JP2005050195A - Information source location system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily locate an information source even when items carried by a printing medium are turned to be the information source of a Web page. <P>SOLUTION: The terminal of a user is provided with a means to acquire the identification information of items carried by a printing medium and URL corresponding to those items from the printing medium and a means to add the identification information of a browsing person and the identification information of the carried items to the request when a browsing request for a Web page based on the URL is made. When the identification information of the browsing person and the carried items is included in a request for the browsing of the Web page, an information source location device associates the identification information of the carried items and the specified information of the requested Web page with the identification information of the browsing person, and when a request for the resource preliminarily associated with the specified information of the Web page corresponding to the carried items is received by a Web server, the information source location device decides whether or not the carried items are turned to be the information source on the basis of whether or not the specified information is associated with the identification information of the requester. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information source specifying system for specifying an information source for a browsed web page.

With the spread of the Internet in recent years, advertisements for products and services, sales of products, application for use of services, etc. have been performed on various web pages. The URL that identifies the web page is introduced not only on other web pages but also in magazines and newspaper advertisements. By specifying which information source is used to purchase a product or apply for the use of a service, it is possible to efficiently carry out advertising and the like. If a product purchase or service use application is made via another web page, the browsing route may be automatically specified. However, when a URL is posted on a print medium such as a magazine or a newspaper, or when a URL is assigned to the product itself, it usually relies on user input. For this reason, when a user purchases a product on a web page or makes an application for use of a service, a questionnaire is often conducted as to which information source the URL of the web page is from.
JP 2002-245339 A

  When an information source is specified by a questionnaire, the operation for the user to input information for this is likely to be complicated. In addition, there are many cases in which the user's cooperation cannot be obtained for the questionnaire.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems in the prior art, and even when information posted on a print medium or information given to a product is an information source for browsing a web page, the specification is also made. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information source identification system that can easily perform the above.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, in the information source specifying system of the present invention, an acquisition means for acquiring identification information of a matter posted on a print medium and a URL corresponding to the matter from the print medium in a user terminal. And an adding means for adding the identification information of the viewer and the acquired identification information of the posted items to the request when a browsing request for the web page based on the acquired URL is made. If the user obtains information using the obtaining means, the information is automatically or semi-automatically transmitted to the web server when a web page browsing request is made. The information source specifying device monitors requests from the terminal and other terminals to the web server. In the information source specifying device, when the web page browsing request includes identification information of the viewer and the posting item, the associating means includes the identification information of the posting item and information for specifying the requested web page. Associate with the viewer's identification information. Then, when the web server receives a request for the resource previously associated with the specific information of the web page corresponding to the posted item, the determination means associates the specific information with the identification information of the person who made the request. It is determined whether or not the posted item is an information source based on whether or not it is present.

  In this way, in the information source specifying system of the present invention, it is specified whether or not the matter posted on the print medium has been used. Therefore, the specification is easy and the burden on the user is extremely small.

  You may further provide a point provision means in this information source identification system. When it is determined that the posted items are used to make the request, the point granting unit gives points to the person who made the request. By giving points in this way, an incentive can be given to the user, and the information source can be specified more reliably.

  The matter posted on the print medium is, for example, an advertisement for a product published in a magazine or newspaper, and the above-described determination is performed when an instruction to purchase the product is transmitted to the web server.

  In another aspect, the present invention provides an information source specifying system that can specify an item even when an item assigned to a product is an information source. In that case, an acquisition unit that acquires the identification information of the product given to the product and a URL corresponding to the product from the product, and a web page browsing request based on the acquired URL are made on the user terminal. In this case, there is provided additional means for adding the identification information of the viewer and the acquired identification information of the product to the request. Further, in the information source specifying device, when the browsing request of the web page includes identification information of the viewer and the product, the browsing information includes the identification information of the product and the information for identifying the requested web page. When the web server receives a request for a resource associated with the identification information of the product and the resource associated with the specific information of the web page corresponding to the product, the specific information is associated with the identification information of the person who made the request. Means for determining whether or not the information given to the product is an information source based on whether or not the information is provided.

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

  In this embodiment, the present invention provides an information source specifying system that can specify an information source when the product is purchased using an advertisement of the product published in a magazine or newspaper as an information source. Here, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the information source specifying system in the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the information source specifying system in this embodiment, a user terminal 1 is connected to an information source specifying device 3 through the Internet 2. In the user terminal 1, the web browser 101 operates, and an acquisition unit 102 and an addition unit 103 are provided. The acquisition unit 102 is used to acquire the identification information of the item posted on the print medium 4 and the URL corresponding to the item from the print medium 4.

  As this acquisition means 102, for example, a character optical reader, a one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcode reader, an RFID tag reader, or the like can be used. In the example of FIG. 2, URLs corresponding to each advertisement and identification information of the advertisement are given to the advertisements 401 to 404 placed on the print medium 4 in various forms. In the advertisement 401, only the URL 405 of the product introduction page corresponding to the advertisement is shown. The URL 405 includes advertisement identification information as a parameter. Instead of including identification information in the parameter of the URL 405, the identification information of the advertisement can be transmitted from the RFID tag 406 embedded in the print medium. If the URL 405 and the identification information of the advertisement 401 are associated with each other and stored in the RFID tag 406, even if identification information for a plurality of advertisements is stored in the RFID tag 406, appropriate advertisement identification information can be acquired. it can. In the advertisement 402, in addition to the URL 407, identification information 408 of the advertisement is printed as a character string. In the advertisement 403, a two-dimensional barcode 409 in which the URL of the product introduction page and the identification information of the advertisement are encoded is printed. In the advertisement 404, a URL 411 of a product introduction page and a two-dimensional barcode 412 in which identification information of the advertisement is encoded are shown. By using a character optical reader or a barcode reader alone or in combination, even if information for specifying an information source is posted in various forms as described above, the information can be acquired. it can.

  When a web page browsing request based on the acquired URL is made, the adding unit 103 adds the identification information of the viewer and the acquired identification information of the posted items to the request. If information about the advertisement 402 is acquired using the acquisition unit 102, the identification information is added to the request by adding the identification information of the user and the identification information of the advertisement to the URL as parameters, for example. The identification information of the advertisement 402 is “# 9999” acquired from the advertisement. As the user identification information, information registered in advance in the user terminal 1 may be used. Here, it is assumed that “U111” is registered as the user ID.

  Web page browsing requests can be made automatically. In this case, when the identification information and URL of the posting item are acquired using the acquisition unit 102, the addition unit 102 activates the web browser 101 with the URL to which the user ID and the advertisement identification information are added as arguments. . Further, when the user inputs the URL to the web browser 101 himself, the adding means 102 operates as a proxy. After the input, the request transmitted from the web browser 101 is acquired by the adding means 102, and the identification information of the user and the posted items is added to the request.

  A web page browsing request based on the acquired URL is transmitted through the Internet 2 to the web server 301 designated as the host domain by the URL.

  In this embodiment, the web server 301 is operating on the information source specifying device 3. The web server 301 may be operating on another device that can communicate with the information source specifying device 3.

  The information source specifying device 3 includes an association unit 302, a determination unit 303, and a point grant unit 304 in addition to the web server 301 operating.

  When the web page browsing request includes identification information of the viewer and the posting item, the associating means 302 identifies the browsing item identification information and information identifying the requested web page. Associate with information.

  When the web page browsing request includes the identification information of the viewer and the posted item, the program started by the web server 301 or the web server 301 itself includes the identification information of the viewer and the posted item included in the request, and Information identifying the requested web page is provided to the association means 302. When information is given from the web server 301, the associating unit 302 performs associating as shown in FIG. 3, and stores a table 306 indicating the association in the storage unit 305 such as a hard disk. In this example, the advertisement ID “# 9999” and the path data name “yyy” are associated with the user ID “U111”. Here, the path data name included in the browsing request is used as it is for the information specifying the web page, but the present invention is not limited to this. If an ID is given for each web page, the ID can also be used as information for specifying the web page.

  The web server 301 sends the requested web page to the web browser 101 while providing information to the associating means 302 to perform such association. FIG. 4 is an example of a page displayed on the web browser in this way. In the address input field of the web browser 101, the URL “http: //www.mmm.nn/yyy” acquired by the acquiring means 102 is described. In the display area of the web page, a page introducing the product “YYY” is displayed. As shown in FIG. 4, links such as “feature”, “details”, and “specifications” are provided on this page, and by selecting these links, the user is posted on the print medium 4. Detailed information that was not available can be obtained. In addition, a link “Order” is provided on this page, and it is possible to place an order for a product that cannot be placed on the print medium 4.

  When the user selects this link, the web browser 101 transmits a linked page browsing request to the web server 301. When the web server 301 receives this request, the “order page” as shown in FIG. 5 is acquired from the storage unit 307 and transmitted to the web browser 101. This order page is provided with order products, unit price, subtotal, consumption tax, total display columns 501 to 505, an order quantity input column 506, and the like. On this page, a script is described. When the user changes the number, the subtotal, consumption tax, and total are calculated, and the calculation results are displayed in the corresponding display fields 503 to 505.

  Further, a “Purchase” button 507 is provided on this page. When the user decides to purchase a product, this button 507 is pressed. It is assumed that the URL “http: //www.mmm.nn/yyy2” is designated as the post request destination in this button 507. This request is transmitted from the web browser 101 to the web server 301. This request includes the product ID and the number of orders, and also includes a user ID for specifying the user.

  When the web server 301 receives this request, the web server 301 gives the determination unit 303 the user ID and the path data name included in the request.

  When the web server receives a request for the resource previously associated with the specific information of the web page corresponding to the posted item, the determination unit 303 determines whether the specific information is associated with the identification information of the person who made the request. Based on whether or not, it is determined whether or not the posted item is an information source for browsing the web page.

  When the path data name is given, the determination unit 303 refers to the table 308 stored in the storage unit 305 in advance. This table 308 associates the path data name with the specific information of the web page corresponding to the posted item. FIG. 6 shows an example of the table. In this example, a given path data name is expressed as a target path data name, and specific information associated with the target path data name is expressed as an entrance path data name. The target path data name “yyy2” is associated with the entrance path data name “yyy”.

  When the entry path data name is associated with the target path data name in this way, the determination unit 303 associates the entry path data name with the target path data name in order to determine whether or not the posting item has been used to make the request. The entry path data name is obtained from the table 307. Further, the determination unit 303 also refers to the table 306 including the user ID, and if the user ID given from the web server 301 is included in the table 306, the acquired entrance path data name is associated with the user ID. Check if it is. If the acquired entrance path data name is associated with the user ID, the determination unit 303 determines that the posted item is an information source for browsing the web page. If it is not associated, it is determined that the posted item is not an information source.

  When it is determined that the posted item is an information source, the determination unit 303 gives the advertisement ID associated with the user ID and the user ID to the point grant unit 304. When it is determined that the posted item is an information source, the point granting unit 304 gives points to the person who made the request. Here, points are given by associating a given user ID with a predetermined number of points. When a plurality of advertisement IDs are associated with the same user ID, the number of points may be associated with the corresponding advertisement ID. In that case, the number of points associated with the user ID is the sum of the number of points associated with the advertisement ID corresponding to the user ID.

  The points given in this way can be notified to the user by describing the points in an order confirmation mail, for example. Since the user is given an incentive to place an order using the printed matter on the print medium, information specifying the information source can be obtained more reliably.

  Further, even if the points are not given in this way, the user only has to browse the web page after obtaining the information using the obtaining means 102, and the burden is very small. In addition, since identification information of the posting items such as advertisement IDs can be obtained, not only whether the web page was browsed via the print media or via the network, but also which print media was listed It is also possible to do. For this reason, the specified information source can be evaluated with high accuracy, and the advertisement can be performed efficiently.

  When the advertiser apparatus in which the web server 301 is operating and the information source specifying apparatus 3 are operating on different apparatuses, the information source specifying apparatus 3 transmits the information source specifying result to the advertiser apparatus. You just have to do it. When providing information source identification results for a plurality of advertisers, the advertiser apparatus and the information source identification apparatus 3 are normally separated in this way. A web server operating on the advertiser's device or a program started by the web server transmits information obtained from a request from the web browser to the information source specifying device 3 as needed.

  In the above-described example, when a user purchases a product, it is determined that the posted item is used to make a request, and points are also given. However, the present invention is not limited to this. By appropriately performing the association in the table 308, points can be given, for example, when a web page in which information that is not posted on a print medium is described is browsed.

  It is also possible to give a user non-constant points, such as changing the number of points according to the advertisement ID associated with the ID of the user who gives the points. When the number of browsing times is associated with the user ID, the number of points to be given may be increased according to the number of browsing times.

  In addition, if the identification information of the items posted on the print medium is associated with the identification information of the issuer that issues the print medium, the results of determinations and points given for each item posted on the print medium are issued. It is also possible to tabulate by person's unit. This makes it possible to obtain useful information for determining which issuer should be asked to place an advertisement.

  Furthermore, the point granting unit 304 may determine the number of points to be given based on the length of the period from when the print medium 4 is issued until the information source is identified. In this case, information indicating the issuance time may be associated with the identification information of the print medium or the posted item. By this association, the issue time can be acquired from the identification information of the posted items.

  In the above-described embodiment, whether or not the matter posted on the print medium is an information source is specified, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to a system for specifying whether information given to a product is an information source.

  In order to provide information about the product, the URL of the web page describing the information can be printed or stamped on the product. In this way, if a URL is assigned to the product itself or its accessories, the support information on the web page can be easily referred to even when the instruction manual of the product cannot be found immediately. As described above, even when information given to a product is an information source, it is difficult to specify the information, as in the case where information posted on a print medium is an information source.

  The basic configuration of the information source identification system for performing such identification is the same as that shown in FIG. The acquisition unit 102 is used to acquire the identification information of the product given to the product and the URL corresponding to the product from the product. As the product identification information, a product code or serial number stamped on the product can be used. A code or number may be acquired from the RFID tag instead of the stamped one. The adding means 103 has the same function as described above except that the product identification information is added to the web page browsing request instead of the posted item identification information. The associating means 302 also associates the product identification information with the viewer identification information instead of the posted item identification information. Then, when the web server 301 receives a request for the resource previously associated with the specific information of the web page corresponding to the product, the determination unit 303 associates the specific information with the identification information of the person who made the request. Whether or not the information given to the product is an information source is determined based on whether or not the information is provided. The resource previously associated with the specific information of the web page corresponding to the product is, for example, a web page describing the support information of the product. If the specific information is associated with the ID of the user who viewed the web page, it is determined that the information given to the product is the information source.

  As described above, according to the present invention, even when the information source is information given to a product, the identification can be easily performed.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the system in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the advertisement published on the printing medium, URL contained in it, an advertisement number, etc. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the table for associating a path data name and advertisement ID with a user ID. It is an example of the product introduction page displayed on the web browser. It is an example of the goods order page displayed on a web browser. It is a figure which shows an example of the table for making the specific information and resource of the web page corresponding to a publication matter correlate beforehand.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 User's terminal 3 Information source identification apparatus 4 Print medium 101 Web browser 102 Acquisition means 103 Addition means 302 Association means 303 Determination means 304 Point grant means 305, 307 Storage means 306, 308 Table

Claims (4)

Means for acquiring identification information of a matter posted on a print medium and a URL corresponding to the matter from the print medium, and a browsing information of a viewer when a web page browsing request is made based on the acquired URL And a means for adding the acquired identification information of the posted items to the request,
Means for associating the identification information of the posted item and the information for identifying the requested web page with the identification information of the viewer, when the browsing information of the web page includes identification information of the viewer and the posted item. Based on whether the specific information is associated with the identification information of the person who made the request when the web server receives a request for the resource previously associated with the specific information of the web page corresponding to the posted item And an information source specifying device having means for determining whether or not a posted item is an information source. The information source specifying system according to claim 1, further comprising means for giving points to a person who made the request when it is determined that the posted item is used to make the request. The information source specifying system according to claim 1, wherein the matter posted on the print medium is an advertisement. Means for acquiring identification information of the product assigned to the product and a URL corresponding to the product from the product, and when a browsing request for a web page based on the acquired URL is made, identification information of the viewer A terminal having means for adding the acquired product identification information to the request;
Means for associating the identification information of the product and the information for identifying the requested web page with the identification information of the viewer when the browsing request of the web page includes identification information of the viewer and the product; When the web server receives a request for the resource previously associated with the specific information of the web page corresponding to the product, based on whether or not the specific information is associated with the identification information of the person who made the request An information source specifying system comprising: an information source specifying device having means for determining whether or not the information given to the information source is an information source.

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