JP2011154487A - Content availability management system, method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content availability management system which performs an adequate availability evaluation according to the characteristics of availability which the content has. <P>SOLUTION: The content availability management system is equipped with: an access log management DB which records access log in the content as an object for evaluation; a moving average section estimation part which determines the number of reference days which is a period for computing a moving average of the number of accesses based on the access log; a moving average computing part which computes a moving average value of the number of accesses in several reference days; a determination part which determines whether the availability of the content continues based on transition of the moving average value. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content usability management system that appropriately evaluates the usefulness of content published on the Internet.

  Many contents are published on the Internet by a Web server. Content is generally updated to new content after a certain period of time has passed since it was published on the Internet. The freshness of the content based on the time elapsed since the content was published is called content freshness. Content updating based on the freshness of content has been performed conventionally.

  A method for updating information based on the number of accesses to content is also common. In such a method, the usefulness of the content is determined based on the number of accesses. When the number of accesses to the content decreases below a certain number, the usefulness of the content is lost and the content is updated or deleted.

  According to the update using these methods, it is possible to always keep the published content up to date. Therefore, for example, it is effective for content such as news that has characteristics in which the usefulness of information is limited to a short time. Such a technique is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  Patent Document 1 determines whether or not the content that is distributed in the information distribution system maintains the target amount of transmission value indicating the value of information transmitted by the content by the expiration date that is the expiration date. A content management method is disclosed. In the content management method disclosed in Patent Document 1, first, the content server counts the actual value of the number of accesses to the content from the publication date of the content to the processing date for determination. Then, the content server determines whether or not the actual value of the number of accesses counted as the target value of the predetermined number of accesses has reached. When the actual value does not reach the target value, the content server issues a warning or the like to the administrator. According to the content management method of Patent Literature 1, by comparing the target value of the number of accesses to the content and the actual value, a warning can be issued when it is predicted that the target value is difficult to achieve. Therefore, the administrator can take appropriate measures to achieve the target value.

  However, depending on the type of content, there is content that has characteristics that continue to be useful over a long period of time. When managing such content, it is difficult to determine usefulness based on freshness or the number of temporary accesses.

  As a related technique, Patent Literature 2 discloses a trend prediction apparatus that can accurately predict the next trend item using access history data and a person who is sensitive to the trend for a specific item. Patent Document 3 discloses an information system that is information provided on the web and that allows information freshness of information, which is the newness of the information, to be understood by the user. Further, Patent Documents 4 and 5 disclose technologies relating to prediction of future data amount.

JP 2000-122949 A JP 2002-342532 A JP 2006-215589 A JP-A-5-342191 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-205488

  An object of the present invention is to provide a content usability management system that makes it possible to perform appropriate usability evaluation in accordance with the usability characteristics of content.

  The content usability management system of the present invention determines an access log management DB that records an access log to content to be evaluated, and a reference number of days that is a period for calculating a moving average value of the number of accesses based on the access log. A moving average section calculating unit, a moving average calculating unit that calculates a moving average value of the number of accesses during a reference number of days, and a determination that determines whether or not the usefulness of the content continues based on the transition of the moving average value A part.

  A step of recording an access log to content to be evaluated for content usability management method according to the present invention, a step of determining a reference number of days for calculating a moving average value of the number of accesses based on the access log, and a reference A step of calculating a moving average value of the number of accesses during the number of days, and a step of determining whether or not the usefulness of the content continues based on the transition of the moving average value.

  The content management program of the present invention causes a computer to execute the content management method described above.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the content usability management system which makes it possible to perform appropriate usability evaluation according to the usefulness characteristic which a content has can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the content usability management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the content validity management system in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4A shows the access log data 31 before the alignment processing by the moving average interval calculation unit 112 in the present embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4B shows the access log data 31 after the alignment processing by the moving average interval calculation unit 112 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  A content usability management system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Overview]
Content can be classified into two types according to usefulness characteristics. The first is content having a characteristic of losing usefulness in a short time after publication. For such content, the number of accesses increases immediately after publication, and after the number of accesses reaches a peak, it decreases rapidly and becomes almost zero in a short period of time. The second is content that is not so high but continues to be useful for a long time. Such content increases in the number of accesses immediately after publication, and rapidly decreases after the number of accesses reaches a peak, but after that, the number of accesses continues for a relatively long period of time.

  The content usability management system in the present embodiment is capable of handling content having such different characteristics. First, the content usability management system obtains the number of days (reference days) from the date when the content is released until the date when the number of accesses peaks. Then, the moving average value of the number of accesses between the most recent reference days from the determination date for determining the usefulness (the moving average value based on the determination date) and the number of accesses between the previous day of the determination date and the most recent reference days The moving average value (the moving average value based on the day before the judgment date) is obtained. Then, when the moving average value based on the determination date is smaller than the moving average value based on the day before the determination date, it is determined that the usefulness of the content has been lost. In this way, by determining the usefulness based on the moving average value of the number of accesses recorded during the reference days, the usefulness is based on the long-term transition of the number of accesses regardless of the usefulness characteristics. Can be determined.

[Description of configuration]
First, the configuration of the content usability management system 1 in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content management system 1 in the present embodiment.

  A content management system 1 according to the present embodiment is connected to a Web server 3 via a network 2. The network 2 is exemplified by the Internet. However, the network 2 is not limited to the Internet as long as communication between the content management system 1 and the Web server 3 can be connected, and a network such as a dedicated line network or a circuit switching network. Or a combination thereof.

  The Web server 3 publishes content on the network 2 by WWW (World Wide Web). The Web server 3 accepts access from a large number of PCs (Personal Computers) 4 via the network 2 and provides contents to the PC 4. In the Web server 3, an access log from the PC 4 is recorded. The PC 4 is not limited to a so-called PC, and widely includes information terminals equipped with a Web browser that accesses the Web server 3 and uses content. In FIG. 1, only one Web server 3 is shown, but in reality, a large number of Web servers 3 are connected to the network 2.

  The content usability management system 1 collects the access log data 31 from the Web server 3 and evaluates the usefulness of the content published on the Web server 3 based on the access log data 31. The content usability management system 1 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, an input unit 13, an output unit 14, and a communication unit 15.

  First, the storage unit 12 stores a usability management program 121 that implements the functions of the content usability management system 1 and various data. The storage unit 12 is exemplified by a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The storage unit 12 is connected to the control unit 11, and data is read and written by the control unit 11.

  The input unit 13 is an input interface with an administrator of the content usability management system 1. The input unit 13 is exemplified by an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard. The input unit 13 is connected to the control unit 11 and outputs an input from the administrator to the control unit 11.

  The output unit 14 displays the processing result of the content usability management system 1. The output unit 14 is exemplified by a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The output unit 14 is connected to the control unit 11 and displays data output from the control unit 11.

  The communication unit 15 is a communication interface with the outside of the content usability management system 1. The communication unit 15 is exemplified by a communication device such as a communication module having an Ethernet (registered trademark) port. The communication unit 15 is connected to the network 2 and can perform communication using a communication protocol used in the network 2. The communication unit 15 is connected to the control unit 11 and performs data transmission / reception between the content usability management system 1 and an external device such as the Web server 3.

  The control unit 11 executes the function of the content usability management system 1. The control unit 11 is exemplified by a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 11 executes the function of the content usability management system 1 by executing the usability management program stored in the storage unit 12.

  The usability management program 121 can be recorded on a movable recording medium. The recording medium is exemplified by a CD (Compact Disc), a flash memory (USB memory) equipped with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface, and the like. The usability management program 121 can be distributed using such a recording medium. The usability management program 121 is introduced into the content usability management system 1 via a CD drive or a USB interface of the content usability management system 1 (not shown). Further, the usability management program 121 may be stored so as to be downloadable in an HDD of an application server (not shown) connected to the network 2. In this case, the usability management program 121 is introduced into the content usability management system 1 via the network 2.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the content usability management system 1 in the present embodiment. The content usability management system 1 according to the present embodiment includes an access log acquisition unit 111, a moving average interval calculation unit 112, a moving average calculation unit 113, a determination unit 114, an access log management database (hereinafter referred to as an access log management DB). 122). The access log acquisition unit 111, the moving average interval calculation unit 112, the moving average calculation unit 113, and the determination unit 114 are realized by the control unit 11 executing the usability management program 121 stored in the storage unit 12. Is done. The access log management DB 122 is stored in the storage unit 12.

  First, the access log management DB 122 records the access log data 31 collected from the Web server 3. As described above, only one Web server 3 is shown in FIG. 2, but there are actually a large number of Web servers 3. The access log management DB 122 records access log data 31 for each Web server 3.

  Next, the access log acquisition unit 11 acquires the access log data 31 from the Web server 3 and records it in the access log management DB 122. Here, the access log data 31 is an access history from the PC 4 or the like to the Web server 3. The access log data 31 includes at least an identifier of an access source, an identifier for specifying content stored in the Web server 3 that is an access destination, and an access time.

  Next, the moving average section calculation unit 112 calculates the number of days n (hereinafter referred to as the reference number of days n) for calculating the moving average value based on the access log data recorded in the access log management DB 122. Here, the reference number of days n is from the date of publication of content to the date when the number of accesses peaked out. The day of peak out is obtained as follows. First, arrange the number of daily access log data accesses to the target content in reverse order of the time series from the release date to the date of judgment (hereinafter referred to as the judgment date) (descending date (from new date to old date). ) To generate series data. Next, the rearranged data is applied to a regression curve represented by the following formula (1) by multiple regression analysis, with the number of accesses on the release date having the largest sequence number. In Equation (1), K, a, and b are constants.

  Subsequently, the moving average interval calculation unit 112 obtains an inflection point from the approximated regression curve. Then, the moving average section calculation unit 112, based on the date corresponding to the determined inflection point (hereinafter referred to as the “transformation date”), the number of days n1 from the publication date to the transformation date, and the date from the publication date to the determination date. The number of days n2 is obtained. The moving average section calculation unit 112 determines the size of the number of days n1 and the number of days n2, and if the number of days n1 is smaller than the number of days n2 (if “n1 <n2”), substitutes the number of days n1 into the reference number of days n (“ n = n1 "). On the other hand, when the number of days n1 is equal to or greater than the number of days n2 (“n1 ≧ n2”), the moving average interval calculation unit 112 calculates the reference number of days n because the decreasing number of accesses is not yet recognized on the determination date. Cancel.

  Next, the moving average calculation unit 113 calculates a moving average value of the number of accesses between the reference days. The moving average calculation unit 113 calculates a moving average value based on the number of accesses between the reference days nearest from the determination date, that is, from the determination date to the day before the reference days. The moving average calculation unit 113 calculates a moving average value WMA (n, m) between the determination date m and the reference number of days n based on the following formula (2).

  In Equation (2), ACC (m) is the number of accesses on that day, and W (m) is the weight for that day. The weight W (m) is set so as to increase with respect to a date closer to the present time. This is because if the number of accesses in the past is large but the current number of accesses is small, it is considered that the season of the content has passed, and the access to the day close to the present is emphasized.

  Furthermore, the moving average calculation unit 113 similarly calculates the moving average value WMA (n, m−1) the day before the determination date. Hereinafter, the moving average value WMA (n, m) based on the determination date is referred to as a moving average value based on the determination date, and the moving average value WMA (n, m−1) based on the day before the determination date is the day before the determination date. This is called the reference moving average value.

  Next, the determination unit 114 determines whether the content has lost its validity. The determination unit 114 loses the validity of the content to be determined on the determination date m based on the moving average value based on the determination date calculated by the moving average calculation unit 113 and the moving average value based on the determination date. It is determined whether or not. The determination unit 114 determines the loss of validity of the content based on whether the following mathematical formula (3) is satisfied.

  When the mathematical expression (3) is satisfied, the determination unit 114 determines that the content has lost its validity. The fact that Formula (3) is satisfied means that the moving average value of the number of accesses in the most recent n days from the determination date m is lower than the moving average value of the number of accesses in the most recent n days from the previous day m−1. It shows the state. In other words, even if the influence of sudden fluctuations in the number of accesses is eliminated by the moving average, it means that the number of accesses is still decreasing. The content validity management system 1 according to the present embodiment determines that the validity is lost for the content in such a state.

  The above is the description of the configuration of the content validity management system in the present embodiment. In the above description, the content validity management system 1 includes the access log acquisition unit 111 and the access log management DB 122. However, these configurations may be provided in other devices as exemplified by the monitoring server of the network 2. In this case, the moving average interval calculation unit 112 may access the other device via the network 2 and acquire access log data. Alternatively, the Web server 3 may include each component of the content usability management system 1. In this case, each Web server 3 determines usefulness for each content provided by the Web server 3.

[Description of operation]
Next, the operation of the content validity management system in the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the content validity management system in the present embodiment. In the following description, it is assumed that the access log data 31 acquired from the Web server 3 by the access log acquisition unit 111 is recorded in the access log management DB 122.

  First, the moving average section calculation unit 112 extracts the access log data 31 for the content whose usefulness is to be determined from the access log management DB. The moving average section calculation unit 112 arranges the extracted access log data (step S10). As described above, the moving average interval calculation unit 112 generates series data in which the date from the release date to the determination date is arranged in descending order of date (from the new date to the old date). Here, the determination date may be the current day of determination, or may be a past date arbitrarily designated.

  4A and 4B are graphs showing the access log data 31 before and after the alignment processing by the moving average interval calculation unit 112 in the present embodiment. In the graphs shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the vertical axis represents the number of accesses and the horizontal axis represents the number of days. FIG. 4A shows the access log data 31 before the alignment processing by the moving average interval calculation unit 112 in the present embodiment. The number of accesses reaches a peak immediately after the release date, and then decreases rapidly toward the determination date as the number of days elapses. On the other hand, FIG. 4B shows the access log data 31 after the alignment processing by the moving average interval calculation unit 112 in the present embodiment. Since the alignment process is performed, the origin is the determination date. The alignment process performed by the moving average interval calculation unit 112 provides such a result.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the description returns to the operation of the content usability management system 1. The moving average section calculation unit 112 performs a multiple regression analysis on Formula (1) for the aligned access log data 31, and identifies a regression curve (step S20). In addition, since the identification method of the regression curve by multiple regression analysis is well-known, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Here, the above-described equation (1) indicates a general form of a Gompertz curve that is a growth curve. In the present embodiment, a transition of the number of accesses as shown in FIG. 4 is assumed. That is, first, the number of accesses increases rapidly at the beginning of content release. Then, the number of accesses decreases rapidly with the passage of time. However, after that, the number of accesses does not become “0”, and the state where the number of accesses is small continues for a relatively long time. From this, it seems that it is better to identify the curve using the survival curve at first glance, but it is difficult to approximate the typical curve because the curve varies greatly depending on the conditions used in the curve identification by the survival curve. . Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4B, the time series of the number of accesses is reversed and aligned and applied to the growth curve to find a point in time when the number of accesses has changed from an increasing trend to an apparent decreasing trend. It is said. Note that the present invention is not limited to the Gompertz curve, and can be applied to any curve that expresses similarity, such as a logistic curve that is a growth curve.

  Returning to FIG. 3 again, the moving average interval calculation unit 112 calculates the inflection point of the obtained regression curve (step S30). Note that the method for calculating the inflection point of the curve is well known and will not be described. 4A and 4B show inflection points in a graph based on the number of accesses of the access log data 31. FIG.

  The moving average section calculation unit 112 performs a size determination between the number of days n1 from the date of publication of content to the time of change corresponding to the inflection point and the number of days n2 from the date of release to the date of determination (step S40). In the case of “n1> n2” (No in step S40), that is, when the number of days n1 from the release date to the station change date is larger than the number of days n2 from the release date to the determination date, the number of accesses decreases at the determination date. Since no trend is recognized, the operation ends. At this time, the control unit 11 may display a result that the content to be determined maintains the usefulness on the output unit 14. On the other hand, when “n1 <n2” (Yes in step S40), that is, when the number of days n1 from the release date to the station change date is smaller than the number of days n2 from the release date to the determination date, the moving average interval calculation unit 112 Determines the reference number of days n as “n = n1” (step S50).

  Subsequently, the moving average calculation unit 113 calculates a moving average value based on the day before the determination date (step S60). The moving average calculation unit 113 uses the reference number of days n determined by the moving average interval calculation unit 112, and based on the above formula (2), the moving average value WMA (n, m-1) based on the day before the determination date. Is calculated. Further, the moving average calculation unit 113 calculates a moving average value based on the determination date (step S70). The moving average calculation unit 113 calculates the moving average value WMA (n, m) based on the determination date based on the above formula (2) using the reference number of days n determined by the moving average interval calculation unit 112. . In addition, the order of step S60 and step S70 is not ask | required.

  The determination unit 114 determines whether the moving average value WMA (n, m−1) and the moving average value WMA (n, m) are large or small (step S80). The determination unit 114 determines the magnitude of the moving average value WMA (n, m−1) and the moving average value WMA (n, m) based on the above-described equation (3). When the determination unit 114 does not satisfy “WMA (n, m) <WMA (n, m−1)” (No in Step S80), that is, the moving average value WMA (n, m) based on the determination date is before the determination date. When the moving average value WMA (n, m−1) is greater than or equal to the daily basis, it is determined that the content to be determined maintains the usefulness, and the process ends. At this time, the control unit 11 may display a result that the content to be determined maintains the usefulness on the output unit 14.

  On the other hand, in the case where “WMA (n, m) <WMA (n, m−1)” (Yes in step S80), the determination unit 114 determines that the moving average value WMA (n, m) based on the determination date is If it is smaller than the moving average value WMA (n, m−1) based on the day before the determination date, it is determined that the content to be determined has lost its usefulness, and the process ends (step S90). At this time, the control unit 11 may display the result of the loss of usefulness of the content to be determined on the output unit 14. The administrator of the content usability management system 1 can confirm the display and take appropriate measures for the content to be determined.

  The above is description of operation | movement of the content usability management system 1 in this embodiment.

  So far, the content usability management system of the present invention has been described using the embodiments. According to the content usability management system of the present invention, the period from the publication date of the content to the date when the number of access of the content peaks out is calculated as the reference number of days, and the moving average value of the number of accesses during the reference number of days is obtained. This moving average value is based on the number of accesses up to the day before the reference day based on the judgment day for determining the usefulness to be judged, and the number of accesses up to the day before the reference day based on the day before the judgment day. And a value based on it. When the moving average value based on the determination date is smaller than the moving average value based on the day before the determination date, it is determined that the usefulness of the content has been lost.

  As described above, the usefulness can be determined based on the long-term transition of the number of accesses by determining the usefulness based on the moving average value between the reference days. Therefore, the number of accesses from the past to the present is smoothed, and for example, it is possible to eliminate the influence due to the sudden increase / decrease in the number of accesses in a short period during the reference days. This makes it possible to perform appropriate usability evaluation regardless of whether the content to be determined has any of the above-described two usability characteristics.

  In addition, in the mathematical formula (2) for calculating the moving average value, the day closer to the determination date is heavily weighted. Even with such weighting, it can be confirmed that the number of accesses is decreasing as a long-term trend because the moving average value based on the determination date is smaller than the moving average value based on the day before the determination date. In addition, the weighting for each day of Formula (2) can be arbitrarily adjusted by an administrator.

  An administrator can confirm the existence of a potential need for content based on the usability evaluation by the content usability management system of the present invention. For this reason, it is possible to take appropriate measures such as leaving only content with needs on the Web server 3 and deleting or updating content without needs.

  The content usability management system of the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

1 Content usability management system 2 Network 3 Web server 4 PC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Control part 12 Storage part 13 Input part 14 Output part 15 Communication part 31 Access log data 111 Access log acquisition part 112 Moving average section calculation part 113 Moving average calculation part 114 Determination part 121 Usability management program 122 Access log management database

Claims (10)

An access log management DB that records an access log to the content to be evaluated;
A moving average interval calculation unit for determining a reference number of days that is a period for calculating a moving average value of the number of accesses based on the access log;
A moving average calculating unit for calculating a moving average value of the number of accesses during the reference days;
A content usability management system comprising: a determination unit that determines whether or not the usefulness of the content continues based on the transition of the moving average value. The content usability management system according to claim 1,
The moving average calculation unit uses the determination date for determining the usefulness of the content as a reference, the first moving average value of the number of accesses between the determination date and the previous reference date, and the day before the determination date as a reference Calculate the second moving average value of the number of accesses between the previous reference days from the day before the determination date,
The content management system, wherein the determination unit determines that the usefulness of the content is lost when the first moving average value is lower than the second moving average value. The content usability management system according to claim 1 or 2,
The content management system, wherein the moving average section calculation unit determines, as the reference number of days, from the publication date to a date when the number of accesses to the content peaks. The content usability management system according to claim 3,
The moving average interval calculation unit applies the access log data to a regression curve to obtain an inflection point in the regression curve, and the number of days from the publication date to the inflection point corresponding to the inflection point is the number of days. A content management system that determines the number of days from the publication date to the change date as the reference number of days when the number is less than the number of days from the publication date to the determination date. The content usability management system according to claim 4,
The content management system, wherein the moving average section calculating unit arranges the access log data in descending order for each date, and performs regression analysis on the access log data arranged in descending order to identify the regression curve. Recording an access log to the content to be evaluated;
Determining a reference number of days that is a period for calculating a moving average value of the number of accesses based on the access log;
Calculating a moving average value of the number of accesses during the reference days;
Determining whether the usefulness of the content continues based on the transition of the moving average value. 7. The content usability management method according to claim 6, wherein the step of calculating the moving average value includes:
The first moving average value of the number of accesses between the reference days in the past from the determination date based on the determination date for determining the usefulness of the content, and the previous day from the previous day of the determination date based on the previous day of the determination date And calculating a second moving average value of the number of accesses during the reference days, and the step of determining includes:
A content management method comprising: determining that the usefulness of the content is lost when the first moving average value is lower than the second moving average value. The content usability management method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the step of determining the reference number of days includes:
A content management method comprising: determining from the publication date to a date when the number of accesses to the content peaks out as the reference number of days. The content usability management method according to claim 8, wherein the step of determining up to the peak out date as the reference number of days is as follows.
Fitting the access log data to a regression curve;
Obtaining an inflection point in the regression curve;
When the number of days from the publication date to the transformation date corresponding to the inflection point is less than the number of days from the publication date to the determination date, the number of days from the publication date to the transformation date is determined as the reference number of days. And a content management method comprising:   A content management program for causing a computer to execute the content management method according to any one of claims 6 to 9.

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