JP2009047864A - Content use promoting system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content use promoting system allowing a user to use contents without registering his/her personal information and capable of distributing advertisements by responding to user's attribute without depending on specific content and the number of use of contents. <P>SOLUTION: An information providing system is provided with a content server 30, a user information terminal unit 10, and an advertisement distribution server 40 to enable the user to use the contents provided by the content server 30 in only a condition in which the advertisement information provided by the advertisement distribution server 40 can be displayed in the user information terminal unit 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an information providing system that encourages the use of content by providing information such as advertisements according to user terminal operations and usage.

If it is necessary to collect a fee when permitting the use of content, it is necessary to go through complicated procedures for billing, such as registration of the personal information of the content user. In addition, in order to provide the content free of charge, the content and the advertisement are combined and distributed.
JP 2002-334255 A

In this case, it is only necessary to view the advertisement without taking measures to prevent duplication of the content, so it is possible to avoid the trouble of complicated procedures such as personal information registration, but only the same advertisement is delivered when using the content, Advertisement distribution according to content user attributes cannot be performed.

With regard to the use of content, content providing methods that require fee collection cannot use the content without registering personal information in order to use the content. However, registration is not possible due to the risk of leakage of personal information. There is a case where hesitates, and the content user is limited because of being charged.

In addition, when the content and the advertising part are combined, the content owner can make money from the advertisement, but the same ad is repeatedly displayed regardless of the user ’s attributes, In addition, advertisements are displayed many times only for popular and frequently used content, so only popular content can be advertised, and even if the content owner owns multiple content, some content You can only earn revenue from advertising.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, enable the use of the content without registration of personal information by the content user, and distribute the advertisement independent of the specific content. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of promoting the use of content, which can enable flexible advertisement distribution according to the user's attributes without depending on the number of times of use.

The present invention transmits content from a content server to a user information terminal so that the content can be used, and transmits / receives information to / from an advertisement distribution server that distributes advertisement information. In the system to be displayed, the user information terminal collects and stores user operation information and user information terminal information in the user information terminal, and the advertisement distribution server stores the operation information and the user information terminal information. Corresponding advertisement display information is transmitted to a user information terminal, and the user information terminal includes means for making the content usable only in a state where the advertisement display information transmitted from the advertisement distribution server can be displayed. And

According to the present invention, the user is given a name,
The content can be used without the hassle of registering personal information such as e-mail addresses, and the content can be used free of charge by displaying advertisements, so the distribution of the content is promoted and flexible advertisement distribution according to user attributes As a result, the content provider can construct an information providing system that is highly convenient and can obtain advertising revenue.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the information providing system of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the system of the present embodiment is configured by a computer on which a program of each system connected via a network 20 is mounted. Note that the programs constituting the content server 30 and the advertisement distribution server 40 do not necessarily have to be physically configured in one server, and can be distributed. Moreover, although the network 20 can consider using the internet, it is not restricted to this.

A content user can download content from the content server 30 via the network 20 or use the content stored in the content server 30 via the network 20. In order to use the content downloaded by the user from the content server 30 or to use it by mutual communication with the content server 30, the user information terminal 10 must be able to display advertisements, and is in that state. The content can be used only in such a case.

The material used by the user in the present embodiment is not limited to the application program that can be used in the user information terminal 10, but the user information terminal 10 such as a music file or a video file.
(Hereinafter, the material used by the user is referred to as “original content”). The content provided to the user in the present embodiment is provided as a combination of the original content, the introduction program, and a program for performing content processing and advertisement information processing (hereinafter referred to as “content control program”) in the user information terminal. The When the original content exists on the content server 30 side on the network and content (hereinafter referred to as “server-provided content”) is provided through mutual communication with the user information terminal 10, typically, a website The provision of information, the provision of game programs, and the like can be considered, but the contents of provision are not limited thereto. In addition, a plurality of original contents can be used in one user information terminal 10.

The system of the present embodiment includes a content server 30, an advertisement distribution server 40, and a user information terminal 10. The user information terminal 10 is not limited to a personal computer, and may be an information terminal such as a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a stationary game machine, or a portable game machine.

The content server 30 includes a content database 31, a combination processing unit 32, and a transmission processing unit 33. The combination processing unit 32 includes an original content file, a content control program 11 that operates on the user information terminal 10, and an introduction program (hereinafter referred to as "introduction program") for introducing both into the user information terminal. It is a processing device of the content server 30 that converts three into one file. The content database 31 is a device that stores content information. The transmission processing unit 33 is connected to each user information terminal 10 used by the user via the network 20 in a form capable of bidirectional communication, and the content processed by the combination processing unit 32 from the content database is processed by the user. It is a processing device that transmits to the information terminal 10.

The advertisement distribution server 40 includes an information processing unit 41, an advertisement database 42, and a behavior analysis database 43.

The advertisement database 42 is advertisement information provided by the advertisement provider (data such as advertisement ID, name, advertisement image, link destination URL, etc.)
Also, advertisement display information (hereinafter referred to as “advertisement display information”) which is data for referring to advertisement information on the user information terminal, and advertisement display control data (hereinafter referred to as “advertisement display”) such as communication interval, advertisement display interval, and display timing. It is a device for storing control data). As for the format of the advertisement information, text information, image information, audio information, and moving image information can be considered, but not limited thereto. The advertisement distribution server also includes information that triggers the user information terminal to start displaying the advertisement information (keywords that are subject to advertisement display, URLs of web pages that are subject to advertisement display, etc. Information ”) is set and stored in the advertisement database 42.

The behavior analysis database 43 stores the advertisement display target information and the advertisement display information stored in the advertisement database 42 as a pair (hereinafter referred to as “advertisement information display database”), and the advertisement information display database and user information. The processing device analyzes user operation information transmitted from the terminal 10 and selects and stores advertisement display information suitable for the contents of the operation information.

Information processing unit 41 of advertisement distribution server
Is a device that processes the exchange of information with the advertisement database 42, the behavior analysis database 43, and the user information terminal 10. This is a device that acquires individual terminal information of the user information terminal 10 transmitted from the operation information processing unit 16 of the user information terminal 10 and also performs identification processing with other user information terminals.

The user information terminal 10 includes a content processing unit 12 and an advertisement information processing unit 13 configured by the content control program 11.

The content processing unit 12 includes a processing device (communication monitoring processing unit 14) that checks the network connection status between the advertisement information processing unit 13 and the advertisement distribution server 40, and a processing device (startup processing unit 15) that controls the original content. Has been.

The communication monitoring processing unit 14 is a device that confirms that the advertisement information processing unit 13 has made a network connection to the advertisement distribution server 40 within a certain period, and transmits the information to the activation processing unit 15.

In the activation processing unit 15, unique identification information (hereinafter referred to as “ID”) of the content to be activated is set in the user information terminal 10 by the introduction program, and the information transmitted from the communication monitoring processing unit 14 Thus, when the advertisement information processing unit 13 identifies that the network connection to the advertisement distribution server 40 is not performed within a certain period, the processing apparatus terminates the process of using the original content.

The advertisement information processing unit 13 is a processing device that displays advertisement information transmitted from the advertisement distribution server 40 on the user information terminal 10, and includes an operation information processing unit 16 and an advertisement processing unit 17.

The operation information processing unit 16 stores operation information of a user who operates the user information terminal 10 (hereinafter referred to as “operation information”) and information related to the user information terminal 10 (hereinafter referred to as “terminal information”), and advertisement distribution. It is a device that performs processing for transmitting operation information and terminal information to the server 40.
Here, the operation information includes information related to a website when browsing the Internet, but may not include information for identifying an individual such as a user's name and email address. The terminal information includes information for identifying the user information terminal 10 from another user's information terminal (a hash value or the like of the MAC address of the user information terminal 10 can be considered, but is not limited thereto).

The advertisement processing unit 17 is a device that performs processing for displaying advertisement information in the user information terminal 10 based on advertisement display control data transmitted from the advertisement distribution server 40. In addition, the user information terminal 10 stores information on the network connection with the advertisement distribution server 40.

For the advertisement information displayed on the user information terminal 10, in addition to selecting the advertisement display information by searching and extracting from the behavior analysis database 43 of the advertisement distribution server 40, the ID of the content used in the user information terminal is used. It is also possible to display only the corresponding advertisement or other information. In this case, it is also possible to extract information searched and extracted by the behavior analysis database 43 from information corresponding to a specific content ID.

In the present embodiment, when the user information terminal 10 is not connected to the network 20, the advertisement information stored in the user information terminal 10 can be displayed.

Next, a processing procedure in the content database 31 will be described.

The owner of the original content (hereinafter referred to as “owner”) uploads the original content to the content server using a personal computer or the like. For original content data,
The holder prepares software that can be used in the user information terminal 10, and files such as playable videos and music, and uploads the files. At the time of uploading, the combination processing unit 32 assigns an ID to each original content, and performs a file combination process based on the ID. Specifically, the original content data uploaded to the content database 31 is combined with the content control program 11 and the introduction program into one file, and the content is registered in the content database 31. The introduction program is a program for introducing (installing) the original content and the content control program 11 into the user information terminal before using the content in the user information terminal 10. On the other hand, the ID is set.

The content stored in the content database 31 is transmitted from the transmission processing unit 33 of the content server 30 in response to a download request from the user information terminal 10. In addition to distribution via the Internet or other network 20, the content can be copied to a CD-ROM or other medium and distributed to users of the user information terminal.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for use / playback of content on the user information terminal 10. As a premise for performing such processing, when content is used in the user information terminal 10, an introduction program file for each original content registered in the content database by the user is introduced, and the content control program 11 is executable. It must be placed.
In order to reproduce content such as music and video, a reproduction program corresponding to the format of the original content data needs to be installed in the user information terminal 10.

The content control program 11 starts to be executed in accordance with the activation of a personal computer or the like. When the use of the content is started (step 201), the activation processing unit 15 is started at the same time.
Is performed (step 202). The activation processing unit 15 confirms whether or not there is a network connection between the advertisement information processing unit 13 of the user information terminal 10 and the advertisement distribution server 40 within a certain period based on the information transmitted from the communication monitoring processing unit 14 (step 203). . When the network connection is established, the activation processing unit 15 permits the content use process (step 204), and the content can be used / reproduced. In other cases, the activation processing unit 15 ends the content use process (step 211) and displays an error message (step 212).

It should be noted that the above content use and playback processes need not always be connected to the advertisement distribution server 40 over the network, and the advertisement information processing unit 13 and the advertisement distribution server 40 are connected through the Internet or other networks 20 at regular intervals. It only has to be done.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of advertisement distribution. In the operation information processing unit 16, the user information terminal 10 has a unique value (MAC address is considered) that identifies at least the user information terminal 10 from another user's information terminal as the terminal information of the user information terminal 10. Is not limited to this (step 301), and is transmitted to the behavior analysis database 43 via the information processing unit 41 of the advertisement distribution server 40 (302). Thereby, the user information terminal of another user is distinguished.

Then, information related to the website browsed when the user uses browser software on the Internet is acquired as operation information (step 304), and the information is transmitted to the advertisement distribution server (step 305). User operation information is registered in the behavior analysis database 43 for each user identified by the user information terminal information (step 306).

The advertisement processing unit 17 requests the information processing unit 41 of the advertisement distribution server 40 to search for advertisement display information corresponding to the operation information (step 307), and the behavior analysis database 43 of the advertisement distribution server 40
The advertisement display information corresponding to the user's operation information is searched and extracted from the advertisement database 42 (step 308).

The behavior analysis database 43 searches and extracts advertisement display information to be displayed based on information about the website included in the operation information and the advertisement information display database recorded in the behavior analysis database 43. The information processing unit 41 of the advertisement distribution server 40 transmits the advertisement display information searched and extracted and advertisement display control data such as preset advertisement display timing, number of times, and advertisement reproduction time to the user information terminal ( Step 309), the advertisement processing unit 17 of the user information terminal 10 receives and registers the information (Step 310). Then, the advertisement processing unit 17 displays the advertisement information on the user information terminal 10 based on the advertisement display control data (step 311). The advertisement information is displayed by the advertisement processing unit creating an advertisement display screen on the operation screen of the user information terminal 10 and reading the advertisement information corresponding to the advertisement display information on the advertisement display screen. The advertisement information includes, for example, an advertisement image, a link destination URL, and the like, and the advertisement image with the link destination URL is displayed on the advertisement display screen. When the user of the user information terminal 10 clicks on the advertisement image, a website on which the advertisement provider wants to guide the user is displayed by the browser software on the Internet of the user information terminal 10 or the like.

The advertisement display information may be searched / extracted by the information processing unit 41 of the advertisement distribution server 40, or may display specific advertisement information corresponding to the ID assigned in the combination processing unit 32 of the content server 30. Is possible.

In the embodiment described above, the search / extraction of advertisement display information suitable for the user is assumed to be performed by the advertisement distribution server 40, but the search / extraction of advertisement display information suitable for the user is performed by the user. It is also possible to use the information terminal 10. In this embodiment, the configuration and processing procedure of at least the user information terminal 10 and the advertisement distribution server 40 are different in the following points.

The advertisement database 42 of the advertisement distribution server 40 is a processing device that stores advertisement display target information. The information processing unit 41 of the advertisement distribution server 40 uses the advertisement display target information stored in the advertisement database 42 and the advertisement information display database stored in the behavior analysis database 43 as the advertisement processing unit 17 of the user information terminal 10. A processing device that also performs transmission.

The operation information processing unit 16 of the user information terminal 10 is a device that stores the operation information of the user who operates the user information terminal 10 and performs a process of transmitting the operation information to the advertisement processing unit 17.

The advertisement processing unit 17 of the user information terminal 10 performs display processing of advertisement information on the user information terminal 10 based on the advertisement display control data transmitted from the advertisement distribution server 40, and also operates operation information of the user information terminal 10. It is a device that performs a search / extraction process for the operation information acquired from the processing unit 16, the advertisement display target information acquired from the advertisement distribution server 40, and the advertisement display information to be displayed by the advertisement information display database.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of advertisement distribution in an embodiment in which advertisement information matching is performed by the user information terminal 10. The advertisement processing unit 17 of the user information terminal 10 acquires advertisement display control data stored in the advertisement database 42 through the information processing unit 41 of the advertisement distribution server 40 (step 401). Next, the advertisement processing unit 17 of the user information terminal 10 transmits the advertisement display target information stored in the advertisement database 42 and the advertisement stored in the behavior analysis database 43 through the information processing unit of the advertisement distribution server 40. Each information display database is acquired (step 402).

The operation information processing unit 16 of the user information terminal 10 acquires user operation information in the user information terminal 10 (step 403). The advertisement processing unit 17 searches for and extracts advertisement display information to be displayed based on the operation information acquired by the operation information processing unit 16 and the advertisement display target information and the advertisement information display database acquired in step 402 (step 404). .

The advertisement processing unit 17 requests the advertisement distribution server to display advertisement information to be displayed based on the extracted advertisement display information (step 405), and the advertisement distribution server 40 sends the requested advertisement information to the advertisement processing unit 17. The advertisement processing unit 17 receives this (step 406). The advertisement processing unit 17 displays and reproduces the received advertisement information based on the designation of the advertisement display control data received in Step 401 (Step 407).

In the present embodiment, the original content can be encrypted and distributed. In this case, processing different from the content processing in the embodiment in which encryption is not performed is performed in the following points.
In the content server 30, the combination processing unit 32 performs a combination process of the decryption key application program for releasing the encryption, the content control program 11, and the introduction program.

In this case, the encrypted original content can be registered in the content database 31 by performing a combining process in the combining processing unit 32, or registered in the content database 31 without performing the combining process and distributed separately. Alternatively, it can be distributed on a medium such as a CD-ROM.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the encrypted content. When the user performs an operation to open the original content file such as a moving image file (step 501), a reproduction program corresponding to the file format (step 502) and a decryption key application program are activated. (Step 503). Then, the decryption key application program identifies whether the file is a normal moving image file or an original content file that has been encrypted (step 504). In the case of a normal file that is not an encrypted file, the moving image file or the like is played as usual (step 511), and the decryption key application program ends the processing (step 512).

If the encrypted file is identified, the presence / absence of a decryption key corresponding to the encrypted file is confirmed to determine whether or not the keys match (step 505). If the keys do not match, decryption is performed. The decryption process is stopped (step 521), an error display is displayed together with a display indicating that the decryption key application program corresponding to the encrypted file is necessary (step 522),
If the keys match, the encrypted file is decrypted with the decryption key (step 506), and playback by the playback program is possible (step 507).

In this embodiment, since server-provided content is used, an authentication program can be distributed in a server-provided content providing server (hereinafter referred to as “content providing server”).
The content providing server can use the same server as the content server 30 or may be another server. Usually, the user of the user information terminal 10 downloads it to the information terminal by himself / herself and uses it on the information terminal. In this case, the processing differs from the content to be downloaded and used in the following points.

In the content server 30, in the combination processing unit 32, an authentication program for using server-provided content provided by a server-provided content holder (hereinafter referred to as “owner”) to the introduction program, the content control program, The introduction program is combined. The combined authentication program can be registered in the content database 31, or can be distributed separately or distributed on a medium such as a CD-ROM. The authentication program for using server-provided content stores information necessary for permitting the use of server-provided content set in the content providing server. In addition, it has a function of receiving a link destination that needs to be displayed by Internet browser software or the like in order to use server-provided content from the content providing server and displaying it on the browser software or the like.

The holder installs a script or the like for calling an authentication program on server-provided content to be authenticated (such as, but not limited to, an html file to be displayed by browser software or the like).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an authentication and authentication program installation processing procedure.
When the user accesses the content providing server through browser software or the like in order to use server-provided content that requires authentication (step 601), the script is transmitted to the browser software or the like of the user information terminal 10 (step 601). 602), the script calls an authentication program on the user information terminal 10 (step 603).

The script confirms whether or not the authentication program can be called (step 604), and if the call fails, the content providing server displays an error display and an indication that the authentication program is necessary (step 611). This display can include a link to the authentication program for the content providing server that has undergone the combining process. When the user clicks on the link (step 612), the approval of the download and introduction of the authentication program is confirmed (step 613). If the user approves, the authentication program is downloaded and introduced (step 614), the display contents of the browser software and the like are updated (step 615), and the script is again stored in the browser software and the like of the user information terminal 10. Follow the sending procedure. In this way, by displaying a link to the installed program along with an error display, the authentication program placed on the server can be downloaded and installed without interrupting access with browser software etc. Authentication can also be performed.

If the authentication program can be called, the script checks whether the authentication program is an authentication program for the content providing server (step 605). If it is not the authentication program for the content providing server, the server displays an error display and a display indicating that the authentication program for the content providing server is necessary (step 611). If it is the authentication program for the content providing server, it is confirmed whether or not the content control program exists in the user information terminal 10 (step 606).
When the existence of the content control program is confirmed, the script acquires information from the content providing server through the authentication program, and displays the content or the link destination of the content on the browser software or the like (step 607). If the activation of the content control program has not been confirmed, step 611 is performed.
, Display that the introduction of the content control program is necessary, and prompt the introduction. The procedure is the same as in the authentication program.

In step 607, it is also possible to display a new registration screen or a service usage start screen for the user to start using the server-provided content.

It is a figure which shows the information provision system concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the process sequence of the starting process of the content in the said system. It is a figure which shows the process sequence of the advertisement information in the said system. It is a figure which shows the process sequence of advertisement delivery in embodiment which performs matching of advertisement information with a user information terminal. It is a figure which shows the process sequence of encrypted content. It is a figure which shows the authentication processing of a server-provided content, and the installation processing procedure of an authentication program.

Explanation of symbols

10 User Information Terminal 11 Content Control Program 12 Content Processing Unit 13 Advertising Information Processing Unit 14 Communication Monitoring Processing Unit 15 Activation Processing Unit 16 Operation Information Processing Unit 17 Advertising Processing Unit 20 Network 30 Content Server 31 Content Database 32 Join Processing Unit 33 Transmission Processing unit 40 Advertising distribution server 41 Information processing unit 42 Advertising database 43 Behavior analysis database

Claims (14)

In a system in which content is transmitted from a content server to a user information terminal so that the content can be used, and advertisement information is displayed on the user information terminal by transmitting / receiving information to / from an advertisement distribution server that distributes advertisement information ,
The user information terminal collects and stores user operation information and user information terminal information in the user information terminal, transmits to the advertisement distribution server,
The advertisement distribution server transmits advertisement display information corresponding to the operation information and the user information terminal information to a user information terminal,
The user information terminal receives and displays advertisement information corresponding to the received advertisement display information from the advertisement distribution server, and can use the content only in a state where the advertisement display information transmitted from the advertisement distribution server can be displayed. An information providing system comprising means for making the information. The information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement distribution server sets advertisement distribution time and frequency in the user information terminal and distributes the advertisement display information to the user information terminal. The advertisement distribution server includes means for collecting and storing information about a website from a web server on the Internet, and means for receiving operation information and user information terminal information transmitted from the user information terminal. The advertisement display information corresponding to the operation information and the user information terminal information is selected from a plurality of advertisement display information, and the selected advertisement display information is transmitted to the user information terminal. 2. The information providing system according to 2. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the user information terminal transmits, as operation information, website information browsed by the user to the advertisement distribution server. The content server transmits content encrypted with an encryption key to the user terminal,
5. The user information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the content is decrypted by using a decryption key and can be reproduced only in a state in which the advertisement display information can be displayed. Information provision system. The content server creates encrypted content including information in which an identification code for each content provider is set and a decryption key corresponding to the content of each content provider, and transmits the decryption key to the user information terminal. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement distribution server distributes information according to content used in the user information terminal. The content on the content server can be used only in a state in which the user accesses the content server from the user information terminal and can display advertisement display information in the user information terminal. Item 8. The information system according to any one of Items 1 to 4 and 7. In a system in which content is transmitted from a content server to a user information terminal so that the content can be used, and advertisement information is displayed on the user information terminal by transmitting / receiving information to / from an advertisement distribution server that distributes advertisement information ,
The user information terminal collects and stores user operation information in the user information terminal,
The advertisement distribution server transmits advertisement display information associated with information to be displayed for advertisement such as a specific keyword stored in the server to the user information terminal,
The user information terminal selects advertisement display information corresponding to the operation information from the plurality of advertisement display information, receives and displays advertisement information corresponding to the selected advertisement display information from the advertisement display server, and An information providing system comprising means for making content usable only in a state in which advertisement display information transmitted from an advertisement distribution server can be displayed. 10. The information providing system according to claim 9, wherein the advertisement distribution server sets advertisement distribution time and frequency in the user information terminal and distributes the advertisement display information to the user information terminal. The content server transmits content encrypted with an encryption key to the user terminal,
The information providing system according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the user information terminal can reproduce the content only using a decryption key and reproduce the content only in a state where the advertisement display information can be displayed. . The content server creates encrypted content including information in which an identification code for each content provider is set and a decryption key corresponding to the content of each content provider, and transmits the decryption key to the user information terminal. The information providing system according to any one of claims 9 to 11. The information distribution system according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the advertisement distribution server distributes information according to content used in the user information terminal. The content on the content server can be used only in a state in which the user accesses the content server from the user information terminal and can display advertisement display information in the user information terminal. Item 14. The information system according to any one of Items 9 to 10 and 13.

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