JP2005141711A - Advertisement system for inserting advertisement into photograph e-mail - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reduction method of a communication fee, and a new advertisement method in sending photographs by e-mail. <P>SOLUTION: By selectively inserting advertisement information in image information transmitted by a cellular phone by a camera, this advertisement system allowing a communication cost to be flexibly reduced according to a type of usage by a user is provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

Claims

  The present invention relates to a communication system and a communication method including an information terminal (specifically, a mobile phone or the like), and more particularly to an advertisement system that enables a communication fee discount by inserting advertisement information into an image.

  In recent years, with the rapid expansion of camera-equipped mobile phones, it has become possible to send images taken by the camera as e-mails to recipients. When communicating to the other party the environment in which the message is being sent, it is possible to accurately convey the image to the other party if the image is sent to the other party by copying the surroundings with a camera, rather than using text. In addition, if the sender's facial expression is sent as an image, the receiver can read the emotion, so that the subsequent conversation with the other party can be carried smoothly.

  Conventionally, when adding advertisement information to an e-mail, advertisement information using only characters is added to an e-mail containing only characters.

Problems to be solved by the invention

  Sending photos by e-mail has a lot of information compared to text e-mail, so it costs a lot of communication.

  In addition, when advertisement information consisting only of characters is added to an email containing only characters, only the text is read, but the added advertisement information is rarely read. Therefore, the advertiser has been searching for a new advertising method with high possibility of browsing.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a communication system and communication that can flexibly reduce communication costs in accordance with user usage by selectively inserting advertisement information into image information transmitted by a camera-equipped mobile phone. It aims to provide a method.

Means for solving the problem

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention provides an advertisement system including an advertisement information insertion device that transmits and receives an electronic mail via a network. Image data in an electronic mail received from the network by the advertisement information insertion device is included in the advertisement system. Advertisement information insertion means for inserting advertisement information, counting means for counting the number of advertisement information inserted by the advertisement information insertion means, and discounting a billing value for the transmission source corresponding to the count value counted by the counting means And charging means.

  According to the present invention, by selectively inserting advertisement information into image information transmitted by a camera-equipped mobile phone, it is possible to flexibly reduce the communication cost according to the user's usage pattern. Furthermore, since the advertisement by the conventional text mail has to be read carefully by the user, the possibility of being viewed is low. However, the advertisement information inserted into the image of the present invention can make the user recognize the contents of the advertisement at a glance.

  Embodiments of an advertising system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an advertisement information insertion device 201 according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the CPU 1 performs various control processes for the entire advertisement information insertion device 201, and the RAM 2 is used as a work area for the CPU 1. Note that the control processing program executed by the CPU 1 and various data necessary for executing the control processing program are stored in the system control unit 8.

  The operation display device 3 is for operating the advertisement information insertion device 201 and includes various operation keys and various displays. The advertisement information storage device 5 is a device for storing advertisement information registered by the advertiser. The image processing device 6 is for decoding and decompressing image information that has been encoded and compressed into an original image signal, inserting advertisement information into the expanded image, and encoding and compressing the image signal again. The image storage device 7 stores a large amount of image information in an encoded and compressed state. The network control unit 10 is a part for controlling communication connected to the network. Further, Ethernet (registered trademark I / F 13) is an interface for connecting to Ethernet (registered trademark).

  Each component of the advertisement information inserting device 201 described above is connected to the system bus 14, and data exchange between these components is mainly performed via the system bus 14.

  FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of the communication system according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, a LAN (Local Area Network) 200 managed by the center 20 is configured by connecting an advertisement information insertion device 201, connected to the network 40 via the router 204 a, and a sender connected to the network 40. Communication terminal 42 (specifically, mobile phone) 42.

  Further, the advertisement information insertion device 201 is connected to the network 50 via the router 204b, and can communicate with an information terminal (specifically, a mobile phone) 51 of a receiver connected to the network 50. The network 40 and the network 50 may be the same network.

  Here, the advertisement information insertion device 201 has a function of inserting advertisement information into the received image information. Further, the center 20 further includes a counter unit 205 in which a counter that counts the number of transmissions of image information to be inserted and transmitted for each user is installed.

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 3, an example in which the user of the sender's information terminal 42 transmits an e-mail d 1 to the receiver's information terminal 51 using the image storage function provided by the center 20 is described. Next, a communication system according to the present invention will be described.

  The user of the sender's information terminal 42 first sends an e-mail d1 addressed to the receiver's information terminal 51 to the advertisement information inserting device 201 managed by the center 20.

  The advertisement information insertion device 201 receives the electronic mail d1 via the Ethernet I / F 13 and the network control unit 10, and uses the storage device (RAM) 2 as a buffer under the control of the system control unit 8.

  At this time, if the advertisement insertion function of the advertisement information insertion device 201 is ON, the advertisement information d3 is inserted into the image information d2.

  In addition, as an ON / OFF switching method of the advertisement insertion function, (1) an instruction every time a user transmits an e-mail, (2) switching according to time, (3) switching according to a data transmission destination, There are methods such as (4) switching according to the data transmission source, (5) switching according to the header information of the email attached to the image.

  In the method (1), the user designates ON / OFF of the advertisement insertion function every time an e-mail attached with an image is transmitted. Of course, default setting is also possible.

  In the method (2), the advertisement information insertion device automatically switches on / off the advertisement insertion function according to time. For example, in the advertisement information insertion device 201, the advertisement information insertion device is ON from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm If it is set OFF from 5:00 in the evening to 8:00 in the next morning, advertisement information is inserted into the e-mail attached to the image received at 10:00 in the morning and the image is transferred.

  In the method (3), the advertisement information insertion device automatically switches ON / OFF of the advertisement insertion function according to the transfer destination of the received electronic mail. Here, the destination of the transfer destination can be obtained from information such as “To”, “Cc”, and “Bcc” in the header of the e-mail, for example. In order to realize this method, the user needs to register in advance in the center 20 a transfer destination for turning on the advertisement insertion function and a transfer destination for turning off the advertisement insertion function.

  In the method (4), the advertisement information insertion device automatically switches ON / OFF of the advertisement insertion function according to the transmission source of the received electronic mail. Here, the destination of the transfer destination can be obtained from, for example, “From” information in the header of the e-mail. In order to realize this method, a user who wants to insert an advertisement needs to register with the center 20 in advance to turn on the advertisement insertion function.

  In the method (5), the advertisement information insertion device switches the advertisement insertion function ON and OFF according to the header information of the received electronic mail. For example, the advertisement insertion function is switched ON / OFF depending on whether or not a predetermined keyword is included in the “Subject” information in the header. The predetermined keyword may be registered in advance by the user, or may be set on the center 20 side.

  When the advertisement information d3 is inserted into the image information d2, the advertisement information insertion device 201 increments the counter 205a provided corresponding to the information terminal 42 of the sender by 1, and then sends the image information d2 to the network 50. Send.

  The counter 205a counts image information into which advertisement information is inserted (1) for each advertisement and for each advertiser (2) for each advertisement mode (image information, text, URL shortcut, etc.) (3) It can also be configured to be able to count in detail for each item, such as counting for each destination.

  2 and 3, the counter unit 205 is provided separately from the advertisement information insertion device 201, but may be incorporated in each advertisement information insertion device.

  When the center 20 charges a communication fee to the user of the sender's information terminal 42 or the receiver's information terminal 51, or to both users, the center 20 performs regular communication according to the count value of the counter 205a. Discount from the price or cash back.

  In addition, as a method for updating the advertisement information to be inserted, (1) the center or the advertiser transmits the latest advertisement information (by e-mail, HTTP, FTP, unique protocol, etc.) to the advertisement information insertion device via the network. (2) There is a method of polling the contracted advertiser from the advertisement information insertion device to obtain the latest advertisement information, and (3) a serviceman updating it via an external storage device.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen configuration when advertisement information is inserted into image information of an e-mail. As shown in FIG. 4, the insertion method of the advertisement information is as small as possible in the lower part of the image so as not to impair the contents expressed by the image as much as possible.

  Furthermore, it is also possible to switch to a screen displaying more detailed contents regarding the advertisement by moving the pointer to the advertisement displayed by key operation and selecting it. It is possible to download new advertisement information from a predetermined URL by associating a URL with the advertisement and moving and selecting the pointer.

The invention's effect

  As described above, according to the present invention, the advertisement information is inserted into the image data when transferring the e-mail attached to the image, and the transfer communication cost is discounted for the data in which the advertisement information is inserted, The user can use the functions of the camera-equipped mobile phone more easily, and even the advertiser on the advertisement providing side can obtain new advertising means.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of the whole structure of the advertisement information insertion apparatus concerning this invention. It is a system configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of an advertising system including an advertising information insertion device according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the utilization form of the advertisement system concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the receiver's information terminal concerning this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 CPU, 2 storage device (RAM), 3 operation display device, 5 advertisement information storage device, 6 image processing device, 7 image storage device, 8 system control unit, 10 network control unit, 13 Ethernet I / F, 14 system bus, 20 Center, 40 networks, 42 sender information terminals, 50 networks, 51 receiver information terminals, 200 LAN, 201, 202, 203 advertisement information insertion device, 204a router, 204b router, 205 counter unit, 205a counter, 206 image display 207 advertisement display, d1 e-mail, d2 image information, d3 advertisement information.

Claims (10)

  In an advertising system including an advertising information insertion device that transmits and receives electronic mail via a network, advertising information insertion means for inserting advertising information into image data in the electronic mail received by the advertising information insertion device from the network; and A counting unit that counts the number of advertisement information inserted by the advertisement information insertion unit, and a charging unit that discounts a charging value for a transmission source corresponding to the count value counted by the counting unit. Advertising system.   Image storage means for storing the e-mail in which the advertisement is inserted by the advertisement information means, and information on the recipient that is stored in the image storage means in response to a request from a valid recipient of the e-mail The advertisement system according to claim 1, further comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit to the terminal.   3. The advertisement system according to claim 1, wherein the information terminal of the recipient is a mobile phone.   The advertisement system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the advertisement information is updated via the network or an external storage device.   3. The advertisement system according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement information is updated by polling from the advertisement information insertion device side at a predetermined timing.   6. The advertisement system according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined timing is a predetermined time set in advance or a timing based on the number of e-mails into which the advertisement information is inserted.   The advertisement system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the advertisement information to be inserted is changed according to a transmission source of the email to be transmitted.   The advertisement system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the advertisement information to be inserted is changed according to a destination of the e-mail to be transferred.   3. The advertisement system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission source is specified by performing user authentication.   In the receiver's information terminal displaying the screen with the advertisement inserted, means for selecting an advertisement by key operation, means for downloading new advertisement information from a URL corresponding to the selected advertisement, and downloaded advertisement An advertisement system comprising: means for displaying information on a screen.

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