JP2006277491A - Advertisement management server, client terminal and advertisement management method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To count the number of printed sheets to charge an advertisement client according to a printed amount. <P>SOLUTION: A user information management part 206 registers an advertisement content and charging destination information. A job management part 202 produces list information of the advertisement content in response to requirement from a client terminal. A communication part 201 transmits the list information of the advertisement content and content identification information added in each the advertisement content to the client terminal, and receives the content identification information designated by the client terminal. The advertisement content specified by the received content identification information is transmitted. The content identification information, printer identification information and a content printed sheet number count are received, and are managed by an advertisement sheet number count part 209. An advertisement cost integration part 207 produces charging information on the basis of count information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an advertisement management system that prints advertisement images using a network, and more particularly, to an advertisement management server, a client terminal, and an advertisement management method that manage billing of advertisement costs generated by advertisement printing.

  Inkjet printers, inks, and printing paper have become cheaper, and inkjet printers have become more sophisticated so that they can print on ordinary paper with high image quality without using special printing paper. Accordingly, the printing cost for the entire print has been considerably reduced. Under such circumstances, high-quality printing can be performed at low cost on areas other than the area the user wants to print, such as the back side of the printing paper, for example, on the back side of the paper. There is a system in which an advertiser is charged a fee for printing, and thus provides a low-cost or free print service to the user.

  In addition, a communication environment such as the Internet in recent years has been established, and therefore, an advertisement system and the like that perform advertisement via the Internet have been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1). In addition, a method has been proposed in which an advertiser can easily acquire advertisement information desired by a user by registering advertisement information in conjunction with a map on the web (see, for example, Patent Document 2). . In addition, when a user prints an image at a print shop or convenience store, the image is printed on a recording medium that is advertised on the back side of the print image, and at least part of the print cost is posted on the back side of the print image. A commercial printing system that can reduce the cost of the user by paying the user has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

JP 2002-268596 A JP-A-9-34902 JP 2002-279292 A

  However, the printing of advertisements on the back side is not clear in the relationship with the advertiser, and is printed without knowing whether the intended printing is performed for the advertiser. Therefore, it is difficult for the advertiser to understand the cost-effectiveness of the advertisement, and the system has not been convinced that the advertiser pays for the advertisement.

  In addition, there was no specific mechanism for charging advertising fees to advertisers. For example, even if a system for managing the user side by imposing registration on the user side for charging is used, it is expected that the advertisers are different for each advertisement type. In that case, there is a problem that it is unclear how to make the advertiser pay the cost. In addition, when an advertiser requests a contract for paying the number of advertisements to the administrator, the advertiser is not sure whether the advertisement is actually distributed and the advertisement is distributed, and it is determined whether the billing is valid. There is a problem of not being connected.

  When the amount received by each user is fixed, it is difficult to calculate the total amount of advertising costs because the number of users to print out is not known in advance. If the change is made for each user, the number of users printed out is small, while it is higher than the cost required for printing out. Therefore, it is expected that there will be users who want to make profits with this difference. If the advertising cost is set lower than the cost of the consumables necessary for the print output, it is expected that the opportunity for the print output will be extremely reduced in the case of an unpopular advertisement. That is, there is a problem that it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of the advertisement because the advertisement itself has value. Therefore, there is a need for a new management method that can collect advertising costs and send / receive information to / from users.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an advertisement management server, a client terminal, and an advertisement management method that allow an advertiser to bear a print fee and charge the advertiser an advertisement fee corresponding to the advertisement distribution.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an advertisement management server according to the present invention is an advertisement management server that transmits advertisement content to a client terminal, a registration unit that registers advertisement content and billing destination information, and a request from the client terminal. In response to the creation means for creating the list information of the advertisement content, list transmission means for sending the list information created by the creation means and the content identification information added for each advertisement content to the client terminal, An identification information receiving means for receiving the content identification information designated by the client terminal; a content transmitting means for transmitting the advertising content specified by the content identification information received by the receiving means; and responding to the transmission of the advertising content Sent from the client terminal, Content identification information, to the management information receiving means for receiving the printing device identification information and the content printed page count, characterized in that it comprises a charging means for creating charge information based on the count information.

  The registration unit may register the advertising content via the Internet.

  The client terminal according to the present invention includes an input unit for inputting print content, a selection unit for displaying a list of registered advertisements, selecting a predetermined advertisement, and transmitting information indicating the advertisement, and the advertisement. Receiving means for receiving the advertisement content received in response to the transmission of the information, printing means for printing the advertisement content received by the receiving means together with the print content input by the input means, and the printing means And a transmission means for counting the total number of times that the advertisement content has been printed and transmitting the count number to the advertisement management server.

  And determining means for determining whether or not the advertisement has been printed. The transmitting means counts the total number of times the advertisement content has been printed when the determining means determines that the advertisement has been printed. It can also be sent to the advertisement management server.

  In addition, a billing information receiving means for receiving billing information from the advertisement management server can be further provided.

  An advertisement management method according to the present invention is an advertisement management method for transmitting advertisement content to a client terminal, a registration step for registering advertisement content and billing destination information, and the advertisement in response to a request from the client terminal. A creation step for creating content list information, a list transmission step for sending the list information created by the creation step and the content identification information added for each advertisement content to the client terminal, and specified by the client terminal An identification information receiving step for receiving the received content identification information, a content transmission step for transmitting the advertising content specified by the content identification information received in the receiving step, and a transmission from the client terminal in response to the transmission of the advertising content Content identification information, printing device A management information reception step of receiving the identification information and the content printed page count, characterized in that it comprises a and a charging step of creating charging information on the basis of the count information.

  The advertisement management method according to the present invention includes an input step of inputting print content, a selection step of displaying a list of registered advertisements, selecting a predetermined advertisement, and transmitting information indicating the advertisement, A receiving step for receiving the advertising content received in response to the transmission of the information indicating the advertisement; a printing step for printing the advertising content received in the receiving step together with the print content input in the input step; and the printing And a transmission step of counting the total number of times the advertising content has been printed by the step and transmitting the count number to the advertisement management server.

  An advertisement management method according to the present invention is an advertisement management server that transmits advertisement content to a client terminal and an advertisement management method of an advertisement management system configured by the client terminal. The billing destination information is registered, the advertisement content list information is created in response to a request from the client terminal, the client terminal inputs the print content, and the advertisement management server is created by the creation means The list information and the content identification information added for each advertisement content are transmitted to the client terminal. The client terminal displays a list of registered advertisements, selects a predetermined advertisement, and specifies the content indicating the advertisement. Information is transmitted to the advertisement management server, and the advertisement management server The advertising content specified by the identification information is transmitted to the client terminal, and the client terminal prints the advertising content received by the receiving unit together with the print content input by the input unit, and the advertising content is Counts the total number of times printed, and transmits the count number to the advertisement management server. The advertisement management server transmits the content identification information and the printing apparatus identification information transmitted from the client terminal in response to the transmission of the advertisement content. And receiving the print count of the number of printed contents, and generating billing information based on the count information.

  Exemplary embodiments of an advertisement management server, a client terminal, and an advertisement management method according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration for explaining an advertisement print management system. A store such as a print shop or a convenience store is provided with a personal print system 100 which is a terminal for printing out the advertisement described above. The personal print system 100 is composed of a group of devices adjusted so that advertisements can be printed out as intended by the production side. The personal print system 100 is installed as a plurality of personal print systems 100a to 100n for each store, for example. Each personal print system 100 (100a to 100n) is connected to the advertisement management server 120 via a network 110 such as the Internet. In the following, the personal print system 100 will be described using the terminal 101 and the printer 102. However, the personal print system 100 may be a printing machine having a normal printing function. Further, even a general home PC and printer can be realized by incorporating a program for transmission / reception with the advertisement management server 120.

  The device group constituting the personal print system 100 includes a terminal device 101 connected via a network 103 such as a LAN for printing out advertisements, a printer 102 for printing out advertisements, and dedicated software (not shown). The terminal device 101 is a general-purpose personal computer (PC).

  The dedicated software is installed in the PC 101, prints out advertisements by executing a program, and manages advertisement costs on the user side. On the terminal device 104, image layout, print settings, creation and management of a print job when printing an advertisement, sending a job to the advertisement management server 120, and the like are performed.

  This personal print system 100 maintains and repairs a device group, ink (or toner), and printing paper based on a given serial number even after the device group is installed in a print shop, a convenience store, or the like. Provide consistent procurement of consumables. Thereby, even after the personal print system 100 is installed, the advertisement can be continuously printed out with high quality.

  A terminal device 130 of an advertisement requester such as a company is connected to the advertisement management server 120 via a network 110 such as the Internet. The advertisement requester accesses the advertisement management server 120 and registers the advertisement to be distributed and the billing destination information of the advertisement cost. When the advertisement requester accesses a predetermined URL of the advertisement management server 120 by the terminal device 130, a registration screen is displayed on the display screen of the terminal device 130. When the advertisement requester performs an advertisement or billing destination registration operation on the registration screen, the advertisement management server 120 receives the advertisement and the billing destination information of the advertiser. As the terminal device 130, a general-purpose personal computer (PC) is used, and a PC already owned by the advertisement requester can also be used.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the advertisement management server. The advertisement management server 120 stores and holds the above-described advertisement image with an image ID, and performs print output management when the personal print system 100 prints out the image.

  The advertisement management server 120 stores in advance in a communication unit 201 that communicates with the network 110, a job management unit 202 that manages a job when a user prints an advertisement using the personal print system 100, and an image database 203. An image management unit 204 that controls access to the image data of the advertisement being displayed, a user information database 205 that stores user information for printing out the advertisement, a user information management unit 206 that controls access to the user information database 205, An advertisement expense settlement unit 207 that performs a settlement process of advertisement expenses for a user that is generated when a user prints an advertisement, and a billing destination stored in advance in a billing destination database.

  An advertisement created by an advertiser such as a company is transferred to the advertisement management server 120 via the network 110 or the like. The advertisement management server 120 assigns an identification number such as an ID to the image data of the advertisement, and stores it in the image database 203. Store. A user who acquires an advertisement operates the personal print system 100 to access an advertisement stored and held in the image database 203 by user authentication using a user ID and a preset password, and acquires a desired advertisement. be able to.

  Note that the data transmitted from the advertisement management server 120 to the personal print system 100 is subjected to data encryption / decryption between them and a data structure for a third party by applying a dedicated data structure. Leakage can be prevented.

  The image management unit 204 displays a list of advertisement image data stored in the image database 203 in an album (thumbnail) format. The user information management unit 206 collates with user information stored in the user information database 205, and permits access to the image database 203 by this user only when they match. Also, the print output status of advertisement is managed for each user. The job management unit 202 manages image printout by the personal print system 100 in units of jobs. Further, the job management unit 202 performs personal authentication of the logged-on user, and permits print output of the advertisement only to a user who is permitted to acquire the advertisement in advance.

  The advertisement expense settlement unit 207 performs a settlement process related to payment of advertisement expenses to the user who printed out the advertisement at a predetermined timing after the printing of the image. Through this checkout process, the user information of the corresponding user in the user information database 205 is updated. Further, the advertisement expense settlement unit 207 performs processing for paying the advertisement expense to the account for receiving the advertisement expense designated in advance by the user. For example, when the receiving account is a bank account connected via the network 110, an amount corresponding to the advertising cost is transferred to the bank account by data processing.

  In addition to this, it is also possible to update the corresponding user information in the user information database 205 by converting the advertising cost into points and accumulating points each time the user prints out the advertisement. The user can set in advance to receive the advertising cost by the above account or point conversion, and can store the receiving form as user information. The business operator who operates the advertisement management server 120 (advertising print system) uses the personal print system 100 that prints out a service product corresponding to the number of points, for example, an advertisement, when the user's advertising cost receiving form is a point. Consumables such as ink (or toner) and printing paper can also be provided to the user.

  In addition, information on the billing destination (advertisement requester) of the advertisement fee when the advertisement is printed together with the image data is also transferred from the advertiser such as a company to the advertisement management server 120 via the network 110 or the like. The server 120 stores information related to the billing destination in a billing destination DB (database) 208.

  The advertisement number counting unit 209 counts the number of copies of the advertisement image printed on the back side of the printing paper from the image ID of the advertisement printed by the user, the ID of the printing apparatus, and information on the number of printed sheets. . The number of copies of the advertisement image counted by the advertisement number counting unit 209 is stored in a later-described table together with information on the billing destination (main since the advertisement) registered in the billing destination database 208 and an identification number such as the ID of the printed advertisement image. Is done. Further, the advertisement management server 120 may be configured such that the advertiser can be authenticated on the network 110 with a password or the like and the above-described billing information can be disclosed.

  In addition, the counting of the number of advertisements may include a determination unit that determines whether an advertisement has been printed, and the number of printed advertisements may be counted only when it is determined that the advertisement has been printed. The determination may be made, for example, by incorporating a scanner and determining whether the printed data matches the advertisement.

  In the case of a printer in a general household, there may be a case where the print quality desired by the advertisement client cannot be obtained. In such a case, before printing, the type of printing device is specified by the ID of the printing device, and a color profile suitable for the device is provided, thereby printing an advertising image close to the advertiser's desire. Can do.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the advertisement print management system. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes a CPU that controls the entire apparatus, 302 denotes a ROM that stores a basic input / output program, and 303 denotes a RAM that is used as a work area of the CPU 301. Reference numeral 304 denotes an HDD (hard disk drive) that controls reading / writing of data with respect to the HD (hard disk) 305 according to the control of the CPU 301, and 305 denotes an HD that stores data written according to the control of the HDD 304. .

  Reference numeral 306 denotes an FDD (flexible disk drive) that controls reading / writing of data with respect to the FD (flexible disk) 307 according to the control of the CPU 301. Reference numeral 307 denotes a removable FD that stores data written according to the control of the FDD 306. A display 308 displays a cursor, a menu, a window, or various data such as characters and images. Reference numeral 309 denotes an interface unit. The interface unit 309 may be a network board that is connected to the network 110 via the communication cable 310 and functions as an interface (I / F) between the network 110 and the CPU 301, for example. Alternatively, the interface unit 309 can be a memory card slot, for example. Through this interface unit 309, a memory card storing images can be inserted, and a user can read a desired image from the memory card.

  Reference numeral 311 denotes a keyboard having a plurality of keys for inputting characters, numerical values, and various instructions, and 312 denotes a mouse for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting a processing target, moving a cursor, and the like. ing. 313 is a scanner that optically reads characters and images, 314 is a printer that prints characters and images under the control of the CPU 301, 315 is a CD / DVD disc that is a removable recording medium, and 316 is a CD / CD. Reference numeral 300 denotes a disk drive for controlling the reading of data to the DVD disk 315, and 300 denotes a bus for connecting the above-described units.

  The advertisement management server 120 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 realizes its function by the CPU 301 executing the programs recorded in the ROM 302, RAM 303, CD / DVD disk 315, disk drive 316, etc. in FIG. Also, a specific configuration in which the advertisement management server 120 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to each personal print system 100 (100a to 100n) and transmits and receives data is realized by the I / F 309 shown in FIG.

  Similarly to the advertisement management server 120, the personal print system 100 shown in FIG. 1 has the functions described in FIG. 3, and includes a ROM 302, a RAM 303, a CD / DVD disc 315 provided in the PC 101, and the like. The function is realized by the CPU 301 executing the program recorded in the disk drive 316 or the like.

  Similarly to the advertisement management server 120 and the personal print system 100, the terminal device 130 shown in FIG. 1 has the functions described in FIG. 3 and includes a ROM 302, RAM 303, CD / CD provided in the PC 101. The CPU 301 executes the program recorded in the DVD disk 315, the disk drive 316, etc., thereby realizing its function.

  In the present invention, the printer 102 constituting the device group of the personal print system 100 prints and outputs an image using an ink jet technique. The ink jet printer 102 uses a technique called Machjet (registered trademark), applies a voltage to a piezoelectric element to vibrate, and applies pressure to the ink to inject ink like a water gun to form an image. It is to be formed. Such a printer 102 is space-saving and inexpensive, and can be printed out with the same quality as a conventional DPE service or minilab by the configuration of the systemized equipment group. In addition, since a developing solution etc. are not used, global environment can also be preserved. Note that the printer 102 may be a laser printer using toner.

  Next, the contents of data exchanged between the personal print system 100 and the advertisement management server 120 when printing an advertisement will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of user information. The user information 400 is stored in the user information database 205 of the advertisement management server 120. The user information 400 is set for each user (store), a user ID 401 for identifying the user, a password 402 for accessing the advertisement management server 120, store information 403 such as the user's address name, It consists of a serial number (device ID) 404 of the personal print system 100 owned by the user and an advertisement acquisition status 405.

  The advertisement acquisition status 405 is provided in order to record a history of the number of times of print output by the user for each of a plurality of different (1 to n) advertisements. The advertisement acquisition status 405 includes information about an image ID 405a for each advertisement and the number of print outputs (the number of prints or the number of prints) 405b of the advertisement. In the advertisement acquisition status 405, each time the advertisement is printed out, each acquired information is recorded as a history as shown in the figure.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the advertisement information. The advertisement information 500 is stored in the image database 203 of the advertisement management server 120. The advertisement information 500 is provided for each of a plurality (1 to n) of advertisements. The advertisement information 501 of one advertisement will be described. The advertisement image ID 501a, the advertisement cost information 501b that is the amount of the advertisement cost to be paid to the user when the advertisement is printed out, and the advertisement content, that is, the advertisement image data. 501c.

  The amount set in the advertising cost information 501b is calculated in advance by the advertising cost settlement unit 207 or the like. Briefly, a company that provides an advertisement sets the total amount of advertisement expenses paid to a user who uses the personal print system 100 for one advertisement, and the number of advertisement printouts (corresponding to the number of advertisements). With this setting, the advertising cost settlement unit 207 calculates the advertising cost for each advertisement by (total advertising cost) / (print output number of advertisements), and the calculated advertising cost is used as the advertising information 501 advertisement. Set to cost information 501b. According to this configuration, the advertising cost for promoting the advertisement is distributed by a predetermined number of users (synonymous with the number of printed output sheets) and paid directly to the printed out users.

  Various settings are conceivable for the number of advertisements that can be printed by the user and the advertising cost paid to the user. Hereinafter, each setting example will be briefly described. A specific processing example of each setting will be described later.

  (Setting 1) Setting 1 pays advertising expenses only once per user, and the number of printed sheets is unlimited. According to this setting 1, when a certain user prints out one advertisement, the advertising cost for one time is paid. In this case, no matter how many times the user prints out the same advertisement, the second and subsequent advertisement costs are not paid.

  (Setting 2) Setting 2 pays the advertising cost only once to one user, and permits printing output only once. According to this setting 2, when a certain user prints out one advertisement, only one advertisement fee is paid. Thereafter, the same user cannot print out the same advertisement. For this reason, the job management unit 202 of the advertisement management server 120 refers to the advertisement acquisition status 405 included in the user information 400 (see FIG. 4) regarding the logged-on user, and the same advertisement (printed and output by the user in the past) When the image ID 405a) is detected, the user's personal print system 100 is notified that print output is not possible. Alternatively, the display of the advertisement itself is not performed so that the corresponding advertisement cannot be selected for the user.

  (Setting 3) In setting 3, there is no limit on the number of prints, and the advertising cost corresponding to the number of prints is paid. According to this setting 3, the same user can print out the corresponding advertisement many times. With regard to the payment of the advertisement cost to the user, the same amount of advertisement cost can be paid every time printing is output, or the amount can be increased or decreased as the number of times increases.

  The setting contents are not limited to the above settings 1 to 3, but for example, in addition to the processing of setting 3, when the number of print output of the advertisement increases, the advertising cost to be paid to the user in a predetermined number of units is changed (decreased Increase). In addition, the advertisement management server 120 performs processing for limiting the number of advertisements printed out in the personal print system 100 or limiting the amount of advertisement expenses paid per image, thereby reducing the advertisement expenses per image paid by the advertiser. The total amount can be fixed (fixed amount). In addition, it is possible to add processing for limiting the number of payments and the total payment amount for each user on the personal print system 100 side. Then, when the total amount of advertising costs is a fixed amount, processing for stopping transmission (including browsing) of advertisements to the user (personal print system 100) when payment corresponding to the total amount of predetermined advertising costs is completed. By doing so, the advertising cost obtained by dividing the total advertising cost set for each image by the number of printed users, etc. can be distributed to each user.

  In addition, the total amount of advertising expenses is divided and set in multiple stages for each predetermined period from the start time of the advertisement, and the advertising expenses for each divided period are divided by the number of users printed out during this period. It can also be configured to distribute to the users who do. For example, a high proportion of the advertising cost is set in the initial period of the advertisement start time, and the lowest proportion of the advertising cost is set in the period including the end time of the advertisement, and the total period is totaled to match the total advertising cost. In this way, the amount of advertising expenses can be set for each section by arbitrarily dividing the period according to the magnitude of the advertising effect.

  As described above, in the configuration in which the total amount of advertising costs for advertising is distributed by the assumed number of users (synonymous with the number of printed output), the advertising cost information 501b of the advertising information 501 shown in FIG. The advertisement cost per advertisement is calculated and set in advance. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the total amount of advertisement expenses prepared in advance may be divided by the number of users printed out during the period in which the advertisement is published, and distributed to the corresponding users. In this case, after the publication period of the advertisement ends, the advertising cost distributed to each user is calculated, and payment processing to the user is performed.

  It is also possible to pay advertising costs to all users who have printed out the advertisement during the publication period. In this case, the total amount of advertising expenses is calculated later based on the number of users, and a process of paying each user is performed. The total amount of advertising expenses can be changed according to a fixed amount or the number of users. In addition, the advertisement cost paid to the user can be changed according to the advertisement size (size) and the amount of ink (or toner) consumed by the printer 102.

  By the way, the amount set in the advertisement cost information 501b is set to be smaller than the amount of consumables (ink and printing paper) used when the user prints out this advertisement using the personal print system 100. Thus, the user who prints out the advertisement pays a predetermined amount of money in order to print out the advertisement. In addition, each time the user prints an advertisement, the user can acquire a predetermined amount as an advertising expense, but the amount of consumables required when printing the advertisement is higher than the amount that can be acquired. Since it is a monetary amount, it is a system in which the user cannot intentionally acquire only the advertising cost, and unauthorized use can be prevented.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the print output result information. The print output result information 600 is output from the personal print system 100. When an advertisement is printed out from the printer 102, the image ID 601 of the advertisement and information on the output result 602 are transmitted to the advertisement management server 120. The content of the output result 602 is OK when printing is normally completed, and is NG when the print output is incomplete due to an abnormality or the like.

  Based on the reception of the print output result information 600, the job management unit 202 of the advertisement management server 120 displays the content of the corresponding advertisement acquisition status 405 (image ID 405a and print count 405b) in the user information 400 (see FIG. 4). Update. By this update, the print output history of the user who acquired the advertisement can be stored and held.

  Next, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a display state of a list of advertisements. The advertisement management server 120 transmits the advertisement list 700 to the personal print system 100. The user can select and print out a desired advertisement while referring to the contents displayed on the browser of the PC 101 in the advertisement list 700 described in a language such as HTML. The advertisement list 700 includes a plurality of reduced images (thumbnails) of advertisements. In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, reduced images of six advertisements 701 to 706 are displayed on the screen. The advertisement management server 120 can arbitrarily set the display number of advertisements, and can move to the previous / next page by using the page change keys 710 and 711.

  The display content of one advertisement 701 will be described. The advertisement is composed of an image ID 701a of the advertisement, amount information 701b when printed and output, and a reduced image 701c. The user can select the reduced image 701c or a selection key (not shown) with a mouse or the like to take in the advertisement 701 into the personal print system 100 and print it out.

  Next, the processing content of the advertisement management in the configuration described above will be specifically described. The advertisement management server 120 executes processing related to transmission of advertisements and payment of advertisement expenses to the user's personal print system 100 based on preset settings (the above-described settings 1 to 3 and the like).

(Specific processing example of setting 1)
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the contents of advertisement management processing executed by the advertisement management server according to setting 1. In this setting 1, the advertising fee is paid only once per user, and the number of times the user prints out the advertisement is unlimited.

  First, the user operates the personal print system 100 to access the advertisement management server 120 and performs user authentication (step S801). In this user authentication, a user ID assigned to the user and a preset password are input and transmitted to the advertisement management server 120. At the time of this transmission, the personal print system 100 transmits the device ID at the same time. The advertisement management server 120 performs user authentication using these user ID, password, and device ID, and if authentication is possible (step S802: Yes), the managed advertisement image list (see FIG. 7) is stored in the personal print system 100. Transmit (step S803).

  By the way, if any of the user ID, the password, and the device ID is different, the user authentication is not performed (step S802: No), and the return to step S801 is repeated. Further, when the number of retries reaches a predetermined number of times or when a predetermined time has elapsed, processing for rejecting access from the user (personal print system 100) may be executed.

  After the user authentication, the user selects an advertisement desired to be printed out from the advertisement image list on the display screen on the PC 101 of the personal print system 100 with a mouse or the like. With this selection, the personal print system 100 transmits the image ID of the corresponding image to the advertisement management server 120, and the advertisement management server 120 receives the image ID selected by the user (step S804).

  Thereby, the advertisement management server 120 transmits the image data of the received image ID to the personal print system 100 (step S805). The user prints out the image data received by the personal print system 100 from the printer 102. The print server 101 transmits print output result information 600 (see FIG. 6) indicating the print output result to the advertisement management server 120.

  When the advertisement management server 120 receives the printout result (step S806), the advertisement management server 120 executes a process for paying the advertisement expense for the advertisement printed out by the user. The advertising cost payment process will be described. In this setting 1, since the advertising cost is paid only once per user, it is determined whether or not the advertising cost has been paid (step S807), and the payment is still made. If there is not (step S807: No), the advertising fee payment process is performed (step S808). On the other hand, when the payment has been completed (step S807: Yes), the process proceeds to step S809 without performing the advertising expense payment process.

  The advertisement expense payment process in step S807 will be specifically described. The job management unit 203 first refers to the advertisement acquisition status 405 printed out by the user in the user information 400 (see FIG. 4). If the value of the number of times of printing 405b for the corresponding image ID 405a in the acquisition status 405 is “0”, it is determined that the advertising cost has not yet been paid because the printing has not yet been output (step S807: No).

  Then, the advertising expense settlement unit 207 is caused to execute the advertising expense payment process (step S808). Specifically, the amount of advertisement expense to be paid to the user is read out from the advertisement expense information 501b of the corresponding advertisement in the advertisement information 500 (see FIG. 5), and the advertisement expense is received for the advertisement expense receiving account in which this amount is set in advance. Perform the payment process.

  On the other hand, if the value of the number of times of printing 405b for the corresponding image ID 405a in the acquisition status 405 is “1” or more, it is determined that the advertising cost has been paid because the user has already printed out (step S807: Yes). ), The process proceeds to step S809.

  After the payment processing related to the advertising cost is completed as described above, the advertisement management server 120 updates the acquisition status 405 of the user information 400 (step S809) and ends. Specifically, for the image ID 405a corresponding to the advertisement transmitted to the user, “1” is added to the value of the number of prints 405b in the current print output, and the process is terminated.

(Specific processing example of setting 2)
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the advertisement management executed by the advertisement management server according to setting 2. In this setting 2, advertisement printing is permitted only once per user, and the advertising cost is paid only once.

  First, the user operates the personal print system 100 to access the advertisement management server 120 and performs user authentication (step S901). In this user authentication, a user ID assigned to the user and a preset password are input and transmitted to the advertisement management server 120. At the time of this transmission, the personal print system 100 transmits the device ID at the same time. The advertisement management server 120 performs user authentication using these user ID, password, and device ID, and if authentication is possible (step S902: Yes), the managed advertisement image list (see FIG. 7) is stored in the personal print system 100. Transmit (step S903).

  By the way, if any of the user ID, the password, and the device ID is different, the user authentication is not performed (step S902: No), and the return to step S901 is repeated. In addition, when the number of retries reaches a predetermined number of times or when a predetermined time has elapsed, processing for rejecting access from the user (personal print system 100) may be executed.

  After the user authentication, the user selects an advertisement desired to be printed out from the advertisement image list on the display screen on the PC 101 of the personal print system 100 with a mouse or the like. With this selection, the personal print system 100 transmits the image ID of the corresponding image to the advertisement management server 120, and the advertisement management server 120 receives the image ID selected by the user (step S904).

  Upon receiving the image ID, the advertisement management server 120 determines whether an image corresponding to the image ID has been transmitted to the user (personal print system 100) (step S905). In the case of setting 2, if the transmission has been completed (step S905: Yes), since the user has already printed out the corresponding advertisement, the process is terminated without performing the following processing.

  On the other hand, if the image corresponding to the image ID has not been transmitted to the user (personal print system 100) (step S905: No), the corresponding advertisement is transmitted to the user, and a process for paying the advertisement cost is executed. .

  The determination as to whether an image has been transmitted to the user will be specifically described. First, the job management unit 202 refers to the advertisement acquisition status 405 printed out by the user in the user information 400 (see FIG. 4). If the value of the print count 405b for the corresponding image ID 405a in the acquisition status 405 is “0”, the print has not been printed yet, so the corresponding advertisement has not yet been printed out and has not been sent. Judgment is made (step S905: No). On the other hand, if the value of the number of times of printing 405b for the corresponding image ID 405a in the acquisition status 405 is “1” or “1” or more, it is determined that the advertisement has already been printed out because the user has already printed out. (Step S905: Yes), it ends.

  If the advertisement has not yet been transmitted in step S905 (step S905: No), the advertisement management server 120 transmits the image data of the received image ID to the personal print system 100 (step S906). The user prints out the image data received by the personal print system 100 from the printer 102. The print server 101 transmits print output result information 600 (see FIG. 6) indicating the print output result to the advertisement management server 120.

  When the advertisement management server 120 receives the print output result (step S907), the advertisement management server 120 executes a process of paying the advertisement cost for the advertisement printed out by the user (step S908). The advertising cost settlement unit 207 reads out the amount of the advertising cost to be paid to the user from the advertising cost information 501b of the corresponding advertisement in the advertising information 500 (see FIG. 5), and advertises it to the account for receiving the advertising cost that is set in advance. Process to pay the expense.

  After the payment processing related to the advertising cost is completed as described above, the advertisement management server 120 updates the acquisition status 405 of the user information 400 (step S909) and ends. Specifically, for the image ID 405a corresponding to the advertisement transmitted to the user, “1” is added to the value of the number of prints 405b in the current print output, and the process is terminated.

(Specific processing example of setting 3)
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the advertisement management executed by the advertisement management server according to the setting 3. This setting 3 allows an unlimited number of advertisement printouts to the user. Various settings can be made for the process of paying the advertisement cost for the number of print outputs.

  First, the user operates the personal print system 100 to access the advertisement management server 120 and performs user authentication (step S1001). In this user authentication, a user ID assigned to the user and a preset password are input and transmitted to the advertisement management server 120. At the time of this transmission, the personal print system 100 transmits the device ID at the same time. The advertisement management server 120 performs user authentication using these user ID, password, and device ID, and if authentication is possible (step S1002: Yes), the managed advertisement image list (see FIG. 7) is stored in the personal print system 100. Transmit (step S1003).

  By the way, if any of the user ID, password, and device ID is different, the user authentication is not performed (step S1002: No), and the return to step S1001 is repeated. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the number of retries reaches a predetermined number of times or when a predetermined time has elapsed, processing for rejecting access from this user (personal print system 100) may be executed.

  After the user authentication, the user selects an advertisement desired to be printed out from the advertisement image list on the display screen on the PC 101 of the personal print system 100 with a mouse or the like. With this selection, the personal print system 100 transmits the image ID of the corresponding image to the advertisement management server 120, and the advertisement management server 120 receives the image ID selected by the user (step S1004).

  Thereby, the advertisement management server 120 transmits the image data of the received image ID to the personal print system 100 (step S1005). The user prints out the image data received by the personal print system 100 from the printer 102. The printout result is transmitted to the advertisement management server 120.

  Upon receiving the print output result (Step S1006), the advertisement management server 120 increments (adds “1”) the value of the number of times of printing 405b of the corresponding image ID in the acquisition status 405 of the user information (see FIG. 4) (Step S1006). S1007). Then, the advertisement management server 120 updates the acquisition status 405 of the user information 400 (step S1008).

  Thereafter, the advertising expense is paid (step S1009). The advertisement expense settlement unit 207 first refers to the advertisement acquisition status 405 printed out by the user in the user information 400 (see FIG. 4). Then, the value of the print count 405b for the corresponding image ID 405a in the acquisition status 405 is read. Further, a process of reading out the amount of the advertisement cost to be paid to the user from the advertisement cost information 501b of the corresponding advertisement in the advertisement information 500 (see FIG. 5), and paying the advertisement cost to the advertisement cost receiving account in which this amount is set in advance. Do.

  With this setting 3, one user can print out an advertisement without any limitation, and it can be configured to pay the advertisement cost to the user every time according to the number of times of print output. The amount of advertising expenses to be paid can be set to a certain amount each time, and various settings such as increasing or decreasing the amount of money as the number of times of printing increases can be performed. The increase and decrease of the amount of money can be increased or decreased not only in units of one sheet but also in a number range, for example, in units of ten sheets. These conditions may be set in advance in the advertisement cost information 501b of the advertisement cost information 501 of the corresponding advertisement in the advertisement information 500 (see FIG. 5) in advance.

  According to each setting described above, the advertisement management server 120 is configured to receive image output and perform image data transmission and advertisement expense payment processing. In the personal print system 100, the result of printing an advertisement is not always normal. Next, processing corresponding to the print output result will be described.

  If the output result 602 of the print output result information 600 (see FIG. 6) output from the personal print system 100 is OK, the advertisement is printed normally and the intended advertisement effect can be obtained. Perform payment processing. Specifically, in the setting 1 described with reference to FIG. 8, the processing from step S807 is executed. In the setting 2 described with reference to FIG. 9, the processing from step S908 is executed. In the setting 3 described with reference to FIG. 10, the processing after step S1007 is executed.

  On the other hand, when the output result 602 of the print output result information 600 is NG, since the advertisement is not printed normally and the intended advertisement effect cannot be obtained, the advertisement expense payment process is not performed. Also, the number of printed sheets is not added on the premise of normal print output.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing other setting contents related to the image acquisition status in the user information shown in FIG. For example, in the setting 1 described with reference to FIG. 8, the advertisement expense payment process (step S <b> 808) is not executed, and the process proceeds to step S <b> 809 to indicate that the print output result is NG in the user information 400 illustrated in FIG. 11. In the acquisition status 405, a process of storing the abnormal (NG) print count 1102 provided separately from the normal (OK) print count 1101 in the print count 405b is performed.

  In the setting 2 described with reference to FIG. 9, the advertisement expense payment process (step S <b> 908) is not executed, and the process proceeds to step S <b> 909 to obtain the user information 400 shown in FIG. 11 that the print output result is NG. In the situation 405, a process of storing the abnormal (NG) print count 1102 provided separately from the normal (OK) print count 1101 in the print count 405b is performed. In the setting 3 described with reference to FIG. 10, after adding the number of prints as the number of NG in step S <b> 1007, the fact that the print output result is NG is printed in the acquisition status 405 of the user information 400 shown in FIG. The number of times 405b is stored in a normal (OK) number of prints 1101 and an abnormal (NG) number of prints 1102 provided separately. Further, the process is terminated without executing the advertisement expense payment process (step S1009).

  The specific processing contents of the settings 1 to 3 have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above processing contents, and other settings for changing the processing contents are possible. For example, the value of the number of prints 405 b in the advertisement acquisition status 405 in the user information 400 is incremented by one each time the user prints out an advertisement using the personal print system 100. The timing for executing the actual payment processing executed by the advertising cost adjustment unit 207 is not to be performed every time the value of the number of times of printing 405b is incremented by 1, but to be processed every predetermined number of times, for example, in units of 10 times. May be. In addition, although the processing contents of setting 3 are configured so that the user can print out an unlimited number of advertisements, it is also possible to limit the number of times of printing.

  FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the advertisement information to which the information on the number of times of printing is added. As shown in the figure, a predetermined value is set as the print limit count 1201 for each advertisement information 501 of one advertisement as the advertisement information 500 shown in FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the advertisement management provided with the print limit count executed by the advertisement management server. Among the processing contents shown in FIG. 13, the same processing contents as the setting 3 processing contents shown in FIG.

  The advertisement management server 120 determines whether to limit the number of prints between the process of receiving the image ID selected by the user in step S1004 and the process of transmitting the image data of the received image ID to the personal print system 100 in step S1005 ( Step S1301) is added. In the process of step S1301, the value of the print count 405b included in the corresponding image acquisition status 405 in the user information 400 (see FIG. 4) is read, and the value of the print limit count 1201 described in FIG. read out.

  Then, it is determined that the print limit number has not been reached until the value of the print count 405b reaches the value set in the print limit count 1201 (step S1301: No), and image data is sent to the personal print system 100 in step S1005. Send. On the other hand, when the value of the number of prints 405b reaches the value set for the print limit number 1201 (step S1301: Yes), the process ends to prohibit print output. It is not limited to the end, and it may be configured to return to step S1003 and select a different image.

  Further, in the above description, the advertisement cost to be paid to the user is set in advance for each advertisement. However, when the user actually prints and outputs the advertisement using the printer 102, the ink consumed by the printer 102 ( Alternatively, an amount corresponding to the amount of toner used may be paid. In the printer 102 using the inkjet technology, as described above, a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element to vibrate, and pressure is applied to the ink to eject the ink to form an image. In the printer 102, the electronic chip provided in the ink cartridge detects and stores the number of ink ejections for each color of black (B), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), for example. It has a function.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the storage contents of the storage unit that stores the number of ink ejections. The print server 101 reads out information 1401 on the number of ink ejections shown in FIG. 14 from the electronic chip, calculates the number of ink ejections for each color output from the printer 102 each time an advertisement is printed out, and prints it out. The result information 600 is transmitted to the advertisement management server 120 as a part. The calculation can be easily performed based on the number of ink ejections before and after printing one advertisement. The advertisement management server 120 determines the amount of ink used based on the number of ink ejections, and calculates a considerable amount of advertisement costs. At this time, it is conceivable to calculate an amount corresponding to a total value of the number of injections of all the colors or to calculate at a different unit price for each color.

  In the above description, an example in which the printer 102 performs four-color printing has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a printer having six or seven colors of ink including intermediate colors. In addition, since the current inkjet printer 102 can change the size of the ejection dots per time, the amount of ink used can be determined more accurately in consideration of the ejection dots.

  In addition to the configuration in which the amount of money according to the amount of ink (or toner) consumed by the printer 102 is paid as described above, the amount of money in accordance with the number and size of printing paper used can be paid. Cut paper or roll paper is used as the printing paper. In the case of cutting, in addition to determining the payment amount based on the number of sheets, the payment amount can be determined in consideration of the size of the number of sheets. In the case of roll paper, since the printer 102 cuts the paper with a predetermined length to form one print paper, the payment amount is determined based on this length. In addition to this length, the payment amount can be determined in consideration of the width of the roll paper (that is, the size obtained by width × length).

  According to the embodiment described above, the user can print out the advertisement with high quality using the personal print system 100, and can directly receive the payment of the advertisement cost through the print output. As a result, it is possible to diversify the distribution form of advertisements of companies and the like, and to promote advertisements directly to necessary users, thereby improving the advertising effect. At the same time, since there is no intermediary such as an advertising agency, it is not necessary to pay an intermediate margin and the advertising cost can be reduced. The system of the present invention, for example, the advertisement management server 120, can be operated by an advertisement agency. The advertiser can grasp the cost-effectiveness from the ink (or toner) consumed by the printer 102 or the number and size of the used printing paper, that is, the charge amount based on the number and size.

  By the way, in said embodiment, the structure which pays advertisement expense with respect to the user who transmitted the advertisement using the system of this invention was demonstrated. The system according to the present invention is an environment in which a personal print system 100 installed in a user's house or the like can print out image data such as advertisements transmitted from the advertisement management server 120 without degrading the quality. In such an environment, the personal print system 100 is not limited to printouts of advertisements, and can be expected to produce high-quality printouts as long as the images are transmitted from the advertisement management server 120.

  FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing the function switching configuration of the advertisement print management system according to the present invention. The contents relating to transmission of image data and cost (cost) reception as seen from the advertisement management server 120 side are described. As shown in the figure, the advertisement 1501 is transmitted to the user's personal print system 100 and a process of paying the advertisement cost to the transmitted user is executed. In addition, the advertisement management server 120 stores a content image 1502 that can be arbitrarily acquired by the user in advance, and can charge and receive a product price for the content image from the user in response to the user's acquisition request.

  Thus, it can be configured to switch between the function of paying the advertising cost to the user and the function of charging and receiving the product price from the user in response to the difference in the attributes of the image data to be handled. Since the advertisement and the content image are the same image data, they correspond to the user information 400 shown in FIG. 4 and the advertisement information 500 shown in FIG. 5 using the system configuration shown in FIGS. The information of the same format is stored and held, and processing for charging and receiving the product price from the user while referring to these information can be executed. Note that the product information corresponding to the advertisement information 500 shown in FIG. 5 can be the product information in which the advertising cost information 501b is changed to product price information. Further, the content image itself is displayed in a list format similar to that shown in FIG. 7, so that the user can easily select the content image.

  As in the above-described embodiment, when the user receives the content image and prints it out from the printer 102, the print output result information 600 shown in FIG. 6 is transmitted to the advertisement management server 120. The advertisement expense settlement unit 207 provided in the advertisement management server 120 executes a settlement process for charging a product price set for the content image when the content image is normally printed out from the user's printer 102. do it. Also, regarding the number of content images to be printed and the settlement of the product price, the processing content can be changed based on various settings, such as whether there is a limit on the number of printings, and the product price is changed according to the number of printings, as described above. Can do.

  Further, the advertising expense settlement unit 207 is not limited to executing a process of charging and receiving the product price to the user's account. For example, instead of the product price, the personal information 403 of the user information 400 described in FIG. 4 may be provided to the product provider. The user selects in advance whether or not to provide personal information 403 to the outside.

  As described above, the advertisement management system configured using the personal print system 100 and the advertisement management server 120 is not limited to use for advertisement promotion, but provides image content as a product to the user for consideration ( (Commodity price) can be received. Thereby, the versatility of the system can be improved, and the user can print out more diverse image data with high quality.

  FIG. 16A is an explanatory diagram of an example of a configuration of data stored in the management server. The table 1600 is stored in the accounting destination database 208 shown in FIG. The charging destination column 1611 stores information related to the charging destination of the printed advertisement. Specifically, it refers to an advertisement requester such as a company. The advertisement image ID column 1612 stores an identification number assigned to the image data of the printed advertisement. The distribution total number column 1613 stores information related to the number of printed advertisement images. More specifically, for example, 100 images with an image ID 1612 of AAA with a billing destination 1611 of SEC Co., Ltd. are distributed (printed).

  FIG. 16B is an explanatory diagram of an example of a configuration of data transmitted from the user terminal to the advertisement management server. In FIG. 16B, information related to the printing apparatus that printed the image data of the advertisement is stored in the ID 1621 of the printing apparatus. Specifically, for example, the ID 1621 of the printing apparatus is associated with information related to the user's address and the like.

  Further, the number count column 1622 stores information regarding the number of advertisement images printed by the user terminal 104. Specifically, for example, three pieces of image data AAA and three pieces of image data BBB are printed by the printing apparatus aaa, respectively. That is, five sheets are printed by the printing apparatus aaa.

  These tables are published on the Web or the like. The advertiser can check the table by connecting the terminal 130 to the advertisement management server. Thereby, the advertiser can confirm how much each advertisement has been printed (effect of advertisement) or by which store (printing machine).

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the terminal apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the flowchart of FIG. 17, the PC 101 waits for an image print request (step S1701), and when an image print is requested (step S1701: Yes), it determines whether an advertisement print is requested next. (Step S1702). If printing of an advertisement is not requested (step S1702: No), the process proceeds to step S1714. On the other hand, if printing of an advertisement is requested (step S1702: Yes), a list of advertisements is requested from the server (step S1703).

  Next, it is determined whether advertisement list data has been received (step S1704). If the list data has not been received (step S1704: NO), the process proceeds to step S1714. On the other hand, when the advertisement list data is received (step S1704: YES), the advertisement list is displayed (step S1705). Then, it waits for an advertisement to be selected (step S1706). If no advertisement is selected (step S1706: NO), the process proceeds to step S1705. On the other hand, if an advertisement is selected (step S1706: Yes), the image ID 1612 of the selected advertisement and the ID 1621 of the printing apparatus are transmitted to the advertisement management server 120 (step S1707).

  Next, it is determined whether advertisement image data has been received from the advertisement management server 120 (step S1708). When the advertisement image data is received (step S1708: YES), the image and the advertisement image are printed (step S1709). Then, the number of printed advertisements is counted (step S1710), and the advertisement image ID 1612 and the ID 1621 of the printing apparatus are transmitted to the advertisement management server 120 (step S1711).

  Then, the advertisement data is erased (step S1712). As a result, the series of processes is completed. On the other hand, if no advertisement has been received in step S1708 (step S1708: No), the advertisement management server 120 is notified that the advertisement is not printed (step S1713). Then, an image is printed (step S1714). As a result, the series of processes is completed.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the advertisement management server according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the flowchart of FIG. 18, first, the advertisement management server 120 determines whether or not there is a request for advertisement list data (step S1801). If there is a request (step S1801: Yes), advertisement list data and advertisement image ID 1612 are transmitted to the user (step S1802).

  Then, it is determined whether the image ID of the advertisement transmitted from the user and the ID of the printing apparatus have been received (step S1803). If not received (step S1803: No), step S1803 is repeated. On the other hand, when the advertisement image ID 1612 and the printing device ID 1621 are received (step S1803: YES), the image data of the image ID selected by the user is transmitted (step S1804).

  It is determined whether or not data (hereinafter referred to as “print information”) relating to the image ID of the advertisement, the ID of the printing apparatus, and the number of printed sheets received from the user has been received (step S1805). If data has been received (step S1805: YES), it is next determined whether the advertisement image ID and the printing device ID are stored in the table (step S1806).

  If stored (step S1806: YES), the process proceeds to step S1808. On the other hand, if the image ID of the advertisement and the ID of the printing apparatus are stored in the table (step S1806: No), the image ID of the advertisement and the ID of the printing apparatus are created in the table (step S1807). Then, based on the information received in step S1805, the number of printed sheets is added to the number of predetermined distribution total columns in the table (step S1808). Next, the number for each billing destination is calculated from the number in the table of total number of distributions (step S1809). Then, a billing process is performed (step S1810). That is, the calculated data is transmitted to an advertisement requester such as a company. As a result, the series of processes is completed.

  In the above-described example, the number of printed sheets is counted and charged. However, the charging method is not limited to this. For example, charging may be performed in consideration of the size of printed advertisement data. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which bears the total amount of the charge which a user prints, or a part amount as a return to a user.

  In the embodiment described above, the advertisement using the advertisement content of the company or the like as image data for the user's personal print system 100 may be a book provided by a publisher, a cover of a magazine, a catalog of company information, There are travel information pamphlets provided by travel agencies. The image content includes paintings, photographs, gravure, posters, and the like.

  Note that the method for managing image data such as advertisements and content images described in the present embodiment can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, and a DVD, and is executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. Further, this program may be a transmission medium that can be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  As described above, the total number of times the user has printed the advertisement can be counted and totaled. For this reason, the advertisement client is charged a price corresponding to the amount of the printed advertisement, so that the effect of each advertisement can be confirmed. In addition to the printing desired by the user, it is possible to determine how much the advertisement has been printed in order to print the advertisement image on the back surface, that is, how much the effect has been achieved.

  Further, since the advertisement requester is configured to be able to register the advertisement image and the billing destination on the web, the advertisement requester can register the advertisement in accordance with the advertisement effect status such as correction or update of the advertisement image. Further, the billing information may be provided to the advertiser by the advertisement management server, and the billing information may be disclosed on a screen that can be logged in by authentication on the web. Accordingly, the billing information, that is, the distribution status of the advertisement can be confirmed by accessing the web.

  The advertisement management method described in the present embodiment can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, and a DVD, and is executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. Further, this program may be a transmission medium that can be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

The block diagram which shows the whole structure for demonstrating an advertisement print management system. The block diagram which shows the internal structure of an advertisement management server. The block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of an advertisement print management system. Explanatory drawing which shows the content of user information. Explanatory drawing which shows the content of advertisement information. Explanatory drawing which shows the content of print output result information. Explanatory drawing which shows the display state of the list of advertisements. 10 is a flowchart showing the contents of advertisement management processing according to setting 1; 10 is a flowchart showing processing contents of advertisement management according to setting 2; 10 is a flowchart showing processing contents of advertisement management according to setting 3; Explanatory drawing which shows the other setting content regarding the acquisition condition of an image among user information. Explanatory drawing which shows the content of the advertisement information which added the restriction | limiting information of the frequency | count of printing. The flowchart which shows the processing content of the advertisement management which provided the frequency | count of printing restrictions. Explanatory drawing which shows the memory content of the storage part which stores the frequency | count of ejection of an ink. Explanatory drawing which shows the function switching structure of an advertisement print management system. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a structure of the data stored in a management server. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a structure of the data transmitted to an advertisement management server. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of a terminal device. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of an advertisement management server.

Explanation of symbols

  100 (100a to 100n) personal print system, 101 terminal device (PC), 102 printer, 103 network (LAN), 110 network, 120 advertisement management server, 130 terminal device (PC), 201 communication unit, 202 job management unit, 203 Image database, 204 Image management unit, 205 User information database, 206 User information management unit, 207 Advertising expense settlement unit, 208 Charge destination database, 209 Advertisement number counting unit, 400 User information, 500 Advertising information, 600 Print output result information , 700 advertising list

Claims (8)

In an advertisement management server that sends advertisement content to client terminals,
Registration means for registering advertising content and billing destination information;
Creating means for creating list information of the advertising content in response to a request from a client terminal;
List transmitting means for transmitting the list information created by the creating means and the content identification information added for each advertising content to the client terminal;
Identification information receiving means for receiving content identification information designated by the client terminal;
Content transmitting means for transmitting advertising content specified by the content identification information received by the receiving means;
Management information receiving means for receiving content identification information, printing device identification information and content printing sheet count transmitted from the client terminal in response to transmission of the advertisement content;
Billing means for creating billing information based on the count information;
An advertisement management server comprising:   The advertisement management server according to claim 1, wherein the registration unit registers advertisement content via the Internet. An input means for inputting print content;
A selection means for displaying a list of registered advertisements, selecting a predetermined advertisement and transmitting information indicating the advertisement;
Receiving means for receiving advertisement content received in response to transmission of information indicating the advertisement;
Printing means for printing the advertising content received by the receiving means together with the print content input by the input means;
Transmitting means for counting the total number of times the advertising content has been printed by the printing means, and transmitting the count number to the advertisement management server;
A client terminal comprising: A determination means for determining whether or not the advertisement has been printed;
The said transmission means counts the total number of times that the said advertisement content was printed, and transmits to an advertisement management server, when it determines with the advertisement having been printed by the said determination means. Client terminal.   The client terminal according to claim 3, further comprising billing information receiving means for receiving billing information from the advertisement management server. An advertisement management method for transmitting advertisement content to a client terminal,
A registration process for registering advertising content and billing destination information;
A creation step of creating list information of the advertisement content in response to a request from a client terminal;
A list transmission step of transmitting to the client terminal the list information created by the creation step and the content identification information added for each advertising content;
An identification information receiving step of receiving content identification information designated by the client terminal;
A content transmission step of transmitting the advertising content specified by the content identification information received by the reception step;
A management information receiving step for receiving content identification information, printing device identification information and content printing sheet count transmitted from the client terminal in response to transmission of the advertisement content;
A billing step of creating billing information based on the count information;
An advertisement management method comprising: An input process for inputting print content;
A selection step of displaying a list of registered advertisements, selecting a predetermined advertisement, and transmitting information indicating the advertisement;
A receiving step of receiving advertisement content received in response to transmission of information indicating the advertisement;
A printing step of printing the advertising content received by the receiving step together with the print content input by the input step;
A transmission step of counting the total number of times the advertising content has been printed by the printing step, and transmitting the count number to the advertisement management server;
Ad management method including. In an advertisement management method of an advertisement management system configured by an advertisement management server that transmits advertisement content to a client terminal and the client terminal,
The advertisement management server registers advertisement content and billing destination information, creates a list information of the advertisement content in response to a request from a client terminal,
The client terminal inputs print content,
The advertisement management server transmits the list information created by the creating means and the content identification information added for each advertisement content to the client terminal,
The client terminal displays a list of registered advertisements, selects a predetermined advertisement, and transmits content specifying information indicating the advertisement to the advertisement management server,
The advertisement management server transmits the advertisement content specified by the content specification information to the client terminal;
The client terminal prints the advertising content received by the receiving unit together with the print content input by the input unit, counts the total number of times the advertising content has been printed, and sends the count number to the advertisement management server. Send
The advertisement management server receives the content identification information, the printing apparatus identification information, and the content print number count transmitted from the client terminal in response to the transmission of the advertisement content, and creates billing information based on the count information An advertisement management method characterized by the above.

Images