selection unit to the member via the communication network.

[0020] In the computer-readable storage medium, the computer further includes an evaluation information collection unit that collects, via the communication network, information indicating an evaluation of the search result provided by the search result provision unit, and the search result selection unit. It is preferable to function as a search result classifying means for ranking search results based on the evaluation information collected by the evaluation information collecting means.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An information retrieval system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information search system 1 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated, the search system 1 includes an information search server 1000, the Internet 2000, and a plurality of information providing sites 3000-1 to 300.
0-n, and a plurality of terminals 4000-1 to 4000-
n.

The information search server 1000 is a server that provides a so-called search site (search engine). For example, the information search server 1000 is configured by an information processing device such as a mainframe or a workstation, and various information providing sites connected to the Internet 2000. The information (web page) provided by 3000 is searched.

The Internet 2000 is constituted by various computer networks, and transmits information mainly on web pages.

The information providing site 3000 is a website connected to the Internet 2000 and provided from, for example, a web server.
Various information is provided through 00.

The terminal 4000 is connected to the Internet 2000
Is an information processing device such as a personal computer, which is provided with a control unit, a display unit, a storage unit, and the like, and browses information such as a web page obtained by accessing an information providing site 3000, for example. . Here, a program (browser program) for browsing a web page is stored in the storage unit of terminal 4000, and the control unit executes this program to display provided information such as a web page. Shall be displayed on the display.

As shown in FIG. 1, the information retrieval server 100
0 is a web server unit 100, an information search management unit 200,
And a database management unit 300.

The detailed configuration of the information search server 1000 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows the information search server 100
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a zero.

As shown, the web server unit 100
Includes a web page creation unit 110 and a session management unit 120.

The web page creation unit 110 converts various web pages provided by the information search server 1000 via the Internet 2000 into, for example, HTML (Hyper Text M).
arkup Language). The web page creation unit 110 further includes, for example, CGI (Common
By executing a program such as a Gateway Interface), a web page or the like showing search results described later is automatically created.

The session management unit 120 is composed of, for example, a communication device such as a router, an information processing device, and the like.
And manages a session with the terminal 4000 that has accessed. For example, for the accessing terminal 4000,
By transmitting identification information such as a cookie file, the terminal 4000 is identified and the session is maintained.

The information search management section 200 includes a search execution management section 210 and a search analysis management section 220.

The search execution management section 210 executes search processing to be described later, organizes search results and creates an index, and includes a search condition management section 211, a search execution section 213, and a search result management section 214. It has.

The search condition management unit 211 includes a search keyword storage unit 212 and holds search keywords input from the terminal 4000 via the Internet 2000.

The search execution unit 213 is, for example, a WAIS
(Wide Area Information Server), etc.
It is a so-called robot-type search engine, which travels on the Internet 2000 at predetermined time intervals, and acquires text data, keywords specified by metatext, and the like from various websites. In the present invention, a so-called registration type (directory type) search engine in which information of a website to be provided is registered by applying in advance by an information provider can be adopted. ,
In the present embodiment, a case of a robot type search engine will be described as an example.

The search result management unit 214 is used by the search execution unit 21
3 organizes the acquired information, registers information in a URL management database 330 and a page index database 340 described later, and creates an index by summarizing the information acquired by the search execution unit 213.

The search analysis management unit 220 is, for example, a CPU
(Central Processing Unit: central processing unit) and the like, and the information acquired and arranged by the search execution management unit 210 is extracted according to the searcher. Search analysis management unit 22
0 further includes a reference history management unit 221 and a member information management unit 222.

The reference history management unit 221 manages information recorded in a reference history database 320 described later.

The member information management unit 222 is a searcher (member) stored in a member information management database 310 described later.
And a summary of the member information. The member information conversion table 222a and the registered member information table 222b are provided.

The member information conversion table 222a is used to create a summary of member information that is input in a member registration process described later and is recorded in the member information management database 310. As shown in FIG. It is a conversion table for roughly classifying input items (personal information items) in processing. Here, taking the age item as an example, if the input age is up to 20s, the corresponding conversion item (summary item) is "Youth", and the age corresponds to 30s to 50s. The summary item is “middle-aged”, and the summary item corresponding to those in their 60s or older is “elderly”. In other words, the summary is created by roughly dividing the age of the searcher (member) into three.

As shown in FIG. 4, the registered member information table 222b holds the summary information of each member converted by the member information conversion table 222a.

The database management unit 300 is composed of a plurality of databases, and stores various types of information necessary for information search, information selection, and information provision by the information search server 1000. More specifically, the database management unit 300 includes a member information management database 310, a reference history database 320, a URL management database 33
0, a page index database 340, a similar member reference database 350, a search result file 360, and a search result output file 370. These are composed of, for example, a rewritable storage device such as a hard disk.

The member information management database 310 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (2), member information input by a searcher in a member registration process described later is registered. In the member information management database 310, user ID, password, gender,
Category information indicating the age, area such as residence and work location, occupation, and the preference of the member is registered. Further, for each member, a similar member reference I for designating member information similar to the registered member information in the similar member reference database 350.
D is registered.

The reference history database 320 includes, among search results presented by the information search 1000 server,
This is for accumulating information of the site actually accessed, and as shown in FIG. 6, similar member reference ID for specifying member information of the accessed member in a similar member reference database 350 described later, and search result presentation Search keyword at the time and a URL_I designating a URL of the search result registered in a URL management database 330 described later.
And D and record them.

As shown in FIG. 7, the URL management database 330 stores the URL (Uniform) of the retrieved web page.
Resource Locator), assign a URL_ID,
For each ID, the URL, the number of browsing when the page is accessed through the information search server 1000, and the evaluation points for the page obtained by the page evaluation information update processing described later are recorded in association with each other.

As shown in FIG. 8, the page index database 340 stores the summary of the contents of each web page created by the search result management unit 214 in the search keyword, the URL of the page, and the URL of the page. It is stored in association with the title.

The similar member reference database 350 stores the summary of the member information created by the member information management unit 222. The similar member reference database 350 is referred to when a new member is registered, and is used to search for a member who has registered member information similar to the member information of the registered member. As shown in FIG. 9, the similar member reference database 350 is roughly classified by the member information management unit 222.
Information indicating gender, age, region, occupation, and (preference) category is registered in association with the assigned similar member reference ID. In the member registration process described later, a score indicating the degree of coincidence between the member information of the newly registered member and each record is temporarily recorded.

The search result file 360 is stored in the search execution unit 2
13 is for recording the search results by
As shown in FIG. 0, the URL of the page, the title, and the text summary are recorded in association with each other.

As shown in FIG. 11, the search result output file 370 is a search result to be presented to the searcher, which is extracted from the search result recorded in the search result file 360 and is extracted in a presentation target page extraction process described later. This is to hold the result. More specifically, based on the similar member reference ID and the search keyword corresponding to the searcher, a web page corresponding to the set of the similar member reference ID and the search keyword and actually accessed is stored in the reference history database 320. Searched. Further, information corresponding to the URL of the searched page is stored in the URL management database 3.
30 and stored in the search result output file 370. The search result information held in the search result output file 370 is further sorted based on the number of times of access to the page (the number of times of browsing) and the evaluation points for presenting the page as a search result.

Next, the operation of the information search server 1000 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
FIG. 12A is a flowchart for explaining the outline of the information search process of the information search server 1000, and FIG.
(B) is a flowchart for explaining page index creation processing by the information search server 1000.

First, the searcher operates the terminal 4000 and the information search server 1000 via the Internet 2000.
To access. Here, as shown in FIG.
If the searcher has not registered as a member in the information search server 1000 (step S100: Yes), a member registration process is performed (step S300).

When the member is already registered (step S100: No), or after the member registration is completed in step S300, a web page including the keyword desired by the searcher is searched, and the search is performed based on predetermined processing. A page search process (step S500) for extracting a result corresponding to the searcher from the result and providing the result to the searcher is executed.

The searcher is inquired about the evaluation for the search result provided by the page search processing in step S500, and a page evaluation update processing for updating the evaluation for the page is executed (step S900).

Further, as described above, since the search engine employed in the information search server 1000 according to the present embodiment is a robot type, the information search server 1000 performs page index creation processing at predetermined time intervals as needed. Is being done. This page index creation processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

When the designated date and time for executing the page index creation processing (for example, once a month) is reached (step S20).
1: Yes), the search execution unit 213 executes the robot program and circulates on the Internet 2000, thereby acquiring a keyword described in a web page provided by each information providing site 3000, text data indicating a text, and the like. I do. The search result management unit 214 creates a summary of the acquired text data, and associates the created summary with information indicating the acquired keyword, page title, and URL indicating the web page in the page index database 340. Registration (step S202).

Next, the details of the information retrieval process shown in FIG. 12A will be described with reference to the drawings.

The member registration process in step S300 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

First, a member information input page (not shown) is created by web page creating section 110, and data indicating the created member information input page is transmitted from session management section 120 to access terminal 4000 via Internet 2000. Is performed (step S301).

The terminal 4000 is connected to the information search server 1000
Receives the member information input page data and displays it on the display unit. From the displayed member information input page, the searcher can
Information such as a user name (user ID), password, gender, age, area such as place of residence and work, occupation, and matters of interest are input (hereinafter, referred to as “member information”).

The input member information is transmitted to the Internet 2
000 to the information search server 1000 (step S302: Yes).

In the information search server 1000, the member information management unit 222 creates an entry for the searcher in the member information management database 310 and registers the member information received in step S302 (step S303).

Next, the member information management unit 222 creates a summary of the member information received in step S302 using the member information conversion table 222a (step S304).

As shown in FIG. 4, the prepared summary is obtained by extracting only gender, age, region, occupation, and category from the member information shown in FIG. Are further classified based on the member information conversion table 222a. The created summary is temporarily stored in the registered member information table 222b.

Next, the member information management unit 222 sets the ID pointer (p) of the similar member reference database 350 to the initial value 1 (step S305), and stores the summary member information of the p-th record and the registered member information table 222b. The registered member is compared with the held member's summary member information to calculate the degree of coincidence (step S306). Here, for example, it is assumed that the degree of coincidence is calculated as a percentage, and the obtained numerical value is registered in the record of the similar member reference database 350 as a score.

The member information management unit 222 performs the process of step S306 for all records of the similar member reference database 350 (steps S307 and S308:
No).

Calculation of the degree of coincidence for all records
When the registration is completed (Step S308: Yes), the member information management unit 222 acquires a record in which the highest score is registered, that is, a similar member reference ID indicating the record with the highest matching degree (Step S309).

The member information management unit 222 registers the obtained similar member reference ID in the similar member reference ID column of the entry created in step S303 (step S310).

Next, the member information management unit 222 clears the score registered in each record of the similar member reference database 350 (step S311) and creates a new record in the similar member reference database 350,
The summary member information of the registered member held in the registered member information table 222b is registered (step S312).

Upon completion of the addition to the similar member reference database 350, the web page creation unit 110 creates a member registration notification page for notifying that the member registration has been completed,
The session management unit 120 transmits data indicating the created member registration notification page to the terminal 4000 of the member (step S313), and ends the process.

Next, the details of the page search process (step S500) shown in FIG. 12A will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

First, the searcher operates the terminal 4000 and the information search server 1000 via the Internet 2000.
Is accessed and an information search is requested (step S50).
1) In the information search server 1000, the web page creation unit 110 creates a top page as shown in FIG.
(Step S502).

At terminal 4000, the received top page is displayed on the display unit. The searcher inputs a desired search target keyword, a user ID and a password registered in the member registration process, and transmits them to the information search server 1000 (step S503).

In the information search server 1000, the member information management unit 222 determines whether the received set of user ID and password (hereinafter referred to as “personal authentication information”) is registered in the member information management database 310. Search (step S504).

Here, if the personal authentication information is transmitted without being input, the member registration processing of the above-described step S300 is performed (step S504: No).

On the other hand, when the personal authentication information has already been registered in the member information management database 310 (step S
504: Yes), the search execution management unit 210 receives the search target keyword transmitted from the terminal 4000 (step S505), and the search keyword storage unit 212
Is stored in

The search execution unit 213 executes a search based on the search keyword stored in the search keyword storage unit 212 (Step S506). Here, the search execution unit 21
3 accesses the page index database 340, and acquires a set of a URL, a title, and a text summary corresponding to the search keyword (hereinafter, referred to as “search result information”).

The search result management unit 214 determines in step S50
6. The search result information obtained in step 6
(Step S507).

Next, a presentation page extraction process (step S600) for extracting a search result to be presented to the searcher from the search result information stored in the search result file 360 in step S507 is performed. Details of the presenting target page extracting process will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG.

First, the member information management unit 222 accesses the member information management database 310, and proceeds to step S503.
The registered similar member reference ID is acquired from the record of the searcher based on the personal authentication information received in the step (a), and the acquired similar member reference ID is referred to by the reference history management unit 221.
(Step S601).

The reference history management unit 221 accesses the reference history database 320, and searches for a record corresponding to the similar member reference ID passed from the member information management unit 222 in step S601 and the search keyword received in step S505 ( Step S602).

If the record exists (step S60)
3: Yes), the reference history management unit 221 acquires the registered URL_ID from all the corresponding records, and passes it to the search result management unit 214 (step S60).
4).

Next, the search result management unit 214 accesses the URL management database 330, and obtains a record corresponding to the URL_ID obtained in step S604 (step S605).

The search result management unit 214 determines in step S50
7, the URL information stored in the search result file 360 is compared with the URL information obtained in step S605, the same information is extracted, and the corresponding record is stored in the search result output file 370 (step S606). .

When all target records have been extracted (Step S607: Yes), the search result management unit 21
No. 4 sorts the records stored in the search result output file 370 in descending order of the number of browsing (step S60).
8) Further, the evaluation points are sorted in descending order (step S609).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S603 that there is no corresponding record (step S603: N
o), the records stored in the search result file 360 are extracted in the order of storage (step S610).

When the presenting page extraction processing is completed, search result list page creation / transmission processing is executed (step S700). Details of the search result list creation / transmission processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The web page creation unit 110 sets the search result output file pointer (m) to the initial value 1 (step S701), and acquires the m-th record from the search result output file 370 (step S702).

The web page creation section 110 acquires the acquired m
Based on the second record, the definition setting as shown in FIG. 18 is performed (step S703). Here, HTML
(Hyper Text Markup Language). That is, predetermined items are defined in the HTML format so that the search result is displayed by the browser executed on the terminal 4000 of the searcher. More specifically, for example,
The title of the search result (site name or page name) and the summary of the page are displayed, and the title is defined in an HTML format so as to link to the page (create an HTML file). Here, the link to the search result page is the information search server 1000
Is set to go through the search site. This is because when accessing the URL indicated in the search result, the URL
Information search server 1 together with the web page specified in
This is for displaying a field for adding up the evaluation to the search result, which is added to 000 (see “Requested Page Acquisition / Transfer Processing” described later).

The web page creation unit 110 performs the above-described HTML definition setting for all records in the search result output file 370 (steps S704 and S70).
5: No), when the definition setting for all records is completed (step S705: No), the created HTM
By transferring the L file to the session management unit 120, the HTML file indicating the search result list page is transmitted to the searcher's terminal 4000 via the Internet 2000 (step S706).

In terminal 4000, the received HTML file is interpreted by the browser program, and a search result list page as shown in FIG. 19 is displayed on the display unit.

When the searcher operates terminal 4000 and selects a desired title from the displayed search result list page, information including the URL of the page is transmitted to information search server 1000 (step S508: Yes). .
Upon receiving the requested page information, the information search server 1000 executes a requested page acquisition process (Step S800). Details of the requested page acquisition processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

First, the reference history management unit 221 analyzes the URL indicating the received request page (step S80).
1) Accessing the URL management database 330,
It is determined whether or not the URL is new (step S
802).

If it is determined that the URL is new (has not been referred to through this search site so far) (step S802: Yes), the reference history management unit 221 stores the URL_ID assigned to the URL. It is generated (step S803).

Next, the reference history management unit 221 creates a record in the reference history database 320 using the URL_ID generated in step S803 as a key, and stores a similar member reference corresponding to the searcher registered in step S312 in the record. The ID and the search keyword received in step S505 are registered in association with each other (step S80).
4).

The reference history management unit 221 further creates a new record in the URL management database 330 using the URL_ID generated in step S803 as a key (step S805).

After creating a new record in the URL management database 330 in step S805,
Is not new (Step S802: No), the reference history management unit 221 increments the number of browsing corresponding to the record of the URL_ID in the URL management database 330 by +1.
(Step S806).

Next, the session management unit 120 accesses the requested URL (step S807), and receives the requested page (step S808: Yes).
As shown in FIG. 21, the web page creation unit 110 adds an evaluation field for inquiring the validity of the page to the searcher at the bottom of the acquired page.
An L file is created and transmitted to the terminal 4000 of the searcher. That is, the information search server 1000 acquires
The page requested by the searcher is transferred to the terminal 4000 of the searcher, and an evaluation field is added at that time (step S809).

Here, as shown in FIG. 21, for example, "valid" in which the validity is classified into five levels is shown in the evaluation field.
In addition to displaying the evaluation items that indicate "somewhat effective", "neither can be said", "somewhat dissatisfied", "dissatisfied"
For example, radio buttons corresponding to these are arranged.
A numerical value indicating the evaluation point of the corresponding evaluation item is assigned to each radio button as invisible information. In this case, for example, 5 for "valid", 4 for "slightly valid", 3 for "neither", 2 for "slightly dissatisfied",
"Dissatisfied" is assigned 1.

The searcher selects a radio button corresponding to a desired evaluation item, and presses a "send" button arranged in the vicinity to assign a URL indicating the displayed page to the selected item. The information indicating the numerical value is transmitted to the information search server 1000.

In the information search server 1000, the terminal 400
A page evaluation information update process is executed based on the evaluation information transmitted from 0 (step S700). This page evaluation information update processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

When the information retrieval server 1000 receives from the terminal 4000 information indicating the URL of the page to be evaluated and the evaluation (step S901: Yes), the reference history management unit 2
21 accesses the URL management database 330,
A record corresponding to the URL received in step S10 is searched (step S902).

The reference history management unit 221 determines in step S11
Step S is added to the evaluation point item of the record searched in
The numerical value indicated in the evaluation information received at 10 is added, registered as a cumulative value (step S903), and the process ends.

In the above embodiment, in order to search for similar member information, the degree of coincidence of the member information is obtained as a percentage, and the obtained numerical value is used as a score. However, a method of obtaining a score that can be employed in the present invention is arbitrary. For example, when a search site provided by the information search server 1000 is provided with features such as specializing in searching for predetermined information, items in the member information that are highly related to the predetermined information match. If so, a score may be obtained by weighting or the like.

In the above embodiment, the search engine employed by the information search server 1000 is a robot type. However, the present invention may employ a registration (directory) type search engine. A configuration using a registration type search engine may also be used.

Note that the information search server 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention can be realized using a normal computer system without using a dedicated system. For example, by installing the program from a medium (floppy (registered trademark) disk, CD-ROM, or the like) storing a program for executing the processing described in the above-described embodiment in a general-purpose computer, the above-described processing is performed. The information search server 1000 to be executed can be configured.

In this case, means for supplying the program to the computer is optional. For example, the information may be supplied via a communication line, a communication network, a communication system, or the like. As an example, a bulletin board (BB) of a communication network
The program is posted in S), and the program is superimposed on a carrier wave and distributed via a network. Then, by starting this program and executing it in the same manner as other application programs under the control of the OS, the above-described processing can be executed.

[0107]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An information search method, an information search device, and a program that can reduce search results that are not desired by a searcher can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information search system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information search server shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a member information conversion table shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a registered member information table shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a member information management database shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a reference history database shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a URL management database shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a page index database shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the similar member reference database shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a search result file shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a result output file shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the information search server according to the embodiment of the present invention, and (a).
Is for explaining an information search process, and (b) is for explaining a page index creation process.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a member registration process shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a page search process illustrated in FIG.

15 is a diagram showing a display example of a top page transmitted in the page search process shown in FIG.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining a presentation target page extraction process shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a search result list page creation / transmission process illustrated in FIG. 14;

18 is a diagram for explaining HTML definition processing in the search result list page creation / transmission processing shown in FIG.

19 is a diagram showing a display example of a search result list page created by the search result list page creation / transmission process shown in FIG.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart for explaining a requested page acquisition / transfer process shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a display example of a page created by the requested page acquisition / transfer processing shown in FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a page evaluation information update process illustrated in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: information retrieval system, 1000: information retrieval server, 1
00: Web server unit, 200: Information search management unit, 30
0: Database management unit, 2000: Internet,
3000: information providing site, 4000: terminal

Claims (10)

[Claims] An information retrieval method for retrieving information desired by a search requester from information provided on a communication network based on inquiry information from the search requester. A member registration step of registering as member information; searching for member information that is similar to the member information registered by the new member from the member information already registered; and similar member information for identifying the searched member information. A similar member registration step of storing new members in association with each other, a search history storing step of storing past search results in association with similar member information indicating the member who has requested the search, and a search result requested by the member From among the past search results by the member indicated in the similar member information associated with the member, the same inquiry information as the inquiry information from the member Extracting a search result that matches the search result based on the search result and selecting the search result; and providing the search result selected by the search result selecting step to the member via the communication network. An information retrieval method, comprising: 2. The search result selecting step extracts, from the selected search results, information in which information corresponding to the search results is obtained by a member indicated by corresponding similar member information. 2. The information search method according to claim 1, further comprising selecting 3. The search result providing step ranks the selected search results according to the number of times that information corresponding to the search results is obtained by a member indicated by corresponding similar member information. The information retrieval method according to claim 2, wherein the information retrieval method is provided to a member. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising an evaluation obtaining step of obtaining an evaluation of the search result provided in the search result providing step from a providing destination of the search result. Storing the evaluation with respect to the search result obtained in the obtaining step in association with the search result providing step, wherein the search result providing step matches the selected search result with the past search result that matches the selected search result The information retrieval method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information is ranked and provided to the member according to the evaluation corresponding to (i). 5. The information search method according to claim 1, wherein the inquiry information is a word string. 6. An information search for receiving inquiry information from a search requester via a communication network and searching for information desired by the search requester provided on the communication network based on the received inquiry information. In the device, a member registration unit for registering information on a search requester as member information, and a member information similar to the member information registered by a new member are searched from the member information already registered in the member registration unit. A similar member registration unit that stores the similar member information that identifies the searched member information and the new member in association with each other, and associates the previous search result with the similar member information indicating the member who requested the search. A search history storage unit that accumulates and retrieves, from the search results requested by the member, the past search results by the member indicated by the similar member information associated with the member, A search result selection unit that extracts a search result that matches the search result based on the same inquiry information as the inquiry information from the member, and selects the search result; and a search result selected by the search result selection unit. An information search device, comprising: a search result providing unit that provides the search result to the member via the Internet. 7. An evaluation obtaining unit for obtaining an evaluation of the search result provided by the search result providing unit from a providing destination of the search result, wherein the search history accumulating unit includes a past search result and the evaluation The search result providing unit associates the evaluation with the search result obtained by the obtaining unit and accumulates the search result, and stores the selected search result in the past search result that matches the selected search result. The information search apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the information is ranked and provided to the member according to the corresponding evaluation. 8. The information search device according to claim 6, wherein the inquiry information is a word string. 9. A connection means for connecting a computer to a communication network; an inquiry information receiving means for receiving, via the communication network, inquiry information composed of a word string from a search requester; Member registration means for registering as a member, a similar member that searches for member information similar to member information registered by a new member from member information already registered in the member registration means, and identifies the searched member information A similar member registration unit that stores information and the new member in association with each other, based on the inquiry information received by the inquiry information receiving unit, searches for information desired by the search requester provided on the communication network. A search means, and a similar search result indicating a member who has requested the search by using a past search result obtained by the search means. Search history storage means for storing in association with the member, from the search result at the request of the member, the same as the inquiry information from the member among the past search results by the member indicated in the similar member information associated with the member A search result selection unit that extracts a search result that matches the search result based on the inquiry information and selects the search result; a search result providing unit that provides the search result selected by the search result selection unit to the member via the communication network A program to function as a means. 10. An evaluation information collecting means for collecting, via the communication network, information indicating an evaluation of a search result provided by the search result providing means via the communication network, a search result selected by the search result selecting means. 10. The program according to claim 9, wherein the program is configured to function as: a search result classifying unit that ranks based on the evaluation information collected by the evaluation information collecting unit.