JP2002351910A - System and device for providing information, device for collecting user's attribute information, method for providing information corresponding to user's attribute, method for collecting user's attribute information and program storing medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information distribution system which can lead a customer to accessing his desired information by furnishing information corresponding to a user's attribute information. SOLUTION: The information distribution system comprises an information providing device which obtains a user's attribute information from a user's attribute information recording device, selects information to be provided corresponding to the user's attribute information and sends it to a user terminal device, a user's attribute information collecting device which transmits primary information containing an information item for a user attribute determination to the user terminal device, receives the user's response about the information item for a user's attribute determination from the user terminal device and, according to this, creates information for renewing the user's attribute information, sends it to the user's attribute information recording device and transmits address information of secondary information to the user terminal device and a secondary information providing device which provides information to the user terminal device in response to a request for sending information from the user terminal device that has received the address information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing system, an information providing device, a user attribute information collecting device, a method for providing information according to user attributes, a method for collecting user attribute information, and a program recording medium. . More specifically, an information providing system, an information providing device, a user attribute information collecting device, a user attribute information collecting device that enables effective guidance of a user at a site or the like by supplying provided information according to user attribute information. The present invention relates to a method for providing information according to attributes, a method for collecting user attribute information, and a program recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent development of information communication technologies such as e-mail and the Internet, infrastructures capable of individually providing information to customers have been prepared. With the evolution of such an information providing environment, an information provider such as a company selects and provides information contents suitable for individual customers, that is, an information providing system for so-called "one-to-one" marketing. Has been studied.

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-113053 discloses that whether or not a customer is interested is determined from a record of access status to information provided on a network. A system for providing predetermined information to the customer is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-320415 stores preference information on customer preferences,
Memorize information from information providers and their distribution conditions,
There is disclosed an information providing system that searches for information that matches customer preference information and distribution conditions, and when a plurality of pieces of information are searched, integrates the information into one piece of information and distributes the information to the customer.

[0005]

In order to select and provide information content suitable for each customer, information on each customer, for example, information on hobbies, preferences, etc., is collected efficiently at any time, and the collected customer information is collected. It is necessary to select information content to be provided to the customer based on the information.

However, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-113053 collects the access status as one of the information for judging the customer's preference. It does not update. Therefore, it is not suitable for distributing appropriate information in response to customer preferences that change over time. Further, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-113053 is a passive customer information collection method of collecting customer information after waiting for access from the customer, and therefore, an information provider such as a company can provide a customer with a customer information measurement method. Provide information for
It is not suitable for collecting more appropriate customer information by measuring a customer's reaction to this.

The technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-320415 is a technique for distributing information according to the customer's preference. In addition, it is not possible to distribute appropriate information in response to changing customer preferences.

According to the present invention, new data relating to customer attribute information is collected at any time, and the customer attribute information database is updated using the collected data relating to the customer attribute information, thereby responding to more appropriate customer attribute information. The purpose of providing such information.

[0009]

To achieve the above object, the present invention has the following features.

(Claim 1) The invention according to claim 1 comprises a communication network, an information providing device, a user attribute information collecting device, a user attribute information recording device, a secondary information providing device, and a user terminal device. Having.

The information providing device operates using the user attribute information recorded in the user attribute information recording device to provide the user terminal device with information corresponding to the attribute of the user. "User attribute information" refers to information on a user's physical / mental / social characteristics / characteristics / sexual behavior / preferences, etc., and the user's age, gender, occupation, hobbies, preferences, interests,
This is a concept that includes all elements that characterize the user, such as consumption behavior tendency.

[0012] The user attribute information collection device transmits primary information including a user attribute measurement information item to the user terminal device,
The information on the user's reaction to the user attribute measurement information item is received from the user terminal device, the user attribute information update information is generated based on the received information, and this is sent to the user attribute information recording device. The address information of the secondary information corresponding to the user attribute measurement information item to which the user responded is transmitted to the device. The “user attribute measurement information item” refers to an information item for digitizing and measuring user attribute information. As an example, when the user is activated by a pointing device or the like in the user terminal device, the user attribute information collection device is caused to transmit information regarding which user terminal device and which user attribute information measurement information item is activated in which user terminal device. Is a hyperlink that acts like The “information item” refers to electronic information that causes a user terminal device to perform an operation by an input operation by the user, such as a hyperlink, a button object, a program, and an applet.

[0013] The secondary information providing device operates to provide the user terminal device with the information requested by the user in response to the information transmission request from the user terminal device that has received the address information.

The user attribute measurement information item and the secondary information are associated with each other. When the user selects the user attribute measurement information item by performing a predetermined input operation, the secondary information providing device causes the corresponding secondary information providing device to select the corresponding attribute. The next information is supplied to the user terminal device, and the secondary information is made available to the user, for example, for the user to view the secondary information. The secondary information refers to electronic information for providing certain information to the user, and is, for example, a Web document for introducing a product or introducing new information.

In this system, the information providing device and the user attribute information collecting device are configured to be able to provide the information desired by the user from a secondary information providing device different from the information providing device and the user attribute information collecting device. A person who operates the attribute information collecting device operates so that information provided by a person other than himself / herself, for example, information provided by a maker or a provider can be used.

(Invention of Claim 2) According to the invention of Claim 2, provided information corresponding to the attribute of the user is stored,
An information providing apparatus that selects and provides information to be provided according to an attribute of a user. “Provided information” refers to electronic information for providing certain information to a user, and is, for example, a Web document or a collection of Web documents for introducing products.

When the information providing apparatus receives a request for transmitting provided information from the user terminal device, the information providing apparatus operates to extract user identification information from the information transmitting request. The user identification information only needs to be information that can uniquely identify the user, and does not matter whether or not the user is conscious of the identification information to be sent to the information providing apparatus. Further, the information providing apparatus acquires user attribute information corresponding to the user identification information,
The provision information is selectively acquired based on the user attribute information, and the selected provision information is transmitted to the requesting user terminal device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information providing apparatus having a user identification information acquiring unit, a user attribute information acquiring unit, a provided information extracting unit, and a provided information storing unit. A user terminal device, when requested to send certain information from the user terminal device, automatically obtains attribute information (user attribute information) of the user of the user terminal device, and provides information corresponding to the user attribute information Is selected and provided from a plurality of pieces of provision information stored in advance.

The provided information accumulating means serves to accumulate a plurality of provided information in association with the user attribute information, and to select and output the provided information corresponding to the user attribute information. Instead of outputting the provided information itself, the provided address information (for example, path / route) may be provided.

The user identification information acquiring means, when receiving the information transmission request from the user, extracts the user identification information from the information transmission request and acts to pass it to the user attribute information acquiring means. For example, an IP address included in an IP packet may be obtained as user identification information.

The user attribute information acquisition means receives the user identification information from the user identification information acquisition means, requests user attribute information corresponding to the user identification information, and provides the user attribute information provided in response to the request with the provided information. Acts to pass to the extraction means. The request destination of the user attribute information may be a device or a system that can supply the user attribute information corresponding to the user identification information, for example, a user attribute information recording device.

The provided information extracting means operates to extract provided information from the provided information storage means based on the user attribute information.

(Invention of Claim 6) According to the invention of Claim 6, the primary information including the user attribute measurement information item is generated, and the attribute information of the user to be transmitted to the selected user terminal device is generated. This is a user attribute information collection device to be collected. “Primary information” refers to electronic information that can be delivered to a user terminal device without waiting for a request from the user terminal device, such as an e-mail.

In the present invention, the user attribute measurement information item for measuring whether the user is interested in the information content is included in the primary information and sent to the user terminal device, and the user is included in the primary information. When the user attribute measurement item is clicked or the like, the user attribute information collection device acts so as to notify which user attribute measurement item the user clicked or the like, and the user attribute information collection device responds to the notification. It acts to record information for updating the user attribute information based on the information.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the primary information providing means for generating primary information including a user attribute measurement information item and transmitting the primary information to a user terminal device, Receiving an information transmission request transmitted from the user terminal device to the user attribute information collection device, and recording which user has taken a predetermined action on which user attribute measurement information item based on the information transmission request. Attribute information collecting apparatus having a user request processing means for the user.

The user attribute measurement information item acts to transmit an information transmission request from the user terminal device to the user attribute information collection device when the operator of the user terminal device performs a predetermined action on the information item. I do.

The primary information is accompanied by information items for user attribute measurement, as well as comments explaining the contents of the information provided from the information items. The user may be interested in the contents by looking at the comments and the like. The user is prompted to perform a predetermined operation such as clicking. When there is a click or the like, the user can be presumed to be interested in the information content, and the attribute of the user can be measured by analyzing the content of the information of interest to the user. According to the present invention, a user attribute is measured based on a predetermined action of a user with respect to a user attribute measurement information item, user attribute information is collected based on the measurement result, and user attribute information update information is generated based on the user attribute information. It acts on.

(Invention of Claim 8) According to the invention of Claim 8, a step of receiving a request for transmitting provided information from a user terminal device, extracting user identification information from the information transmission request, and identifying the user The method includes the steps of obtaining user attribute information corresponding to information, selecting provided information based on the user attribute information, and transmitting the selected provided information to the user terminal device.

According to the present invention, when a request for transmitting provided information is received from a user terminal device, the present invention operates to extract user identification information from the information transmission request. User identification information
Any information can be used as long as it can uniquely identify the user, and it does not matter whether the information is identification information (such as a user's registration number) that the user explicitly sends. Further, the user attribute information corresponding to the user identification information is acquired, and the provision of the provision information for acquiring the provision information based on the user attribute information is transmitted to the requesting user terminal device.

(Invention according to claim 10) The invention according to claim 10 is a step of generating primary information including a user attribute measurement information item and transmitting the primary information; Receiving the transmitted information transmission request; and generating user attribute information update information based on the information transmission request.

The user information measurement information item for measuring whether the user is interested in the information content is included in the primary information and sent, and the user clicks the user attribute measurement item included in the primary information. Then, it works so as to notify which user attribute measurement item the user clicked, and records information (user attribute information update information) for updating the user attribute information based on the notification. Act like so.

[0032]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information providing system according to the present embodiment. The illustrated information providing system includes a user terminal device 2 connected to a communication network 1, an information providing device 3 connected to the communication network 1, a user attribute information collecting device 5 connected to the communication network 1, and an information providing device. It has a user attribute information recording device 4 connected to the device 3 and the user attribute information collecting device 5, and a secondary information providing device 6 connected to the communication network 1.
Although the user attribute information recording device 4 is shown connected to the information providing device 3 and the user attribute information collecting device 5 without passing through the communication network 1 in FIG.
May be connected to the information providing device 3 and the user attribute information collecting device 5 via the communication network 1 and exchange data with them via the communication network 1.

Hereinafter, each component of the information providing system according to the present embodiment will be described.

(Communication Network 1) The communication network 1 is used when a device connected to the network establishes a session with a target device regardless of whether it is a wired or wireless network, a dedicated line or a switched line. It works so that information can be transmitted and received. In FIG. 1, the communication network 1 is shown to be connected by one trunk line, but this may be realized by combining a plurality of networks via a gateway, such as the Internet. Regarding the connection, even if the connection is not directly connected to a main line called a so-called backbone, but is temporarily connected by a PPP connection or the like, information can be transmitted and received during the session establishment even if the session is established. It does not matter. Note that the "communication network" includes a communication network that does not use an exchange, such as a fixed line of dedicated lines.

(User terminal device 2) User terminal device 2
Is a computer, a workstation, and a computer that can be connected to the information providing device 3 and the secondary information providing device 6 via the communication network 1.
An information processing device such as a mobile terminal,
A computer equipped with a so-called browser that is a web document browsing software having a connection function b, a mobile communication terminal, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or the like.

The user terminal device 2 is capable of exchanging data with the information providing device 3, the user attribute information collecting device 5, and the secondary information providing device 6 via the communication network 1. As a result, the user terminal device 2 makes a transmission request for certain information possessed by the information providing device 3 and the secondary information providing device 6, and the information providing device 3 and the secondary information providing device 6 are designated in response to the transmission request. The transmitted information is transmitted to the user terminal device 2, the user terminal device 2 can receive the transmitted information, and has a function of displaying the received information in a format that can be recognized by the user.

Here, the “user” is the user terminal device 2
Is an operator who acquires information from the information providing device 3 and the secondary information providing device 6 and receives distribution of primary information from the user attribute information collecting device 5.

(Information Providing Apparatus 3) The information providing apparatus 3 is an information processing apparatus having a communication function such as a computer or a workstation, and is, for example, a Web server storing a Web document. The information providing device 3 has a function of providing information to the user terminal device 2 in response to a request from the user terminal device 2 and
Has a function of transmitting the information on the user received from the user attribute information recording device 4.

(User Attribute Information Recording Device 4) The user attribute information recording device 4 is an information processing device having a communication function, such as a computer or a workstation.
It has a function of providing user information in response to a request from another device and recording user information supplied from another device, and is, for example, a database server having a user attribute information database.

(User Attribute Information Collection Apparatus 5) The user attribute information collection apparatus 5 is an information processing apparatus having a communication function such as a computer or a workstation, and transmits primary information to a preselected user terminal apparatus 2. It has a function of transmitting, acquiring information on an action taken by the user with respect to the primary information (hereinafter, referred to as “user action information”), and transmitting the obtained information to the user attribute information recording device 4.

Here, the “primary information” is information including at least one user attribute measurement information item, and is information that can be received by the user terminal device 2. Also,
The “user attribute measurement information item” means that when a user of a certain user terminal device 2 takes a predetermined action with respect to the user attribute measurement information item, the user terminal device 2 sends the user attribute information collection device 5 to the user attribute information collection device 5. Means to make a request of predetermined contents. Note that the user attribute measurement information item may be configured to be associated with the secondary information.

(Secondary Information Providing Apparatus 6) The secondary information providing apparatus 6 is, for example, an information processing apparatus having a communication function such as a computer or a work station, and is a Web server storing a Web document. When the user takes a predetermined action on the information item for user attribute measurement included in the primary information, the secondary information providing device 6 responds to a request from the user terminal device 2 of the user. 2 has a function of providing information. Here, the information provided from the secondary information providing device 6 to the user terminal device 2 is the information itself that the user desires to obtain or view, or index-like information indicating the source of the information (such as this information). For example, a link to a URL that provides information desired by the user may be used.)

(Modification of System Configuration) In the above system configuration example, the information providing device 3, the user attribute information recording device 4, the user attribute information collecting device 5, the secondary information providing device 6
Have been described as being separate information processing devices, but these devices do not necessarily have to be physically realized as separate devices, and one information processing device can function as more than one device. May be configured. For example, one computer may be used as the information providing device 3 and the secondary information providing device 6, and one computer may be made to function as the information providing device 3, the user attribute information recording device 4, and the user attribute information collecting device 5. You may comprise.

(Operation of the Information Providing System) Next, the operation of the information providing system will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the information providing system.

First, the user terminal device 2 requests information after establishing a session with the information providing device 3 via the communication network 1 (step 201). For example, the Web stored in the information providing device 3 in the browser of the user terminal device 2
b) When the URL of the document is input, a connection is established to the information providing apparatus 3 via the communication network 1 by the TCP / IP protocol,
Web corresponding to the URL by HTTP protocol
Request to send a document.

The information providing device 3 which has received this transmission request
Acquires the identification information of the user terminal device 2 (the IP address of the user terminal device 2, a predetermined user ID number, etc.), sends it to the user attribute information recording device 4, and responds to the identification information. Request attribute information of the user (step 202).

The user attribute information recording device 4 having received the identification information searches the record of the user information and sends back the user attribute information corresponding to the identification information to the information providing device 3 (step 203). Here, the user attribute information refers to information indicating characteristics of the user, and is a concept including all elements that characterize the user, such as the user's age, gender, occupation, hobbies, preferences, interests, and consumption behavior. In the present embodiment, users are segmented according to their characteristics (for example, brand-oriented,
A plurality of segments such as a price-oriented type and a security-content-oriented type are defined, and the user is classified into any one of the segments.)
, The identification information of the segment (hereinafter, referred to as a segment ID) is sent back. However, the configuration of the present invention is not limited to this, and other user attribute information may be sent back. .

Segment I which is attribute information of this user
The information providing device 3 that has received D selects information associated with the segment ID from a plurality of information prepared in advance for each segment of the user (step 20).
4). Then, the selected information is transmitted to the user terminal device 2 (step 205).

The user terminal device 2 transmits the information to the communication network 1
And displays it to the user (step 2).
06). This makes it possible to provide information according to the attribute information of the user for each user. For example, when this information constitutes a so-called portal site, according to the present system, different portal sites can be provided to the user terminal device 2 according to the attribute information of the user. If the user segment is “brand-oriented”, the portal site composed mainly of brand-related information is shown to the user. If the user segment is “price-oriented”, information on price information / discount information is displayed. The portal site configured as the center is shown to the user.

In the information displayed by the user terminal device 2 in step 206, an item for acquiring the attribute information of the user is provided, and the attribute information of the user is acquired using the item. 3 (step 207). For example, step 20
In step 5, a plurality of questionnaire questions for allowing the user to answer the information transmitted to the user terminal device 2 are provided, and the attribute information of the user is acquired, and the answer information is acquired.
Such user attribute information is stored in a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) program provided in the information providing device 3 or in a Java downloaded to the browser of the user terminal device 2.
a (trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.)
It is collected by transmitting information input from an input device such as a keyboard of the user terminal device 2 to the information providing device 3 by ActiveX (a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States) or the like.

The information providing device 3 that has received such user attribute information sends the received information to the user attribute information recording device 4 and requests the user attribute information recording device 4 to record the information (step). 208). This is because, for example, the information providing device 3 stores the INSERT of SQL (Structured Query Language) in the user attribute information recording device 4.
Alternatively, the UPDATE command and the attribute information of the user acquired as an argument of the command may be passed.

The user attribute information recording device 4 having received the user attribute information updates the recorded user information using the received attribute information (step 2).
09). By doing so, the present system can acquire and record more detailed and newer user attribute information, and select and provide information suitable for the user based on such user attribute information. So
It is possible to provide more accurate information.

Next, the user attribute information collection device 5 collects user attribute information. In FIG. 2,
The collection of the user attribute information by the user attribute information collection device 5 is displayed so as to be performed after the steps 201 to 209, but the present invention is not limited to this. At any time when the user's destination for the information is available.

The user attribute information collecting device 5 transmits the primary information to the user terminal device 2 selected in advance as a distribution target (step 210). In the present embodiment,
The primary information shall be delivered by e-mail,
In the present invention, the delivery of the primary information may be performed by a method other than the electronic mail. When the primary information is sent to the user terminal device 2 by e-mail, it is actually sent to the mail server corresponding to the user terminal device 2, but in FIG. 2, it is sent directly without the mail server. Display as Here, the “mail server corresponding to the user terminal device 2” means a user who operates the user terminal device 2 and provides a mail service such as an ISP (Internet Service Provider) who has signed a mail service use contract. Refers to the mail server to be managed.
Along with the contract with an ISP or the like, the user is given a unique mail address from the ISP or the like. User attribute information recording device 4
Uses the mail address notified by the user as identification information of the user terminal device 2.

The user terminal device 2 receives the e-mail including the primary information from the mail server, and when the e-mail is opened, the primary information as the content of the e-mail is displayed on the display means of the user terminal device 2. . The primary information includes at least one user attribute measurement information item. In the present embodiment, the user attribute measurement information item is a hyperlink object that refers to a certain URL, but other means that can measure user behavior may be used.

When the user activates the hyperlink object (step 211), the user terminal device 2 issues a request to transmit the information specified by the URL (step 212). At this time, the request is sent to the user attribute information collection device 5 by using the identifier of the user attribute information collection device 5 or the identifier of a resource belonging to a lower hierarchy below the URL.

At step 212, the user attribute information collection device 5 receiving the request sent from the user terminal device 2 sends the URL of the secondary information previously associated with the user attribute measurement information item to the user terminal device 2. Notify (Step 21
3), prompting the user to obtain the source corresponding to the URL. This is because, for example, when information is transmitted and received between the user terminal device 2 and the user attribute information collection device 5 by the HTTP protocol, the response message from the user attribute information collection device 5 to the user terminal device 2 "Moved Permanently" may be described as the status code, and the URL of the secondary information may be described in the "Location" item indicating the destination.

Next, the user terminal device 2 requests the secondary information providing device 6 having a source corresponding to the notified URL of the secondary information to transmit the source (step 214). In response to this request, the secondary information providing device 6 transmits a source corresponding to the URL to the user terminal device 2 (Step 215). Upon receiving the source, the user terminal device 2 displays the content to the user by the display means (step 216). For example, if the source is a Web document containing introduction information of a new product, the user terminal device 2 operates to display the contents of the introduction information using a browser.

On the other hand, the information transmission request from the user terminal device 2 to the user attribute information collection device 5 in step 212 indicates that the user has taken a predetermined action on the user attribute measurement information item included in the primary information. To the user attribute information collection device 5 as a notification.

Upon receiving the request functioning as the notification, the user attribute information collecting device 5 determines from the request message information necessary for updating the user information, for example, information for specifying the user, which user attribute measurement information item For example, information about whether the user has taken a predetermined action, information about when the user has taken a predetermined action, and the like are collected and recorded.

The user attribute information collecting device 5 requests to update the user information recorded by the user attribute information recording device 4 based on the collected information (step S217).
Then, the user attribute information recording device 4 updates the user information in response to the request (step 218).

(Advantage of the present system) By operating as described above, the present system provides the user attribute information collecting device 5
Can collect information for updating the user attribute information (hereinafter referred to as “user attribute information update information”) based on the user's behavior with respect to the primary information sent to the user terminal device 2. Further, since the user attribute information is updated based on the information collected in this manner, the user attribute information recorded in the user attribute information recording device 4 can be updated, and with the passage of time, It is also possible to use user attribute information that reflects the changing tastes and preferences of the user. Accordingly, the information providing device 3 can provide information more suitable for the attribute of the user to each user terminal device 2.

(Configuration / Operation of Each Device Constituting the Present System) Next, the configuration and operation of each device constituting the present system will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Information Providing Apparatus 3) (Configuration) FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the information providing apparatus 3. As shown in FIG. As illustrated, the information providing apparatus 3 includes a communication control unit 31, a user identification information obtaining unit 32, a user attribute information obtaining unit 33, a provided information extracting unit 34, and a provided information storing unit 35. .

The communication control means 31 has a function of receiving information from the communication network 1 and transmitting the information to the communication network 1. For example, a protocol stack, a central processing unit for executing a predetermined communication procedure according to the protocol stack. Front End Communication Unit (Front End Communicatio)
n Processor).

The user identification information acquiring means 32 has a function of, upon receiving an information transmission request from a user, extracting user identification information from the information transmission request and passing it to the user attribute information acquiring means 33. The user identification information extracted here is a user ID input from the user terminal device 2 or the like.

The user attribute information obtaining means 33 receives the user identification information from the user identification information obtaining means 32 and requests the user attribute information recording device 4 to extract and pass the user attribute information corresponding to the user identification information. It functions to pass the received user attribute information to the provided information extracting means 34.

The provided information storage means 35 has a function of storing a plurality of provided information in association with the user attribute information.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the provided information storage unit 35. The provided information storage means 35 shown in the figure is configured to have one record for one piece of provided information and folded, and the figure shows a state where three records R41, R42 and R43 are recorded. I have. Each record has a segment ID field 44 and a provided information field 45. The segment ID field 44 stores a segment ID functioning as user attribute information, and the provided information field 45 stores provided information (only a path and a file name are shown in FIG. 2 for convenience of illustration) corresponding to the record. It is remembered.

The provided information extracting means 34 has a function of extracting provided information from the provided information accumulating means 35 based on the user attribute information received from the user attribute information acquiring means 33, and sending the extracted information to the communication control means 31. For example, when the received user attribute information is “1”, the provided information extracting unit 34 sets the record R4 having the segment ID “1”.
An HTML file having a file name “/portal/brand.html” is extracted from the provided information field 1 and is passed to the communication control means 31.

The communication control means 31 has a function of transmitting the provided information to the user terminal device 2 which has made the request.

(Operation) Next, the operation of the information providing apparatus 3 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the information providing device 3.

First, the information providing device 3 receives a request for transmitting provided information from the user terminal device 2 via the communication network 1 by the communication control means 31 (step 51).

Next, the information transmission request from the user is passed from the communication control means 31 to the user identification information acquisition means 32, and when the user identification information acquisition means 32 receives the request,
Extracting user identification information, and acquiring user attribute information
3 (step 52).

Next, the user attribute information acquiring means 3 receiving the user identification information from the user identification information acquiring means 32
3 requests the user attribute information recording device 4 to extract and pass the user attribute information corresponding to the user identification information, and acquires the user attribute information from the user attribute information recording device 4 (step 53).

Next, the provided information extracting means 34 obtains provided information from the provided information storage means 35 based on the user attribute information received from the user attribute information obtaining means 33 (step 54). The provided information extracting unit 34 stores the provided information acquired from the provided information storing unit 35 in the communication control unit 31.
Works to pass to.

The communication control means 31 transmits the provided information to the user terminal device 2 which has made the request (step 55). In step 51, the user terminal device 2
The session established at the time of receiving the request from is maintained until the processing of step 55 is completed.
The session ends at the point in time when the processing of (1) is completed, and the connection between the user terminal device 2 and the information providing device 3 is disconnected.

Thus, the information providing device 3 can provide information suitable for the attribute of the user to each user terminal device 2.

(User Attribute Information Recording Device 4) Next, the user attribute information recording device 4 will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Configuration) FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the user attribute information recording device 4. In the configuration example shown in the figure, the user attribute information recording device 4 includes a user attribute information database 62 and a user attribute information database 62.
And a database management system means 61 connected to the server.

The user attribute information database 62 has a function of recording information on user attributes in a readable and writable manner. FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the user attribute information database 62. In the configuration example shown in the figure, the user attribute information database 62 records one record for one user. In the example shown in the figure, records R71, R72, R73 for three different users are shown.
Is recorded. Each record has a user ID field 74, a destination information field 75, a segment ID field 76, and an attribute item value field 77.

The user ID field 74 stores user identification information for uniquely specifying a user.

The destination information field 75 stores information (hereinafter, referred to as “destination information”) on destinations for distributing primary information, which will be described later, to the user. For example, an e-mail address is used as the destination information.

The segment ID field 76 stores identification information of the segment to which the user belongs. For example, when a plurality of segments such as a brand-oriented type, a price-oriented type, and a security content-oriented type are defined, and the user is classified into any one segment, the segment ID field 76 is displayed for a user classified as the brand-oriented type. "1"
However, for a user classified as a price-oriented type, “2” is stored in the segment ID field 76, and for a user classified as a security content-oriented type, “3” is stored in the segment ID field 76.

The attribute item value field 77 stores the result of evaluating a user attribute for one or more attribute items. In the illustrated example, the attribute item value field 77 includes “brand” subfield 78 and “price” as attribute items.
Subfield 79, "Security Content" subfield 8
0, an “aftercare” subfield 81 is provided. In this configuration example, each subfield stores a value indicating the level of interest of the user in the attribute item. For example, in the record R71, the corresponding user has a value stored in the “brand” subfield of 41, which is larger than the values of the other subfields, which indicates that the user attaches importance to the brand to other items. Is shown.

The database management system means 61, based on a request and data from the information providing device 3 and the user attribute information collecting device 5, stores a user attribute information database 62
To perform storage management, access control, inquiry processing, and transaction processing. When the user attribute information recording device 4 is connected to the information providing device 3 and the user attribute information collecting device 5 via a LAN line, the database management system means 61 transmits the information to the information providing device 3 via an unillustrated interface means. Connected to the user attribute information collection device 5. As described above, the user attribute information recording device 4 may be connected to the information providing device 3 and the user attribute information collecting device 5 via the communication network 1. In this case, the database management system means 61 may be connected to the information providing device 3 and the user attribute information collecting device 5 via the communication control means.

With the above configuration, the user attribute information recording device 4 searches for the user attribute information corresponding to the user identification information based on the user identification information received from the information providing device 3, and stores it in the information identification device. Can be sent back to. Further, the user attribute information can be updated using the information acquired by the user attribute information collection device 5.

(User Attribute Information Collection Apparatus 5) Next, the user attribute information collection apparatus 5 will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Configuration Example) FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the user attribute information collection device 5. In the illustrated configuration example, the user attribute information collecting device 5 includes a communication control unit 801 connected to the communication network 1, a primary information providing unit 802 connected to the communication control unit 801, and a communication control unit 80.
1 and a user request processing unit 803 connected to the user attribute information recording device 4.

The primary information providing means 802 has a function of generating primary information including information items for user attribute measurement, and transmitting this to the user terminal device 2 selected in advance. The primary information providing unit 802 is a primary information distribution destination information acquiring unit 80
4, primary information content recording means 805, primary information distribution destination information acquisition means 804, and primary information content recording means 805
And a primary information generation unit 806 connected to the communication control unit 801.

The primary information distribution destination information acquiring means 804 has a function of acquiring the destination information of the user terminal device 2 to which the primary information is to be distributed, and passing this to the primary information generating means 806. The destination information is obtained from the primary information distribution destination information acquisition means 8 from outside.
04. The source of the destination information may be, for example, the user attribute information recording device 4. The user attribute information recording device 4 searches for a record in the user attribute information database 62, and enters the e-mail address from the destination information field 75 of the record that matches the search condition. And this is the primary information providing means 8
02 primary information distribution destination information acquisition means 804.

The primary information content recording means 805 has a function of recording in a readable / writable manner the information on the user attribute measurement information items constituting the content of the primary information. The recorded content of the primary information content recording means 805 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an information item table which is the recorded content of the primary information content recording means 805. The information item table 901 has one record for one information item. In the example shown in the drawing, a state where five records R91, R92, R93, R94, and R95 are recorded is shown. Each record has an information item ID field 902, a classification field 903, a comment field 904, a user notification URL field 905, and a secondary information URL field 906.

The information item ID field 902 is a field for storing an identifier for uniquely specifying an information item. The classification field 903 is a field for storing a rough classification of the information item. The comment field 904 is a field for storing a simple comment of the content that the user wants to be informed of the information item. The user notification URL field 905 is a field for storing a URL corresponding to the information item included in the primary information. The secondary information URL field 906 is a field for storing the URL of data describing the content information of the information item.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an information item evaluation value table which is a part of the recorded content of the primary information content recording means 805. The information item evaluation value table 1001 is
It has one record for one information item. In the example shown in the figure, five records R101, R102,
This shows how R103, R104, and R105 are recorded. Each record has an information item ID field 1
002, an evaluation value field 1003. The evaluation value field 1003 includes a plurality of attribute item subfields, a “brand” subfield 1004, a “price” subfield 1005, a “guarantee content” subfield 1006, and an “after-sales”. Care "subfield 100
7.

The information item ID field 1002 is a field for storing an identifier for uniquely specifying an information item, and the identifier used here is the information item table 9.
The same items as those used in the 01 information item ID field 902 are used. Evaluation value field 1
A field 003 stores contents to be reflected in the user attribute information recorded in the user attribute information recording device 4 when the user takes a predetermined action for each information item. Each subfield 10 of the evaluation value field 1003
04 to 1007, the "brand" subfield 78 and the "price" subfield 79 of the user attribute information database 62 of the user attribute information recording device 4 when the user takes a predetermined action on the corresponding information item. , The “guarantee content” subfield 80 and the “aftercare” subfield 81 are stored. The value stored in each of the subfields 1004 to 1007 is determined and determined by a marketing expert or the like based on the content of the information item, the characteristics of the user who distributes the information item, and the like.
Although the information item table 901 and the information item evaluation value table 1001 have been described as separate tables, they may be combined into one table.

Returning to FIG. Primary information generation means 806
Uses the destination information of the user terminal device 2 that is the primary information distribution destination received from the primary information distribution destination information acquisition unit 804 and the information on the user attribute measurement information item received from the primary information content recording unit 805. Generate primary information. For example, e-mail data addressed to the user terminal device 2 having contents including a hyperlink, which is a user attribute measurement information item, is generated as primary information. The primary information generation unit 806 passes the generated primary information to the communication control unit 801, and the communication control unit 801 sends the primary information to the user terminal device 2, which is the destination, to the communication network 1. The primary information generation unit 806 also passes the user ID corresponding to the destination of the sent primary information and the information item ID included in the primary information to the collection information recording unit 809 of the user request processing unit 803.

Next, the user request processing means 803 will be described. When the user has performed a predetermined action on the user attribute measurement information item of the primary information received by the user terminal device 2, the user request processing unit 803 sends the user attribute information collection device 5 to the user attribute information collection device 5. Receives the transmitted information transmission request, notifies the user terminal device 2 of the secondary information address corresponding to the user attribute measurement information item in response to the information transmission request, and, based on the information transmission request, Information about which user attribute measurement information item the user has taken a predetermined action is acquired, and based on this, user attribute information update information is generated and reflected in the user attribute information recording device 4. Function.

The user request processing means 803 includes a user request obtaining means 807, a request content writing means 808, a collected information recording means 809, a collected information writing means 810, and a secondary information address notifying means 811. are doing.

The user request acquisition means 807 receives an information transmission request from the user terminal device 2 via the communication control means 801, and information and information for specifying the user terminal device 2 which has transmitted the information transmission request from the information transmission request. It has a function of acquiring information relating to a user attribute measurement information item relating to a transmission request and passing the information to a request content writing unit 808, and transmitting information relating to a user attribute measurement information item relating to an information transmission request to a secondary information address notifying unit 81.
It has the function of passing to 1.

The request content writing unit 808 writes data to the collection information recording unit 809 based on the information specifying the user terminal device 2 and the information on the user attribute measurement information item received from the user request acquisition unit 807. It has the function of

The collected information recording means 809 has a function of recording which user has taken a predetermined action for which user attribute measurement information item. FIG. 11 shows a collection information table as an example of the recorded contents of the collection information recording unit 809. In the collection information table 1101, one record is formed for one piece of primary information. The figure shows a state in which two records R111 and R112 are recorded. Each record has a user ID field 1102 for specifying the distribution destination of the primary information.
And a distribution content field 1103 for specifying the distribution content of the primary information.

The distribution content field 1103 has a distribution date and time subfield 110 for recording the distribution date and time of the primary information.
4 and information item subfields 1105 and 110 provided for each user attribute measurement information item included in the primary information
6,... Although only two information item subfields are shown in the figure, if the primary information includes two or more user attribute measurement information items, the same number of information item subfields must be provided. become. Each information item subfield has an information item ID lower subfield 1107 and a requested date and time lower subfield 1108.

The user ID field 1102 stores user identification information for specifying the user to whom the primary information is distributed. As this user identification information, the same information as the user ID stored in the user ID field of the user attribute information database 62 shown in FIG. 7 is used. The delivery date / time subfield 1104 stores the delivery date / time of the corresponding primary information. Information item ID lower subfield 110
7 stores the identifier of the corresponding user attribute measurement information item, and this identifier is the same as the information item ID field 1002 of the information item evaluation value table 1001 shown in FIG. Request date lower subfield 1108
Stores the date and time of the information transmission request from the user terminal device 2 for the corresponding information item. For information items for which an information transmission request has not been made, the request date and time lower subfield 1108 is left blank or a message indicating that no request has been made is stored. The user ID field 1102, the distribution date / time field 1104, and the item information ID field 1107 store data provided from the primary information generation unit 806.

The collected information writing means 803 updates or corrects the user attribute information stored in the user attribute information recording device 4 with reference to the recorded contents of the collected information recording means 809 and the contents of the primary information contents recording means. Works like that. For example, for the record R111 shown in FIG.
The collection information writing unit 810 sets the item information ID “OJ0000
For a user attribute measurement information item having “1” and “OJ00002”, a user having a user ID “0000123” performs a predetermined action (for example, clicks a hyperlink corresponding to the information item to request more detailed information). And obtains the evaluation values corresponding to these information items from the records R101 and R102 of the information item evaluation table 1001 shown in FIG. The acquired evaluation values “brand” = 2, “price” = − 1, “security contents” = 0, “aftercare” = 1 and “brand” = 0,
"Price" = 4, "Contents of security" = 0, "Aftercare" =
2 is added to the record in the user attribute information database 62 corresponding to the user ID “0000123”. Upon receiving this command, the user attribute information recording device 4 sets the user ID “000
User attribute information database 62 corresponding to “0123”
The record R71 shown in FIG.
The obtained evaluation value is added to each value of each of the subfields “brand”, “price”, “security contents”, and “aftercare” of the attribute item value field of the record R71.
Thus, the reflection of the data on the user attribute information recording device 4 by the collected information writing unit 810 is completed.

Next, secondary information address notifying means 811
Will be described. Secondary information address notification means 811
Receives the URL related to the information transmission request of the user from the user request acquisition unit 807. The secondary information address notifying unit 811 that has received the URL refers to the recorded content of the primary information content recording unit 805, and acquires the secondary information address corresponding to the URL. It functions to transmit this secondary information address to the user terminal device 2 via the communication control means 801.

(Operation) Next, the operation of the user attribute information collection device 5 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the user attribute information collection device 5.

First, the user attribute information collection device 5 acquires the destination information of the user terminal device 2 that distributes the primary information (step 1201). This is performed by supplying one or a plurality of e-mail addresses to the primary information distribution destination information acquisition unit 804 from the user attribute information recording device 4 or an input device (not shown).

Next, the user attribute information collection device 5 determines the content of the primary information, generates primary information using the content and the destination information acquired in step 1201, and generates the primary information generated in the user terminal device 2. (Step 1
202). Here, determining the content of the primary information
Primary information generation means 806 of the user attribute information collection device 5
This is performed by selecting at least one user attribute measurement information item from the information item table of the primary information content recording unit 805 and reading the contents of the record of the item.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the primary information. FIG. 13 shows an example of contents when the user attribute measurement information items corresponding to the five records R91 to R95 included in the information item table 901 shown in FIG. 9 are selected. The content 1301 is a part corresponding to the body part of the e-mail data if the primary information is an e-mail. In the content 1301, the data stored in the classification field 903 is inserted into the area 1302, the data stored in the comment field 904 is inserted into the area 1303, and the data stored in the user notification URL field 905 is inserted into the area 1304. Is done. Other record R9
The same applies to 2 to R95.

The primary information is generated by combining the contents thus generated and the destination information, and transmitted to the user terminal device 2.

Apart from the processing of step 1202, the user attribute information collection device 5 records the contents of the delivered primary information in association with the user to whom it is delivered (step 12).
03). This is because the primary information generation unit 806 of the user attribute information collection device 5 generates a record for each piece of primary information, stores the user ID of the user to whom the primary information is distributed, and stores the primary ID in the record. This is performed by storing the information item ID of the user attribute measurement information item as information content, generating a collection information table, and recording this in the collection information recording unit 809.

Thus, the processing related to the transmission of the primary information is completed.

Next, returning to FIG. 12 again, in the user terminal device 2 that has received the primary information, the user has performed a predetermined action on any of the user attribute measurement information items included in the primary information. The operation of the user attribute information collection device 5 in this case will be described.

When the user takes a predetermined action on any of the user attribute measurement information items, the user terminal device 2 requests the user attribute information collection device 5 to transmit information. For example, an e-mail that is primary information is provided with a hyperlink that is an information item for measuring user attributes, and when the user clicks the hyperlink corresponding to a predetermined action, the user terminal device 2 is connected to a personal computer. The browser issues an information transmission request to the URL stored in the hyperlink.

Here, the URL stored in the hyperlink must be a URL indicating the user attribute information collection device 5 or a resource included therein. Cause the information transmission request to be transmitted to the user attribute information collection device 5;
This is so that the user attribute information collection device 5 can know that the information transmission request has been made. For example, if the user request acquisition means is CGI (Common Gateway Int.)
erface) If configured with a program, the U
The RL is used as the URL stored in the hyperlink.

The user attribute information collecting device 5 receives the information transmission request from the user terminal device 2 as described above (step 1204). UR for the information transmission request
Since L does not store the information content requested by the user, the user attribute information collection device 5 cannot send back a Web document having the information content requested by the user to the user terminal device 2. Therefore, the secondary information address notifying unit 811 notifies the user terminal device 2 of the URL of the Web document having the information content requested by the user, and notifies the user terminal device 2 to acquire the information therefrom.
(Step 1205). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the Web document having the information content requested by the user is stored in the secondary information providing device 6, but the Web document is not necessarily stored in the secondary information providing device 6.
The document b does not need to be stored in the secondary information providing device 6 and may be stored in the information providing device 3 or may be stored in the user attribute information collecting device 5.

The specific operation of step 1205 will be described. When the secondary information address notifying unit 811 receives the URL relating to the information transmission request from the user request receiving unit 807, the secondary information address notifying unit 811 refers to the primary information content recording unit 805. Then, the URL of the Web document having the information content requested by the user corresponding to the URL is acquired. The secondary information address notifying unit 811 notifies this via the communication control unit 801 to the user terminal device 2 that has issued the information transmission request. Here, when notifying the URL of the Web document having the information content requested by the user to the user terminal device 2, the secondary information address notifying unit 811 notifies the user terminal device 2 of the URL in a hyperlink format. The user may request to obtain the information again through the web browser to view the Web document having the above information content, or embed the URL of the Web document having the information content requested by the user in the tag of the HTML sentence, A Web document having the information content requested by the user may be automatically browsed without any operation by the user. As a tag for realizing the latter, for example, there is a <META> tag (as an example of an HTML sentence, <META HTTP-EQUIV = "R
EFRESH “CONTENT =” 2; URL = ***
> (“***” part describes the URL of the Web document having the information content requested by the user)).

On the other hand, in parallel with step 1205, the user attribute information collecting device 5 obtains, from the information transmission request, data indicating which user has performed a predetermined action on which user attribute measurement information item, This is recorded (step 1206). That is, the user request acquisition means 80
7 receives the information transmission request from the user terminal device 2 and, based on the information transmission request, the user I related to the request.
D, obtain the object ID, and obtain the date and time when the information transmission request was made (referred to as “request date and time data”);
These are passed to the request content writing means 808. The request content writing unit 808 writes the request date and time data based on the user ID and the object ID.
108, and writes the requested date and time data in the field. The user ID may be obtained from the source IP address of the IP packet of the information transmission request from the user terminal device 2 using a user ID-IP address correspondence table (not shown) or the like. The request date and time data may be obtained by using date data included in a request message according to the HTTP protocol.

Next, the user attribute information collecting device 5 requests the user attribute information recording device 4 to update the recorded contents of the user attribute information database 62 based on the collected data (step 1208). More specifically, the collection information writing unit 810 constantly monitors whether the collection end condition is satisfied (step 1207), and when it is determined that the collection end condition is satisfied, the collection information recording unit 809 and the primary Information item evaluation value table 10 of information content recording means 805
With reference to 01, a correction value of the value of the attribute information is created for each user and passed to the user attribute information recording device 4.

With the above, the collection of the user attribute information update information by the user attribute information collection device 5 and the provision of the collected user attribute information update information to the user attribute information recording device 4 are completed.

(Advantages of the system according to the present embodiment)
According to the present system, the provided information corresponding to the user's attribute can be transmitted to the user, so that it is possible to guide the user to smoothly reach the information that the user wants to know, the information that the user needs, and the information that the user is interested in.

According to this system, the user attribute information update information, which is new data relating to the user attribute information, is collected as needed, and the user attribute information database is updated using the collected user attribute information update information. According to the updated user attribute information database,
It is possible to select more appropriate information.

(Second Embodiment) Next, an information providing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The system according to the present embodiment changes the arrangement of the information items included in the provided information according to the attribute information of the user when the information providing device 3 supplies the provided information to the user. As an example of a change in the arrangement of information items, in provided information having a layout in which a plurality of information items are arranged in a line vertically, information items are arranged from the top in order of relevance in light of user attribute information. Can be considered.

The configuration of the information providing system according to the second embodiment will be described. The information providing system according to the second embodiment is basically the same as the information providing system according to the first embodiment, but is included in the provided information provided by the information providing apparatus 3 to the user terminal. It is different in that it has a function of changing the arrangement or arrangement of information items (hereinafter referred to as “information items in provided information”) according to the attributes of the user of the user terminal device 2.

The information providing system according to the second embodiment has the configuration as shown in FIG. 1, but has an information providing device 1401 shown in FIG. FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the second embodiment. Hereinafter, the information providing apparatus 1401 will be described with reference to FIG.

The information providing device 1401 is provided with the communication control unit 1
402, a user identification information acquisition unit 1403, a user attribute information acquisition unit 1404, and a provided information extraction unit 140
5, an information item arranging unit 1407, and an information item priority recording unit 14
08.

Communication control means 1402, user identification information obtaining means 1403, user attribute information obtaining means 1404
Provided information extracting means 1405 and provided information storing means 1
Reference numeral 406 denotes a communication control unit 31, a user identification information acquisition unit 32, a user attribute information acquisition unit 33 shown in FIG.
It has the same function as the provided information extracting means 34 and the provided information storing means 35.

The information item arranging means 1407 receives the data of the provided information from the provided information extracting means 1405 and, if the provided information has an information item in the provided information, refers to the information item priority recording means 1408 to provide the provided information. It has a function of arranging the information items in the provided information according to the attribute of the user who is the destination of the information.

The information item priority recording means 1408 has a function of recording the priority of the information item according to the attribute of the user. FIG. 15 shows an information item priority table 1501 as an example of the recorded contents of the information item priority recording means 1408.

The information item priority table 1501 has one record for attribute information of one user. Here, segment I described above is used as user attribute information.
Although D is used, it may be related to other user attributes. In the illustrated example, the segment ID
Records R151 and R15 for "1", "2" and "3"
2, R153 are recorded.

Each record has a segment ID field 1
502, first information item field 1503, second information item field 1504, third information item field 150
Five. A segment ID field 1502 is a field for storing a segment ID indicating user attribute information. Also, a first priority field 1503
Stores an information item (or its identifier) most suitable for the user having the segment ID among the information items included in the target provided information. The second priority field 1504 is an information item (or an identifier thereof) suitable for the user having the segment ID next to the information item stored in the first priority field 1503 among the information items included in the target provided information. Is stored. The third priority field 1505 is an information item (or an identifier thereof) suitable for a user having the segment ID next to the information item stored in the second priority field 1504 among the information items included in the target provided information. Is stored.

Next, the operation of the information providing apparatus 1401 will be described.

After the information providing apparatus 1401 receives a request for transmitting provided information from the user terminal device 2 via the communication network 1 by the communication control means 1402, the provided information extracting means 1405 receives the request from the user attribute information obtaining means 1404. Provided information storage means 14 based on user attribute information
The operation from 06 to the acquisition of the provided information is the same as the operation of the information providing apparatus in the first embodiment.

The provided information extracting means 1405 passes the provided information obtained from the provided information storing means 1406 and the user attribute information obtained from the user attribute information obtaining means 1404 to the information item arranging means 1407.

The information item arranging means 1407 refers to the information item priority recording means 1408 using the user attribute information as a key, arranges the information items in the provided information according to the priority of the information items, and provides the information to the user terminal device 2. Generate information.
FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 show screen display examples of the provided information after the information items are arranged. FIG. 16 shows the information item arrangement means 14.
FIG. 17 is a screen display example on the user terminal device 2 of the provided information generated by referring to the information item priority table 1501 shown in FIG. 15 when “07” is received as the segment ID value which is the user attribute information. 17 is an example of a screen display on the user terminal device 2 of the provided information when the segment ID value “2” is received similarly.

When the segment ID value “1” is received, the information item arranging means 1407 refers to the record R151 of the information item priority table 1501, and the information item includes a “brand” button, a “price” button,
It obtains that the priority of the “guarantee content” button is in this order, and arranges it in the provided information in accordance with this order to generate provided information that is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. Similarly, when the segment ID value “2” is received, the information item arranging unit 1407 sets the information item priority table 1501
With reference to the record R152, the priority of the “price” button, the “guarantee content” button, and the “brand” button, which are the information items, are obtained in this order, and are arranged in the provided information in this order. Then, the provision information which is a screen display as shown in FIG. 16 is generated.

[0138] The priority may be determined based on criteria appropriately determined by a person who creates or provides information to be provided. For example, information items that the user may be more interested in may be given a higher priority and priorities may be set, or items that the user wants to be more interested in may be set as a higher priority. The priority may be set based on other criteria.

[0139] Also, the position of the information item to be arranged according to the priority may be appropriately determined by the person who creates or provides the provided information. For example, an array in which information items are arranged from the top in descending order of priority may be adopted, or an array in which information items are arranged in order from the left end may be adopted. Instead of displaying all the information items, only the information items having a certain priority may be displayed, and the display of the information items having the remaining priorities may be omitted.

According to the present embodiment, it is possible to draw the user's attention to information items with higher priority, and to guide the user to browse information according to the intention of the information provider. Becomes easier.

[0141]

According to the present invention, new data relating to the attribute information of the user is collected at any time, and the user attribute information database is updated using the collected data relating to the attribute information of the user. It is possible to provide user-guided information according to the attribute information.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, it is possible to draw the user's attention to information items having high priority, and to guide the user according to the information provider's intention regarding the user's information browsing. It becomes easy to do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration example of an information providing system.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the information providing system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information providing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a provided information storage unit;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the information providing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a user attribute information recording device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a user attribute information database.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a user attribute information collection device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of recorded contents of a primary information contents recording means.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of recorded contents of a primary information contents recording means.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing recorded contents of a collected information recording unit.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the user attribute information collection device.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content of primary information to be distributed.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an information providing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing recorded contents of an information item priority recording unit.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a screen display example of provided information.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a screen display example of provided information.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication network 2 ... User terminal device 3 ... Information providing device 4 ... User attribute information recording device 5 ... User attribute information collecting device 6 ... Secondary information providing device 31 ... Communication control means 32 ... User identification information acquisition means 33 ... User Attribute information acquisition means 34 ... provided information extraction means 35 ... provided information storage means 61 ... database management system means 62 ... user attribute information database 801 ... communication control means 802 ... primary information provision means 803 ... user request processing means 804 ... primary information distribution Destination information acquisition means 805 ... primary information content recording means 806 ... primary information generation means 807 ... user request acquisition means 808 ... request content writing means 809 ... collection information recording means 810 ... collection information writing means 811 ... secondary information address notification Means 1407… Information item arrangement means 14 8 ... information item priority recording means

Claims (23)

[Claims] 1. An information providing system for providing information according to a user attribute, the information providing system comprising: a communication network; an information providing device connected to the communication network; and a user attribute connected to the communication network. An information collecting device, a user attribute information recording device connected to the information providing device and the user attribute information collecting device, a secondary information providing device connected to a communication network, and a user terminal connectable to the communication network Device, the user attribute information recording device records the user attribute information, and provides the user attribute information in response to the request. When the information providing device receives a request for transmitting the provided information from the user terminal device, The attribute information of the user of the user terminal device is obtained from the user attribute information recording device, and the provided information corresponding to the user attribute information is selected and provided to the user terminal device. The collecting device transmits the primary information including the user attribute measurement information item to the user terminal device, receives information on the user's reaction to the user attribute measurement information item from the user terminal device, and sets the user based on the received information. Generating attribute information update information, sending this to the user attribute information recording device, and transmitting address information of secondary information corresponding to the user attribute measurement information item to which the user has reacted to the user terminal device, The providing device provides information to the user terminal device in response to an information transmission request from the user terminal device that has received the address information, and the user attribute information recording device transmits user attribute information update information from the user attribute information collection device. Upon receiving the information, the user attribute information is updated, and the information is provided according to the attribute of the user. Broadcast providing system. 2. An information providing apparatus for storing provided information corresponding to an attribute of a user, selecting and providing the provided information according to the attribute of the user, and receiving a transmission request for the provided information from a user terminal device, Extracting the user identification information from the transmission request of the provision information, obtaining the user attribute information corresponding to the user identification information, selecting the provision information based on the user attribute information, and An information providing device for transmitting a message to a terminal device. 3. The information providing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information providing apparatus arranges or arranges the information items in the provided information according to the user attribute information, and performs the arrangement of the information items in the provided information according to the user attribute information. An information providing apparatus for transmitting provided information arranged or arranged to a user terminal device. 4. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a user identification information acquiring unit, a user attribute information acquiring unit, a provided information extracting unit, and a provided information storing unit. Upon accumulating information, the user identification information obtaining means, upon receiving the information transmission request from the user, extracts the user identification information therefrom and passes it to the user attribute information obtaining means. Receiving the user identification information from the acquisition means, requesting the user attribute information corresponding to the user identification information, passing the user attribute information provided in response to the request to the provision information extraction means, An information providing apparatus for extracting provided information from provided information storage means based on user attribute information received from information acquisition means. 5. The information providing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the information providing apparatus further includes an information item arranging unit and an information item priority recording unit, wherein the information item priority recording unit is provided for the user. The priority of the information item according to the attribute is recorded. The information item arranging unit refers to the information item priority recording unit using the user attribute information as a key, and stores the information item in the provision information according to the priority of the information item. An information providing device, which is arranged. 6. A user attribute information collection device for generating primary information including a user attribute measurement information item and collecting user attribute information to be transmitted to a selected user terminal device, comprising: The information item is to transmit an information transmission request from the user terminal device to the user attribute information collection device when the operator of the user terminal device performs a predetermined action on the user attribute measurement information item. Characteristic user attribute information collection device. 7. Primary information including a user attribute measurement information item for transmitting an information transmission request from a user terminal device to a user attribute information collection device when an operator of a user terminal device performs a predetermined action. And a primary information providing means for transmitting the information to the user terminal device; receiving an information transmission request transmitted from the user terminal device to the user attribute information collection device, and determining which user is based on the information transmission request. A user attribute information collecting apparatus, comprising: a user request processing unit for recording which user attribute measurement information item has taken a predetermined action. 8. The user attribute information collecting device according to claim 7, wherein the user request processing means responds to the information transmission request and responds to the user attribute measurement information item upon receiving the information transmission request. A user attribute information collection device for notifying address information of secondary information to a user terminal device. 9. A method for providing information to a user terminal device, comprising the steps of: receiving a transmission request for provision information from the user terminal device; extracting user identification information from the information transmission request; and a user corresponding to the user identification information. Acquiring attribute information; selecting provided information based on the user attribute information; and transmitting the selected provided information to the user terminal device. How to provide information according to. 10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of arranging or arranging information items in the provided information included in the selected provided information according to the user attribute information. A method of providing information according to the attribute of a user to be used. 11. Generating primary information including a user attribute measurement information item and transmitting the primary information; receiving an information transmission request transmitted with respect to the user attribute measurement information item; Generating user attribute information update information based on the user attribute information. 12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of notifying the address information of the secondary information corresponding to the information item for user attribute measurement. How to collect. 13. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to operate as the apparatus according to claim 2 is recorded. 14. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to operate as the apparatus according to claim 3 is recorded. 15. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to operate as the device according to claim 4 is recorded. 16. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to operate as the apparatus according to claim 5 is recorded. 17. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to operate as the device according to claim 6 is recorded. 18. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to operate as the device according to claim 7 is recorded. 19. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to operate as the apparatus according to claim 8 is recorded. 20. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 9 is recorded. 21. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 10 is recorded. 22. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 11 is recorded. 23. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 12 is recorded.