JP2003178086A - Information providing system and method based on request data - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and a method capable of effectively providing information. <P>SOLUTION: An information service server 5A is provided with a plurality of kinds of advertising files 19A, 19B, an adverting definition file 17 in which the advertising files 19A, 19B are defined, and a main information page 11 linked with external information as link origin. A CGI program 13 is embedded in the main information page 11. The CGI program 13 identifies and analyzes a specific referrer variable (for example, a retrieval word) contained in the referrer information on the request data, when an information service server 5A receives the request data from a user terminal 1. Then, the CGI program 13 acquires an advertising file 19A or 19B corresponding to the analyzed retrieval word with reference to the advertising definition file 17 based on the result of the analysis, and displays the acquired advertising file 19A or 19B at a prescribed position on the main information page 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for providing a request source user terminal via a communication network with a request information screen showing main information requested via a communication network such as the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one of information providing methods, for example, an advertising method, a method of displaying an advertisement article or a banner advertisement on a Web page is known. As the web page for displaying advertisements, the web page of a portal site with a large number of accesses,
For example, the top page of search sites that provide information search services seems to be the preferred choice.

[0003]

However, just because an advertisement is displayed on a Web page with a large number of accesses, it does not always mean that a sufficient advertisement effect is obtained. The main reasons are (1) and (2) below.

(1) Since the displayed advertisement is fixed, it does not always meet the needs of the user who has accessed the Web page on which the advertisement is displayed.

(2) The portal site is generally the first place where users of the Internet access when searching for desired information, and the user does not intend to access the portal site itself. Therefore, it is quite possible that you are jumping to the web page of another site without seeing the advertisement.

Problems similar to this are not limited to advertisement,
It may also exist in various other areas of information provision business.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method that can effectively provide information.

[0008]

An information providing system according to a first aspect of the present invention provides information to be provided to a user terminal by adding additional information to a request information screen showing main information requested from the user terminal. A system, a means for receiving a plurality of additional information, request data for requesting specific main information from a user terminal (the request data is not limited to an http request), and the received request data. A means to analyze, a means to select specific additional information from a plurality of additional information based on the analysis result of the request data, and a request information screen showing the specific main information requested, and the request information screen The means for adding the specific additional information selected above and the request information screen with the specific additional information added And a means for providing the user terminal.

In this case, the main information may be blank as described in a modification of the embodiment described later. That is, the “request information screen showing the main information requested from the user terminal” may be a blank screen showing only the display position of the additional information.

In a preferred embodiment, the request data includes sub-data (for example, a referrer variable described later) that changes according to an operation performed in the user terminal in the past, and the selecting means includes a plurality of additional information. Control which additional information is selected from among the sub data. Specifically, for example, the sub data changes according to the search key used in the search for the specific main information performed in the past by the user terminal. Alternatively, the sub-data is a display order of specific main information (this main information is, for example, simple information described later) in the search result list displayed as a result of a search for specific main information performed in the past on the user terminal. It depends on

The information providing method according to the second aspect of the present invention is an information providing method for providing additional information to a request information screen showing main information requested by a user terminal, and providing the additional information to the user terminal. The step of receiving request data for requesting specific main information, the step of analyzing the received request data, and the selection of specific additional information from a plurality of additional information based on the analysis result of the request data And a request information screen showing the requested specific main information, and the step of adding the selected specific additional information to the request information screen, and the request information added with the specific additional information. Providing the screen to the user terminal.

The computer program according to the third aspect of the present invention can realize a system for providing the user terminal with additional information added to a request information screen showing main information requested from the user terminal. Analyzing the request data received by the system from the system for requesting specific main information, selecting specific additional information from a plurality of additional information based on the analysis result of the request data, and requesting And a step of adding the selected specific additional information to the request information screen representing the specified specific main information.

The above-mentioned elements provided in the system of the present invention are as follows:
It can be provided in one device or can be provided in a shared manner by a plurality of devices.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, taking an advertisement as an example of additional information.

FIG. 1 shows an overall system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In a communication network such as the Internet 7, a user terminal 1 such as a personal computer, a mobile phone, or a PDA used by a user, and a plurality of Web servers that provide information retrieval services (only two are shown for convenience,
Hereinafter, search sites) 3A, 3B, and a plurality of Web servers (only two are shown for convenience, shown in FIG. Hereinafter, information providing servers) 5A and 5B are connected.
The simple information is information that simply represents information that can be held and provided by the information providing servers 5A and 5B (hereinafter referred to as main information) (for example, information that represents the main information in text only).
However, the size is smaller than the main information and is linked to the main information.

The user terminal 1 has search sites 3A, 3B.
Also, a WWW browser (not shown) that displays web pages provided by the information providing servers 5A and 5B so that the user can browse them is installed. The WWW browser can access the Web page in the search servers 3A, 3B and the information providing servers 5A, 5B via the Internet 7 and display the Web page of the access destination in response to the user's request. Also, the WWW browser is a search site 3
When the simple information is listed as the search result in A or 3B, the simple information corresponding to the user's request can be specified from the listed simple information according to the user's request. At this time, the WWW browser searches for the IP address of the information providing server 5A or 5B holding the main information of the link destination of the specified simple information,
If you can find it, TC on the information providing server 5A or 5B.
While making a P connection, request data (which may be referred to as “http request”), which will be described later, is transmitted to the server 5A or 5B.

The search sites 3A and 3B receive input of a search word (keyword) from the user of the user terminal 1 and store information related to the search word in a database (not shown) managed by itself. The information found is displayed as a search result on the user terminal 1 in a list. The search services provided by the search sites 3A and 3B are
The service is not limited to the search based on the search word. For example, the information items are hierarchically managed, and the information items are displayed on the user terminal 1 so that the information items can be selected based on the hierarchical relationship. There is also a service in which information desired by the user is searched by being physically followed by the user.

The information providing servers 5A and 5B have main information (for example, html file, hereinafter, main information page) linked with simple information that can be displayed as a list as a result of the search at the search site 3A or 3B, and a plurality of advertisement information ( For example, html file) and are held. When the user terminal 1 that communicates with the search site 3A or 3B and displays the search result specifies the simple information of itself from the search result, the information providing servers 5A and 5A
(Strictly speaking, the request data is received from the WWW browser of the user terminal 1), specific information in the request data is analyzed, and specific advertisement information is selected from the plurality of advertisement information based on the analysis result. Then, the selected advertisement information is displayed at a predetermined position on the main information page, and the main information page is provided and displayed on the user terminal 1 of the request data transmission source.

Here, the request data is data for requesting the main information which is the link destination of the specified simple information, and the request data includes, for example, the following information (1) to (6). (In addition, (2)
~ (6) is a request header that details the request data).

(1) "Get""Get" is a Web that displays the main information of the link destination.
Shows the name of the directory in which the page (for example, html file, hereinafter, main information page) is stored.

(2) "User-Agent" The "User-Agent" header is used by the browser (for example, W) of the user terminal 1 which is the sender of the request data.
(WW browser) is shown in an identifiable manner.

(3) “Accept” The “Accept” header is information indicating the type of data that can be processed by the browser used by the user terminal 1 among the data received from the server (eg, text, ht).
ml).

(4) "Cookie" The "Cookie" header is used to access the server 5A or 5B to which the request data has been transmitted before and to the server 5A.
Alternatively, the name or value of the cookie (data block for identifying the user) received from 5B is indicated.

(5) "Referer" The "Referer" header represents information about the link source of the main information page to be downloaded (hereinafter referred to as referrer information). The referrer information includes the UR of the link source information.
L and information according to the operation performed in the user terminal 1 when the user terminal 1 is connected to the link source site are included. Specifically, for example, if the Web page displaying the link source information is a Web page listing one or more simple information as a search result (hereinafter referred to as a search result page), the referrer information is Is the URL of the search result page (that is, the URL of the link source), the display order of the specified simple information (information indicating the order from the top of the search result page), the input search word, etc. It is included. Here, of the information described here, the display order of the search word itself and the designated simple information differs depending on the input search word. Hereinafter, such information is referred to as a "referrer variable". There are multiple types of referrer variables, but in the following description, referrer variables are assumed to be search terms. It should be noted that the link source page of the main information page is not limited to one, and there may be a plurality of, and in some cases, a large number of pages, so in that case, in the request data requesting the same main information page,
Not only the referrer variables mentioned above, but the UR of the link source page
L can also be different. Therefore, in a broad sense, the referrer variable also includes the URL of the linking page.

(6) "Host" The "Host" header represents the host name of the URL of the request data transmission destination (that is, the link destination).

The information providing servers 5A and 5B analyze the referrer variable included in the referrer information of the above-mentioned request data, for example, a search word, and according to the analysis result,
Specific advertisement information is selected from a plurality of pieces of advertisement information, the selected advertisement information is displayed at a predetermined position on the main information page, and the main information page is provided and displayed on the user terminal 1. Hereinafter, this will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram specifically showing the information providing server 5A (the other information providing server 5B is essentially the same).

The information providing server 5A is a search site 3A,
Search site definition file 15 in which 3B is defined, and a plurality of types of advertisement information such as a banner advertisement displayed at a predetermined position on the main information page 11 (only two are shown for convenience, hereinafter,
Advertising files) 19A, 19B and advertising file 19
Holds an advertisement definition file 17 in which A and 19B are defined, and one or more main information pages (only one is shown for convenience) in html format in which a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) program 13 is embedded in a predetermined position. (Note that the CGI program 13 does not necessarily have to be embedded in the main information page 11, and may be in a specific location within the information providing server 5A, for example).

Information defining the search site 3A or 3B that is the link source of the main information page (in other words, information about the link source) is recorded in the search site definition file 15 (main information page 11). The number of link sources is not limited to one as described above, but a plurality of link sources, and in some cases, a large number of link sources may exist). Specifically, for example, the URL of the link source page (or the host device having the link source page) included in the referrer information in the request data from the user terminal 1 and the referrer variable included in the referrer information. A code for identifying (here, a search word code indicating a search word) is recorded. More specifically in the example shown in FIG. 2, when the information defining the search site is “http: //www.○○.ne.jp, MT”, the URL of the link source page is “http: //www.○
".Ne.jp" and the code for identifying the search term (referrer variable) is "M" after "," following the above URL.
T ”. The search site definition file 15 is provided because the code for identifying the search word code included in the referrer information differs depending on the search sites 3A and 3B. This search site definition file 1
The provision of 5 enables the following. That is, for example, referrer information included in the request data is [http: //www.○○.ne.jp/default.asp? MT =% C2% CE% BB% E9
% CB% C3 & S = MC & DC = 10 & _v = 2 & SDB = PG], refer to "http: //www.○○.ne.jp, MT" in the search site definition file 15 Code "% C2%" from "MT" to the specified character
It is possible to identify that "CE% BB% E9% CB% C3" is a code corresponding to the search term.

In the advertisement definition file 17, each advertisement file 1 corresponding to each search word that can be input by the user is provided.
The file names and extensions of 9A and 19B are recorded.
Here, since the referrer variable is used as the search word, the file names and extensions of the advertisement files 19A and 19B correspond to the search words that can be input by the user, but of course, instead of the search words or In addition, it is possible to correspond to another referrer variable, for example, information indicating the display order of the simple information of the link source.

Embedded in the main information page 11
The CGI program 13 is called by a specific program in the information providing server 5A when the information providing server 5A having the main information page 11 receives the request data. Then, the CGI program 13 refers to the search site definition file 15 based on the received request data, and based on the search site definition file 15, a specific referrer variable (search term here) included in the referrer information. ) Is identified and analyzed. Then, the CGI program 13 refers to the advertisement definition file 17 based on the result of the analysis and acquires the advertisement file 19A or 19B corresponding to the analyzed search word, and the execution result of itself, that is, the acquired advertisement file 19A. Alternatively, 19B is inserted and displayed at a predetermined position (for example, a position where the user is embedded) on the main information page 11 by a predetermined method (for example, using an include command of SSI (Sever Side Include)). .

Hereinafter, the case where the advertisement definition file 17 and the advertisement files 19A and 19B are as shown in FIG. 3 is taken as an example (that is, the search term "body fat meter" is used for the file name "me".
The advertisement file 19A of "ter" corresponds and the search term "body fat"
4 corresponds to the advertisement file 19B with the file name “taishibou”). In this embodiment, refer to FIGS. 4 and 5 for the flow until a search word is input and the main information page desired by the user is displayed. And explain.

FIG. 4 shows a flow until the main information page 11 is displayed when "body fat scale" is input as a search word on the search word input page provided by the search site 3A or 3B.

When the user terminal 1 accesses the search site 3A or 3B, a search word input page 21 in which a search word (keyword) for searching can be input is displayed on the display screen of the user terminal 1. . When a search word desired by the user, for example, “body fat meter” is input to the search word input field 23 of the search word input page 21, the search site 3A or 3B is related to the input search word “body fat meter”. The simple information is searched for from its own database (not shown), and the search result page 24 listing the searched simple information is displayed on the display screen of the user terminal 1.

When certain simple information “Blow off body fat” 25 is specified on the displayed search result page 24, the user terminal 1 displays the main information page 11 to which the simple information 25 is linked. IP of information provision server 5A
While searching for an address and making a TCP connection, request data including referrer information (information represented by [Referer] =) as shown in FIG. 4 is transmitted to the information providing server 5A.

The request data is sent to the information providing server 5
When A is received, the CGI program 13 is called, the CGI program 13 refers to the search site definition file 15 based on the received request data, and based on the search site definition file 15, the referrer information in Search term (“% C2% CE% BB% underlined in Figure 4
E9% CB% C3% B7% D7 ") and analyze. Then, as a result of the analysis, the CGI program 13 identifies that the search term is “body fat scale”, and based on that, the advertisement definition file 1
7, the advertisement file 19A corresponding to the search term “body fat scale” is acquired, and the acquired advertisement file 19A is displayed at the predetermined position shown by the dotted frame on the main information page 11. After that, the main information page 11 on which the advertisement file 19A is displayed is displayed on the display screen of the user terminal 1.

In this flow, when "body fat" is entered as a search term on the search term input page 21,
As shown in FIG. 5, the advertisement file 19B corresponding to the search word “body fat” is selected by the CGI program 13 and displayed on the main information page 11. According to this
Even if the requested main information page 11 is the same regardless of what the input search word is, the communication content of the user terminal 1 before receiving the request data, specifically, for example, the input search word Different ads are displayed depending on what the word is. Therefore, it can be expected to provide advertisements that are more suitable to the current needs of users.

The above is the description of the present embodiment. In this embodiment, for example, the following modified examples are also possible.

For example, in the advertisement definition file 17, instead of or in addition to the search term, another referrer variable, for example,
Various variables such as the display order of the simple information specified in the search result page as a search result and the URL of the link source can be adopted. In addition to the referrer variable, another variable in the request data can be adopted.

The display mode of the selected advertisement file 19A or 19B is not limited to the mode in which it is inserted into the main information page 11 and displayed. For example, a screen different from the screen (window) on which the main information page 11 is displayed is expanded, and the selected advertisement file 19 is displayed on the screen.
A mode of displaying A or 19B is also possible.

Further, when the received request data does not include any referrer variable (for example, a search word) recorded in the advertisement definition file 17 (for example, when the main information page 11 is on an external site or A new link is established with external information that is specified (that is, there is a new link source), and the request data is received due to the external information being specified, and the CG
The I program 13 can display a predetermined advertisement file on the main information page 11. In addition, when such a thing is performed, the advertisement suitable for the user who sent the request data can be displayed thereafter (from another point of view, a new link source can be supported). Advertisement definition file 1 by associating a specific variable included in request data with an advertisement file suitable for it
It can also be recorded in 7.

The additional information is the advertisement file 1 described above.
Not limited to 9A and 19B, various types of information can be adopted. In this case, for example, the information displayed on the main information page 11 may be a set of a plurality of selected specific additional information.

Specifically, for example, the main information page 1
The main information of 1 is substantially blank (that is, nothing is displayed on the main information page 11 before the additional information is added), and the main information page 11 includes the selected specific additional information. Only a plurality of display positions of are defined. Further, the information providing servers 5A and 5B are provided with a plurality of CGI programs for displaying the selected specific additional information at the plurality of display positions, respectively. The additional information definition file (not shown, the content of which is similar to the advertisement definition file 17) replacing the advertisement definition file 17 includes a plurality of additions corresponding to a plurality of referrer variables that may be included in the received request data. The file name and extension of information are recorded. In such a state, when the request data is received, each CGI program analyzes the request data and refers to the additional information definition file based on the analysis result,
Based on this, a plurality of specific additional information are selected, and the plurality of selected specific additional information are inserted and displayed at corresponding predetermined display positions on the main information page 11, respectively. Thereby, the display content of the main information page 11 can be changed as a whole according to the request data from the user terminal 1. That is, the main information page can be generated and provided according to the needs of each user. In addition, naturally, the contents described in the previous stage and this stage as an example
It is included in the present invention.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the displayed advertisements are different referrer variables depending on the contents of communication performed by the user terminal 1 as the access source before the information providing server 5A or 5B receives the request data. , Is selected based on the search word input to the search site 3A or 3B, for example. Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the place where the advertisement is displayed is not the link source page which is a passage point for viewing the user-desired information, but the Web page on which the user-desired information is displayed, that is, the user. It is a web page which is the final purpose of. By doing this, it is possible to display advertisements that meet the user's needs and to reduce the possibility of jumping to the web page of another site without seeing the advertisement. It will be possible to provide effective advertising that achieves both.

Further, according to the above-mentioned embodiment, even if the main information pages provided to and displayed by the user terminal 1 are the same, the communication content of the user terminal 1 before receiving the request data, specifically, for example, input Since the displayed advertisement differs depending on what the searched word is, it can be expected to provide the advertisement more suitable to the current needs of the user. In other words, each time the request data is received, the main information page 11 is displayed according to the analysis result of the referrer variable.
Since the advertisement files 19A and 19B displayed in (1) are changed (switched), even if the accessed main information page is the same main information page, the display content is dynamically changed. That is, it is possible to dynamically generate different Web pages (specifically, it is possible to dynamically generate Web pages with different display contents while keeping essential information unchanged).

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, this is merely an example for explaining the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. The present invention can be implemented in various other forms. That is, the present invention can be applied not only to advertisement through the Internet but also to providing various information including advertisement by using various communication methods such as digital broadcasting.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram specifically showing the information providing servers 5A and 5B.

FIG. 3 Advertisement definition file 17 and advertisement file 19
The figure which shows an example of A and 19B.

[Figure 4] "Body fat meter" as a search word on the search word input page
The figure showing the flow until the main information page 11 is displayed when is input.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow until the main information page 11 is displayed when “body fat” is input as a search word in the search word input page.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 user terminal 3A, 3B search site 5A, 5B Information provision server 7 Internet 11 Main information page 13 CGI Program 15 Search site definition file 17 Advertisement definition file 19A, 19B Advertising file

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An information providing system that provides a request information screen showing main information requested from a user terminal with additional information and provides the user terminal with a plurality of additional information and specific main information from the user terminal. Means for receiving request data for requesting a request, means for analyzing the received request data, and selecting specific additional information from the plurality of additional information based on an analysis result of the request data. Means, a means for adding the selected specific additional information to the request information screen showing the requested specific main information, and the request information screen to which the specific additional information is added to the user terminal And an information providing system including means for performing. 2. The request data includes sub-data that changes according to an operation performed in the user terminal in the past, and the selecting unit selects which additional information from the plurality of additional information. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the information is controlled according to the sub data. 3. The information providing system according to claim 2, wherein the sub-data changes according to a search key used in a search of the specific main information performed in the past by the user terminal. 4. The sub-data changes according to a display order of the specific main information in a search result list displayed as a result of a search of the specific main information performed in the past by the user terminal. The information providing system according to item 2. 5. An information providing method of providing additional information to a request information screen showing main information requested from a user terminal, and providing the user terminal with specific information, the request for requesting specific main information from the user terminal. A step of receiving data, a step of analyzing the received request data, a step of selecting specific additional information from a plurality of additional information based on an analysis result of the request data, and a specific request An information providing method including: a step of adding the selected specific additional information to a request information screen showing main information; and a step of providing the request information screen to which the specific additional information is added to the user terminal. . 6. A computer program capable of realizing an information providing system for providing additional information to a request information screen showing main information requested from a user terminal, the information providing system from the user terminal. Recieved,
Analyzing request data for requesting specific main information, selecting specific additional information from a plurality of additional information based on the analysis result of the request data, and requesting specific main information A computer program for causing a computer to perform the step of adding the selected specific additional information to a request information screen showing information.