JP2011118458A - Device, method and program for providing information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select an appropriate person among visitors from distant places and to provide useful information held by that person. <P>SOLUTION: An information providing device specifies a place P1 from a database for recording the number of approaches by each user and the number of stays of each user at or above a predetermined time period for every place, specifies the users E, F belonging to a group 203 of which number of approaches to the specified places is small and of which visiting ratio based on the number of stays at the specified places is high as being visitors who visited aiming at the specified places from the distant places, and provides the information on the place P3 as the information relevant to the users E, F. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus that provides information, an information providing method, and an information providing program.

  In recent years, with the widespread use of mobile terminals and the development of technology for acquiring position information using IC cards, RF tags, GPS, and the like, services using positions and places have attracted attention. As one of the services using location information, there is a service that provides information related to others at a specified location by using collaborative filtering. In order to provide the above-described service, a technique is disclosed in which user behavior information is stored in a common database and behavior history information of a plurality of users is used (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). ).

  In addition, service users who visit a certain place may increase the number of people who live in the neighborhood even if the place has features such as specialty stores. Neighbors visit supermarkets and laundry stores in the neighborhood, so the information about other people about a specified location may become the aforementioned supermarkets, which may not meet the user's expectations. . In such a case, it is necessary to provide information separately for neighbors and other users.

  For the provision method described above, extract the user's living area and the visiting area far from the living area from the number of visits in the movement history, and refer to the visiting history of other users who visited the same visiting area as the user A technique for providing useful information in a visiting section is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 2 below).

JP 2003-296339 A International Publication No. 2004/075137 Pamphlet

  However, in the above-described prior art, it is possible to provide useful information in the visiting section, but since the useful information has different properties, there is a possibility that it does not meet the expectations of the user who wants to find a specific specialty store. There was a problem that there was. For example, it is assumed that a user A who wants to purchase a specialized book receives a service described in Patent Document 2 when he / she visits a specialized book store B located far away. In this case, in order to provide a place visited by many users in the vicinity of the specialized bookstore B, there is a problem that the information expected by the user A cannot be provided.

  In order to solve the above-described problems caused by the prior art, the present invention selects an appropriate person to obtain information from far away visitors, and provides information that the person has as useful information It is an object to provide a providing device, an information providing method, and an information providing program.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the disclosed information providing apparatus stores, for each place, the number of times each user has approached and the number of times each user has stayed for a predetermined time or more. Specify an arbitrary location, refer to the database, classify each user approaching the specified location into one of multiple groups according to the number of accesses to the location, and refer to the database. And classify each user who stayed at the specified place into one of multiple groups according to the visit rate calculated by dividing the number of stays at the place by the number of visits to the place. Among the groups classified by the first extracted group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the highest number of approaches, and among the plurality of groups classified by the visit rate, Extracting a second extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the lowest rate, and specifying a user included in common in the extracted first and second extraction groups; It is a requirement to output information about the identified user.

  According to the information providing apparatus, the information providing method, and the information providing program, a person who visits a place designated from a distance is selected as an appropriate person for acquiring information, and the information held by the person is selected. There is an effect that it can be provided to the user as useful information.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of using the system according to the first exemplary embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the information which this system provides. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an information providing apparatus 101. FIG. It is explanatory drawing (the 1) which shows the example of a setting of place information. It is explanatory drawing (the 2) which shows the example of a setting of place information. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an information providing apparatus 101 according to a first embodiment. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of stored contents of a movement route table 103. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the memory content of the approach / stay number of times table 104 to a place. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the memory content of the purchased goods and subscription service table. It is explanatory drawing which shows the extraction method of a person with few frequency | counts of approach to the place P, and a high visit rate to the place P. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the extraction method of the place where the frequency | count of the approach of the user E is few and a visit rate is high. 3 is a flowchart of position information transmission processing according to the first exemplary embodiment; 3 is a flowchart of position information reception processing according to the first exemplary embodiment; 3 is a flowchart of information provision request processing according to the first exemplary embodiment; 3 is a flowchart of information provision response processing according to the first exemplary embodiment; 6 is a flowchart of information acquisition processing for the specified user according to the first exemplary embodiment; 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an information providing apparatus 101 according to a second embodiment. FIG. FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of stored contents of a neighborhood place table 1610. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a production | generation of the service user visited table 1611. It is explanatory drawing which shows the method of extracting the identified user by the frequency | count of visit. It is explanatory drawing which shows the method of extracting the information on the place visited from the specified user separately from the designated place. 10 is a flowchart of position information reception processing according to the second exemplary embodiment; 10 is a flowchart of information provision response processing according to the second exemplary embodiment; 10 is a flowchart of processing for generating a service user visited table 1611 according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart of a process for generating a visit count table 1612 according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart of information acquisition processing 1 for an identified user according to the second exemplary embodiment; 10 is a flowchart of information acquisition processing 2 for a specified user according to the second exemplary embodiment;

  Exemplary embodiments of an information providing apparatus, an information providing method, and an information providing program according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Overview of Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a method of using the system according to the first embodiment. This system includes an information providing apparatus 101, a portable terminal 107 with a GPS reception function, a terminal apparatus 109, and a terminal apparatus 113. The information providing apparatus 101 includes a location table 102, a travel route table 103, a location approach / stay count table 104, and a purchased product / subscription service table 105. The information providing apparatus 101 provides information using the tables 102 to 105. Details of the information provision will be described later with reference to FIG. Details of each table will be described later with reference to FIGS. 4-2, 6, 7, and 8.

  The mobile terminal 107 with a GPS reception function is operated by the user 108, transmits position information to the information providing apparatus 101, and receives information provision. The position information transmitted by the mobile terminal 107 with the GPS reception function is received from the GPS satellite 106.

  The card / RF tag 110 is operated by the user 112 and the identification information is read by the card / RF tag reader 111. The read identification information is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 101 by the card / RF tag reader 111. At the time of transmission, the card / RF tag reader 111 transmits the received identification information together with location information where the card / RF tag reader 111 is installed. The information providing apparatus 101 that has received the identification information and the location information provides information to the terminal device 109 corresponding to the card / RF tag 110.

  The terminal device 113 is operated by the user 114, receives input of location information where the user 114 exists, and transmits the received location information to the information providing device 101. The information providing apparatus 101 provides information to the terminal apparatus 113.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing information provided by the system. There are users who approach the place P1 up to the users A to G. Each user is divided into two groups 201 and 202. The way of division is whether they live in the vicinity of the place P1 or visited from a distance. The group 201 is a resident or a commuter who lives in the neighborhood of the place P1, and is composed of users A to D. The group 202 is a visitor to the place P1 from a distant place, and is composed of users EG. Further, the group 202 includes a group 203 composed of visitors who aim at the place P1 from a distance. Users E and F shown in FIG.

  In this system, when an arbitrary user designates a place P1, the information providing apparatus 101 uses the place P3 where the users E and F belonging to the group 203 are visiting other than the place P1 as information as the place P1. Is provided to designated users. Further, the information providing apparatus 101 provides information on purchased products and subscribed services that are commonly purchased by the users E and F to the user who has designated the place P1. Since the users E and F visit the place P1 from a distance, it is highly likely that the place P3 visited in the same way has some relationship with the place P1.

  Specifically, for example, when the place P1 is a bookstore that handles many specialized books, a neighbor visits to purchase a general book, but also visits to purchase a specialized book from a distance. A person appears. A person visiting from a distance may have visited a bookstore that handles many other specialized books. In this example, the place is P3. As described above, when an arbitrary place is specified, the present system specifies a user who has visited the place from a distance, and aims to provide information related to the specified user.

(Hardware configuration of information providing apparatus 101)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the information providing apparatus 101. In FIG. 3, the information providing apparatus 101 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301, a ROM (Read-Only Memory) 302, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 303. The storage device also includes a magnetic disk drive 304, a magnetic disk 305, an optical disk drive 306, and an optical disk 307. In addition, a display 308, an I / F (Interface) 309, a keyboard 310, a mouse 311, a scanner 312, and a printer 313 are provided as input / output devices for users and other devices. Each component is connected by a bus 300.

  Here, the CPU 301 governs overall control of the information providing apparatus 101. The ROM 302 stores a program such as a boot program. The RAM 303 is used as a work area for the CPU 301. The magnetic disk drive 304 controls the reading / writing of the data with respect to the magnetic disk 305 according to control of CPU301. The magnetic disk 305 stores data written under the control of the magnetic disk drive 304.

  The optical disk drive 306 controls the reading / writing of the data with respect to the optical disk 307 according to control of CPU301. The optical disk 307 stores data written under the control of the optical disk drive 306, and causes the computer to read data stored on the optical disk 307.

  The display 308 displays data such as a document, an image, and function information as well as a cursor, an icon, or a tool box. As this display 308, for example, a CRT, a TFT liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or the like can be adopted.

  The I / F 309 is connected to a network 314 such as a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), and the Internet through a communication line, and is connected to other devices via the network 314. The I / F 309 serves as an internal interface with the network 314 and controls data input / output from an external device. For example, a modem or a LAN adapter can be adopted as the I / F 309.

  The keyboard 310 includes keys for inputting characters, numbers, various instructions, and the like, and inputs data. Moreover, a touch panel type input pad or a numeric keypad may be used. The mouse 311 performs cursor movement, range selection, window movement, size change, and the like. A trackball or a joystick may be used as long as they have the same function as a pointing device.

  The scanner 312 optically reads an image and takes in the image data into the information providing apparatus 101. The scanner 312 may have an OCR (Optical Character Reader) function. The printer 313 prints image data and document data. As the printer 313, for example, a laser printer or an ink jet printer can be employed.

  4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams illustrating setting examples of the location information. A region 401 and a region 402 shown in FIG. 4A are schematic maps of two distant regions. A location table 102 shown in FIG. 4B shows a state in which location information included in the region 401 and the region 402 is stored. In the region 401, there are places P1, P2, supermarket S1, cleaning shop C1, ramen shop R1, and theme park T1. Further, although not registered in the location table 102, the station A exists. In the area 402, there are places P3, P4, and ramen shop R2.

  The place table 102 is a table that stores place information, and is composed of seven fields: place ID, name, latitude 1, longitude 1, latitude 2, longitude 2, and minimum visit time. The place ID is identification information indicating the place. The name field is a name indicating the location information. For example, in the case of a facility, the name of the facility is set. The latitude 1 -longitude 2 field is the latitude / longitude where the place is located. If a user is present within the rectangular range formed by the latitude 1-longitude 2 fields, the user approaches the location.

  Specifically, for example, the user 108 receives position information at 35 degrees 40 minutes 57 seconds north latitude and 139 degrees 45 minutes 56 seconds east longitude by the portable terminal 107 with GPS reception function, and the information providing apparatus 101 is described above. Assume that location information is received. In the example, since the position information exists inside the rectangular area indicated by the latitude 1 to longitude 2 fields of the place P1, the information providing apparatus 101 determines that the user 108 has approached the place P1.

  The visit lower limit time field is a lower limit time indicating whether or not the user has stayed at the location of the record when the user stayed at the location. For example, in the place P1, it is shown that the user stayed in the place P1 by continuing to exist in the place P1 for 30 minutes or more. The theme park T1 indicates that the user has stayed at the theme park T1 by staying in the theme park T1 for 100 minutes or more.

  The reason why the lower limit of visit time varies depending on the location is to make the determination of whether or not you stay more accurate. For example, it is assumed that the rectangular range composed of the latitude 1 to longitude 2 fields of the theme park T1 is wide and the visit lower limit time is short. If there is a user who leaves the station A, passes through the theme park T1, and goes to the place P1 and the place P2, the user has just passed through the theme park T1 but stayed at the theme park T1. In order to prevent the above-mentioned state, it is necessary to take a long visit lower limit time in a place with a wide range.

  The table configuration is set in a rectangular state in the first embodiment. As another setting method, the latitude and longitude of the center of a specific location and the distance from the center are in the table structure, and the GPS location information is within the distance from the center of the specific location. It may be determined that the person exists in a specific place.

(Functional configuration of Embodiment 1)
Next, a functional configuration of the information providing apparatus will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a functional configuration of the information providing apparatus 101 according to the first embodiment. The information providing apparatus 101 includes a receiving unit 501, a specifying unit 502, an approach frequency classifying unit 503, a visit rate classifying unit 504, an extracting unit 505, a specifying unit 506, an output unit 507, an updating unit 508, It is the structure containing. Specifically, the functions (reception unit 501 to update unit 508) serving as the control unit are, for example, a program stored in a storage device such as the ROM 302, the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disc 307 illustrated in FIG. The function is realized by executing. Alternatively, the function may be realized by another CPU executing via the I / F 309.

  The information providing apparatus 101 is connected to a database including a location table 102, a travel route table 103, a location approach / stay count table 104, and a purchased product / subscription service table 105. The number of times that each user has approached and the number of times each user has stayed for a predetermined time or longer are stored in the place approach / stay times table 104. Further, the predetermined time is the value of the visit lower limit field in the place table 102. The tables 102 to 105 exist inside or outside the information providing apparatus 101 and are stored in a storage device such as the ROM 302, the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307 shown in FIG.

  The receiving unit 501 has a function of receiving position information / location information from the portable terminal 107 with GPS reception function and the card / RF tag reader 111 and the terminal device 113 (not shown in FIG. 5). By receiving the position information / location information, the information providing apparatus 101 performs position information reception processing. The receiving unit 501 has a function of receiving an information provision request from the mobile terminal 107 with GPS receiving function, the terminal device 109, and the terminal device 113. By receiving the information provision request, the information provision apparatus 101 performs an information provision response process.

  Specifically, for example, the information providing apparatus 101 receives position information from the mobile terminal 107 with a GPS reception function. The received position information / location information is stored in a storage device such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307 and is also accumulated in the movement path table 103.

  The designation unit 502 has a function of designating an arbitrary place from a set of places. Further, the location may be specified by the receiving unit 501. Specifically, for example, the place P1 shown in FIG. The designated data is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  The approach frequency classification unit 503 has a function of classifying each user into a group corresponding to the number of approaches of each user approaching the location specified by the specification unit 502 with reference to the database. It is assumed that each user approaches when entering each area of the place table 102 described above with reference to FIG. The number of approaches is the number of times each user has entered the place described above with reference to FIG.

  Specifically, for example, when the place P1 is selected by the designation unit 502, each user is classified into a group according to the number of times of approach to the place P1. As a result of the classification, groups divided according to the number of approaches are generated. A specific classification method will be described later with reference to FIG. The generated group is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  The visit rate classification unit 504 refers to the database according to the number of approaches of each user approaching the place designated by the designation unit 502 and the visit rate based on the number of stays of each user staying at the designated location. A function to classify each user into a group. Assume that each user enters each area of the place table 102 described above with reference to FIG. 4B and stays when the user stays for more than the minimum visit time of the place table 102. The number of stays is the number of stays at the specified location. The visit rate is a ratio of staying per approach, and is obtained by visit rate = (number of stays / number of approaches).

  Specifically, for example, when the location P1 is designated by the designation unit 502, each user is classified into a group according to the visit rate to the location P1. As a result of the classification, a group divided according to the level of visit rate is generated. A specific classification method will be described later with reference to FIG. The generated group is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  The extraction unit 505 extracts a first group from the group group classified by the approach frequency classification unit 503 except for the group having the highest access frequency. In addition, it has a function of extracting a second group from the group group classified by the visit rate classification unit 504, excluding the group having the lowest visit rate. Alternatively, the group with the lowest number of approaches and the group with the highest visit rate may be extracted.

Specifically, for example, when the approach number classifying unit 503 divides the group into two groups, that is, a group with a large number of approaches and a group with a small number of approaches, the extraction unit 505 removes a group with a large number of approaches and extracts a group with a small number of approaches. To do. When the visit rate classification unit 504 divides the visit group into two groups, that is, a group with a high visit rate and a group with a low visit rate, the extraction unit 505 removes a group with a low visit rate and extracts a group with a high visit rate. The extracted group is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  The specifying unit 506 has a function of specifying users included in common in the first and second groups extracted by the extracting unit 505. Specifically, for example, when the first group is a group with a small number of approaches and the second group is a group with a high visit rate, a user with a small number of approaches and a high visit rate is specified. The identified user becomes a user who visited a place designated from a distance. The specified user information is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  The output unit 507 has a function of outputting information about the user specified by the specifying unit 506. The information about the specified user is stored in the purchased product / subscription service table 105 and information on a place where the specified user has a low number of accesses and a high visit rate other than the designated place. The purchased product purchased by the identified user and the subscribed service.

  Specifically, for example, as described above with reference to FIG. 2, it is assumed that the specified place is the place P1 and the specified users are the users E and F. A place where the users E and F are other than the place P1 and where the number of approaches is small and the visit rate is high is the place P3. If there is a service subscribed to by users E and F, the information is provided. For example, in FIG. 8 to be described later, there is a receiving service such as a book as a service to which users E and F are subscribed in common, and the information is output.

  The output information is output to the terminal received by the receiving unit 501. Specifically, for example, the data is output to the portable terminal 107 with GPS reception function, the terminal device 109 corresponding to the card / RF tag 110, the terminal device 113, and the like. The output information is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  The updating unit 508 has a function of updating the number of approaches and the number of visits stored in the location approach / stay count table 104 from the travel route table 103 updated by the receiving unit 501. Specifically, for example, the information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether the location written in the movement route table 103 has been changed from the location at the previous time. Add 1 to the number of times. When staying for a certain time or longer, 1 is added to the number of stays at the place. The updated result is stored in a location approach / stay count table 104 in a storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the movement route table 103. The movement route table 103 is composed of two fields: a user ID and a movement route. The user ID field records user identification information. The movement path field records where the user is located for each time series.

  For example, since the user A exists at the place P1 at the time t0, exists at the place P2 at the time t1, and exists at the place P3 from the time t2 to the time t4, the user P1, the place P2, and the place Approaching P3. If the time from time t2 to time t4 is equal to or longer than the visit lower limit time of the place P3 in the place table 102, it means that the user has stayed at the place P3. Similarly, the user B exists in the place P1 from the time t0 to the time t2 and in the place P2 from the time t3 to the time t5. Would stay there. Since the user C exists in the theme park T1 at the time t0 to the time t5, the user C stays at the theme park T1 if it is equal to or longer than the minimum visit time of the theme park T1.

  In addition, regardless of the transportation means of each user, the result of movement by various transportation means such as walking, automobile, train, airplane, etc. is recorded in the movement route table 103. Further, the moving range is not limited. For example, the travel route of the user 108 who travels to various parts of the world is generated by the portable terminal 107 with a GPS reception function that is held, and the travel range in this case is the entire earth that can receive GPS signals. On the other hand, the moving route of the user 112 moving in a certain theme park is generated by the card / RF tag reader 111 installed in the theme park, and the moving range in this case is in the theme park.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the stored contents of the approach / stay number of times table 104. The location approach / stay count table 104 is composed of five fields: location ID, user ID, approach count, stay count, and visit rate. The place ID of the place table 102 is set in the place ID field. The remaining fields are set for each set place ID. User identification information is set in the user ID field. The approach count field indicates the number of times a user exists in a specific rectangular area indicated by the set place ID. The stay frequency field indicates the number of times the user stayed in a specific rectangular area indicated by the set place ID for a predetermined time or more. The visit rate field is a value indicated by (number of stays / number of approaches). Further, the predetermined time here is the lower limit visit time of the place table 102 described above with reference to FIG.

  It can be seen that the higher the value of the visit rate field is, the purpose of staying at the set place ID is. Specifically, for example, the visit rate is 2 because the user A approaches the place P1 at time t0 and time t8 in FIG. However, since the visit lower limit time shown in the place table 102 is below, the number of stays is 0, and the visit rate is also 0%. Similarly, the user B approaches the place P1 at time t0 to t2, so the number of times of approach is 1, and since the user B is staying for more than the minimum visit time, the number of times of stay is 1 and the visit rate is 100. %.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the stored contents of the purchased product / subscription service table 105. The purchased product / subscription service table 105 includes three fields: user ID, purchased product, and subscription service. The user ID field records user identification information. The purchased item and the subscription service field indicate a product purchased by the user and a subscribed service, respectively.

  Specifically, for example, since the user C stayed at the theme park T1 at the time t0 to the time t5, the user C purchases a key holder with a mascot of the theme park T1 at a later date. Further, the users A and B are members of the cleaning shop C1 in the neighborhood from the subscription service field. Furthermore, assuming that the places P1 and P3 are bookstores handling specialized books, the users E and F can receive a book purchased at a distant store at a post office or a convenience store from the subscription service field. I have joined. Next, in FIG. 9, 10, when an arbitrary place P is selected, a method for extracting users and places related to the place P will be described.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of extracting people who have few visits to the place P and have a high visit rate to the place P. The table 901 is a table that satisfies the condition that the place ID of the approach / stay number of times table 104 is the place P. First, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies users in groups according to the number of approaches, and acquires the lowest group in the number of approaches. As a classification method, a method using clustering that automatically classifies without an external reference, or a threshold value may be set.

  Specifically, for example, it is assumed that a K-average method for classifying a specific number of groups is used for users A to G. The number of groups is two, a group with a large number of approaches and a group with a small number of approaches. When the K-average method with the number of groups of 2 is performed, the number of approaches: many groups are configured by the users A to D having an average value of 80 times and the number of times of approach close to 80 times. Number of approaches: A small group has users EG that have an average value of about 6.3 and are close to 6.3 times.

  Next, the users are classified into groups according to the visit rate with respect to the group 902 having a small number of approaches. When the K-average method with the number of groups 2 is performed, the group 903 with a high visit rate: 90% has an average value of 90%, and is composed of users E and F having an approach rate close to 90%. Visit rate: The low group has an average value of 25%, and is composed of user G having an approach rate equal to 25%. The information providing apparatus 101 extracts a group 903 with a high visit rate: high and identifies users E and F.

  By performing grouping by the above-described operation and extracting a group with a small number of approaches and a high visit rate, it indicates that the place P is visited from a distance from a small number of approaches, and from a high visit rate , It can be seen that the place P is visited with a purpose.

  In the above-described operation, the grouping is performed according to the number of stays, and the grouping is performed according to the visit rate with respect to the group 902 having a small number of stays. However, if the order is reversed and the groups are classified according to the visit rate, and the groups with the visit rate: high are grouped according to the number of stays, the same result is obtained. Moreover, the same result is obtained even if the number of stays and the visit rate are grouped, and users included in both the stay count: small group and the visit rate: high group are extracted. In the flowchart of FIG. 14 to be described later, users included in common in the number of stays: small group and the visit rate: high group are extracted.

  Information about the extracted users E and F is provided to the user who selected the place P. The information regarding the users E and F is a place where the users E and F have a small number of approaches other than the place P and have a high visit rate. The method for extracting the location will be described later with reference to FIG. In addition, with reference to the purchased product / subscription service table 105, information on purchased products and subscription services purchased in common by users E and F is provided. As a service that users E and F have subscribed in common, for example, there is a receiving service shown in FIG.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for extracting a place where the number of times of approach of user E is small and the visit rate is high. The table 1001 is a table that satisfies the condition that the user ID of the approach / stay number of times table 104 is the user E. The extraction method is the same as in FIG. First, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies the places into groups according to the number of approaches of the user E, extracts the number of approaches: the smallest group 1002 that is the lowest group of the number of approaches, and obtains places P1 to P3. . Next, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies the places P1 to P3 into groups according to the visit rate of the user, extracts the visit rate: high group 1003, which is the highest visit rate, and obtains the location P1. , P3 is obtained.

  Similarly to FIG. 9, the operations in FIG. 10 are classified into groups according to the visit rate, and after extracting the groups with the visit rate: high, the groups are classified according to the number of approaches, and the number of approaches: the group with few The same result can be obtained by extracting. Moreover, the same result is obtained even if the number of stays and the visit rate are divided into groups, and places included in the stay count: small group and the visit rate: high group are extracted. In the flowchart of FIG. 15 to be described later, a location that is commonly included in the group with the number of stays: small group and the visit rate: high is extracted.

  Using the tables 102 to 105 described above, the system according to the first embodiment executes a position information transmission process, a position information reception process, an information provision request process, and an information provision response process. As a device that executes each processing, the position information transmission processing is executed by the portable terminal 107 with GPS reception function, the card / RF tag reader 111, and the terminal device 113. The location information reception process and the information provision response process are executed by the information provision apparatus 101. The information provision request processing is executed by the portable terminal 107 with GPS reception function, the terminal device 109, and the terminal device 113.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the position information transmission process according to the first embodiment. The position information transmission process is performed by the portable terminal 107 with GPS reception function, the card / RF tag reader 111 and the terminal device 113. First, a flowchart of position information transmission processing performed by the mobile terminal 107 with a GPS reception function will be described.

  The mobile terminal 107 with a GPS reception function starts position information transmission processing at regular intervals using a timer or the like (step S1101). After a lapse of a certain time (step S1101: Yes), the portable terminal 107 with a GPS reception function receives a GPS signal (step S1102) and transmits position information to the information providing apparatus 101 (step S1103). After the end of step S1103 or when a certain time has not elapsed (step S1101: No), the portable terminal 107 with a GPS reception function waits until a certain time has elapsed (step S1104). Next, a flowchart of position information transmission processing performed by the card / RF tag reader 111 will be described.

  The card / RF tag reader 111 detects the card / RF tag 110 by the user 112 (step S1105). When detected (step S1105: Yes), the card / RF tag reader 111 reads the card / RF tag 110 (step S1106) and transmits the location information to the information providing apparatus 101 (step S1107). If not detected (step S1105: No), or after the end of step S1107, the card / RF tag reader 111 waits until the card / RF tag 110 is detected (step S1108).

  Further, the terminal device 113 receives position information by an operation of the user 114 and transmits the position information to the information providing apparatus 101. The transmitted location information / location information includes identification information of the user 108, the user 112, and the user 114, and the information providing apparatus 101 includes the user information included in the location information / location information. From the identification information, position information / location information for which user is determined.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the position information reception process according to the first embodiment. The information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether position information / location information has been received (step S1201). If not received (step S1201: No), the information providing apparatus 101 waits until receiving position information / location information (step S1210). If received (step S1201: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether location information or position information has been received (step S1202).

  When the location information is received (step S1202: No), the information providing apparatus 101 converts the location information into location information based on the location table 102 (step S1203). The information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether the conversion has been performed (step S1204). When the conversion cannot be performed (step S1204: NO), the information providing apparatus 101 proceeds to the process of step S1210. The case where the conversion could not be performed indicates a case where the location corresponding to the location does not exist in the location table 102 in addition to the data corruption at the time of reception. When all the positions where the user can exist exist in the location table 102, the conversion process always succeeds.

  When the location information has been received (step S1202: Yes), or when the location information can be converted into the location information (step S1204: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 adds the location information to the movement route table 103. (Step S1205). After the addition, the information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether the location has been changed from the previous time in the movement route table 103 (step S1206). If it has been changed (step S1206: Yes), it means that the location has been moved, and the information providing apparatus 101 stores the previous location in the approach / stay count table 104 of the location in the access count field of the record. One value is added (step S1207).

  When the location has not been changed since the previous time (step S1206: No), or when the process of step S1207 is performed, the information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether or not the location has remained for a certain time or longer in the movement route table 103 ( Step S1208). The fixed time is determined for each place where the user stays, and the value is set in the lower limit visit time field of the place table 102. Specifically, for example, when the user stays at the place P1, the information providing apparatus 101 checks whether or not the user stays for 30 minutes or more. When the user stays at the theme park T1, the information providing apparatus 101 checks whether or not the user stays for 100 minutes or more.

  When the information stays for a certain time or longer (step S1208: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 adds 1 to the value of the stay count field of the record indicating the current location in the approach / stay count table 104 (step S1209). ). When not staying for a certain period of time (step S1208: No), or after performing the process of step S1209, the information providing apparatus 101 performs the process of step S1210.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the information provision request process according to the first embodiment. The information provision request process is a process performed by the mobile terminal and the terminal device operated by the user 108, the user 112, and the user 114. Although the case where the portable terminal 107 with a GPS reception function performs the information provision request processing will be described below, the same processing is performed on the terminal device 109 and the terminal device 113.

  The mobile terminal 107 with a GPS reception function confirms whether an information provision request operation has been received from the user (step S1301). When not receiving (step S1301: No), the portable terminal 107 with a GPS reception function waits until an information provision request is received (step S1304). If received (step S1301: Yes), the portable terminal 107 with a GPS reception function receives an input of a location designated by the user (step S1302). If the default position held in the RAM or the like in the portable terminal 107 with GPS reception function is used, or if a location based on the current position is used by GPS reception, it is not necessary to accept input. The mobile terminal 107 with a GPS reception function transmits an information provision request to the information provision apparatus 101 (step S1303), and the process proceeds to step S1304.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the information provision response process according to the first embodiment. The information providing apparatus 101 receives an information provision request from the portable terminal 107 with GPS reception function, the terminal apparatus 109, and the terminal apparatus 113 (step S1401). Subsequently, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies the users into groups based on the number of times of approach to the place P described in the information provision request from the approach / stay number of times table 104 (step S1402). The group classification method may be classified according to the clustering classification or threshold value described above with reference to FIG. After classification, the information providing apparatus 101 extracts the first group with the lowest number of approaches from the group group classified by the number of approaches (step S1403). As a specific extracted result, for example, the above-described group 902 in FIG. 9 is obtained.

  Similarly, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies the users based on the visit rate to the place P from the place approach / stay count table 104 (step S1404). After the classification, the information providing apparatus 101 extracts the second group having the highest visit rate from the group group classified by the visit rate (step S1405). The information providing apparatus 101 identifies users included in common in the first group and the second group generated in steps S1403 and S1405 (step S1406). As a specific identified result, for example, users E and F making up the group 903 in FIG. 9 described above.

  Next, the information providing apparatus 101 performs information acquisition processing for the identified user (step S1407). Details of step S1407 will be described later with reference to FIG. A specific example of the process in step S1407 corresponds to FIG. Further, the information providing apparatus 101 acquires information on the purchased product / subscription service of the extracted user from the purchased product / subscription service table 105 (step S1408). Finally, the information providing apparatus 101 provides the terminal device received in step S1401 with the location information acquired in step S1407 and the purchased product / subscription service information acquired in step S1408. The data is output to the device (step S1409).

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart of information acquisition processing for the identified user according to the first embodiment. The information providing apparatus 101 acquires records of all locations of the specified user from the location approach / stay count table 104 (step S1501). Next, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies places from the acquired record group into groups according to the number of approaches (step S1502).

  The information providing apparatus 101 extracts a third group having the lowest number of approaches from the group group classified by the number of approaches (step S1503). A specific extracted result is the group 1002 in FIG. 10 described above. Similar to step S1502, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies places from the acquired record group into groups according to the visit rate (step S1504). The information providing apparatus 101 extracts the fourth group having the highest visit rate from among the group groups classified by the visit rate (step S1505). Finally, the information providing apparatus 101 acquires information on a place that is commonly included in the third group and the fourth group (step S1506). Specific location information includes, for example, the locations P1 and P3 constituting the group 1003 in FIG. 10 described above.

  As described above, the information providing apparatus 101 according to the first embodiment designates an arbitrary place, and determines the number of times that the user has approached the designated place and the visit rate of staying at the designated place. Divide into groups. Then, the first group excluding the group having the highest number of approaches and the second group excluding the group having the lowest visit rate are extracted and included in common with the first and second groups. Identify users. Providing useful information about the specified location by judging the identified user as a person actively visiting the specified location as the destination and providing information about the user Can do.

  Specifically, for example, if a store focuses on a certain type of product, it can be used by providing information about the places where fans of the product or people with strong interest are visiting other places. The usefulness of information is improved.

  Alternatively, the group with the lowest number of approaches may be the first group, and the group with the highest visit rate may be the second group. As a result, it is possible to identify a user who visited for a specified place from a distance, and to provide useful information for other users because the information that the user has would be useful information. Can do.

  Further, when grouping by the number of approaches and the visit rate, the group may be classified into three or more instead of two. Specifically, for example, users may be divided into three groups based on the number of approaches, and a group with a high visit rate may be extracted. In this case, since the number of times of approach is medium, from the user's point of view, since it is within a distance that can be reached by extending a little, the place has a little expertise. Specifically, for example, a bookstore with a larger number of books handled than a bookstore in a nearby location.

  Therefore, the number of times of approach in a place with a high visit rate has a positive correlation with the ease of access to the place. This will increase the professionalism of not doing so. In this way, by extracting a group by finely dividing the number of approaches, it is possible to adjust the degree of expertise of the place to be provided, and to provide information that better meets the needs of the user.

  Further, a plurality of groups may be extracted after the groups are divided finely. For example, it may be divided into three groups based on the number of times of approach, and medium and small groups may be extracted. As a result, it is possible to provide a wide range of information on places with a little more expertise than ordinary stores and information on places with more expertise.

  Similarly, the visit rate may be classified into three or more. Specifically, for example, the users may be divided into three groups based on the visit rate, and a group with a small number of approaches and a group with a medium and high visit rate may be extracted. A group with a medium visit rate, for example, a group with a visit rate of about 50% for a certain location, passes about half of the location when going from a distance to another specialty store, but the other half. Will stop by if there is any interest or need. By including such a group at the time of extraction, it is possible to provide information on users who are somewhat interested in the specialty store.

(Overview of the second embodiment)
A description will be given of the second embodiment with reference to FIGS. The system configuration and hardware configuration of the second embodiment are the same as those shown in the first embodiment. As a difference in functional configuration, in the first embodiment, the user who visited from a distance is specified based on the number of times of approach / stay in the place table 104 and the visit rate, and information on the specified user is provided. It provides useful information to other users. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, when a certain user stays at a certain place from a distance, the user who has visited from a distance is specified from the moving route table 103, and information on the specified user is provided. Provide useful information to other users.

(Functional configuration of Embodiment 2)
FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a functional configuration of the information providing apparatus 101 according to the second embodiment. The information providing apparatus 101 includes a receiving unit 1601, a specifying unit 1602, a detecting unit 1603, an acquiring unit 1604, a specifying unit 1605, and an output unit 1609. Further, the information providing apparatus 101 may include an update unit 1606, a classification unit 1607, and an extraction unit 1608. Specifically, the functions (reception unit 1601 to output unit 1609) serving as the control unit are realized by the CPU 301 executing a program stored in the storage device, for example. The storage device is the ROM 302, RAM 303, magnetic disk 305, optical disk 307, etc. shown in FIG. Further, the function may be realized by another CPU executing via the I / F 309.

  Further, the information providing apparatus 101 is connected to a database including a location table 102, a travel route table 103, a nearby location table 1610, and a purchased product / subscription service table 105. Further, the service user visit table 1611 and the visit frequency table 1612 may be included in the above-described database. Each table 102, 103, 105, 1610 to 1612 exists inside or outside the information providing apparatus 101 and is stored in a storage device such as the ROM 302, RAM 303, magnetic disk 305, and optical disk 307 shown in FIG. 3. The receiving unit 1601 and the specifying unit 1602 are the same as the functions of the receiving unit 501 and the specifying unit 502 in Embodiment 1, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The detection unit 1603 has a function of referring to the database and detecting a set of users who have stayed at a place specified by the specification unit 1602 for a predetermined time or more. The predetermined time is the visit lower limit time of the place table 102 described above with reference to FIG. 4B, and a set of users who stayed for more than the visit lower limit time is detected. Specifically, for example, when the location P1 is designated by the designation unit 1602, the detection unit 1603 detects a set of users who have stayed for more than the minimum visit time of the location P1. The detected set of users is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  The acquisition unit 1604 has a function of referring to the database and acquiring, for each user detected by the detection unit 1603, a movement route including the location designated by the designation unit 1602 from the user's movement route information. The travel route information is the travel route table shown in FIG. Specifically, for example, a travel route including the place P1 designated by the designation unit 1602 is acquired from the travel route corresponding to the user A in the set of users detected by the detection unit 1603. There are various methods for the range of travel routes to be acquired. Specifically, for example, there is a method of acquiring in units of one day. There is also a method of acquiring before and after the time spent at a certain place. The acquired movement path is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  Based on the location information of the place designated by the designation unit 1602 and the location information included in the obtained travel route, the specifying unit 1605 visited the user of the travel route acquired by the acquisition unit 1604 from a distance. It has a function to specify that it is a user. In addition, when there is another place where the user stays for a predetermined time or longer in the obtained movement route, the specifying unit 1605 displays the position information of the other place, the position information of the designated place, and the obtained movement. You may specify based on the positional information on the movement start place of a path | route. The position information included in the movement route is at least one of the movement start location where the user approached at the start time in the movement route and the movement end location where the user approached at the start time in the movement route. One. Alternatively, it may be all places where users exist in the movement route.

  Specifically, for example, when the designated place is the place P1 and the movement start place of the movement route is the place P3, since the place P1 and the place P3 are not neighboring from the neighboring place table 1610, the user of the movement route Is identified as a user visiting from a distance. A visit is made when a user stays at a certain place from a distance and satisfies the above-mentioned conditions. The specified user is stored in the storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307, and the location designated as the user in the service user visit table 1611 or the visit frequency table 1612 is stored. Store correspondingly.

  The updating unit 1606 has a function of updating the number of visits that the user specified by the specifying unit 1605 has visited the place specified by the specifying unit 1602. Specifically, for example, the update target is a service user visit destination table 1611 shown in FIG. 18 described later or a visit frequency table 1612 shown in FIG. 19 described later.

  The classification unit 1607 has a function of classifying each user into groups according to the number of visits updated by the update unit 1606. Further, the classification unit 1607 adds up the number of visits updated by the update unit 1606 for each place visited by the specified user separately from the designated place, and visits the group according to the total number. It may have a function of classifying a set of places. The classified groups are stored in storage areas such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  Specifically, for example, a case where the location P1 is designated by the designation unit 1602 is assumed. The information providing apparatus 101 refers to the number-of-visits table 1612, and the users E and F visit the place P1 twice, the user C visits the place P1 once, and other users visit the place P1 once. I get the result that I have not even visited. If the information providing apparatus 101 divides the user into two groups using the acquisition result, the number of visits configured by users E and F: the number of visits configured by many groups and other users: small And group.

  Further, a case is assumed in which classification is made for each visited place separately from the designated place. When the location P2 is designated by the designation unit 1602, the information providing apparatus 101 acquires the user who has visited the location P2, for example, acquires the users B, D, G, and H. The total number of visits of places visited by the users B, D, G, and H in addition to the place P2, the information providing apparatus 101 has the place P4 three times, the ramen shop R1 once, and the ramen shop R2 once. Get the result. Based on the acquired result, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies the places according to the total number. In the above example, for example, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies the total number configured at the place P4: many groups and the total number configured at other places: small groups.

  The extraction unit 1608 has a function of extracting a group having the highest number of visits from the group group classified by the classification unit 1607. In addition, the extraction unit 1608 has a function of extracting a group having the highest total number when the classification unit 1607 performs classification according to the total number of places visited.

  Specifically, for example, the case where each user is classified by the classification unit 1607 into the number of visits configured by the users E and F: many groups and the number of visits configured by other users: the few groups. Suppose. The information providing apparatus 101 extracts a group having the number of visits: many as the group having the highest number of visits.

  Similarly, each place is classified according to the total number of places visited, for example, the total number that each place consists of places P4: the total that consists of many groups and other places Number: Assume a case of being classified into a small group. The information providing apparatus 101 extracts the total number: many groups as the group having the highest total number. The extracted group is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  Similar to the output unit 507, the output unit 1609 has a function of outputting information about the user specified by the specifying unit 1605. Further, information on users belonging to the group extracted by the extraction unit 1608 or information on locations belonging to the group may be output. Specifically, for example, the number of visits extracted by the extraction unit 1608: information on the users E and F constituting a large number of groups is output. Or the information of the place P4 which comprises the total number: many group extracted by the extraction part 1608 is output.

  Note that the output information is output to the terminal received by the receiving unit 1601. Specifically, for example, the data is output to the mobile terminal 107 with GPS reception function, the terminal device 109 corresponding to the card / RF tag 110, and the terminal device 113. The output information is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307.

  FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the neighborhood place table 1610. The neighborhood location table 1610 is composed of two fields: location ID and neighborhood location. The location ID field stores a location ID managed by the location table 102. In the neighborhood place field, a place located in the neighborhood is stored with respect to the place ID stored in the place ID field.

  Specifically, for example, the place P1 belongs to the area 401 shown in FIG. 4A, the place P2 belonging to the area 401 is also a nearby place, and the place P2 is displayed in the nearby place field related to the place P1. be registered. Although not shown, the place P7 also belongs to the region 401 and is stored in the nearby place field. Similarly, although not described in the nearby place table 1610, the supermarket S1, the cleaning shop C1, the ramen shop R1, and the theme park T1 are also registered as places near the place P1 and the place P2.

  Similarly, regarding the place P3, the place P3 belongs to the area 402, the place P4 belonging to the area 402 is also a nearby place, and the place P4 is registered in the nearby place field regarding the place P3. Although not shown, the place P5 and the place P6 also belong to the area 402 and are stored in the nearby place field. Similarly, although not described in the nearby place table 1610, the ramen shop R2 is also registered as a place nearby the place P3 and the place P4.

  FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of a generation example of the service user visited table 1611. The service user visited table 1611 is generated based on the movement route table 103. The service user visit destination table 1611 comprises two fields of user ID and visit destination. The user ID field stores user identification information. The place visited by the user is stored in the visited field.

  Specifically, for example, the user A stays at the place P3 from the movement route table 103 at times t2 to t4. When the time from time t2 to t4 exceeds the visit lower limit time for the place P3, the user A stays at the place P3. And the time before and behind time t2-t4, for example, time t0-t7, is acquired. At time t0, the user A is located at the place P1 as the start point of the travel route, and the place P1 is not near the place P3 from the nearby place table 1610. The place where the network of the user A record is covered in the movement route table 103 shown in FIG. Similarly, at time t7, the user A is located at the place P2 as the end point of the travel route, and the place P2 is not near the place P3 from the nearby place table 1610.

  Accordingly, it can be said that the user A visited the place P3 from a distance and visited for the place P3 because he / she knows that he / she went away. The information providing apparatus 101 registers the place P3 that meets the above-described conditions as a visit destination for the user A.

  Similarly, the user B stays at the place P2 from time t3 to t5. And the time before and behind time t3-t5, for example, time t0-t8, is acquired. At time t8, the user B is located at the place P4 that is the end point of the travel route, and the place P4 is not near the place P2 from the nearby place table 1610. However, at time t0, the user B is located at the place P1 as the start point of the travel route, and the place P1 is near the place P2 from the nearby place table 1610. The place where the network of the user B record is covered in the movement route table 103 shown in the figure is a place that is not near the place P2.

  Therefore, the user B has not visited the place P2 from a distance, but has stayed at the place P2 in the neighborhood, and is not registered in the service user visited table 1611. Further, regarding the place P2 of the user B, the user P stays at the place P1 in the range of time t0 to t2 as the range of time t0 to t8. Since the place P1 is in the vicinity of the place P2, it can be seen that the user B stayed at the places P1 and P2 in the neighborhood.

  If the user visits a plurality of places from a distance and performs a pattern that leaves the place, the second embodiment performs a process of not registering the destination. This is because when visiting a certain place from a distance, visiting a plurality of places is less likely to be a true purpose than when visiting only that place.

  However, for example, a visitor from far away may stay in the vicinity of the target place for a long time due to the occurrence of an accident such as a train delay or being caught in a traffic jam. If the rate of occurrence of accidents is higher than the above-mentioned ratio of neighboring users coming back from far away and visiting multiple places, the pattern in which the user visited multiple places from far away and left far away, It is good also as a process which registers with a visited place with respect to several places.

  The user B is not shown in the movement route table 103 in FIG. 18, but the user B is staying at the place P4 and visiting from a distance. 1611 is registered. Subsequently, since the user B visited the place P2 and the place P4 after visiting the place P4, the place P2 and the place P4 are registered in the service user visited table 1611. Similarly, the other users C to H are registered as shown in FIG.

  In addition, there are various methods for determining the time before and after staying at a certain place. Specifically, for example, there is a method of acquiring in units of one day. There is also a method of acquiring before and after the time spent at a certain place. A flowchart for generating the service user visited table 1611 from the travel route table 103 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of extracting the identified user by the number of visits. FIG. 19 presents a method of extracting identified users by the number of visits as one of information acquisition processes for providing more useful information when there are many identified users. The information providing apparatus 101 generates a visit count table 1612 based on the service user visit destination table 1611.

  The number-of-visits table 1612 has a user ID and a field for each place, and stores the number of visits to each place by each user. Specifically, for example, user A visits the place P3 once from the service user visit destination table 1611, so 1 is set in the place P3 field of the visit count table 1612. Set other users in the same way.

  From the visit count table 1612 generated by the above-described operation, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies users according to the number of visits to the designated place. Specifically, for example, when the designated place is P1, the information providing apparatus 101 selects the place P1 field of the visit count table 1612 and acquires the table 1901 composed of the user ID and the place P1 field. .

  Subsequently, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies the users according to the place P1 field of the table 1901. As a result of the classification, the information providing apparatus 101 extracts the number of visits: many groups 1902 constituted by the users E and F, and outputs information on the users E and F constituting the group 1902. Details of the above-described information acquisition process will be described later with reference to FIGS. 24 and 25 as a visit number table 1612 generation process and an information acquisition process 1, respectively.

  FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for extracting information on a place visited from a specified user separately from the designated place. In FIG. 20, as in FIG. 19, when there are many specified users, the specified users are visiting in common as one of information acquisition processes for providing more useful information. It presents a way to provide information on visited places different from specified places. The method of generating the visit count table 1612 from the service user visit destination table 1611 is the same as the method shown in FIG.

  After generating the number-of-visits table 1612, for example, when the designated place is the place P2, the information providing apparatus 101 selects the place P2 field of the number-of-visits table 1612 and selects a user who has visited the place P2. select. As a result of the selection, as shown in the table 2001, records of users B, D, G, and H are extracted. After the extraction, the information providing apparatus 101 totals the number of times that the users B, D, G, and H have visited other than the place P2. A specific example of the total number is a total visit count record of the user in the table 2001.

  The information providing apparatus 101 classifies the set of places according to the total number, and classifies the set into the total number composed of the place P4: many groups 2002 and the total number composed of other places: small groups. After classification, the information providing apparatus 101 extracts a total number: many groups 2002, and outputs information on the places P4 constituting the groups 2002. Details of the above-described information acquisition processing will be described later as information acquisition processing 2 in FIG.

  Using each of the tables 102, 103, 105, 1610 to 1612 described above, the system according to the second embodiment executes position information transmission processing, position information reception processing, information provision request processing, and information provision response processing. The apparatus for executing each process is the same as that shown in the first embodiment. Furthermore, the position information transmission process and the information provision request process according to the second embodiment are the same as the processes shown in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 21 is a flowchart of the position information reception process according to the second embodiment. The position information receiving process according to the second embodiment is equal to the first half of the flowchart of the position information receiving process according to the first embodiment. Specifically, the processing from step S2101 to step S2105 is equal to the processing from step S1201 to step S1205. Step S2101: No, step S2104: No, or after the processing of step S2105 is completed, the information providing apparatus 101 waits until position information / location information is received (step S2106).

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart of the information provision response process according to the second embodiment. The information providing apparatus 101 receives an information provision request from the mobile terminal 107 with GPS reception function, the terminal apparatus 109, and the terminal apparatus 113 (step S2201). Next, the information providing apparatus 101 identifies a user who visits the place P described in the information provision request from the service user visited table 1611 (step S2202).

  After identifying the user who has visited the place P, the information providing apparatus 101 performs an information acquisition process for the identified user (step S2203). The information acquisition processing is information acquisition processing 1 and information acquisition processing 2 shown in FIGS. 25 and 26 described later. The information providing apparatus 101 may not execute the information acquisition process 1 and the information acquisition process 2, may execute either one, or both. Similarly, the information providing apparatus 101 acquires information on the purchased product / subscription service of the identified user from the purchased product / subscription service table 105 (step S2204). Finally, the information providing apparatus 101 outputs the user / location information acquired in step S2203 and the purchased product / subscription service information acquired in step S2204 to the terminal apparatus received in step S2201 ( Step S2205).

  When there are many identified users, the information provision apparatus 101 extracts the users who have visited the place P repeatedly from the identified users, and information on other visited sites regarding the extracted users. In addition, information on purchased products / subscription services may be provided. The method for extracting the users who visit the repeated place P from the identified users is the information acquisition process 1 in FIG. 25 described later. Further, the information providing apparatus 101 may extract and provide a place where the number of visits is high with respect to other visited places that are commonly visited by the identified users. A method of extracting a place where the number of visits is high is the information acquisition process 2 in FIG. The same applies to purchased products and subscription services.

  FIG. 23 is a flowchart of processing for generating the service user visited table 1611 according to the second embodiment. The generation process of the service user visited table 1611 is periodically executed by a timer or the like. In addition, after the movement route table 103 is updated by the position information reception process illustrated in FIG. 21, the information providing apparatus 101 may perform a generation process on the updated user.

  The information providing apparatus 101 selects the first place Px from the place table 102 (step S2301). In addition, the information providing apparatus 101 selects the first user Uy from all service users (step S2302). If the location Px and the user Uy can be selected, the information providing apparatus 101 sets a search position at the head of the user Uy's travel route in the record of the user Uy in the travel route table 103 (step S2303). .

  The information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether there is a portion where Px continues for a certain time or longer from the search position on the travel route of the user Uy (step S2304). The information providing apparatus 101 determines whether or not the time is equal to or longer than a certain time from the visit lower limit time of the place Px record in the place table 102. When there is a part where Px continues for a certain time or longer (step S2304: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 acquires a moving path within a certain range centering on the continuous part (step S2305). As described above with reference to FIG. 18, the fixed range setting method includes a method in which the daily travel route is set as a fixed range, or a method in which the travel route before and after a certain period of time staying at a certain location is set as the fixed range. .

  Subsequently, the information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether there is a place that is not in the vicinity of Px in a certain range of travel route (step S2306). When it exists (step S2306: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether a nearby place different from Px continues for a certain time or more (step S2307). If the location Px continues for a certain period of time (step S2307: Yes), the location Px is not registered in the visited location, so the information providing apparatus 101 searches for the next location at the end of the portion where the location Px is continuous. The position is set (step S2310). Thereafter, the information providing apparatus 101 proceeds to the process of step S2304 and searches for a portion where the next place Px continues again.

  In the case where the pattern described above with reference to FIG. 18 where a user visits a plurality of places from a distance and leaves is a process for registering a plurality of places in the visited place, steps S2306 and S2307 are not required. . In this case, the information providing apparatus 101 can achieve the above-described processing by executing step S2308 after executing step S2305.

  If step S2306: No or step S2307: No, the information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether the locations at both ends of the moving path within a certain range are both locations that are not neighboring to Px (step S2308). The locations at both ends of the movement route are the start point and the end point of the movement route. When at least one of both ends is in the vicinity (step S2308: No), the information providing apparatus 101 proceeds to the process of step S2310 because it can be identified that the user has visited from a distance. If neither of the two locations is in the vicinity (step S2308: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 registers Px as the visit destination of the user Uy in the service user visit destination table 1611 (step S2309). After registration, the information providing apparatus 101 proceeds to the process of step S2310.

  In the process of step S2308, the information providing apparatus 101 may specify that the user has visited from a distance depending on whether or not the place Px and the start point of a certain range of travel routes are nearby. In step S2304, if there is no portion where Px is continuous from the search position of the movement route (step S2304: No), the search processing for the user Uy at the place Px is completed. The information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether or not processing has been performed for all users (step S2311). If there is a user who has not performed processing (step S2311: No), the next user is selected as Uy. (Step S2312), the process proceeds to step S2303.

  When processing has been performed for all users at the location Px (step S2311: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 checks whether processing has been performed for all locations (step S2313). When there is a place where processing is not performed (step S2313: No), the information providing apparatus 101 selects the next place as Px (step S2314). When processing has been performed for all locations (step S2313: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 ends the processing.

  FIG. 24 is a flowchart of the generation process of the visit count table 1612 according to the second embodiment. The number-of-visits table 1612 is used in information acquisition processing in FIGS. The information providing apparatus 101 selects the first user Uy from the service user visited table 1611 (step S2401). After the selection, the information providing apparatus 101 selects the first place Px from the place table 102 (step S2402).

  If the user and the location can be selected, the information providing apparatus 101 selects the record of the user Uy in the service user visited table 1611 (step S2403), and the location Px is described in the visited field of the selected record. Is acquired (step S2404). The information providing apparatus 101 selects the record of the user Uy in the visit count table 1612 and updates the place Px field with the acquired count (step S2405).

  The information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether or not all locations have been processed (step S2406). If there is an unprocessed location (step S2406: No), the next location is selected as Px (step S2407). The process proceeds to step S2403. When processing has been performed for all locations of the user Uy (step S2406: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether processing has been performed for all users (step S2408). When there is an unprocessed user (step S2408: No), the information providing apparatus 101 selects the next user as Uy (step S2409), and proceeds to the process of step S2402. When processing has been performed for all users (step S2408: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 ends the generation process.

  In FIG. 24, the information providing apparatus 101 generates a visit count table 1612 from the service user visit destination table 1611. As another method, the information providing apparatus 101 registers in the service user visit destination table 1611 in step S2309 and refers to the corresponding user and place fields in the visit count table 1612 to determine the visit count. It may be updated.

  FIG. 25 is a flowchart of information acquisition processing 1 for the identified user according to the second embodiment. In the information acquisition process 1, using the visit count table 1612 generated in FIG. 24, information obtained by extracting the user by the number of visits is acquired for the identified user. The information providing apparatus 101 acquires the number of visits to the designated place Px from the records of all users in the visit number table 1612 (step S2501).

  After acquisition, the information providing apparatus 101 classifies users into groups according to the number of visits to the place Px (step S2502). After the classification, the information providing apparatus 101 extracts the highest group from the group group classified by the number of visits (step S2503). Finally, the information providing apparatus 101 outputs information on the extracted group users (step S2504). Specific user information is, for example, the users E and F making up the group 1902 in FIG. 19 described above.

  FIG. 26 is a flowchart of information acquisition processing 2 for the identified user according to the second embodiment. In the information acquisition process 2, information on a visited place different from the designated place that the specified user visits in common is obtained using the visit number table 1612 generated in FIG. 24. .

  The information providing apparatus 101 generates a work table having all locations other than the designated location Px in the field (step S2601). The work table is the table 2001 shown in FIG. After the generation, the information providing apparatus 101 selects the first user Uy from the visit count table 1612 (step S2602). After the selection, the information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether the user Uy is visiting the designated place Px (step S2603). When the user has not visited (step S2603: No), the information providing apparatus 101 selects the next user as Uy (step S2604).

  When the user Uy is visiting the place Px (step S2603: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 generates a record of the user Uy in the work table, and sets the value of the place field to the user Uy of the visit count table 1612. Is copied from the record (step S2605). Note that the information providing apparatus 101 may refer to the pointer of the record of the user Uy in the visit count table 1612 instead of copying, and obtain a necessary value from the pointer when necessary in the steps described later. After copying, the information providing apparatus 101 confirms whether or not the processing has been performed for all users (step S2606). If there is an unprocessed user (step S2606: No), the information providing apparatus 101 proceeds to the processing of step S2604. .

  When processing is performed for all users (step S2606: Yes), the information providing apparatus 101 calculates the total number of stays for each place field of the work table (step S2607). The information providing apparatus 101 classifies the places into groups according to the total number of stays (step S2608), and extracts the highest group among the group groups classified based on the total number of stays (step S2609). Finally, the information providing apparatus 101 outputs information on the extracted group location (step S2610). A specific output result is, for example, the place P4 constituting the group 2002 in FIG. 20 described above.

  As described above, the information providing apparatus 101 according to the second embodiment designates an arbitrary location, detects a set of users who have stayed at the designated location for a predetermined time or more, and detects each detected user. Get the user's travel route. Subsequently, the information providing apparatus 101 determines that the user of the acquired travel route is a user who has visited from a distance based on the location information of the specified location and the location information of the acquired location at the start of the travel route. Identify that there is. Finally, the information providing apparatus 101 provides information regarding the identified user. As a result, it is possible to determine that the identified user is a person who has visited the place as a true destination from a distance. Therefore, if it is the information of the person, it is possible to provide useful information regarding the designated place. it can.

  In addition, it is assumed that there is another place where the user stays for a predetermined time or more in addition to the designated place in the acquired travel route. In that case, based on the location information of the other location, the location information of the specified location, and the location information of the location at the start of the acquired travel route, the use of the travel route user visited from a distance You may specify that it is a person. As a result, when a user visits a place from a distance, the purpose is a single place with a certain level of expertise, so more accurate information can be obtained when identifying a user who has visited from a distance. Can be provided.

  Specifically, even if it is identified as a user visiting from a distance from the location information of the specified location and the location information of the location at the start of the movement route, it actually lives in the vicinity of the specified location It can be assumed that the user has come back from a distance and stayed at a designated place. If you live in the neighborhood, there is a high possibility of stopping at other places in the neighborhood, so by adding the location information of other places in the movement route to the condition, by not identifying the user who performed the above action More accurate information can be provided.

  In addition, for the identified users, the number of visits to the specified location is updated, each user is classified into groups according to the updated number of visits, and the group with the highest number of visits is selected. It is possible to extract and output information about users belonging to the group.

  Thereby, since the user who visits frequently by the designated place is extracted from the specified user, the information regarding a more active user can be provided. Specifically, when the number of specified users is greater than a predetermined number, providing information on all the specified users, the user who receives the information can determine which information is more useful. Have difficulty. Therefore, by extracting the users specified by the number of visits, it is possible to provide information about more active users.

  In addition, the number of updated visits is totaled for each place visited by the identified user separately from the specified place, and the places visited separately are classified into groups according to the total number. The top group may be extracted and information on locations belonging to the group may be output.

  As a result, it is possible to provide more useful information to the user by extracting a place visited many times from places visited in common by the identified user. Specifically, when the number of identified users is greater than the predetermined number, the number of places visited is increased, and it is difficult for the user who receives the information to determine which location information is more useful. . Therefore, by extracting the place by the total number, it is possible to provide more useful place information.

  When extracted by a user who visits frequently from the specific users mentioned above, the location information about the frequently visited users is the location information that is deviated depending on the preferences of the users. May be extracted. However, if a location that has been visited frequently is extracted from the locations that are commonly visited by the identified users, a specific user is selected in order to obtain the number of visits of all identified users. It is possible to reduce the possibility of outputting information biased to the behavior of.

  In addition, when a specialty store for products with few purchase opportunities, such as a furniture and car specialty store, is specified, even if the user can be identified, another specialized site frequently visited by the identified user can be identified. It provides location information and may not be useful information. However, by classifying based on the number of visits of all identified users, each visit is more likely to be at the top of the total number of other places with the same specialty, so it is more useful Information can be provided.

  The information providing 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. The information providing 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. The information providing program may be distributed through a network such as the Internet.

  The following additional notes are disclosed with respect to the embodiment described above.

(Supplementary note 1) An information providing apparatus capable of accessing a database that stores, for each place, the number of times each user has approached and the number of times each user has stayed for a predetermined time or more,
A designation means for designating any of the locations;
Referring to the database, first classification means for classifying each user approaching the place designated by the designation means into any of a plurality of groups according to the number of times of approach to the place;
A plurality of users according to the visit rate calculated by referring to the database and dividing each user staying at the place designated by the designation means by dividing the number of stays at the place by the number of approaches to the place. A second classification means for classifying into any of the groups of
Among the group groups classified by the first classification means, a first extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the highest number of approaches, and a plurality classified by the second classification means Extracting means for extracting a second extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the lowest visit rate among the groups of
Specifying means for specifying users included in common in the first and second extraction groups extracted by the extracting means;
Output means for outputting information on the user specified by the specifying means;
An information providing apparatus comprising:

(Supplementary Note 2) The extraction means includes:
Among the group groups classified by the first classification means, the group having the lowest number of approaches is extracted as a first extraction group, and among the group groups classified by the second classification means, the group The information providing apparatus according to appendix 1, wherein a group having the highest visit rate is extracted as a second extraction group.

(Supplementary note 3) An information providing apparatus that is capable of accessing a database that stores movement route information that holds information about a plurality of places to which each user has moved in time series, and position information for each place,
A designation means for designating any of the locations;
Detecting means for referring to the database and detecting a user who has stayed at a place specified by the specifying means for a predetermined time or more;
For each user detected by the detection means with reference to the database, an acquisition means for acquiring the movement route information of the user;
Based on the location information of the designated location and the location information of the location included in the travel route information acquired by the acquisition means, the user of the acquired travel route is a user who has visited from a distance. A specifying means for specifying,
Output means for outputting information on the user specified by the specifying means;
An information providing apparatus comprising:

(Supplementary note 4)
In the movement route information acquired by the acquisition unit, when there is information regarding another place where the user has stayed for a predetermined time or more apart from the designated place, the position information of the other place and Based on the location information of the designated location and the location information of the movement start location of the travel route specified by the obtained travel route information, the user of the acquired travel route visited from a distance The information providing apparatus according to supplementary note 3, wherein the information providing apparatus is specified as a person.

(Supplementary note 5) When each user stays at the specified location for the predetermined time and is specified by the specifying means, it is assumed that the user visits the specified location, and the database includes the user and the plurality of users. Further memorize the number of visits the user has made to the location for each location,
Updating means for updating the number of visits to which the user identified by the identifying means has visited the designated location;
Classification means for classifying each user into any of a plurality of groups according to the number of visits updated by the update means;
An extraction means for extracting the group having the highest number of visits from the group group classified by the classification means,
The output means includes
The information providing apparatus according to appendix 3 or 4, wherein information relating to users belonging to the group extracted by the extracting unit is output.

(Supplementary Note 6) If each user stays at the specified location for the predetermined time and is specified by the specifying means, it is assumed that the user visits the specified location, and the database includes the user and the plurality of users. Further memorize the number of visits the user has made to the location for each location,
Updating means for updating the number of visits to which the user identified by the identifying means has visited the designated location;
The number of visits updated by the updating unit is totaled for each place visited by the specified user separately from the designated place, and the number of visits is added to any one of a plurality of groups according to the total number. A classification means for classifying the places visited,
An extraction means for extracting the group whose total number is the highest among the group groups classified by the classification means;
The output means includes
The information providing apparatus according to appendix 3 or 4, wherein the information on a place visited separately belonging to the group extracted by the extracting means is output.

(Supplementary note 7) A designation means, a first classification means, and a second classification in a database that stores, for each place, the number of times each user has approached and the number of times each user has stayed for a predetermined time or more. A computer comprising classification means, extraction means, identification means, and output means,
A designation step for designating an arbitrary place by the designation means;
The first classification means refers to the database and classifies each user approaching the place designated by the designation step into one of a plurality of groups according to the number of times of approach to the place. A first classification step;
The second classification means refers to the database and calculates each user who has stayed at the place designated by the designation step by dividing the number of stays at the place by the number of times of approach to the place. A second classification step for classifying into one of a plurality of groups according to the visit rate
A first extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the highest number of approaches among the group groups classified by the first classification step by the extraction means, and the second classification step An extraction step of extracting a second extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the lowest visit rate among the plurality of groups classified by
A specifying step of specifying users commonly included in the first and second extraction groups extracted by the extracting step by the specifying means;
An output step of outputting information about the user specified in the specifying step by the output means;
To provide information.

(Supplementary note 8) A specification unit, a detection unit, and an acquisition unit in a database that stores movement path information in which information about a plurality of locations to which each user has moved is stored in time series, and position information for each location. A computer comprising a specifying means and an output means,
A designation step for designating an arbitrary place by the designation means;
A detecting step of detecting a user who has stayed at a place specified by the specifying step for a predetermined time or more by referring to the database;
By the acquisition means, referring to the database, for each user detected by the detection step, an acquisition step of acquiring movement route information of the user,
Based on the position information of the designated place by the specifying means and the position information of the place included in the movement route information acquired by the acquisition step, a user of the acquired travel route visits from a distance. A specific process that identifies the user as
An output step of outputting information about the user specified in the specifying step by the output means;
To provide information.

(Supplementary note 9) A computer that can access a database that stores, for each place, the number of times each user has approached and the number of times each user has stayed for a predetermined time or more,
A designation means for designating any of the locations;
Referring to the database, first classification means for classifying each user approaching the place designated by the designation means into any of a plurality of groups according to the number of times of approach to the place;
A plurality of users according to the visit rate calculated by referring to the database and dividing each user staying at the place designated by the designation means by dividing the number of stays at the place by the number of approaches to the place. A second classifying means for classifying into any of the groups of
Among the group groups classified by the first classification means, a first extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the highest number of approaches, and a plurality classified by the second classification means Extraction means for extracting a second extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the lowest visit rate among the groups of
A specifying means for specifying a user included in common in the first and second extraction groups extracted by the extracting means;
Output means for outputting information on the user specified by the specifying means;
An information providing program characterized by functioning as

(Additional remark 10) The computer which can access the database which memorize | stores the movement path | route information which hold | maintained the information regarding the several place where each user moved in time series, and the positional information for every said place,
A designation means for designating any of the locations;
Detecting means for detecting a user who has stayed at a place specified by the specifying means for a predetermined time or longer with reference to the database;
For each user detected by the detection means with reference to the database, an acquisition means for acquiring movement route information of the user,
Based on the location information of the designated location and the location information of the location included in the travel route information acquired by the acquisition means, the user of the acquired travel route is a user who has visited from a distance. Identification means to identify,
Output means for outputting information on the user specified by the specifying means;
An information providing program characterized by functioning as

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Information provision apparatus 102 Location table 103 Travel route table 104 Location approach / stay times table 105 Purchased goods / subscription service table 107 Portable terminal with GPS reception function 501 Reception unit 502 Designation unit 503 Access frequency classification unit 504 Visit rate classification unit 505 Extraction unit 506 Identification unit 507 Output unit 508 Update unit 1601 Reception unit 1602 Specification unit 1603 Detection unit 1604 Acquisition unit 1605 Identification unit 1606 Update unit 1607 Classification unit 1608 Extraction unit 1609 Output unit 1610 Neighboring place table 1611 Service user visit destination Table 1612 Visit count table

Claims (8)

An information providing device capable of accessing a database that stores, for each location, the number of times each user has approached and the number of stays in which each user has stayed for a predetermined time,
A designation means for designating any of the locations;
Referring to the database, first classification means for classifying each user approaching the place designated by the designation means into any of a plurality of groups according to the number of times of approach to the place;
A plurality of users according to the visit rate calculated by referring to the database and dividing each user staying at the place designated by the designation means by dividing the number of stays at the place by the number of approaches to the place. A second classification means for classifying into any of the groups of
Among the group groups classified by the first classification means, a first extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the highest number of approaches, and a plurality classified by the second classification means Extracting means for extracting a second extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the lowest visit rate among the groups of
Specifying means for specifying users included in common in the first and second extraction groups extracted by the extracting means;
Output means for outputting information on the user specified by the specifying means;
An information providing apparatus comprising: The extraction means includes
Among the group groups classified by the first classification means, the group having the lowest number of approaches is extracted as a first extraction group, and among the group groups classified by the second classification means, the group The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the group having the highest visit rate is extracted as the second extraction group. An information providing apparatus capable of accessing a database storing movement route information that holds information on a plurality of places where each user has moved in time series, and position information for each place,
A designation means for designating any of the locations;
Detecting means for referring to the database and detecting a user who has stayed at a place specified by the specifying means for a predetermined time or more;
For each user detected by the detection means with reference to the database, an acquisition means for acquiring the movement route information of the user;
Based on the location information of the designated location and the location information of the location included in the travel route information acquired by the acquisition means, the user of the acquired travel route is a user who has visited from a distance. A specifying means for specifying,
Output means for outputting information on the user specified by the specifying means;
An information providing apparatus comprising: The specifying means is:
In the movement route information acquired by the acquisition unit, when there is information regarding another place where the user has stayed for a predetermined time or more apart from the designated place, the position information of the other place and Based on the location information of the designated location and the location information of the movement start location of the travel route specified by the obtained travel route information, the user of the acquired travel route visited from a distance The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information providing apparatus identifies the person as a person. When each user stays at the specified location for the predetermined time and is specified by the specifying means, it is assumed that the user visits the specified location, and the database includes each user and each of the plurality of locations. , Further remembers the number of visits the user has made to the location,
Updating means for updating the number of visits to which the user identified by the identifying means has visited the designated location;
Classification means for classifying each user into any of a plurality of groups according to the number of visits updated by the update means;
An extraction means for extracting the group having the highest number of visits from the group group classified by the classification means,
The output means includes
5. The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein information relating to users belonging to the group extracted by the extracting unit is output. When each user stays at the specified location for the predetermined time and is specified by the specifying means, it is assumed that the user visits the specified location, and the database includes each user and each of the plurality of locations. , Further remembers the number of visits the user has made to the location,
Updating means for updating the number of visits to which the user identified by the identifying means has visited the designated location;
The number of visits updated by the updating means is totaled for each place visited by the specified user separately from the designated place, and the number of visits is added to any one of a plurality of groups according to the total number. A classification means for classifying the places visited,
An extraction means for extracting the group whose total number is the highest among the group groups classified by the classification means;
The output means includes
The information providing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein information on a place visited separately belonging to the group extracted by the extracting unit is output. A designation means, a first classification means, a second classification means in a database that stores, for each location, the number of times each user has approached and the number of times each user has stayed for a predetermined time or more; A computer comprising extraction means, identification means, and output means,
A designation step for designating an arbitrary place by the designation means;
The first classification means refers to the database and classifies each user approaching the place designated by the designation step into one of a plurality of groups according to the number of times of approach to the place. A first classification step;
The second classification means refers to the database and calculates each user who has stayed at the place designated by the designation step by dividing the number of stays at the place by the number of times of approach to the place. A second classification step for classifying into one of a plurality of groups according to the visit rate
A first extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the highest number of approaches among the group groups classified by the first classification step by the extraction means, and the second classification step An extraction step of extracting a second extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the lowest visit rate among the plurality of groups classified by
A specifying step of specifying users commonly included in the first and second extraction groups extracted by the extracting step by the specifying means;
An output step of outputting information about the user specified in the specifying step by the output means;
To provide information. A computer that can access a database that stores, for each location, the number of times each user has approached and the number of stays in which each user has stayed for a predetermined time or more,
A designation means for designating any of the locations;
Referring to the database, first classification means for classifying each user approaching the place designated by the designation means into any of a plurality of groups according to the number of times of approach to the place;
A plurality of users according to the visit rate calculated by referring to the database and dividing each user staying at the place designated by the designation means by dividing the number of stays at the place by the number of approaches to the place. A second classifying means for classifying into any of the groups of
Among the group groups classified by the first classification means, a first extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the highest number of approaches, and a plurality classified by the second classification means Extraction means for extracting a second extraction group consisting of at least one group other than the group having the lowest visit rate among the groups of
A specifying means for specifying a user included in common in the first and second extraction groups extracted by the extracting means;
Output means for outputting information on the user specified by the specifying means;
An information providing program characterized by functioning as

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