JP2002373161A - System, method and program for printing additional information and method and program for supporting additional information printing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To print additional information related to original information by synthesizing the additional information with the original information acquired through a network in the surplus area of a paper medium in which the original information is printed. SOLUTION: A user terminal calculates the size of a surplus area, and determines the size of synthetic information. Then, the user terminal transmits advertisement request information by connecting to an advertisement information providing server by using an address preserved in correspondence with original information. When receiving advertisement information related to the original information from the advertisement information providing server after outputting the advertisement request information, the user terminal prepares print information by synthesizing the acquired advertisement information with the original information. Then, the user terminal prints the prepared print information by using an output device. Thus, the additional information related to the original information can be synthesized with the original information, and printed in the surplus area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an additional information printing system capable of printing additional information in a surplus area of a paper medium for printing original information obtained via a network.
The present invention relates to an additional information printing support method, an additional information printing method, and a program for causing a computer to execute processing for printing additional information or performing printing support.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a user who browses or collects information by using the Internet browses or prints information posted on a Web page established on the Internet. . Most of the posted information posted on the Web page includes internal advertisement information called a banner advertisement. Therefore, when the printing information of the Web page is printed, the printing information including the banner advertisement is printed.

[0003]

However, since banner advertisements are merely heads, it is difficult to express in detail an advertisement target such as a product or service.
Accordingly, a wider space is required to perform an advertisement with a wide range of contents. However, if an extra paper medium is used for the advertisement, there is a disadvantage for a user who has performed printing. Also, pages with only ads may be discarded immediately after printing,
This can be an inefficient way of advertising. As described above, when information posted on a Web page is printed, there is a problem that it is difficult to efficiently add advertisement information without giving a disadvantage to a user.

When information posted on a Web page is printed, a margin having a certain space may be formed on the last page or the like. An image forming system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-256256 is an example of a system that combines and prints advertisement information in a blank area of such document information. However, the above-described image forming system is assumed to be applied to a copying apparatus, and is intended to meet the needs of a copying apparatus user, and is intended for a user who wants to utilize information posted on a Web page. Needs are not considered. In the above image forming system,
Since the advertisement information is synthesized irrespective of the interest of the user who intends to utilize the information posted on the Web page, there is a possibility that the advertisement will not be effective but will be inefficient. Therefore, the problem that it is difficult to efficiently add the advertisement information without causing disadvantage to the user when the information posted on the Web page is printed has not been solved yet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problem, and makes it possible to combine and print additional information related to document information in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information obtained via a network is printed. The purpose is to:

[0006]

In order to solve the above problem, an additional information printing system according to the present invention provides an additional information printing system that prints additional information printed on a margin area (for example, a margin area) of a paper medium on which document information is printed. An additional information providing server (for example, advertisement information providing server 40) for providing (for example, advertisement information and notification information), and printing by combining the additional information obtained via the network with the document information obtained via the network. An additional information printing system including a terminal device (for example, the user terminal 20), wherein the terminal device calculates a size of the remaining area, and a document that specifies the calculated size of the remaining area and the content of the document information. Request information transmitting means for transmitting request information (for example, advertisement request information) including specific information (for example, URL of document information) to the additional information providing server; The additional information providing server, in response to the reception of the request information, includes an additional information selection unit that selects additional information that matches the document identification information and the size included in the received request information, and transmits the selected additional information via the network. And additional information transmitting means for transmitting the information.

[0007] With the above configuration, it is possible to print additional information related to the document information considered to be of interest to the user in the extra area. Therefore, it is possible to provide additional information that meets the needs of the user who wants to utilize the document information obtained via the network.

[0008] A plurality of types of additional information corresponding to each combination composed of the original specifying information and the size are prepared, and the additional information selecting means matches the original specifying information and the size included in the received request information. It may be configured to select one piece of additional information from a plurality of pieces of additional information (for example, an advertisement information group).

With the above configuration, one of a plurality of pieces of additional information related to the document information which is considered to be of interest to the user can be printed in the surplus area.

The manuscript information includes internal advertisement information (for example, banner advertisement), and the request information includes advertisement specifying information (for example, UR of banner advertisement) for specifying the internal advertisement information.
L), and the additional information selecting means may be configured to select additional information related to the internal advertisement information specified by the advertisement specifying information.

[0011] With the above configuration, it is possible to print additional information related to the internal advertisement information included in the manuscript information in a surplus area.

The manuscript information includes internal advertisement information, and the request information includes browsed advertisement specifying information (for example, a URL of a clicked banner advertisement) for specifying internal advertisement information for which related information has been viewed. And the additional information selecting means includes:
It may be configured to select additional information related to the internal advertisement information whose related information has been viewed, based on the viewed advertisement specifying information.

[0013] With the above configuration, it is possible to print additional information related to the viewed internal advertisement information included in the document information in a surplus area. That is, it is possible to add information related to the content of the internal advertisement information that the user has shown interest.

[0014] The request information includes personal information (for example, a user identifier) for specifying the user of the terminal device, and the additional information selecting means obtains the attribute information of the user using the personal information. It may be configured to select additional information matching the attribute of the user based on the information.

With the above configuration, it is possible to print the optimal additional information matching the user's attribute in the surplus area.

[0016] The terminal device may be configured to also acquire the address of the additional information providing server when acquiring the document information via the network.

With the above configuration, the terminal device can transmit request information to the additional information providing server.

Further, the additional information printing support method of the present invention
An additional information printing support method for providing additional information to be printed in a surplus area of a paper medium on which manuscript information is printed, wherein request information including a size of the surplus area and manuscript identification information for specifying contents of the manuscript information is provided. Receiving, requesting, in response to receiving the request information, selecting additional information that matches the document identification information and size included in the received request information, and transmitting the selected additional information via a network And Each of the above processes is executed by the advertisement information providing server 40, for example.

With the above configuration, it is possible to print additional information related to the document information considered to be of interest to the user in the extra area. Therefore, it is possible to provide additional information that meets the needs of the user who wants to utilize the document information obtained via the network.

A plurality of types of additional information corresponding to each combination composed of the original specification information and the size are prepared, and a plurality of types of additional information corresponding to the original specification information and the size included in the received request information are prepared. It may be configured to select one of the additional information. The above processing is executed by the advertisement information providing server 40, for example.

With the above configuration, one of a plurality of pieces of additional information related to the document information which is considered to be of interest to the user can be printed in the surplus area.

The manuscript information includes internal advertisement information, and the request information includes advertisement specifying information for specifying the internal advertisement information, and includes additional information related to the internal advertisement information specified by the advertisement specifying information. It may be configured to select. The above processing is performed by, for example, the advertisement information providing server 40.
Performed by

With the above configuration, additional information related to the internal advertisement information included in the document information can be printed in the extra area.

The manuscript information includes internal advertisement information, and the request information includes browsed advertisement identification information for identifying the internal advertisement information from which the related information has been browsed, and is based on the browsed advertisement identification information. It may be configured to select additional information related to the internal advertisement information whose related information has been browsed. The above processing is executed by the advertisement information providing server 40, for example.

With the above configuration, additional information related to the viewed internal advertisement information included in the document information can be printed in a surplus area. That is, it is possible to add information related to the content of the internal advertisement information that the user has shown interest.

The request information includes personal information for specifying the user of the terminal device, obtains the attribute information of the user using the personal information, and selects additional information matching the attribute of the user based on the attribute information. It may be configured to do so. The above processing is executed by the advertisement information providing server 40, for example.

With the above configuration, it is possible to print the optimal additional information matching the user's attribute in the surplus area.

The additional information printing method according to the present invention is a method for printing additional information obtained via a network in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information obtained via a network is printed. Calculating the size of the surplus area, transmitting request information including the calculated size of the surplus area and the document identification information for specifying the content of the document information, and additional information matching the content and size of the document information Receiving the data. Each of the above processes is executed by the user terminal 20, for example.

With the above configuration, it is possible to print additional information related to the document information that is considered to be of interest to the user in the extra area. Therefore, it is possible to provide additional information that meets the needs of the user who wants to utilize the document information obtained via the network.

The additional information printing support program according to the present invention includes an additional information printing support program (for example, the advertisement information providing server 40) for providing additional information to be printed in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information is printed. Receiving request information including, in a computer (for example, the advertisement information providing server 40), the size of the surplus area and the document specifying information for specifying the content of the document information. Executing, in response to the request information, selecting the additional information that matches the document identification information and the size included in the received request information, and transmitting the selected additional information via the network. It is to make it. Each of the above processes
For example, it is realized by:

With the above configuration, it is possible to print additional information related to the document information which is considered to be of interest to the user in the extra area. Therefore, it is possible to provide additional information that meets the needs of the user who wants to utilize the document information obtained via the network.

Further, the additional information printing program according to the present invention comprises an additional information printing program for printing the additional information obtained via the network in a surplus area of a paper medium on which the document information obtained via the network is printed. For example, it is an additional information printing program installed in the user terminal 20 and is a computer (for example, the user terminal 2).
0), a step of calculating the size of the surplus area, transmitting request information including the calculated size of the surplus area and document specifying information for specifying the content of the document information, and matching the content and size of the document information And receiving the added information.

With the above configuration, it is possible to print additional information related to the document information considered to be of interest to the user in the extra area. Therefore, it is possible to provide additional information that meets the needs of the user who wants to utilize the document information obtained via the network.

[0034]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an additional information printing system 10 according to the present embodiment. The additional information printing system 10 includes a user terminal 20 and a WWW
A (World Wide Web) server 30 and an advertisement information providing server 40 are included. User terminal 20, WWW
The server 30 and the advertisement information providing server 40 are each connected to a communication network 50 such as the Internet. Note that the user terminal 20 and the WWW server 30
May be connected to any number of networks 50.

The user terminal 20 is composed of an information processing device such as a personal computer, for example, and is managed by a user who browses and collects information using the network 50. The user terminal 20 has an environment (environment in hardware and software) in which connection to the network 50 and transmission / reception of information using the network 50 can be performed.

The WWW server 30 is constituted by an information processing device such as a workstation server. W
The WW server 30 has various functions such as a function of managing information on member users in this example. In this example, the WWW server 30 operates a Web page for providing various information to the member user, and provides various information by the Web page. Also, WWW
The server 30 stores various information posted on the Web page,
It has a database 31 for storing member information and the like.

In this example, the WWW server 30 is a Cook server.
Each user is managed using character string information called "ie" for identifying the user. Here, a process in the case of performing user management using the Cookie will be briefly described. First, the WWW server 30 generates a Cookie and transmits it to each user terminal (for example, the user terminal 20, specifically, a browser mounted on the terminal) managed by the member user. Upon acquiring the Cookie, each user terminal saves a file (Cookie file) storing the Cookie. When accessing the WWW server 30, each user terminal uses a function of a browser mounted on the user terminal to perform a Cook function.
Send the IE file. Then, the WWW server 30
Recognizes information about the user from the acquired Cookie file. Since information on each user can be recognized in this manner, the WWW server 30
Will be able to grasp the latest user information, for example, it will be possible to provide a service called a customized service that matches the attributes of each user.

The advertisement information providing server 40 is constituted by an information processing device such as a workstation server. The advertisement information providing server 40 has various functions such as a function of providing additional information (advertisement information in this example). Further, the advertisement information providing server 40 has a database 41 for storing additional information and various information (see FIG. 6) used for selecting additional information to be provided. Note that W
The WW server 30 and the advertisement information providing server 40 may be configured by the same server.

Next, information acquisition processing in the additional information printing system 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing an example of information acquisition processing and processing timing in the additional information printing system 10 of the present example. Here, it is assumed that the user A who manages the user terminal 20 performs a process of acquiring information provided by the WWW server 30. It is assumed that the user A is a member user who has presented personal information in advance and registered as a member, and is capable of browsing a Web page operated by the WWW server 30 and the like. In the information acquisition process of this example, as described below, the address of the advertisement information providing server 40 managed by the additional information provider affiliated with the administrator of the WWW server 30 is associated with the acquired page. Then, the processing stored in the user terminal 20 is executed.

In the information acquisition process, the user terminal 20
Accesses the WWW server 30 via the network 50 in response to the operation of the user A, and accesses the home page of the Web page provided by the WWW server 30 (the first page of the Web page, for example, the entire Web page. This is a page that plays a role of table of contents.) (Step S201).

Upon receiving a request to acquire a home page from the user terminal 20, the WWW server 30 executes the W
The information on the home page of the eb page and the address of the advertisement information providing server 40 (for example, URL (U
niform Resource Locator) is transmitted to the user terminal 20 via the network 50 (step S202).

Upon receiving the information from the WWW server 30, the user terminal 20 displays the home page on a display screen of a display device (not shown) based on the obtained information on the home page, and displays the address of the obtained advertisement information providing server 40. (Step S20)
3). The acquired address of the advertisement information providing server 40 is stored in association with the URL of the homepage. Then, the user A operates the user terminal 20 and
Browse the home page displayed on the display screen. Also, when an operation for acquiring information about another page is performed by the user A (for example, a mouse click operation for pressing an acquisition button for the next page), the user terminal 2
0 requests the WWW server 30 to acquire information of a new page desired by the user A (step S20).
4).

When a request to acquire a new page is received from the user terminal 20, the WWW server 30 sends information on the requested page and a provider of additional information related to the page (in this example, the advertisement information providing server 40). ) Is transmitted to the user terminal 20 via the network 50 (step S205). As described above, in this example, the source of the additional information related to each page of the Web pages operated by the WWW server 30 is configured to be all the information providing server 40. The configuration may be different from the provider.

Upon receiving the information from the WWW server 30, the user terminal 20 displays the page on the display screen of a display device (not shown) based on the information on the acquired page, and provides the acquired additional information provider ( In this example, the address of the advertisement information providing server 40) is stored (step S206). Then, the user A operates the user terminal 20 to browse a new page displayed on the display screen. By repeatedly executing the above-described processing, the page is updated, and the address of the provider of the page and the additional information is stored. Each address is a storage unit such as a hard disk (not shown) provided in the user terminal 20 in a state where the address of the acquired page and the address of the provider of the additional information acquired together with the page are associated with each other. ).

Next, a description will be given of the additional information composite printing process by the additional information printing system 10 of the present embodiment. FIG.
9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of additional information synthesis print processing by the user terminal 20 (specifically, a browser installed in the user terminal 20) of the present example. In the additional information synthesis printing process illustrated in FIG. 3, for example, there is a user A's intention to perform a printing process (for example, a press operation of a print button provided in a browser installed in the user terminal 20). If started. Here, a case where advertisement information is used as additional information will be described as an example.

In the additional information synthesis print processing, the user A
Is to be set for printing (step S30
1) Y), the user terminal 20 is operated to make print settings (step S302). In the print settings, for example, various settings relating to printing, such as a page to be printed, a paper size, a printing direction (vertical, horizontal, or the like), upper / lower / left / right margins, and selection of color / monochrome are performed. In this example, the information posted on the page to be printed is called “document information”.

When the print setting is not required (when the content already set is sufficient), or after the print setting is completed in step S302, the intention of the user A to execute printing is displayed (for example, when the user A is installed in the user terminal 20). (Y in step S303), the user terminal 20 creates a print image based on the content of the determined print setting, and generates a margin area. The size of (the area where nothing is printed on the printing paper when the document information is printed on the printing paper) is calculated (step S304). In this example, the size of the margin in the lower part of the last sheet of printing paper on which the document information is printed is calculated, and the maximum size of the plurality of types of combined information that can be combined is set. The size is determined as the composite size (step S30)
4). In this example, for example, 180 [mm] × 30 [m
m], 180 [mm] × 60 [mm], 180 [mm]
A plurality of types of combined information size such as × 90 [mm] are set in advance. For example, when the above three types of combined information sizes are set, 180 [mm] × 75 [m
m], the maximum size that can be included in this blank area is 18
0 [mm] × 60 [mm] is determined as the combined information size.

When the size of the combined information is determined, the user terminal 20 sets the address of the provider of the additional information stored corresponding to the document information (for example, the address of the advertisement information providing server 40 stored in step S206). In this example, the server is connected to the advertisement information providing server 40, and transmits the advertisement request information including the address of the document information and the determined combined information size via the network 50 (step S3).
05). The connection to the advertisement information providing server 40 is not performed by the operation of the user A, but is automatically performed by a function of the user terminal 20 (specifically, a function of a browser mounted on the user terminal).

In this example, the advertisement request information includes information for specifying the document information (document specifying information: for example, the URL of the page that is the document information), and the banner advertisement included in the document information. (For example, the URL of the banner advertisement posted in the manuscript information), and the information for identifying the browsed banner advertisement (viewed information: for example, it has been clicked, and the user A has viewed it). (URL of the banner advertisement that is recognized to be recognized), information for specifying the combined information size, and information for obtaining the user attribute from the WWW server 30 (user identifier: for example, user ID)
including. The advertisement request information is configured, for example, as “information for specifying the document specifying information / combined information size, URL of the banner advertisement posted in the document information, viewed information, user identifier”.

When the advertisement request information is output, the user terminal 2
0 is in a state of waiting for reception of the advertisement information from the advertisement information providing server 40, and performs a process of monitoring whether or not the advertisement information has been acquired (step S306). And the user terminal 2
0 is obtained when the advertisement information transmitted in the advertisement information selection processing described later (specifically, the processing in step S506, step S511, step S516 or step S518) is acquired (Y in step S306), and the document information is acquired. Then, print information is created by combining the advertisement information with the advertisement information (step S307). In this case, the advertisement information is combined in the margin area. Then, the user terminal 20 prints the created print information using an output device (for example, a printer) (step S308).

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a state of a printing sheet on which print information is printed. In FIG. 4, step S
An example of the state of the last sheet of print paper on which print information has been printed in the print processing of step 308 is shown. As shown in FIG. 4, in this example, the advertisement information is printed in a blank area below the area where the document information is printed on the last sheet of printing paper. FIG. 4 shows a state where three banner advertisements are printed.

Next, the additional information selection processing by the additional information printing system 10 of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the additional information selection process performed by the advertisement information providing server 40. The additional information selection process illustrated in FIG. 5 is executed in response to the advertisement information providing server 40 acquiring the advertisement request information output by the user terminal 20 in step S305 described above. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a storage state of various types of information stored in the database 41 of the advertisement information providing server 40.

As shown in FIG. 6, the database 41 stores various types of information divided into a plurality of advertisement information groups. 6 are registered in advance by the administrator of the server 40. The advertisement information group is specified by information for specifying the document information (URL of the page serving as the document information) and the combined information size included in the advertisement request information. For example, in the advertisement request information,
If the document information of “www.xyz.com/abc.html” and the information indicating the combined information size of “180 [mm] by 30 [mm]” are included, As shown in FIG. 6, the advertisement information group 1 is specified by the information.

Each advertisement information group is associated with a plurality of pieces of advertisement information. Each piece of advertisement information belonging to each advertisement information group includes information related to the corresponding document information (document information set in the advertisement information group to which the self belongs, and the same applies to other information hereinafter). ing. For example, each piece of advertisement information corresponding to the document information describing a car includes information related to the car, such as an advertisement related to new car sales, an advertisement related to used car sales, and an advertisement related to car insurance. Each piece of advertisement information belonging to the advertisement information group is created in a corresponding size.

As shown in FIG. 6, each advertisement information group is associated with a rotation counter used for determining advertisement information to be combined from the advertisement information group. In addition, each advertisement information is associated with a banner linked flag, linked banner information, a browsed posting flag, a user search flag, and attribute information. In addition,
In each advertisement information, the order in which the advertisement information to be combined is selected in the corresponding advertisement information group (the order is not necessarily selected in the order).

The banner linkage flag is information indicating whether or not the advertisement information is added in conjunction with the banner advertisement posted in the document information. The linked banner information is information for specifying a banner advertisement posted in the corresponding manuscript information (for example, a URL of the banner advertisement posted in the manuscript information), and corresponds to the advertisement information related to the banner advertisement. Is attached. The browsed publication flag is a flag indicating whether or not to add the advertisement information when the banner advertisement specified by the corresponding linked banner information has been browsed by the user. When the user browses the banner advertisement set in the linked banner information and wants to add the advertisement information, the browsed publication flag is set to ON.

The user search flag is a flag indicating that the attribute information of the user is searched, and when the attribute information matches, the advertisement information is added. The attribute information is information indicating an attribute of a user to be notified of the corresponding advertisement information. For example,
The region is set in the attribute information corresponding to the advertisement information effective to notify the user in a specific region.
Further, for example, the target age is set in the attribute information corresponding to the advertisement information that is effective to notify a user of a specific age. The region and age are examples,
For example, various classifications such as hobbies, genders, and occupations may be set as attributes.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the advertisement information selection process, the advertisement information providing server 40 specifies an advertisement information group based on the document specifying information and the combined information size included in the received advertisement request information (see FIG. 5). Step S50
1). For example, the advertisement request information includes “www.xyz.c”.
om / abc. html ”and“ horizontal 1 ”
When the combined information size of “80 [mm], vertical 30 [mm]” is indicated, the advertisement information group 1 is specified (see FIG. 6). Next, it is confirmed whether or not there is advertisement information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter of the specified advertisement information group (step S502). When the value of the rotation counter exceeds the maximum value of the order of the advertisement information belonging to the advertisement information group, and there is no advertisement information having the corresponding order (for example, the value of the rotation counter of the advertisement information group 1 is 6 and If so, the value of the rotation counter is returned to 1 (step S5).
03) Then, the process of step S502 is executed again. If there is advertisement information corresponding to the value of the rotation counter, a user search flag (for example, if the value of the rotation counter is “3”, it is associated with the advertisement information whose order is “3”). Is checked (step S504).

If the user search flag is not on (N in step S504), the process shifts to a process of confirming the browsed publication flag (step S506). If the user search flag is on (Y in step S504), the attribute information of the user and the attribute information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter (for example, if the value of the rotation counter is “3”, the order Is the attribute information associated with the advertisement information of which is “3”.) (Step S505). The advertisement information providing server 40 uses, for example, the WWW server 3 using the URL of the WWW server 30 included in the advertisement request information.
0 to obtain the attribute information of the target user stored in the database 31 using the user identification information included in the advertisement request information, or to obtain the user information stored in the Cookie file of the user terminal 20. It is obtained by obtaining attribute information of.

When the attribute of the user does not match the attribute information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter (for example, the age of 16 is indicated in the attribute of the user, and the attribute of the advertisement information is 18 years or older). If the target age is indicated) (N in step S505), the value of the rotation counter is incremented by 1 (step S512), and it is checked whether the rotation counter has made one round (step S513). . That is, it is confirmed whether or not all or a part of the processing of steps S502 to S509 has been executed for each piece of advertisement information belonging to the advertisement information group specified in step S501. More specifically, in this example, it is determined whether the rotation counter has made one round. In this example, the value indicated by the rotation counter is the same as the value when the advertisement information group was specified in step S501. It is done by confirming whether or not. If the rotation counter has not yet completed one round (step S
(N of 513), the process proceeds to the process of step S502 described above.

When the attribute of the user matches the attribute information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter (for example, the age of 30 is indicated in the attribute of the user,
When the target age of 18 years or older is indicated in the attribute of the advertisement information. ) (Y in step S505), the process proceeds to a process of confirming the browsed publication flag (step S506).

As described above, in this example, even if the attribute of the advertisement information corresponding to the value of the rotation counter matches the attribute of the user, the advertisement information alone is not selected as the additional information. However, when the attribute of the advertisement information corresponding to the value of the rotation counter matches the attribute of the user, without depending on other conditions,
The advertisement information may be selected as the additional information. In this case, when it is determined in step S505 that the attributes match each other (Y in step S505), the processing may be shifted to the processing in step S510 described below. With this configuration, steps S501 to S501
Step S505, step S510 to step S51
In the advertisement information selection processing configured by step 3, the advertisement information providing server 40 checks whether the attribute corresponding to the value of the rotation counter of the specified advertisement information group is an attribute that matches the attribute of the user. If it matches the attribute of the user, the corresponding advertisement information can be selected as the additional information, and the process of transmitting the selected advertisement information to the user terminal 20 can be executed.

If the user search flag corresponding to the value of the rotation counter of the advertisement information group specified in step S501 is not on (N in step S504), or if the user search flag is on and the corresponding advertisement If the attribute of the information (the attribute corresponding to the value of the rotation counter) matches the attribute of the user (Y in step S505), it corresponds to the value indicated by the rotation counter of the advertisement information group specified in step S501. (For example, if the value of the rotation counter is “3”, the browsed publication flag associated with the advertisement information whose order is “3”) is turned on. It is confirmed whether or not it is (step S506).

If the browsed publication flag is not on (N in step S506), the process shifts to a process of confirming the banner link flag (step S508). If the browsed publication flag is on (Y in step S506), it is checked whether or not the linked banner information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter matches the browsed information in the advertisement request information (step S507). . If they match, the advertisement information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter is selected and transmitted to the user terminal 20 via the network 50 (step S510). Thereafter, the advertisement information providing server 40 adds 1 to the value of the rotation counter (step S511). If they do not match (N in step S507), the value of the rotation counter is incremented by 1 (step S512), and the process proceeds to the above-described step S513.

As described above, in this example, the attribute of the advertisement information corresponding to the value of the rotation counter matches the attribute of the user (Y in step S505), and the link corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter. When the banner information matches the browsed information of the advertisement request information (Y in step S507), the advertisement information is selected as additional information. However, when the linked banner information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter matches the browsed information of the advertisement request information (Y in step S507), the corresponding advertisement information is selected as additional information regardless of other conditions. You may make it. In this case, steps S501 to S501
Step S503, step S506, step S50
7. The advertisement information selection process may be configured in steps S510 to S513. With such a configuration, the advertisement information providing server 40 displays the advertisement information corresponding to the value of the rotation counter of the specified advertisement information group on the banner advertisement that has been viewed (the page is regarded as the original information). It is checked whether or not the banner advertisement is related to the banner advertisement that the user has browsed, and if the banner advertisement is related to the banner advertisement that has been browsed, the advertisement information is selected as additional information and directed to the user terminal 20. The transmission process can be executed.

If the user search flag corresponding to the value of the rotation counter of the advertisement information group specified in step S501 is not on (N in step S504), or if the user search flag is on and the attribute of the advertisement information Matches the attribute of the user (step S505).
If Y) and the browsed posting flag is not on (N in step S506), the banner link flag (for example, the rotation flag) corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter of the advertisement information group specified in step S501. If the value of the counter is "3", it is checked whether or not the banner link flag associated with the advertisement information whose order is "3" is set (step S).
508).

If the banner link flag is not on (N in step S508), the advertisement information providing server 40 selects the advertisement information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter and sends the advertisement information to the user terminal 20 via the network 50. The transmission is performed (step S510). Thereafter, the advertisement information providing server 40 sets the value of the rotation counter to 1
It is added (step S511).

If the banner link flag is on (Y in step S508), it is checked whether the link banner information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter matches the banner advertisement URL in the advertisement request information (step S50).
9). With this confirmation, it is confirmed whether or not the corresponding advertisement information includes information related to the banner advertisement posted on the page that is the original information. If they match (Y in step S509), the advertisement information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter is selected and transmitted to the user terminal 20 via the network 50 (step S510). After that, the advertisement information providing server 4
When the value is 0, the value of the rotation counter is incremented by 1 (step S511). If they do not match (N in step S509), the value of the rotation counter is incremented by 1 (step S512), and the above-described step S513 is performed.
Move to the processing of.

As described above, in this example, the attribute of the advertisement information corresponding to the value of the rotation counter matches the attribute of the user (Y in step S505), and the link corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter. When the banner information matches the banner advertisement URL of the advertisement request information (Y in step S509), the advertisement information is selected as additional information. However, when the linked banner information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter matches the banner advertisement URL of the advertisement request information (Y in step S509), the corresponding advertisement information is selected as additional information regardless of other conditions. You may make it. In this case, steps S501 to S503 and step S508
Step S513 may constitute the advertisement information selection process. With this configuration, the advertisement information providing server 40 determines whether the advertisement information corresponding to the value of the rotation counter of the specified advertisement information group is related to the banner advertisement that was posted on the page that is the original information. Whether the advertisement information is related to the banner advertisement or not, the advertisement information is selected as additional information, and a process of transmitting the selected advertisement information to the user terminal 20 can be executed.

In the advertisement request information, when the condition for linking to the banner advertisement posted on the page set as the manuscript information is not specified (the banner link flag is not on) (N in step S508) The advertisement information providing server 40 selects the advertisement information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter specified in step S501, and transmits the selected advertisement information to the user terminal 20 via the network 50 (step S510). Thereafter, the advertisement information providing server 40 adds 1 to the value of the rotation counter (step S511).

If the attribute of the advertisement information corresponding to the value of the rotation counter does not match the attribute of the user (N in step S505), the linked banner information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter indicates the browsing of the advertisement request information. If the information does not match the payment information (N in step S507),
Alternatively, if the linked banner information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter does not match the banner advertisement URL in the advertisement request information (N in step S509), the value of the rotation counter is incremented by 1 (step S512). If the rotation counter has made one round (Y in step S513), the advertisement information providing server 40
Correspond to steps S502 and S503 described above.
(Not shown in FIG. 5), the advertisement information corresponding to the value indicated by the rotation counter is selected and transmitted to the user terminal 20 via the network 50 (step S510). Thereafter, the advertisement information providing server 40 adds 1 to the value of the rotation counter (step S511).

As described above, in this example, when none of the user search flag, the browsed flag, and the banner link flag is turned on, the advertisement information corresponding to the value of the rotation counter is selected as additional information. Is done. However, the advertising information according to the value of the rotation counter may be selected as the additional information without depending on other conditions. In this case, the advertisement information selection process may be configured by steps S501 to S503, steps S510, and S511. According to this configuration, the advertisement information providing server 40 executes a process of selecting one of the advertisement information included in the specified advertisement information group as the additional information and transmitting the additional information to the user terminal 20. Will be able to Further, the advertisement information is surely selected in order (according to the “order” shown in FIG. 6) as the additional information, and each advertisement information can be provided evenly.

As described above, when the advertisement information providing server 40 prints the publication information of the Web page established on the network, the advertisement information providing server 40 reduces the size of the page serving as the document information and the size of the margin area of the printing paper. Based on this, by selecting the advertising information to be combined with the margin area,
Advertisement information related to the manuscript information (for example, when the manuscript information is information on a car, advertisement information on car sales, car insurance, car supplies, etc.) can be printed in the margin area. Information that is viewed and printed on a Web page is assumed to be information of interest or interest to the user, and information related to such information can be added. Can be printed in the margin area. Therefore, it is possible to provide advertisement information that matches the needs of the user who wants to utilize the information posted on the Web page (that is, advertisement information that matches the user's interests, interests, hobbies, and preferences). Also,
Since the advertisement information can be provided to a user who is considered to be interested in the product or service to be advertised, the advertiser has an advantage that the advertisement activity can be efficiently performed.

Further, as described above, the advertisement information providing server 40 is configured to select the advertisement information related to the banner advertisement posted on the page serving as the document information as the additional information to be printed in the margin area. Thus, the advertisement information related to the banner advertisement included in the document information can be printed in the margin area. Since the banner advertisement posted on each page of the web page is often related to the content of the web page, it can be expected that the content of the banner advertisement is also interesting information for the user.
In the above-described embodiment, since information related to the content of such a banner advertisement can be added, it is possible to print information considered to be interesting to the user in the margin area.

As described above, the advertisement information providing server 40 selects, as the additional information to be printed in the margin area, the advertisement information that is posted on the page that is the document information and that is related to the viewed banner advertisement. With this configuration, the advertisement information related to the viewed banner advertisement included in the document information can be printed in the margin area. Of the banner advertisements posted on each page of the Web page, those that the user has selected and browsed can be expected to include information that the user is interested in. In the above-described embodiment, since information related to the content of the banner advertisement browsed by the user can be added, information that is considered to be interesting to the user can be printed in the margin area. .

As described above, since the advertisement information providing server 40 is configured to select, as the additional information, the advertisement information having the attribute that matches the user attribute, the optimum advertisement information that matches the user attribute is selected. Can be printed in the margin area. As described above, since the advertisement information matching the attribute information of the user is provided, the information is provided to the user who is out of the target of the product or service (out of the target age and out of the target area) posted in the advertisement. Can be suppressed, and the advertisement activity can be efficiently performed.

As described above, since the additional information is printed in the margin area, there is no need to use useless printing paper. Also, since it is not a paper only for advertisements,
It is possible to avoid being discarded by the user immediately after printing.

Further, as described above, since the advertisement information selected by using the rotation counter is sequentially changed, it is possible to avoid providing the same advertisement information continuously, and it is possible to substantially provide the same. Can be provided with each advertisement information. In addition, when continuously providing the same user with the same size advertisement information, different advertisement information can be provided.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when a print operation is performed by the user using the function of the user terminal 20 (specifically, the function of the browser installed in the user terminal), the advertisement is automatically displayed. Information providing server 40
The advertisement information can be printed in the margin area without making the user conscious.

In the above-described embodiment, the advertisement information is selected by using a plurality of types of selection processing in the advertisement information selection processing. However, the advertisement information is selected by using some of the means. You may do so. For example, FIG.
Is a first selection process of selecting, as additional information, advertisement information having an attribute that matches the attribute of the user (for example, after Y in step S505, step S5).
If the configuration is such that the processing of Step 10 is performed, Step S5
01 to step S505 and step S510 to step S513) and the second step of selecting, as the additional information, the advertisement information related to the banner advertisement that has been published on the page that is the document information and has been viewed. 2 (for example, steps S501 to S50)
3, step S506, step S507, step S
Advertisement information selection processing composed of steps 510 to S513) and third selection processing for selecting advertisement information related to a banner advertisement posted on a page serving as document information as additional information (for example, step S501) To the step S503 and the step S508 to the step S513) and the fourth selection processing for selecting, as the additional information, the advertisement information whose original information matches the size of the combined information (for example, the steps S501 to the step S501). Although four selection processes of S503, step S510, and step S511 are included, the advertisement information may be selected by a part of the selection processes.

More specifically, the advertisement information selection processing may be configured by only the first selection processing, only the second selection processing, only the third selection processing, or only the fourth selection processing. Good. In addition, the advertisement information selection process, for example,
It is composed of a first selection process and a second selection process.
And the third selection process.
A configuration for selecting advertisement information by arbitrarily combining types of selection processing may be adopted.

In the above-described advertisement information selection process (see FIG. 5), the advertisement information corresponding to the value of the rotation counter is the advertisement information having an attribute that matches the attribute of the user (first condition), Advertisement information related to a banner advertisement that has been posted on a page that has been regarded as information and has been viewed (second condition), and that has been published on a page that has been regarded as manuscript information. (The third condition), when the first condition and the second condition are satisfied and when the first condition and the third condition are satisfied, the advertisement information is selected as the additional information. Although the configuration has been described, a configuration may be adopted in which advertisement information that satisfies another combination of conditions, such as a case where any one of the first to third conditions is satisfied, is added as additional information.

In the above-described embodiment, the advertisement information is used as an example of the additional information to be printed in the margin area.
For example, some or all of the member users, or other information such as notification information for the user may be printed as additional information in the margin area. In this case, the database 31 of the WWW server 30 is searched using the user identifier, and if there is information to notify the user,
The information may be printed in the margin area as additional information. As the notification information, for example, when the manuscript information is a page operated by a Web page manager who receives an order for a product, information on a service provided on the Web page (for example, "Taro Suzuki. Product number 01-
We have ordered 001. It will be delivered at the end of this month, so please wait for a while. "Or the current point of Mr. Taro Suzuki with membership number 0001,
100 points. ").

In the above-described embodiment, the advertisement information related to the document information includes information directly or indirectly related to the content of the document information. For example, if the manuscript information is for high school students, the advertisement information on products and services for high school students is the advertisement information related to the manuscript information. Further, for example, when the manuscript information is content related to baseball, since advertisements related to baseball as well as advertisements related to other sports have relevance in terms of sports, the advertisement information related to the manuscript information is related. It is.

Although not particularly described in the above-described embodiment, the advertisement information providing server 40 operates according to a control program (additional information printing support program) for executing the above-described processes. The control program is a program for providing additional information to be printed in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information is printed,
For example, in the advertisement information providing server 40, receiving request information including the size of the surplus area and document specifying information for specifying the content of the document information;
This is a control program for executing a step of selecting additional information matching the document identification information and the size included in the received request information, and a step of transmitting the selected additional information via a network.

Although not particularly described in the above embodiment, the user terminal 20 operates according to a control program (additional information printing program) for executing the above-described processes. This control program is an additional information printing program for printing additional information acquired via a network in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information acquired via a network is printed. Specifically, the request information including the step of calculating the size of the surplus area and the document specifying information for specifying the content of the document information is transmitted to the browser (a browser installed in the user terminal 20). This is a control program for executing a transmitting step and a step of receiving additional information matching the content and size of the document information.

[0087]

As described above, according to the additional information printing system of the present invention, an additional information providing server for providing additional information to be printed in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information is to be printed is provided via a network. And a terminal device for combining and printing the additional information acquired via the network with the original information acquired through the network. The terminal device may further include: a calculating unit configured to calculate a size of the remaining area; and a request to transmit request information including the calculated size of the remaining area and document specifying information that specifies the content of the document information to the additional information providing server. Information transmitting means. Further, the additional information providing server, in response to the reception of the request information, includes an additional information selection unit that selects the additional information that matches the original identification information and the size included in the received request information, and a network that transmits the selected additional information to the network. And additional information transmitting means for transmitting via With such a configuration, it is possible to print additional information related to the document information considered to be of interest to the user in the extra area. Therefore, it is possible to provide additional information that meets the needs of the user who wants to utilize the document information obtained via the network.

A plurality of types of additional information corresponding to each combination composed of the document specifying information and the size are prepared, and the additional information selecting means matches the document specifying information and the size included in the received request information. If one of the plurality of pieces of additional information is configured to select one of the pieces of additional information, the one of the plurality of pieces of additional information related to the document information considered to be of interest to the user. The information can be printed in the extra area.

The manuscript information includes the internal advertisement information, the request information includes the advertisement specifying information for specifying the internal advertisement information, and the additional information selecting means selects the internal advertisement information specified by the advertisement specifying information. Is configured to select the additional information related to the internal advertisement information included in the document information in the extra area.

The manuscript information includes the internal advertisement information, the request information includes the browsed advertisement specifying information for specifying the internal advertisement information for which the related information has been browsed, and the additional information selecting means includes: When the related information is configured to select the additional information related to the viewed internal advertisement information based on the advertisement identification information, the additional information related to the viewed internal advertisement information included in the manuscript information is selected. Additional information can be printed in the remaining area. That is, it is possible to add information related to the content of the internal advertisement information that the user has shown interest.

The request information includes personal information for specifying the user of the terminal device, and the additional information selecting means obtains the attribute information of the user using the personal information, and converts the attribute of the user based on the attribute information. When the configuration is such that the matching additional information is selected, the optimum additional information matching the user's attribute can be printed in the surplus area.

If the terminal device is configured to also obtain the address of the additional information providing server when obtaining the document information via the network, the terminal device sends the request information to the additional information providing server. You will be able to send.

According to the additional information printing support method of the present invention, there is provided an additional information printing supporting method for providing additional information to be printed in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information is printed. Receiving request information including original specification information for specifying the content of the original information, and, in response to the reception of the request information, adding the additional information matching the original specification information and the size included in the received request information. Since the method includes the step of selecting and the step of transmitting the selected additional information via the network, it is possible to print additional information related to the document information considered to be interesting to the user in the extra area. Therefore, it is possible to provide additional information that meets the needs of the user who wants to utilize the document information obtained via the network.

A plurality of types of additional information corresponding to each combination composed of the document specifying information and the size are prepared, and a plurality of types of additional information matching the size of the document specifying information and the size of the additional information included in the received request information are prepared. If it is configured to select one of the additional information,
One of the plurality of pieces of additional information related to the document information that is considered to be of interest to the user can be printed in the surplus area.

The original information includes the internal advertisement information, and the request information includes the advertisement specifying information for specifying the internal advertisement information, and additional information related to the internal advertisement information specified by the advertisement specifying information. When configured to select, additional information related to the internal advertisement information included in the document information can be printed in a surplus area.

The original information includes the internal advertisement information, and the request information includes the browsed advertisement specifying information for specifying the internal advertisement information from which the related information has been viewed, and is based on the viewed advertisement specifying information. In the case where the related information is configured to select additional information related to the viewed internal advertisement information, the additional information related to the viewed internal advertisement information included in the manuscript information is set in a surplus area. Can be printed. That is, it is possible to add information related to the content of the internal advertisement information that the user has shown interest.

The request information includes personal information for specifying the user of the terminal device, obtains the attribute information of the user using the personal information, and selects additional information matching the attribute of the user based on the attribute information. In such a case, it is possible to print the optimal additional information matching the user's attribute in the surplus area.

Further, according to the additional information printing method of the present invention, the additional information printing method for printing the additional information obtained via the network in the remaining area of the paper medium on which the document information obtained via the network is printed. Calculating the size of the surplus area; transmitting request information including the calculated size of the surplus area and the document identification information for specifying the content of the document information; and matching the content and size of the document information. Receiving the additional information, it is possible to print additional information related to the document information considered to be of interest to the user in the extra area. Therefore, it is possible to provide additional information that meets the needs of the user who wants to utilize the document information obtained via the network.

According to the additional information printing support program of the present invention, there is provided an additional information printing supporting program for providing additional information to be printed in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information is printed. Receiving the request information including the size of the remaining area and the document identification information for specifying the content of the document information; and, in response to the reception of the request information, changing the size of the document identification information and the size included in the received request information. The step of selecting the matching additional information and the step of transmitting the selected additional information via the network are executed, so that the additional information related to the document information considered to be of interest to the user is printed in the remaining area. Can be done. Therefore, it is possible to provide additional information that meets the needs of the user who wants to utilize the document information obtained via the network.

Further, according to the additional information printing program of the present invention, additional information printing for printing the additional information obtained via the network is performed on the remaining area of the paper medium on which the document information obtained via the network is printed. A program for transmitting, to a computer, request information including a step of calculating a size of the surplus area, document size specifying information for specifying the size of the surplus area, and the content of the document information; And receiving the additional information matching the size, the additional information related to the document information considered to be of interest to the user can be printed in the extra area. Therefore, it is possible to provide additional information that meets the needs of the user who wants to utilize the document information obtained via the network.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an additional information printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart illustrating an example of information acquisition processing and processing timing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of additional information synthesis printing processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a state of a print sheet on which print information is printed according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an additional information selection process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a storage state of information stored in a database of an additional information providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Additional information printing system 20 User terminal 30 WWW server 31, 41 Database 40 Advertising information providing server 50 Network

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 3/12 G06F 3/12 Z 17/60 326 17/60 326 H04N 1/387 H04N 1/387 F term (Reference) 2C061 AP01 HJ06 HQ17 2C087 BA14 BD07 BD10 CA03 CA04 5B009 RC06 RC13 5B021 AA01 BB01 BB04 BB09 CC05 EE04 5C076 AA16 AA37 CA09

Claims (14)

[Claims] An additional information providing server for providing additional information to be printed in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information is printed, and the additional information obtained via a network is added to the document information obtained via a network. An additional information printing system including a terminal device for combining and printing, wherein the terminal device calculates a size of the surplus area, and a document that specifies the calculated size of the surplus area and the content of the document information. Request information transmitting means for transmitting request information including specific information to the additional information providing server, wherein the additional information providing server is included in the received request information in response to receiving the request information Additional information selecting means for selecting additional information matching the original identification information and size, and additional information transmitting means for transmitting the selected additional information via a network. Additional information print system comprising. 2. A plurality of types of additional information corresponding to respective combinations of the document specifying information and the size are prepared, and the additional information selecting means includes: the document specifying information and the size included in the received request information. 2. The additional information printing system according to claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of additional information items that matches the additional information is selected. 3. The original information includes internal advertisement information, the request information includes advertisement specifying information for specifying the internal advertisement information, and the additional information selecting unit is specified by the advertisement specifying information. 3. The additional information printing system according to claim 1, wherein additional information related to the internal advertisement information is selected. 4. The manuscript information includes internal advertisement information, the request information includes viewed advertisement specifying information for specifying the internal advertisement information from which related information has been viewed, and the additional information selecting means includes: 3. The additional information printing system according to claim 1, wherein additional information related to the internal advertisement information whose related information has been browsed is selected based on the browsed advertisement specifying information. 5. The request information includes personal information for identifying a user of the terminal device, and the additional information selecting means acquires attribute information of the user using the personal information, and obtains the attribute information based on the attribute information. 3. The additional information printing system according to claim 1, wherein the additional information matching the attribute of the user is selected. 6. The additional information printing system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device also acquires the address of the additional information providing server when acquiring the document information via the network. . 7. An additional information printing support method for providing additional information to be printed in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information is printed, wherein the document identification information specifies the size of the surplus area and the content of the document information. Receiving the request information including: requesting the request information, receiving the request information, and selecting the additional information that matches the document identification information and the size included in the received request information; and Transmitting the information via a network. 8. A plurality of types of additional information corresponding to each combination composed of the document specifying information and the size are prepared, and a plurality of additional information matching the document specifying information and the size included in the received request information are prepared. The method according to claim 7, wherein one of the pieces of information is selected. 9. The manuscript information includes internal advertisement information, the request information includes advertisement specification information for specifying the internal advertisement information, and the request information includes the internal advertisement information specified by the advertisement specification information. 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the related additional information is selected.
The additional information printing support method described. 10. The manuscript information includes internal advertisement information, the request information includes browsed advertisement identification information for identifying the internal advertisement information from which related information has been browsed, and the browsed advertisement identification. 9. The additional information printing support method according to claim 7, wherein the additional information related to the internal advertisement information whose related information has been browsed is selected based on the information. 11. The request information includes personal information for identifying a user of the terminal device, and acquires attribute information of the user using the personal information.
9. The additional information printing support method according to claim 7, wherein additional information matching the attribute of the user is selected based on the attribute information. 12. An additional information printing method for printing additional information obtained via a network on a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information obtained via a network is printed, wherein the size of the surplus area is calculated. Transmitting request information including the calculated remaining area size and document specifying information for specifying the content of the document information; and receiving additional information matching the content of the document information and the size. Include additional information printing method. 13. An additional information printing support program for providing additional information to be printed in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information is printed, comprising: a computer for storing the size of the surplus area and the content of the document information; Receiving the request information including the document specifying information to be specified; and, in response to receiving the request information, selecting the additional information matching the document specifying information and the size included in the received request information, Transmitting the selected additional information via the network. 14. An additional information printing program for printing additional information acquired via a network in a surplus area of a paper medium on which document information acquired via a network is printed. Calculating the size of the remaining area, transmitting the request information including the size of the remaining area and the document specifying information for specifying the content of the document information, and adding additional information matching the content of the document information and the size. And an additional information printing program for executing the receiving step.