JP2011123786A - Electronic book content generation device and electronic book content generation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic book content generation device capable of achieving a high advertisement effect without disturbing viewing of electronic book contents. <P>SOLUTION: An electronic book distribution server 16 includes: a blank region detection part 42 which generates an electronic book based on book information and detects the blank region generated when the electronic book is displayed on a display device; a blank region generation part 43 which generates the blank region so that the blank region is generated when the electronic book is displayed on the display device, based on the electronic book; an advertisement information management part 48 which acquires the advertisement data for insertion into the blank region; a blank region priority determination part 44 which prioritizes indicating the priority when the advertisement data is inserted into the blank region; and an advertisement insertion part 50 which generates the electronic book contents by inserting the acquired advertisement data to the blank region based on the priority. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic book content generation apparatus and an electronic book content generation method, and more particularly to a technology that uses a blank area that is generated when electronic book content is displayed.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an electronic book distribution system including an electronic book distribution server that generates and distributes electronic book content, and an electronic book terminal that displays the electronic book content distributed from the electronic book distribution server.

  For example, Patent Document 1 described below discloses a portable terminal that displays advertisement data distributed together with book data in a gap area generated when the distributed book data is displayed.

  In addition, the content distribution device disclosed in Patent Document 2 described later is a blank generated when only content is displayed based on the format and the number of pages of the electronic book terminal and the format and the number of pages of the content. The page and the blank space are detected, and the advertisement matching the blank page and the blank space is acquired. Then, the distribution content is generated and distributed so that the acquired advertisement is included.

JP 2002-109359 A JP 2008-89717 A

  In the techniques disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, when the advertisement data is inserted, the attribute of the blank area is not considered. Therefore, there is a possibility that advertisement data may be inserted into a blank area located in a place where there is a possibility of browsing electronic book contents, or advertisement data may be inserted into a blank area located in a place where advertisement effectiveness is low. . Further, since the advertisement data is inserted only in the blank area that is generated when only book data or content is displayed, there is a possibility that the blank area will be insufficient.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic book content generation apparatus and an electronic book content generation method capable of obtaining a high advertising effect without disturbing browsing of electronic book content.

  An electronic book content generation device according to a first aspect of the present invention is an electronic book content generation device that generates electronic book content for distribution to an electronic book terminal including a display device, and is based on book information. An electronic book generating means for generating an electronic book, a blank area detecting means for detecting a first blank area generated when the electronic book is displayed on the display device, and an electronic book displayed on the display device based on the electronic book A blank area generating means for generating a second blank area and an addition for acquiring additional information to be inserted into the first blank area and the second blank area so that a second blank area is generated when Based on the information acquisition means, the priority giving means for giving priority indicating the priority in inserting the additional information to the first blank area and the second blank area, and the given priority, First White region and the second blank region to include the additional information insertion means for generating electronic book content by inserting the acquired additional information.

  As described above, additional information such as an advertisement is inserted into the first blank area and the second blank area based on the priority assigned to the first blank area and the second blank area. Therefore, it is possible to insert additional information into a blank area located in a place that is unlikely to interfere with browsing of electronic book content, or to insert additional information into a blank area located in a place with high advertising effectiveness. It becomes like this. Therefore, a high advertising effect can be obtained without interfering with browsing of the electronic book content. Further, since the second blank area for inserting the additional information is automatically generated, the lack of the blank area can be prevented, and the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  Preferably, the blank area generating unit generates the second blank area when the first blank area in the electronic book is small. As a result, the shortage of blank areas can be prevented more reliably, and the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  More preferably, when there is a chapter break in the electronic book, the blank area generation means generates a second blank area by inserting a blank area at the position of the chapter break. As a result, the shortage of blank areas can be prevented more easily and reliably, and the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  More preferably, when there is a page break in the electronic book, the blank area generation unit generates the second blank area by inserting the blank area at the position of the page break. As a result, the shortage of blank areas can be prevented more easily and reliably, and the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  More preferably, the additional information insertion means includes processing means for processing the additional information in accordance with the sizes of the first blank area and the second blank area. As a result, additional information can be inserted without being affected by the size of the blank area, and the types of additional information that can be inserted increase. Therefore, the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  More preferably, the additional information acquisition means acquires information relevant to the contents of the book information as additional information. Therefore, since information interesting to the user who browses the book content is displayed on the display device of the electronic book terminal, the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  More preferably, the additional information acquisition unit acquires information relevant to user information including information on a user who desires distribution of electronic book content as additional information. Therefore, since information interesting to the user is displayed on the display device of the electronic book terminal, the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  More preferably, the priority is determined according to attributes of the first blank area and the second blank area. As a result, a high advertising effect can be obtained more reliably without obstructing the browsing of the electronic book content.

  An electronic book content generation method according to a second aspect of the present invention is an electronic book content generation method for generating electronic book content for distribution to an electronic book terminal including a display device by a programmed computer. A step of generating an electronic book based on the book information, a step of detecting a first blank area generated when the electronic book is displayed on the display device, and an electronic book displayed on the display device based on the electronic book. Generating a second blank area so as to generate a second blank area when being performed, obtaining additional information for insertion into the first blank area and the second blank area, A step of assigning a priority indicating priority when inserting additional information to the first blank region and the second blank region, and the first priority based on the given priority White region and the second blank region to, and generating an electronic book content by inserting the acquired additional information.

  As described above, additional information such as an advertisement is inserted into the first blank area and the second blank area based on the priority assigned to the first blank area and the second blank area. Therefore, it is possible to insert additional information into a blank area located in a place that is unlikely to interfere with browsing of electronic book content, or to insert additional information into a blank area located in a place with high advertising effectiveness. It becomes like this. Therefore, a high advertising effect can be obtained without interfering with browsing of the electronic book content. Further, since the second blank area for inserting the additional information is automatically generated, the lack of the blank area can be prevented, and the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  According to the present invention, based on the priority given to the first blank area and the second blank area, additional information such as an advertisement is sent to the first blank area and the second blank area. Inserting additional information into a blank area located in a place that is unlikely to obstruct the viewing of e-book content, or inserting additional information into a blank area located in a place with high advertising effectiveness Will be able to. Therefore, a high advertising effect can be obtained without interfering with browsing of the electronic book content. Further, since the second blank area for inserting the additional information is automatically generated, the lack of the blank area can be prevented, and the advertising effect is further enhanced.

It is a figure which shows the structure of an electronic book delivery system. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the electronic book delivery server which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a book information management table. It is a figure which shows an example of the structure of book text data. It is a functional block diagram of the electronic book delivery server which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the electronic book produced | generated by the blank area | region detection part. It is a figure which shows the blank area | region detected in the electronic book shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the state after the blank area | region production | generation in the electronic book shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the program structure for implement | achieving an electronic book content production | generation process in a flowchart format. It is a figure which shows the program structure for implement | achieving the blank area | region production | generation process in FIG.9 S103 in a flowchart format. It is a figure which shows the program structure for implement | achieving the advertisement data insertion process in FIG.9 S107 in a flowchart format. The state after insertion of the advertisement data of the electronic book shown in FIG. 6 is shown.

  In the following description and drawings, the same reference numerals and names are assigned to the same components. Their functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

[Electronic book distribution system 10]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic book distribution system 10. Referring to FIG. 1, an electronic book distribution system 10 includes a mobile phone device 12 and a PC (Personal Computer) 14 which are electronic book terminals including a display device, and an electronic book distribution server 16. The cellular phone device 12, the PC 14, and the electronic book distribution server 16 are connected to each other via the network 18 and can transmit and receive various data to and from each other. Although FIG. 1 shows only the mobile phone device 12 and the PC 14 as electronic book terminals, the electronic book terminal is not limited to the above. The electronic book terminal may be a terminal device on which an application for displaying electronic book content is installed. Examples of the electronic book terminal include an electronic book dedicated terminal and a television receiver.

  In the electronic book distribution system 10, the users of the mobile phone device 12 and the PC 14 request the electronic book distribution server 16 to distribute electronic book content desired to be viewed. The electronic book distribution server 16 generates and distributes the requested electronic book content. The mobile phone device 12 and the PC 14 receive and display the electronic book content distributed from the electronic book distribution server 16.

[Electronic book distribution server 16]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the electronic book distribution server 16 according to the embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIG. 2, the electronic book distribution server 16 includes a control unit 20, an HDD 22, an operation unit 24, a display unit 26, and a NIC (Network Interface Card) 28.

  The control unit 20 is substantially a computer and includes a CPU 30, a ROM 32, and a RAM 34. A BUS line 36 is connected to the CPU 30, and a ROM 32 and a RAM 34 are electrically connected to the BUS line 36. The CPU 30 executes various computer programs in accordance with instructions from the electronic book terminal such as the mobile phone device 12 and the PC 14 or the operation unit 24, and the like, and the operation of each part of the electronic book distribution server 16 and communication with the electronic book terminal. The desired processing such as is executed. The various computer programs are stored in advance in the ROM 32 or the HDD 22, and are read out from the ROM 32 or the HDD 22 and transferred to the RAM 34 when a desired process is executed. The CPU 30 reads and interprets a program instruction from an address in the RAM 34 specified by a value stored in a register called a program counter (not shown) in the CPU 30. CPU 30 also reads data necessary for the operation from the address specified by the read instruction, and executes an operation corresponding to the instruction on the data. The execution result is also stored in an address specified by an instruction, such as a register in the RAM 34, HDD 22, and CPU 30.

  Further, the HDD 22, the operation unit 24, the display unit 26, and the NIC 28 are electrically connected to the BUS line 36.

  The HDD 22 is a computer program for realizing electronic book content generation processing, blank area generation processing, and advertisement data insertion processing, which will be described later, together with various data and various computer programs for realizing general operations of the electronic book distribution server 16. Remember.

  The HDD 22 further includes a book information database (hereinafter referred to as “book information DB”), a user information database (hereinafter referred to as “user information DB”), an advertisement information database (hereinafter referred to as “advertisement information DB”), In addition, a database such as an electronic book content database (hereinafter referred to as “electronic book content DB”) is stored. Details of these various databases will be described later.

  The HDD 22 further stores electronic book generation information and priority determination rules. Details of the electronic book generation information and the priority determination rule will be described later.

  The operation unit 24 is an input device including a keyboard for performing various inputs and character input in accordance with instructions from the administrator of the electronic book distribution server 16 and a mouse as a pointing device. The display unit 26 is a display device that includes a liquid crystal display or the like for displaying a processing result or the like in the electronic book distribution server 16. The operation unit 24 and the display unit 26 are connected to the BUS line 36 via an interface (not shown).

  The NIC 28 interfaces with the network 18. The electronic book distribution server 16 performs data communication with external devices such as the mobile phone device 12 and the PC 14 via the network 18.

  Each part of the electronic book distribution server 16 is connected to a power source (not shown), and power is supplied from this power source, so that each part of the electronic book distribution server 16 can operate.

[Various databases]
(Book information DB)
The book information DB is a database for storing and managing various book information. Here, the book information is information that is a material for generating electronic book content, and is information such as titles, headings, and texts in books such as novels and magazines, and images such as photographs and illustrations. As well as information indicating the display order of these pieces of information.

  In the present embodiment, book information is stored and managed as a book information management table 100. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the book information management table 100. Referring to FIG. 3, in book information management table 100, a book ID for identifying each book information, a book title, a genre, and book data including book text data and an image file are stored in association with each other. Is done. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of the book text data 200. Referring to FIG. 4, book text data 200 is data in which information indicating character strings such as titles, headings, and texts of books, and information indicating images such as photographs and illustrations is structured. , XML (Extensible Markup Language) format.

(User information DB)
The user information DB is a database for storing and managing user information. In the present embodiment, user information is stored and managed as a user information management table. Table 1 shows an example of the user information management table.

  Referring to Table 1, in the user information management table, information on a user ID for identifying each user, a user's name, address, gender, age, and an interest genre registered as a genre that the user is interested in. Are stored in association with each other.

(Advertisement information DB)
The advertisement information DB is a database for storing and managing various advertisement information. In the present embodiment, the advertisement information is stored and managed as an advertisement information management table. Table 2 shows an example of the advertisement information management table.

  Referring to Table 2, the advertisement information management table includes an advertisement ID for identifying each advertisement information, a type of advertisement data indicating an image or text, a title of advertisement data, advertisement data, a size of advertisement data, and Information relating to the placement conditions is stored in association with each other. In the advertisement information management table, when the type of advertisement data is an image, information indicating the image file name is stored as the advertisement data, and information indicating the vertical and horizontal sizes of the advertisement image is stored as the size of the advertisement data. The On the other hand, when the type of the advertisement data is character, a character string to be advertised such as “Updating Popular Property Information!” Is stored as the advertisement data, and nothing is input as the size of the advertisement data. . As the placement conditions, conditions necessary for inserting the target advertisement data, such as the size of the blank area into which the advertisement data is inserted and the insertion location, are stored. For example, when inserting advertisement data corresponding to advertisement IDs “010” and “015”, the size of the blank area needs to be 240 pixels (vertical) × 320 pixels (horizontal) or more. The advertisement data corresponding to the advertisement ID “025” is inserted only in the margin footer.

(Electronic book content DB)
The electronic book content DB is a database for storing and managing the electronic book content generated by the electronic book distribution server 16.

  Various information in the book information DB, user information DB, and advertisement information DB described above is registered in advance by an administrator of the electronic book distribution server 16 or the like.

[Electronic book generation information]
Electronic book generation information includes various information necessary for generating an electronic book, such as information indicating the size of a screen on which electronic book content is displayed, information indicating various character sizes, and information indicating margin sizes. Including. Table 3 shows an example of electronic book generation information.

  Referring to Table 3, the electronic book generation information is information indicating 480 pixels (width) × 640 pixels (height) as the screen size, various character sizes, 48-point title character size, 24-point heading character The information indicating the size and the text character size of 16 points, and the margin size of each page indicate an upper margin size of 25 pixels, a lower margin size of 20 pixels, a left margin size of 20 pixels, and a right margin size of 20 pixels. Contains information.

  The electronic book generation information may be different for each type of electronic book terminal such as the mobile phone device 12 and the PC 14, or may be different for each book information. In this embodiment, it is assumed that each type of electronic book terminal is different.

[Priority determination rule]
The priority determination rule includes information indicating the type and priority of the blank area to be inserted into the advertisement, information indicating the lower limit size of the blank area, and information indicating the priority of the inserted page. Here, the priority is a value indicating a priority when inserting advertisement data into a blank area. In the present embodiment, advertisement data is inserted in order from the blank area with the highest priority. Table 4 shows an example of the priority determination rule.

  Referring to Table 4, in one example of the priority determination rule, the types of blank areas to be inserted into the advertisement and the information indicating the priority are displayed in order of the priority of the blank areas. That is, in Table 4, blank page blank area, chapter break margin, margin footer, margin header, heading margin, left margin, and right margin are shown in this order, and blank page blank area has the highest priority and right margin. Has the lowest priority. As information indicating the lower limit size of the blank area, size information of 240 pixels (width) × 20 pixels (height) is shown. This indicates that a blank area smaller than the size of 240 pixels (width) × 20 pixels (height) is not targeted for advertisement insertion. As information indicating the priority of the insertion page, the page number is small. This indicates that priority is given to a smaller page number in the same type of blank area.

  Table 5 shows another example of the priority determination rule.

  Referring to Table 5, in another example of the priority determination rule, the information indicating the type of blank area to be inserted into the advertisement and the priority thereof includes a chapter break margin, a margin footer, and a margin header in this order. The chapter break margin has the highest priority, and the margin header has the lowest priority. Also, no information is shown in the information indicating the lower limit size of the blank area, and the lower limit size of the blank area is not particularly set. The information indicating the priority of the insertion page indicates a small page number.

  The priority determination rule described above may be only one, or may be different for each type of advertisement information. In this embodiment, only the priority determination rules shown in Table 4 are used.

  The priorities described above are determined and registered in advance by an administrator of the electronic book distribution server 16 or the like. This priority is determined according to the attribute of the blank area. For example, the priority of a blank area located in a place considered to have a high advertising effect may be determined to be high, or the priority of a blank area located in a place where it is difficult for a user to browse an electronic book May be determined to be higher.

[Functional configuration]
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the electronic book distribution server 16 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the electronic book distribution server 16 includes a book information management unit 40, a blank area detection unit 42, a blank area generation unit 43, a blank area priority determination unit 44, a user information management unit 46, and an advertisement information management unit. 48, an advertisement insertion unit 50, an advertisement processing unit 52, an electronic book content management unit 54, and a distribution unit 56. Each unit described above is actually realized by a computer program executed by the control unit 20. The control unit 20 generates and distributes electronic book content by controlling each unit described above.

  The book information management unit 40 manages book information stored in the book information DB 58. The book information management unit 40 acquires, for example, book information corresponding to a book ID specified by the electronic book terminal from the book information DB 58 and provides the control unit 20 with the book information.

  The blank area detection unit 42 generates an electronic book and detects a blank area in the electronic book based on the book information and the electronic book generation information given from the control unit 20. More specifically, the blank area detection unit 42 calculates information indicating a character string included in given book information, information indicating an image, information indicating the display order thereof, and a screen size included in the electronic book generation information. An electronic book is generated by laying out a character string and an image based on the information indicating, the information indicating the character size, and the information indicating the margin size, and the blank area is detected in synchronization with this operation. Then, blank area information indicating the detected blank area is generated and given to the control unit 20.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of electronic books 600A to 600F (hereinafter, may be collectively referred to as “electronic book 600”) generated by the blank area detection unit 42. FIG. It is a figure which shows the blank area | region detected in the electronic book 600 shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 6, when blank area detection unit 42 generates electronic books 600 </ b> A to 600 </ b> F composed of six pages, for example, a blank area is detected as follows. Referring to FIG. 7, the blank area detecting unit 42 generates blank areas 601 generated from electronic books 600 </ b> A to 600 </ b> F because they are blank pages, blank areas 602 that are chapter-breaking margins, and upper and lower margin parts (margin header or margin footer ), And a blank area 604 which is a headline margin generated between the headline part and the body part is detected. The blank area detection unit 42 generates, for example, blank area information shown in the table 6 based on the detected blank areas 601 to 604.

  Referring to Table 6, blank area information includes number information (No.) for distinguishing each blank area information, page number information of electronic book 600, information indicating the types of blank areas 601 to 604, electronic book The blank area coordinate information indicating the positions of the blank areas 601 to 604 in 600 and the blank area size information indicating the sizes of the blank areas 601 to 604 in the electronic book 600 are associated with each other.

  The blank area generation unit 43 generates a blank area by executing a blank area generation process described later. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state after the blank area is generated in the electronic book 600 illustrated in FIG. Referring to FIG. 8, the blank area generation unit 43 generates a blank area 800 by inserting a blank page at a chapter break position (or page break position) in the electronic book 600, for example. Also, when the number of blank areas in the electronic book 600 is small, the blank area 802 is generated by inserting the right margin with the entire text left. In this embodiment, a blank area 802 with a right margin is generated. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the blank area is generated by inserting the left margin with the entire text right. Also good. When a new blank area is generated in the blank area generation processing, the control unit 20 adds information indicating the newly generated blank area to the acquired blank area information (see Table 6), thereby creating a blank. Rewrite area information.

  Table 7 shows an example of the blank area information after rewriting when blank areas 800 and 802 shown in FIG. 8 are generated.

  With reference to the table 7, in the blank area information after rewriting, the blank area information generated by the blank area detection unit 42, the information indicating the blank area 800 by the added blank page, and the added right margin Information indicating a blank area 802 is added. It should be noted that the page numbers after the blank page are lowered by the generation of the blank area 800 by the blank page.

  The blank area priority determination unit 44 adds the priority to the blank area information based on the blank area information after rewriting and the priority determination rule given from the control unit 20 to give the priority blank area information. The generated blank area information with priority is given to the control unit 20. When the blank area priority determination unit 44 is given the blank area information after rewriting shown in the table 7 and the priority judgment rule shown in the table 4, for example, the blank area with priority shown in the table 8 Information is generated.

  Referring to Table 8, the priority-added blank area information includes priority information given to each blank area included in the rewritten blank area information. In the present embodiment, the priority information is indicated by a numerical value, and the smaller the numerical value, the higher the priority.

  The user information management unit 46 manages user information stored in the user information DB 60. For example, the user information management unit 46 acquires user information corresponding to a user ID specified by the electronic book terminal from the user information DB 60 and provides the user information to the control unit 20.

  The advertisement information management unit 48 manages advertisement information stored in the advertisement information DB 62. The advertisement information management unit 48 analyzes book information and user information given from the control unit 20. Then, at least one advertisement information that matches the obtained analysis result is acquired from the advertisement information DB 62, and the acquired advertisement information is given to the control unit 20. A method for acquiring the advertisement information by the advertisement information management unit 48 is not particularly limited. For example, a method of extracting the keyword by analyzing the contents of the book data in the book information and selecting the advertisement information including the extracted keyword, Or there is a method of selecting advertisement information suitable for the genre based on the genre of interest in the user information.

  The advertisement insertion unit 50 generates electronic book content by executing an advertisement data insertion process described later.

  In response to an instruction from the advertisement insertion unit 50, the advertisement processing unit 52 processes the advertisement data so that the advertisement data to be inserted fits in the blank area of the insertion destination. For example, the advertisement processing unit 52 expands or reduces the advertisement data while maintaining the aspect ratio of the advertisement data to be inserted, and changes the size of the advertisement data.

  The electronic book content management unit 54 stores the electronic book content generated by the advertisement insertion unit 50 in the electronic book content DB 64 and manages it.

  The distribution unit 56 transmits the electronic book content generated by the advertisement insertion unit 50 to the electronic book terminal that is the distribution request source of the electronic book content via the NIC 28.

<Software configuration>
[Electronic book distribution server 16]
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a program structure for realizing the electronic book content generation process in a flowchart format. As described above, the computer program stored in the HDD 22 of the electronic book distribution server 16 is programmed to execute the electronic book content generation process. The program for realizing the electronic book content generation process is activated when the electronic book distribution server 16 receives an electronic book content distribution request from the electronic book terminal. The electronic book content distribution request includes a book ID indicating an electronic book desired by the user and a user ID of the user.

  Referring to FIG. 9, this program causes the book information management unit 40 to acquire book information corresponding to the book ID included in the distribution request from the book information DB 58 and the blank area detection unit 42. The acquired book information and the electronic book generation information corresponding to the requesting electronic book terminal are given, and the blank area detection unit 42 generates the electronic book and generates the blank area of the electronic book based on the given information. Step S102 for performing detection and generation of blank area information.

  This program further includes step S103 for causing the blank area generation unit 43 to execute a blank area generation process described later. When a new blank area is generated in the blank area generation process in step S103, the control unit 20 adds blank area information by adding information indicating the newly generated blank area to the acquired blank area information. Rewrite.

  The program further provides the blank area priority determination unit 44 with the blank area information after rewriting and the priority determination rule, and provides the blank area priority determination unit 44 with the blank area based on the given information. Step S104 for generating priority blank area information by adding priority to the area information, and the user information management unit 46 sends user information corresponding to the user ID included in the distribution request to the user information DB 60. Step S105 obtained from the following.

  The program further provides the acquired book information and user information to the advertisement information management unit 48, and causes the advertisement information management unit 48 to analyze the given information, and obtains at least one advertisement information suitable for the analysis result. Step S106 acquired from the advertisement information DB 62 and Step S107 for causing the advertisement insertion unit 50 to execute an advertisement data insertion process to be described later are included.

[Blank Area Generation Unit 43]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the program structure for realizing the blank area generation processing in step S103 of FIG. As described above, the computer program stored in the HDD 22 of the electronic book distribution server 16 is programmed to execute the blank area generation process. A program for realizing the blank area generation processing is executed by the blank area generation unit 43 realized by the control unit 20. This program is started when the control unit 20 gives the acquired electric book and electronic book generation information to the blank area generation unit 43.

  Referring to FIG. 10, this program includes step S201 for substituting 13 for variable s and substituting 2 for variable n. Here, the variable s is a value indicating the upper limit of the number of blank areas in the entire electronic book, and the variable n is a value indicating how many pages of the electronic book are to be inserted with the right margin. is there. The variable s is preset by an administrator of the electronic book distribution server 16 or the like. In this embodiment, it is assumed that advertisement data is not inserted into a page on which a title in an electronic book is displayed. Therefore, when the electronic book on the first page is a title page, 2 is assigned to the variable n as described above. The numerical value assigned to the variable n is not limited to the above value.

  The program further detects a blank area in the entire electronic book, assigns the number of detected blank areas to a variable t, and step S203 determines whether the variable t is equal to or less than the variable s. Including. If it is determined in step S203 that the variable t is larger than the variable s (in the case of NO), the blank area generation process ends.

  This program is further executed when it is determined in step S203 that the variable t is equal to or less than the variable s (in the case of YES), and for each page of the electronic book based on the electronic book generation information, in order of page number. Step S204 for determining whether or not there is a chapter break is included. In step S204, if there is a part where a blank page has already been inserted, the above determination is made for the part excluding the part.

  This program is further executed when it is determined in step S204 that there is a chapter break (in the case of YES), and a blank area is generated by inserting a blank page at the position of the chapter break in the electronic book. And step S206 for incrementing the variable t by 1, and step S207 for determining whether or not the variable t is equal to or smaller than the variable s. If it is determined in step S207 that the variable t is equal to or smaller than the variable s (in the case of YES), the control returns to step S204. If it is determined in step S207 that the variable t is greater than the variable s (in the case of NO), that is, if the number of blank areas in the entire electronic book satisfies the necessary conditions, blank area generation processing is performed. finish.

  Further, this program is executed when it is determined in step S204 that there is no chapter break (in the case of NO), and there is a page break in the page number order for each page of the electronic book based on the electronic book generation information. It includes step S208 for determining whether or not. In step S208, if there is a portion where a blank page has already been inserted, the above determination is made for the portion excluding that portion.

  This program is further executed when it is determined in step S208 that there is a page break (in the case of YES), and a blank area is generated by inserting a blank page at the page break position in the electronic book. And step S210 for incrementing the variable t by 1, and step S211 for determining whether or not the variable t is equal to or smaller than the variable s. If it is determined in step S211 that the variable t is equal to or smaller than the variable s (in the case of YES), the control returns to step S208. If it is determined in step S211 that the variable t is greater than the variable s (in the case of NO), the blank area generation process ends.

  Further, this program is executed when it is determined in step S208 that there is no page break (in the case of NO), the blank area in the electronic book on the nth page is detected, and the number of detected blank areas is set as a variable. Step S212 that substitutes u and Step S213 that determines whether or not the variable u is 0 or less are included. In step S212, if there is no electronic book on the nth page, the blank area generation process ends.

  This program is further executed when it is determined in step S213 that the variable u is 0 or less (in the case of YES), and the entire text in the electronic book on the nth page is moved to the left and the right margin is inserted. Thus, a step S214 for generating a blank area, a step S215 for incrementing the variable t by 1, and a step S216 for determining whether or not the variable t is equal to or smaller than the variable s are included. If it is determined in step S216 that the variable t is larger than the variable s (in the case of NO), the blank area generation process ends.

  The program further determines that the variable t is determined to be less than or equal to the variable s in step S216 (in the case of YES) or the variable u is determined to be greater than 0 in step S213 (NO) Step S217 is executed to increase the variable n by 1. After the process of step S217, control returns to step S212.

[Ad insertion part 50]
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a program structure for realizing the advertisement data insertion process in step S107 of FIG. 9 in a flowchart format. As described above, the computer program stored in the HDD 22 of the electronic book distribution server 16 is programmed to execute the advertisement data insertion process. A program for realizing the advertisement data insertion process is executed by the advertisement insertion unit 50 realized by the control unit 20. This program is activated when the control unit 20 gives the acquired advertisement information, priority-added blank area information, and electronic book to the advertisement insertion unit 50.

  Referring to FIG. 11, this program includes step S301 for substituting 1 for variable i and substituting 0 for variable j. Here, the variable i is a value indicating what number of advertisement information is processed, and the variable j is a value indicating the number of blank areas into which the advertisement data is inserted.

  The program further determines whether or not the variable j is smaller than the number of blank area information, and if the variable j is smaller than the number of blank area information in step S302 (YES) And step S303 for determining whether or not the variable i is equal to or less than the number of advertisement information. If it is determined in step S302 that the variable j is greater than or equal to the number of blank area information (in the case of NO), or if it is determined in step S303 that the variable i is greater than the number of advertisement information ( In the case of NO), the advertisement data insertion process ends.

  This program is further executed when it is determined in step S303 that the variable i is equal to or less than the number of advertisement information (in the case of YES), and the i-th advertisement information is acquired from the advertisement information. And step S305 for substituting 1 for the variable k. Here, the variable k is a value indicating the number of priority blank area information to be processed.

  The program further includes step S306 for obtaining kth priority blank area information from the blank area information, and a blank area corresponding to the obtained blank area information (hereinafter referred to as “target blank area” in some cases). Step S307 for determining whether or not advertisement data is inserted.

  Further, this program is executed when it is determined in step S307 that the advertisement data is not inserted (in the case of NO), and whether or not the target blank area satisfies the insertion condition of the advertisement information to be inserted. Step S308 is determined.

  This program is further executed in step S308 when it is determined that the placement condition is satisfied (in the case of YES), and it is determined whether or not the size of the advertisement data to be inserted fits in the target blank area. Step S309, and Step S310 that is executed when it is determined in Step S309 that it does not fall within the target blank area (in the case of NO), and causes the advertisement processing unit 52 to process the advertisement data. Including.

  This program is further executed in step S309 when it is determined that it fits in the target blank area (in the case of YES) or after the process of step S310, and the advertisement data is inserted into the target blank area of the electronic book. Step S311 and a step S312 for checking that an advertisement has been inserted into a check field (not shown) corresponding to the kth priority blank area information in the priority blank area information, ,including.

  The program further includes a step S313 of increasing the variable i by 1 and increasing the variable j by 1. After the process of step S313, control returns to step S302.

  The program further determines in step S307 that advertisement data has been inserted (in the case of YES), or in step S308, in which it is determined that the advertisement conditions are not satisfied (in the case of NO). ) And incrementing the variable k by 1 and determining whether the variable k is equal to or less than the number of blank area information. If it is determined in step S315 that the variable k is equal to or less than the number of blank area information (YES), the control returns to step S306.

  In step S315, the program further determines that the variable k is larger than the number of blank area information (in the case of NO), that is, a blank for inserting advertisement data included in the i-th advertisement information. This step is executed when it is determined that there is no area, and includes step S316 in which the variable i is incremented by one. After the process of step S316, control returns to step S303.

<Operation>
With reference to FIGS. 1-11, the electronic book delivery system 10 operate | moves as follows. In addition, the general operation | movement of the electronic book delivery system 10 except the operation | movement shown below is the same as the operation | movement of the conventional electronic book delivery system. FIG. 12 shows a state after insertion of advertisement data of the electronic book 600 shown in FIG.

  A user of the PC 14 that is an electronic book terminal requests the electronic book distribution server 16 to distribute electronic book content. This distribution request includes a book ID indicating the electronic book desired by the user and the user ID of the user.

  When the distribution request is received, the book information management unit 40 acquires the book information corresponding to the book ID included in the distribution request from the book information DB 58 and gives it to the control unit 20 (S101).

  The control unit 20 gives the acquired book information and electronic book generation information (see Table 3) corresponding to the distribution request source PC 14 to the blank area detection unit 42. When these pieces of information are given, the blank area detection unit 42 generates an electronic book, detects a blank area in the electronic book, and generates blank area information as follows based on the given information. (S102).

  That is, the blank area detection unit 42 generates electronic books 600A to 600F including six pages (see FIG. 6), and in synchronization with this, blank areas 601 generated from the electronic books 600A to 600F because they are blank pages. , A blank area 602 that is a chapter-breaking margin, a blank area 603 that is generated because it is an upper and lower margin part (margin header or margin footer), and a blank area 604 that is a heading margin that occurs between a heading part and a body part. (See FIG. 7). Next, the blank area detection unit 42 generates blank area information (see Table 6) based on the detected blank areas 601 to 604. The generated electronic book 600 and blank area information are given to the control unit 20.

  The control unit 20 gives the acquired electronic book 600 and electronic book generation information (see Table 3) to the blank area generation unit 43, and causes the following blank area generation processing to be executed (S103).

(Blank area generation processing)
First, the blank area generating unit 43 assigns 13 to the variable s and 2 to the variable n (S201). This indicates that the upper limit of the number of blank areas in the entire electronic book 600 is 13, and that the process of inserting the right margin into the electronic book on the second page is performed.

  After the numerical values are substituted for the variables s and n, the blank area generation unit 43 detects blank areas in the entire electronic book 600, and sets “12” (see FIG. 7 and Table 6), which is the number of detected blank areas, as a variable. Substitute for t (S202).

  If blank area generating unit 43 determines that variable t (= 12) is equal to or smaller than variable s (= 13) (YES in S203), page blank page generation unit 43 determines, for each page of electronic book 600, a page. It is determined whether there is a chapter break in numerical order (S204). At this time, since the first paragraph of the electronic book 600E has a description regarding the heading of Chapter 2 having a character size of 24 points, the blank area generation unit 43 determines that the electronic book 600E has a chapter break (S204). YES), a chapter break position, in this case, a blank area 800 (see FIG. 8) with a blank page is inserted between the electronic books 600D and 600E (S205). Thus, when there is a chapter break in the electronic book 600, a blank area is generated at the position of the chapter break.

  After inserting the blank page, the blank area generating unit 43 increases the variable t by 1 (S206). If it is determined that the variable t (= 13) is equal to or smaller than the variable s (= 13) (YES in S207), it is determined whether or not there is a chapter break in order of page number for each page of the electronic book 600 ( S204). At this time, the above determination is performed on the portion excluding the portion where the blank page is inserted.

  Since there are no chapter breaks in the electronic book 600 except for the portion where the blank page is inserted, the blank area generation unit 43 determines that there is no chapter break (NO in S204), and each page of the electronic book 600 Then, it is determined whether there is a page break in the order of page numbers (S208). At this time, the above determination is performed on the portion excluding the portion where the blank page is inserted.

  In the electronic book 600, since there is no page break in the portion other than the portion where the blank page is inserted, the blank area generation unit 43 determines that there is no page break (NO in S208), and the second page electronic A blank area in the book 600B is detected, and “3”, which is the number of detected blank areas, is substituted into the variable u (S212). If it is determined that variable u (= 3) is greater than 0 (NO in S213), variable n is incremented by 1 (S217). The blank area generation unit 43 repeats the same processing (S212, S213, S217) as described above for the third to fifth page electronic books 600C to 600E having three blank areas. As a result, the variable n becomes “6” (S217).

  The blank area generation unit 43 detects a blank area in the electronic book 600F of the sixth page, and substitutes “0”, which is the number of detected blank areas, into a variable u (S212). If it is determined that the variable u (= 0) is 0 or less (YES in S213), the entire text in the electronic book 600F on the sixth page is moved to the left and a blank area 802 with a right margin (see FIG. 8). Is inserted (S214). In this way, when there are few blank areas in the electronic book 600, a blank area with a right margin is generated.

  After inserting the blank area 802 with the right margin, the blank area generating unit 43 increments the variable t by 1 (S215). If it is determined that variable t (= 14) is larger than variable s (= 13) (NO in S216), the blank area generation process is terminated.

  If blank area generation unit 43 determines that there is a page break (YES in S208), a blank page is inserted at the position of page break in electronic book 600 (S209). Thus, when there is a page break in the electronic book 600, a blank area is generated at the position of the page break.

  After the blank area generation processing ends, the control unit 20 rewrites the blank area information by adding information indicating the newly generated blank area to the acquired blank area information (see Table 6) (table). 7).

  The control unit 20 gives the blank area information after rewriting and the priority determination rule (see Table 4) to the blank area priority determination unit 44. When these pieces of information are given, the blank area priority determination unit 44 adds priority to the blank area information based on the given information, thereby giving priority blank area information (see Table 8). Is generated (S104). The generated blank area information with priority is given to the control unit 20.

  The user information management unit 46 acquires user information corresponding to the user ID included in the distribution request from the user information DB 60 and provides the user information to the control unit 20 (S105). The control unit 20 provides the acquired book information and user information to the advertisement information management unit 48. When these pieces of information are given, the advertisement information management unit 48 analyzes the given information and acquires at least one piece of advertisement information matching the analysis result from the advertisement information DB 62 (S106). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the advertisement information management unit 48 acquires four pieces of advertisement information shown in Table 2 as at least one piece of advertisement information that matches the analysis result.

  The control unit 20 gives the obtained advertisement information, priority-added blank area information, and electronic book to the advertisement insertion unit 50, and causes the following advertisement data insertion process to be executed (S107).

(Ad data insertion process)
First, the advertisement insertion unit 50 assigns 1 to the variable i and 0 to the variable j (S301). This indicates that the first advertisement information is processed and the number of blank areas into which advertisement data is inserted is zero.

  At this time, since there are 14 blank area information (see Table 8) and the variable j is 0, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable j is smaller than the number of blank area information (YES in S302). ). Further, since the advertisement information is four (see Table 2) and the variable i is 1, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable i is equal to or less than the number of advertisement information (YES in S303), and the advertisement. The first advertisement information (advertisement information with advertisement ID “010” in Table 2) is acquired from the information (S304).

  After acquiring the advertisement information, the advertisement insertion unit 50 substitutes 1 for the variable k (S305). This indicates that processing is performed on the blank area information of the first priority. Next, the advertisement insertion unit 50 acquires blank area information having the first priority from the blank area information (blank area information of “No. 3” in Table 8) (S306). At this time, since advertisement data is not inserted in the target blank area, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that advertisement data is not inserted in the target blank area (NO in S307). In addition, since the size of the target blank area is 440 × 595 and satisfies the advertisement condition of the acquired advertisement information 240 × 320 or more, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the target blank area is the insertion target advertisement information. It is determined that the placement conditions are satisfied (YES in S308).

  Further, since the size of the insertion target advertisement data is 480 × 640, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the size of the insertion target advertisement data does not fit within the target blank area (NO in S309), and the advertisement The processing unit 52 is made to process the advertisement data (S310). The advertisement processing unit 52 reduces the advertisement data to a size of 432 × 576 while maintaining the aspect ratio of the advertisement data to be inserted. As a result, the size of the advertisement data to be inserted becomes smaller than the size of the target blank area and can be inserted.

  After processing the advertisement data, the advertisement insertion unit 50 inserts the advertisement data 1200 (see FIG. 12) to be inserted into the target blank area 601 of the electronic book 600B (S311). After the insertion of the advertisement data, the advertisement insertion unit 50 has inserted the advertisement into the check field (not shown) corresponding to the first priority blank area information in the priority blank area information. Is checked (S312).

  After the check, the advertisement insertion unit 50 increases the variable i by 1 and increases the variable j by 1 (S313). This indicates that the second advertisement information is processed and the number of blank areas into which advertisement data is inserted is one.

  At this time, since there are 14 blank area information (see Table 8) and the variable j is 1, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable j is smaller than the number of blank area information (YES in S302). ). Further, since there are four pieces of advertisement information (see Table 2) and variable i is 2, advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that variable i is equal to or less than the number of pieces of advertisement information (YES in S303) and advertisement. The second advertisement information (advertisement information with advertisement ID “015” in Table 2) is acquired from the information (S304).

  After the advertisement information is acquired, the advertisement insertion unit 50 substitutes 1 for the variable k (S305), and the blank area information having the first priority among the blank area information (the blank of “No. 3” in Table 8). (Region information) is acquired (S306). At this time, since the advertisement data is inserted in the target blank area, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the advertisement data is inserted in the target blank area (YES in S307), and increases the variable k by 1. (S314).

  At this time, since the variable k is 2 and the number of blank area information is 14, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable k is equal to or less than the number of blank area information (YES in S315), and the blank area The blank area information of the second priority (blank area information of “No. 10” in Table 8) is acquired from the information (S306). At this time, since advertisement data is not inserted in the target blank area, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that advertisement data is not inserted in the target blank area (NO in S307). In addition, since the size of the target blank area is 480 × 640 and satisfies the advertisement condition of the acquired advertisement information 240 × 320 or more, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the target blank area is the insertion target advertisement information. It is determined that the placement conditions are satisfied (YES in S308).

  Further, since the size of the insertion target advertisement data is 480 × 640, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the size of the insertion target advertisement data fits within the target blank area (YES in S309).

  The advertisement insertion unit 50 inserts advertisement data 1202 to be inserted (see FIG. 12) into the target blank area 800 based on the blank page of the electronic book (S311). After the insertion of the advertisement data, the advertisement insertion unit 50 has already inserted the advertisement into the check field (not shown) corresponding to the second priority blank area information in the priority blank area information. Is checked (S312).

  After the check, the advertisement insertion unit 50 increases the variable i by 1 and increases the variable j by 1 (S313). This indicates that the third advertisement information is processed and the number of blank areas into which advertisement data is inserted is two.

  At this time, since there are 14 blank area information (see Table 8) and the variable j is 2, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable j is smaller than the number of blank area information (YES in S302). ). Further, since there are four pieces of advertisement information (see Table 2) and variable i is 3, advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that variable i is equal to or less than the number of pieces of advertisement information (YES in S303) and advertisement. The third advertisement information (advertisement information with advertisement ID “025” in Table 2) is acquired from the information (S304).

  After the advertisement information is acquired, the advertisement insertion unit 50 substitutes 1 for the variable k (S305), and the blank area information having the first priority among the blank area information (the blank of “No. 3” in Table 8). (Region information) is acquired (S306). At this time, since the advertisement data is inserted in the target blank area, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the advertisement data is inserted in the target blank area (YES in S307), and increases the variable k by 1. (S314).

  At this time, since the variable k is 2 and the number of blank area information is 14, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable k is equal to or less than the number of blank area information (YES in S315), and the blank area The blank area information of the second priority (blank area information of “No. 10” in Table 8) is acquired from the information (S306). At this time, since the advertisement data is inserted in the target blank area, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the advertisement data is inserted in the target blank area (YES in S307), and increases the variable k by 1. (S314).

  At this time, since the variable k is 3 and the number of blank area information is 14, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable k is equal to or less than the number of blank area information (YES in S315), and the blank area The third priority blank area information (blank area information of “No. 9” in Table 8) is acquired from the information (S306). At this time, since advertisement data is not inserted in the target blank area, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that advertisement data is not inserted in the target blank area (NO in S307). Further, since the type of the target blank area is a chapter-separated margin and does not satisfy the condition of only the margin footer that is the placement condition of the acquired advertisement information, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the target blank area is the advertisement information to be inserted. Is not satisfied (NO in S308), the variable k is incremented by 1 (S314).

  At this time, since the variable k is 4 and the number of blank area information is 14, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable k is equal to or less than the number of blank area information (YES in S315), and the blank area The fourth priority blank area information (blank area information of “No. 2” in Table 8) is acquired from the information (S306). At this time, since advertisement data is not inserted in the target blank area, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that advertisement data is not inserted in the target blank area (NO in S307). Further, since the type of the target blank area is a margin footer and satisfies the condition of only the margin footer which is a condition for placing the acquired advertisement information, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the target blank area is the insertion target advertisement information. It is determined that the placement conditions are satisfied (YES in S308).

  Further, since the insertion target advertisement data has a size that can be accommodated in the margin footer, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the size of the insertion target advertisement data fits in the target blank area (YES in S309), and the electronic data Insertion target advertisement data 1204 (see FIG. 12) is inserted into the target blank area 603, which is a margin footer of the book 600B (S311). After the insertion of the advertisement data, the advertisement insertion unit 50 has inserted the advertisement into the check field (not shown) corresponding to the fourth priority blank area information in the priority blank area information. Is checked (S312).

  After the check, the advertisement insertion unit 50 increases the variable i by 1 and increases the variable j by 1 (S313). This indicates that the fourth advertisement information is processed and that the number of blank areas into which advertisement data is inserted is three.

  At this time, since there are 14 blank area information (see Table 8) and the variable j is 3, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable j is smaller than the number of blank area information (YES in S302). ). In addition, since the advertisement information is four (see Table 2) and the variable i is 4, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable i is equal to or less than the number of advertisement information (YES in S303), and the advertisement. The fourth advertisement information (advertisement information with advertisement ID “060” in Table 2) is acquired from the information (S304).

  After the advertisement information is acquired, the advertisement insertion unit 50 substitutes 1 for the variable k (S305), and the blank area information having the first priority among the blank area information (the blank of “No. 3” in Table 8). (Region information) is acquired (S306). At this time, since the advertisement data is inserted in the target blank area, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the advertisement data is inserted in the target blank area (YES in S307), and increases the variable k by 1. (S314).

  At this time, since the variable k is 2 and the number of blank area information is 14, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable k is equal to or less than the number of blank area information (YES in S315), and the blank area The blank area information of the second priority (blank area information of “No. 10” in Table 8) is acquired from the information (S306). At this time, since the advertisement data is inserted in the target blank area, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the advertisement data is inserted in the target blank area (YES in S307), and increases the variable k by 1. (S314).

  At this time, since the variable k is 3 and the number of blank area information is 14, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable k is equal to or less than the number of blank area information (YES in S315), and the blank area The third priority blank area information (blank area information of “No. 9” in Table 8) is acquired from the information (S306). At this time, since advertisement data is not inserted in the target blank area, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that advertisement data is not inserted in the target blank area (NO in S307). Further, since the placement condition for the acquired advertisement information is not particularly specified, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the target blank area satisfies the placement condition for the advertisement information to be inserted (YES in S308).

  Also, since the size of the advertisement data to be inserted is 160 × 160 and the size of the target blank area is 440 × 200, the advertisement insertion unit 50 fits the size of the advertisement data to be inserted within the target blank area. (YES in S309), the insertion target advertisement data 1206 (see FIG. 12) is inserted into the target blank area 602 of the electronic book 600D (S311). After the insertion of the advertisement data, the advertisement insertion unit 50 has inserted the advertisement into the check field (not shown) corresponding to the blank area information of the third priority in the blank area information with priority. Is checked (S312).

  After the check, the advertisement insertion unit 50 increases the variable i by 1 and increases the variable j by 1 (S213). This indicates that the fifth advertisement information is processed and the number of blank areas into which advertisement data is inserted is four.

  At this time, since there are 14 blank area information (see Table 8) and the variable j is 4, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable j is smaller than the number of blank area information (YES in S302). ). In addition, since the advertisement information is four (see Table 2) and the variable i is 5, the advertisement insertion unit 50 determines that the variable i is not less than or equal to the number of advertisement information (NO in S303). End the data insertion process. Thus, electronic book content is generated.

  The electronic book content management unit 54 stores the generated electronic book content in the electronic book content DB 64. The distribution unit 56 transmits the generated electronic book content to the PC 14 that is the distribution request source of the electronic book content via the NIC 28.

  The PC 14 receives the distributed electronic book content and displays it on a display device (not shown).

<Action and effect>
According to the embodiment described above, the electronic book distribution server 16 is an electronic book content generation device that generates electronic book content for distribution to the mobile phone device 12 and the PC 14 that are electronic book terminals including a display device. The electronic book 600 is generated based on the book information, and the blank area detection unit 42 that detects the blank areas 601 to 604 generated when the electronic book 600 is displayed on the display device, and the electronic book 600, The blank area generating unit 43 that generates blank areas 800 and 802 and advertisement data to be inserted into the blank areas 601 to 604, 800, and 802 so that a blank area is generated when the electronic book 600 is displayed on the display device. Priority information when inserting advertisement data into the blank information areas 601 to 604, 800, and 802 E-book contents by inserting the acquired advertisement data into the blank areas 601 to 604, 800, 802 based on the given priority and the blank area priority determination unit 44 that gives priority indicating And an advertisement insertion unit 50 for generating.

  As described above, since advertisement data is inserted into the blank areas 601 to 604, 800, and 802 based on the priority assigned to the blank areas 601 to 604, 800, and 802, the browsing of the electronic book content can be performed. It becomes possible to insert advertisement data into a blank area located in a place where there is a low possibility of getting in the way, or to insert advertisement data into a blank area located in a place where the advertisement effect is high. Therefore, a high advertising effect can be obtained without interfering with browsing of the electronic book content. In addition, since the blank areas 800 and 802 for inserting the advertisement data are automatically generated, the lack of blank areas can be prevented, and the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  Further, according to the above embodiment, the blank area generating unit 43 generates the blank area 802 when there are few blank areas 601 to 604 in the electronic book 600. As a result, the shortage of blank areas can be prevented more reliably, and the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  Further, according to the above embodiment, when there is a chapter break in the electronic book 600, the blank area generation unit 43 generates the blank area 800 by inserting a blank page at the position of the chapter break. As a result, the shortage of blank areas can be prevented more easily and reliably, and the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  Further, according to the above embodiment, when there is a page break in the electronic book 600, the blank area generation unit 43 generates the blank area 800 by inserting a blank page at the page break position. As a result, the shortage of blank areas can be prevented more easily and reliably, and the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  According to the above embodiment, the advertisement insertion unit 50 causes the advertisement processing unit 52 to process the advertisement data according to the size of the blank areas 601 to 604, 800, and 802. As a result, advertisement data can be inserted without being affected by the size of the blank area, so that the types of advertisement data that can be inserted increase. Therefore, the advertising effect is further enhanced. Note that the processing of the advertisement data is not limited to reduction or enlargement, and rotation and deformation may be performed.

  Moreover, according to the said embodiment, the advertisement information management part 48 acquires the information relevant to the content of book information as advertisement information. Therefore, since information interesting to the user who browses the book content is displayed on the display device of the electronic book terminal, the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  Further, according to the above embodiment, the advertisement information management unit 48 acquires information relevant to user information including information on a user who desires distribution of electronic book content as advertisement information. Therefore, since information interesting to the user is displayed on the display device of the electronic book terminal, the advertising effect is further enhanced.

  According to the above embodiment, the priority is determined according to the attributes of the blank areas 601 to 604, 800, and 802. As a result, a high advertising effect can be obtained more reliably without obstructing the browsing of the electronic book content.

  In the above embodiment, the advertisement data is used as the data to be inserted into the blank area, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, instead of the advertisement data, a user's comment on the book may be inserted as additional information. Thereby, it becomes possible to share each user's comment between users.

  The embodiment disclosed this time is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. The scope of the present invention is indicated by each claim in the scope of claims after taking into account the description of the detailed description of the invention, and all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the wording described therein are included. Including.

10 Electronic Book Distribution System 12 Mobile Phone Device 14 PC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 16 Electronic book delivery server 18 Network 40 Book information management part 42 Blank area detection part 43 Blank area generation part 44 Blank area priority determination part 46 User information management part 48 Advertisement information management part 50 Advertisement insertion part 52 Advertisement processing part 54 Electronic book Content management unit 56 Distribution unit 58 Book information DB
60 User information DB
62 Advertising information DB
64 Electronic book content DB

Claims (9)

An electronic book content generation device that generates electronic book content for distribution to an electronic book terminal including a display device,
Electronic book generation means for generating an electronic book based on the book information;
A blank area detecting means for detecting a first blank area generated when the electronic book is displayed on the display device;
A blank area generating means for generating the second blank area based on the electronic book so that a second blank area is generated when the electronic book is displayed on the display device;
Additional information acquisition means for acquiring additional information for insertion into the first blank area and the second blank area;
Priority giving means for giving a priority indicating a priority in inserting the additional information to the first blank area and the second blank area;
Additional information insertion means for generating electronic book content by inserting the acquired additional information into the first blank area and the second blank area based on the given priority. An electronic book content generation device.   The electronic book content generation device according to claim 1, wherein the blank area generation unit generates the second blank area when the first blank area in the electronic book is small.   The said blank area production | generation means produces | generates a said 2nd blank area by inserting a blank area in the position of the said chapter break, when there exists a chapter break in the said electronic book. The electronic book content generation apparatus described.   The said blank area production | generation means produces | generates a said 2nd blank area by inserting a blank area in the position of the said page break, when there exists a page break in the said electronic book. The electronic book content production | generation apparatus as described in any one.   The said additional information insertion means includes the process means which processes the said additional information according to the magnitude | size of the said 1st blank area | region and the said 2nd blank area | region, The any one of Claims 1-4 The electronic book content production | generation apparatus as described in.   The electronic book content generation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the additional information acquisition unit acquires information relevant to the content of the book information as the additional information.   The said additional information acquisition means acquires the information relevant to the user information containing the information regarding the user who desires the delivery of the said electronic book content as said additional information, Any one of Claims 1-5. The electronic book content production | generation apparatus as described in.   The electronic book content generation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the priority is determined according to an attribute of the first blank area and the second blank area. An electronic book content generation method for generating electronic book content for distribution to an electronic book terminal including a display device by a programmed computer,
Generating an electronic book based on the book information;
Detecting a first blank area generated when the electronic book is displayed on the display device;
Generating the second blank area based on the electronic book such that a second blank area is generated when the electronic book is displayed on the display device;
Obtaining additional information for insertion into the first blank area and the second blank area;
Assigning a priority indicating a priority in inserting the additional information to the first blank area and the second blank area;
Generating electronic book content by inserting the acquired additional information into the first blank area and the second blank area based on the given priority. Book content generation method.

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