JP2012128653A - Advertisement server, advertisement output apparatus, advertisement selection apparatus, advertisement control system, control method of advertisement server, advertisement server control program and computer readable recording medium with program recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accomplish an advertisement server and the like in which the number of times of advertisement output does not considerably exceed the upper limit number of times in an offline advertisement system.SOLUTION: An advertisement management server 1 includes a result tabulation section 21 which acquires the number of times of output that is the number of times of outputting an advertisement, respectively, in a display area of an electronic book terminal 2 during a communicable state with the electronic book terminal 2, a display probability adjusting section 22 which adjusts an output probability using a proximity degree indicating how much the number of times of output acquired by the result tabulation section 21 is proximate to the predetermined upper limit number of times of a relevant advertisement, a management information processing section 11 which transmits to an advertisement output apparatus the output probability adjusted by the display probability adjusting section 22 and advertisement identification information indicating the advertisement to be outputted with the output probability. The display probability adjusting section 22 reduces the output probability of an advertisement with a high degree of proximity and increases the output probability of an advertisement included in any other advertisement group than that advertisement.

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the display of advertisements, in particular, an advertisement server, an advertisement output apparatus, an advertisement selection apparatus, an advertisement control system, and an advertisement server control method for controlling the display probability when there are a plurality of advertisements to be displayed. The present invention relates to an advertisement control device control program and a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, portable terminal devices that play back electronic content, image content such as moving images and still images, and digital content such as games have become widespread. In addition to these digital contents, electronic advertisements such as text, still images, moving images, and the like have been displayed.

  This electronic advertisement is displayed on the terminal device by being distributed from the server connected via the Internet to the terminal device. The portable terminal device is connected to the Internet (online state) via a wireless LAN, a cellular phone network, or the like. Therefore, if the connection environment with the Internet deteriorates due to the terminal device moving to a place where the radio wave environment is bad or the like, the connection is released and the terminal device is in an offline state (not connected to the Internet). As a result, the advertisement cannot be delivered from the server to the terminal device.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for acquiring an advertisement from a server in advance when the terminal device is in an online state and displaying the advertisement acquired in the online state when the terminal device is in an offline state. Has been. Note that an advertisement distribution system that displays an advertisement acquired in an online state in this way is called an offline advertisement system. On the other hand, an advertisement distribution system in which a terminal device acquires and displays advertisements from a server via the Internet each time is called an online advertisement system.

  There are two types of billing for electronic advertisements: impression-guaranteed billing and click-guaranteed billing. Impression-guaranteed charging is a form in which an advertisement fee is determined for the number of times an advertisement is displayed, and click-guaranteed charging is a form in which an advertisement fee is determined for the number of times an advertisement is clicked.

  In these types of billing, media owners who add advertisements requested by advertisers to their content are charged according to the maximum number of times they can be posted, and the number of impressions (displays) or clicks on advertisements , Run ads until you reach a set maximum number of times. Here, in the online advertising system, every time an advertisement is distributed and displayed by the terminal device, or every time an advertisement is clicked, the terminal device notifies the server that it has been displayed or clicked. These times are counted. On the other hand, in the offline advertising system, when the advertisement is displayed or when the advertisement is clicked, since the server and the terminal device are not connected, the number of times cannot be counted by the server at these times.

  Therefore, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for counting the number of times an advertisement is displayed in the terminal device while the terminal device is in an offline state, and transmitting the display number to the server when the terminal device is in an online state. . Thereby, also in an offline advertising system, the server can manage the number of impressions at the terminal device.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for suppressing exposure of an advertisement according to the number of times the advertisement is exposed in an online state.

JP 2001-229126 A (released on August 24, 2001) JP 2002-83230 A (published March 22, 2002) JP 2006-12149 A (published January 12, 2006)

  However, in the offline advertisement system in which the advertisement server distributes advertisements to the terminal device in the online state, and the terminal device displays the distributed advertisement in the offline state, Cause problems. That is, in the configurations of Patent Documents 1 and 2, even if the maximum number of advertisements is reached, the advertisement server stops the advertisement display from the advertisement server to the terminal device while the terminal device is offline. That's not true. Therefore, the terminal device displays the distributed advertisement as it is. Further, even when the number of clicks exceeds the upper limit, the advertisement is displayed as it is. As a result, the advertisement may be displayed greatly exceeding the upper limit number of times.

  Further, Patent Document 3 does not particularly describe the advertisement display in the offline state.

  Thus, it is not preferable for the medium owner that the advertisement is displayed exceeding the upper limit number of times. This is because it is not possible for advertisers to charge for ads that exceed the maximum number of times, and to reduce the display opportunities (income opportunities) for other chargeable ads that have not yet reached the maximum number of times. . This also means that the opportunity for another advertiser to display his / her advertisement is reduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to distribute an advertisement to a terminal device in an online state, and the terminal device outputs the distributed advertisement in an offline state. In the system, an advertisement server or the like in which the number of advertisement outputs does not greatly exceed the upper limit number of times is realized.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the advertisement server according to the present invention selects an advertisement to be output in one output unit from an advertisement group consisting of a plurality of advertisements and communicates with an advertisement output device that outputs the advertisement. An advertisement output by the advertisement output device with the output probability is transmitted to the output device in a state where the output probability of each of the advertisements included in the advertisement group and the advertisement group is transmitted and communication with the advertisement output device is impossible. An output server for an offline advertisement system to be selected, wherein when the communication is possible with the advertisement output device, an output count for obtaining an output count that is the number of times each of the advertisements is output in an output unit of the advertisement output device For each of the acquisition means and the advertisement, how many times the output number acquired by the output number acquisition means is in contact with the predetermined upper limit number of advertisements. The output probability adjustment means for lowering the output probability of the advertisement with a high calculated approach degree, the output probability adjusted by the output probability adjustment means, and the advertisement output with the output probability Output probability transmitting means for transmitting the advertisement identification information to the advertisement output device.

  In addition, the output device control method according to the present invention allows the advertisement output device to communicate with an advertisement output device that selects and outputs an advertisement to be output in one output unit from an advertisement group consisting of a plurality of advertisements. An offline for transmitting the output probability of the advertisement group and the advertisement included in the advertisement group to select an advertisement output by the advertisement output device with the output probability in a state in which communication with the advertisement output device is impossible A method for controlling an advertisement server in an advertisement system, wherein the number of times of output is the number of times each advertisement is output in the output unit of the advertisement output device when communication with the advertisement output device is possible For each of the advertisements in the acquisition step, the number of output times acquired in the output number acquisition step is a predetermined maximum number of times for each advertisement. To calculate the degree of proximity indicating how close it is, the output probability adjustment step for lowering the output probability of the advertisement with the calculated proximity degree, the output probability adjusted in the output probability adjustment step, and the output probability An output probability transmission step of transmitting advertisement identification information indicating an advertisement to be transmitted to the advertisement output device.

  Here, the output unit refers to a display area of the advertisement if the advertisement is displayed, and refers to a specified time during which the advertisement is output if the advertisement is output by voice or the like.

  According to said structure or method, an advertisement server acquires the output frequency of each of several advertisement. Then, the output probability of an advertisement having a high degree of approach indicating how close the output number is to the predetermined upper limit number is lowered, and the output probability of other advertisements included in the advertisement group is increased. Then, the adjusted output probability and the advertisement identification information indicating the advertisement output with the output probability are transmitted to the advertisement output device.

  Thereby, when the degree of approach indicating how close the output number is to the predetermined upper limit number is high, that is, when the output number is close to the upper limit number, the output probability of the advertisement is lowered, The possibility that an advertisement whose output count approaches the upper limit count will be reduced.

  Therefore, even when the advertisement server and the advertisement output device cannot communicate with each other, it is possible to prevent the advertisement output device from outputting an advertisement that greatly exceeds the upper limit of the number of times of output.

  The number of times of output may not be simply set as the number of times of output, but the number of times that a predetermined operation (for example, click on the displayed advertisement) has been performed may be set as the number of times of output.

  In the advertisement server according to the present invention, the output probability adjusting means may adjust the output probability when the ratio of the output count to the upper limit count is the approach degree and the approach degree exceeds a threshold value.

  According to said structure, since the ratio with respect to the upper limit frequency | count of an output frequency is made into an approach degree, it can be judged that the output frequency is approaching the upper limit frequency exactly.

  In the advertisement server according to the present invention, there may be a plurality of the threshold values, and the output probability adjusting means may adjust the output probability every time the approach degree exceeds the threshold value.

  According to said structure, since an output probability is adjusted whenever an approach degree exceeds a some threshold value, an output probability can be adjusted in steps. For example, when the output frequency is not very close to the upper limit count, the output probability is decreased and the output probability is decreased, and as the upper limit count is approached, the output probability is decreased. Can be adjusted.

  In the advertisement server according to the present invention, the output probability adjusting means may adjust the output probability in order from the advertisement having the highest approach degree when there are a plurality of advertisements whose approach degree exceeds the threshold value. Good.

  According to the above configuration, since the output probability is adjusted in descending order of the degree of approach, the output probability can be adjusted from an advertisement that requires further adjustment.

  The advertisement server according to the present invention includes an average value calculating unit that calculates an average value of the increase in the number of output times for each predetermined period in the past, and the output probability adjusting unit subtracts the output number from the upper limit number of times. The value is the approach degree, and the output probability of the advertisement whose approach degree is equal to or less than the average value is adjusted to a value obtained by multiplying the ratio of the approach degree with respect to the average value by the output probability before adjustment. Also good.

  According to the above configuration, when the value obtained by subtracting the output count from the upper limit count is equal to or less than the average value of the increase in the output count for each predetermined period in the past, the output probability is adjusted and the ratio of the approach degree to the average value is adjusted. Adjust to the value multiplied by the previous output probability.

  When the value obtained by subtracting the output count from the upper limit count becomes equal to or less than the average value of the increments for each predetermined period, the output count is likely to exceed the upper limit count when the next predetermined period has passed. Therefore, by adjusting the output probability here, it is possible to prevent the number of outputs from significantly exceeding the upper limit number.

  In addition, the output probability is adjusted to a value obtained by multiplying the ratio of the degree of proximity to the average value by the output probability before adjustment, so that the number of outputs will be approximately the upper limit at the time after the next predetermined period. Can do.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an advertisement selection device according to the present invention includes a storage unit that stores an advertisement to be transmitted to an advertisement output device, and outputs an output probability and an advertisement output with the output probability from the advertisement server. The advertisement identification information to be acquired is acquired, the advertisement to be transmitted to the advertisement output device is selected from the storage unit with the acquired output probability, and the selected advertisement is transmitted to the advertisement output device.

  According to the above configuration, an advertisement output by the advertisement output device is selected with the acquired output probability and is transmitted to the advertisement output device. Therefore, the advertisement output by the advertisement output device is in accordance with the output probability of the advertisement. It can be.

  An advertisement control system including the advertisement server and an advertisement output device that acquires an advertisement and an output probability of the advertisement from the advertisement server can also achieve the above-described effect.

  The advertisement server may be realized by a computer. In this case, an advertisement server control program for causing the advertisement server to be realized by a computer by causing the computer to operate as each of the means, and recording the same Computer-readable recording media are also within the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the advertisement server according to the present invention obtains the number of times of output, which is the number of times each of the advertisements has been output in the output area of the advertisement output device, when the advertisement server can communicate with the advertisement output device. For each of the acquisition means and the advertisement, an approach degree indicating how close the output number acquired by the output number acquisition means is close to a predetermined upper limit number of the advertisement is calculated, and the calculated approach degree is high. Output probability adjusting means for reducing the output probability of the advertisement, output probability transmitting means for transmitting the output probability adjusted by the output probability adjusting means and advertisement identification information indicating the advertisement to be output with the output probability to the advertisement output device; It is the structure provided with.

  The output device control method according to the present invention provides an output count for obtaining an output count that is the number of times each of the advertisements has been output in the output area of the advertisement output device when communication with the advertisement output device is possible. For each of the acquisition step and the advertisement, an approach degree indicating how close the output number acquired in the output number acquisition step is close to a predetermined upper limit number of the advertisement is calculated, and the calculated approach degree is high. An output probability adjusting step for reducing the output probability of the advertisement; an output probability transmitting step for transmitting the output probability adjusted in the output probability adjusting step and the advertisement identification information indicating the advertisement output with the output probability to the advertisement output device; , Including.

  Therefore, even when the advertisement server and the advertisement output device cannot communicate with each other, it is possible to prevent the advertisement output device from suppressing the output of an advertisement that greatly exceeds the upper limit of the number of times of output. .

1, showing an embodiment of the present invention, is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of an advertisement management server. FIG. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention and is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of an electronic book terminal. 1, showing an embodiment of the present invention, is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of an advertisement distribution server. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen in the said electronic book terminal. It is a figure which shows book management information. It is a figure which shows advertisement space management information. It is a figure which shows campaign management information. It is a figure which shows advertisement management information. It is a figure which shows the advertisement performance management information memorize | stored in the said advertisement management server, and Fig.9 (a) is the advertisement performance management which matched campaign ID, the charging system, the upper limit frequency | count, the total display frequency | count, and the total click frequency | count. FIG. 9B is a diagram showing advertisement performance management information in which an average increase amount is associated with FIG. 9A. It is a figure which shows the advertisement performance management information memorize | stored in the said electronic book terminal. It is a sequence diagram which shows the flow of the pre-delivery process of advertisement. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of an advertisement display process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a campaign ID selection process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of advertisement ID selection processing. It is a sequence diagram which shows the flow of a process in which an advertisement management server collects performance information. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process which adjusts a display probability. It is the figure which showed the display probability after adjustment. It is a figure which shows the adjustment table which a display probability adjustment part uses. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the electronic book terminal which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the flow of the acquisition process of campaign management information.

[Embodiment 1]
One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. An advertisement distribution system (advertisement control system) 5 according to the present invention includes an advertisement management server (advertisement server) 1, an electronic book terminal (advertisement output device) 2, and an advertisement distribution server (advertisement server) 3 in an offline advertisement system. It is a configuration. The advertisement management server 1, the electronic book terminal 2, and the advertisement distribution server 3 are connected to each other via a network such as the Internet, and can exchange data with each other. The advertisement distributed from the advertisement distribution server 3 is displayed on the electronic book terminal 2.

  Here, the offline advertisement system is an electronic book terminal 2 that acquires an advertisement from the advertisement distribution server 3 in a state where the electronic book terminal 2 and the advertisement distribution server 3 are connected via a network or the like (online state). It means a system in which the electronic book terminal 2 displays an advertisement acquired in an online state when the electronic book terminal 2 and the advertisement distribution server 3 are not connected via a network or the like (offline state).

  In addition, the advertisement management server 1 adjusts the display probability of the advertisement according to the reach that is the ratio of the number of times of display (number of times of output) to the maximum number of times of advertisement display, and transmits the adjusted display probability to the electronic book terminal 2. Thereby, the electronic book terminal 2 can display the said advertisement with the acquired display probability, and can prevent the display frequency from greatly exceeding the upper limit frequency.

  In the present embodiment, the advertisement management server 1 and the advertisement distribution server 3 are described as separate configurations. However, the advertisement management server 1 and the advertisement distribution server 3 may be realized by a single server. Good.

  Moreover, although this Embodiment demonstrates using the electronic book terminal 2, the terminal to which an advertisement is delivered is not restricted to an electronic book terminal. For example, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or the like may be used.

  In this embodiment, the advertisement is described as being displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the advertisement may be output as sound.

(Configuration of each device included in the advertisement distribution system)
First, each device (the advertisement management server 1, the electronic book terminal 2, and the advertisement distribution server 3) included in the advertisement distribution system 5 will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the advertisement management server 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the advertisement management server 1 includes a management information processing unit (output probability transmission unit) 11, a performance processing unit 12, and a storage unit 13. The performance processing unit 12 includes a performance totaling unit (output number acquisition unit) 21 and a display probability adjustment unit (output probability adjustment unit, average value calculation unit) 22. The storage unit 13 includes book management information. 31, various types of management information including advertisement space management information 32, campaign management information 33, advertisement management information 34, and advertisement performance management information 35 (a, b). These various management information will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the book management information 31. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the book management information 31 is obtained by associating a book ID 301, an advertisement space ID 302, and a display location 303. A book ID 301 is an identification number for identifying a book. The advertising space ID 302 is an identification number for identifying an advertising area (output unit) that is displayed simultaneously when an electronic book is displayed. A display location 303 indicates a page to be displayed.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the book ID 301 “B1001” is associated with the advertising space IDs 302 “F101”, “F102”, and “F103”, the advertising space ID 302 “F101”, the display location 303 “1”, and the advertising space ID 302. “F102” and the display location 303 “1” are associated with the advertisement space ID 302 “F103” and the display location 303 “150”. Therefore, the electronic book indicated by “B1001” has the advertising space (advertisement area) indicated by “F101” on the “1” page. The same applies to the book ID 301 “B1002”,.

  Each time a new electronic book is created, the book management information 31 is added with information on the electronic book, the corresponding advertisement space ID 302, and the display location 303.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the advertisement space management information 32. As shown in FIG. 6, the advertisement space management information 32 is obtained by associating an advertisement space ID 302 with a campaign ID (advertisement identification information, advertisement group) 312. The campaign ID 312 is an identification number for identifying a campaign including one or more advertisements. By associating the advertisement space ID 302 with the campaign ID 312, a corresponding advertisement space ID can be set for each campaign. Examples of the campaign include a campaign for making a book into a movie and a promotional campaign for goods related to the book. Further, one or more campaign IDs 312 can be associated with one advertisement space ID 302.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the advertisement space ID 302 “F101” and the campaign IDs 312 “C101”, “C102”, “C103”, and “C104” are associated with each other. The same applies to the advertisement space ID 302 “F102”,.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the campaign management information 33. As shown in FIG. 7, the campaign management information 33 is associated with a campaign ID 312, an update date and time 322, a charging method 323, an upper limit number 324, a distribution period 325, a display probability 326, a display condition 327, and an advertisement ID 328. . The update date and time 322 indicates the latest date and time when the associated information is updated. The update date and time 322 is not limited to the date and time, and may be managed in units of hours, minutes, and seconds.

  The charging method 323 indicates a charging method when an advertisement included in the campaign is displayed. In the present embodiment, there are three methods: an impression guaranteed charging method, a click guaranteed charging method, and a period designation charging method. Note that the charging method is not limited to these three.

  The impression-guaranteed charging method is a method for determining an advertisement fee based on the number of advertisements displayed. The click-guaranteed charging method is a method for determining an advertisement fee based on the number of times an advertisement is clicked (the number of clicks). The term specified billing method is a method for determining an advertisement fee based on a display period. Note that the number of display times is not limited in the period-designated charging method.

  The upper limit number 324 indicates the upper limit of the number of times of displaying the advertisement included in the associated campaign. The upper limit number 324 is set when the charging method 323 is an impression guaranteed charging method or a click guaranteed charging method. In the impression-guaranteed billing method and the click-guaranteed billing method, the advertisement fee is determined based on the upper limit number.

  In addition, since the upper limit number is associated with each campaign, when the total number of times the advertisement is included in the campaign reaches the upper limit number, the distribution of the advertisement included in the campaign is stopped.

  The distribution period 325 is a period for displaying an advertisement included in the associated campaign. The display probability 326 indicates the probability that the campaign is selected when there are a plurality of campaigns. The display condition 327 indicates a condition for displaying an advertisement included in the campaign. Examples of the display condition 327 may include a user's age, gender, language used, position of the electronic book terminal 2, usage time zone, and the like.

  The advertisement ID 328 is an identification number for identifying an advertisement included in the campaign.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, it is indicated that the update date / time of the campaign management information 33 of the campaign whose campaign ID 312 is “C101” is “August 1, 2010”. The charging method 323 is “impression guaranteed charging method”, the upper limit number 324 is “10000 times”, the distribution period 325 is “after September 1, 2010”, and the display probability 326 is “40%”. Further, the display condition 327 is not particularly defined, and it is indicated that the advertisement ID 328 corresponds to three of “A001”, “A002”, and “A003”. The same applies to the campaign ID 312 of “C102”, “C103”, “C104”,.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the advertisement management information 34. As shown in FIG. 8, the advertisement management information 34 is associated with an advertisement ID 328, an update date 332, a data format 333, a distribution period 334, a priority 335, a display condition 336, a link destination URL 337, and an acquisition destination URL 338. is there.

  The update date and time 332 indicates the latest date and time when the associated information is updated. The data format 333 indicates the data format of the advertisement such as text, still image, moving image, and the like. The distribution period 334 indicates a period during which the advertisement is displayed. The priority 335 indicates the degree to which the advertisement is displayed among the plurality of advertisements when there are a plurality of advertisements. For example, when there are three advertisements to be displayed and the respective priorities are 5, 3, and 2, they are displayed with a probability of 50%, 30%, and 20%, respectively.

  The display condition 336 indicates a condition for displaying the advertisement. The link destination URL 337 indicates a URL that transitions when the advertisement is clicked. The acquisition URL 338 indicates a URL for acquiring the advertisement.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, it is indicated that the update date and time of the advertisement management information 34 of the advertisement whose advertisement ID 328 is “A001” is “August 1, 2010”. The data format 333 is “image”, and the distribution period 334 is not particularly defined. The priority 335 is “5”, the display condition 336 is not defined, and the link destination URL 337 is “www. **. Com”. The acquisition destination URL 338 is “www. *** / a001.jpg”. The same applies to “A002”, “A003”,.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the advertisement performance management information 35 (a, b). FIG. 9A corresponds to the campaign ID 312 and the charging method 342, the upper limit number 343, the total display number 344, and the total click number 345. FIG. 9B is a diagram showing a table in which the average increase amount 346 is associated with FIG. 9A in addition to FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the advertisement performance management information 35 (a, b) includes a campaign ID 312, a charging method 342, an upper limit number 343, a total display number 344, a total click number 345, (average increase) Quantity 346).

  The charging method 342 indicates a charging method for the associated campaign. The upper limit count 343 indicates the upper limit count of the associated campaign. The total display count 344 indicates the total display count of advertisements included in the associated campaign. The total number of clicks 345 indicates the total number of clicks of an advertisement included in the associated campaign. The average increase amount 346 indicates an increase amount of the number of display times in a predetermined period.

  In the example shown in FIG. 9A, for the campaign with the campaign ID 312 “C101”, the charging method 342 is the “impression guaranteed charging method”, the upper limit number 343 is “10000 times”, and the total display number 344 is “9100”. Times ”and the total number of clicks 345 is“ 100 times ”. In addition, in the example shown in FIG. 9B, in addition to this, it is shown that the average increase amount 346 is “700 times”. The same applies to the campaign ID 312 of “C102”, “C103”, “C104”,.

  The management information processing unit 11 acquires various types of management information (advertisement space management information 32, campaign management information 33, advertisement management information 34) from the advertisement distribution server 3 and stores it in the storage unit 13. In addition, when the management information processing unit 11 receives the management information request from the electronic book terminal 2, the management information processing unit 11 acquires the update information of the management information from the advertisement distribution server 3, and whether or not the various management information stored in the storage unit 13 is the latest. The management information requested is transmitted to the electronic book terminal 2. The flow of processing for transmitting management information will be described later.

  The record processing unit 12 includes a record totaling unit 21 and a display probability adjusting unit 22, and processes record information acquired from the electronic book terminal 2. Further, the advertisement result management information 35 is created using the acquired result information and stored in the storage unit 13. The result information will be described later.

  The result totaling unit 21 totals the result information acquired from the electronic book terminal 2 and notifies the display probability adjusting unit 22 of the result information. The display probability adjusting unit 22 adjusts the display probability 326 of the campaign management information 33 stored in the storage unit 13 based on the result information acquired from the result totaling unit 21. A specific method for adjusting the display probability 326 will be described later.

  Next, the configuration of the main part of the electronic book terminal 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the electronic book terminal 2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic book terminal 2 includes a control unit 25, a storage unit 26, an input unit 27, and an output unit 28. Further, the control unit 25 includes an advertisement processing unit 41 and an electronic book processing unit 42, and the advertisement processing unit 41 further includes an advertisement selection unit 43 and an advertisement performance processing unit 44. The storage unit 26 includes advertisement performance information 51, advertisement data 52, and management information 53.

  First, the advertisement performance information 51, the advertisement data 52, and the management information 53 included in the storage unit 26 will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the advertisement performance information 51. As shown in FIG. 10, the advertisement performance information 51 is obtained by associating an advertisement space ID 302, a campaign ID 312, an advertisement ID 328, a display count 354, and a click count 355.

  The display count (output count) 354 indicates the number of times the corresponding advertisement is displayed. The click count (output count) 355 indicates the click count of the corresponding advertisement.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 10, it is indicated that the display number 354 of the advertisement with the advertisement ID 328 “A001” is “7 times” and the click number 355 is “2 times”. “A001” indicates that the advertising space ID 302 corresponds to “F101” and the campaign ID 312 corresponds to “C101”. The same applies to advertisement IDs 328 of “A002”, “A003”,.

  The advertisement data 52 is advertisement data indicated by the advertisement ID 328.

  The management information 53 is management information corresponding to the book ID 301 of the book stored in the electronic book terminal 2 in each of the book management information 31, the advertisement space management information 32, the campaign management information 33, and the advertisement management information 34.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 5 to 9, when the book ID 301 of the book stored in the electronic book terminal 2 is “B1001”, the information of the book ID 301 being “B1001” is stored in the book management information 31. Yes. Further, in the advertising space management information 32, information of the advertising space ID 302 corresponding to “B1001” is “F101”, “F102”, and “F103” is stored. In addition, in the campaign management information 33, information with campaign IDs 312 corresponding to “B1001” “C101” to “C106” is stored. In the advertisement management information 34, information with advertisement IDs 328 corresponding to “B1001” “A001” to “A008” is stored.

  The control unit 25 executes each function in the electronic book terminal 2 and includes an advertisement processing unit 41 and an electronic book processing unit 42.

  The advertisement processing unit 41 acquires management information from the advertisement management server 1 and stores it in the storage unit 26. In addition, advertisement data is acquired from the advertisement distribution server 3 and stored in the storage unit 26. In addition, it performs advertisement selection, display, display count processing, and click count processing, and includes an advertisement selection section 43 and an advertisement performance processing section 44.

  The advertisement selection unit 43 selects an advertisement to be displayed and transmits it to the output unit 28. Processing for selecting an advertisement will be described later.

  The advertisement performance processing unit 44 counts the number of advertisements displayed and the number of clicks on the displayed advertisements and stores them in the storage unit 26 as advertisement result information 51.

  The electronic book processing unit 42 performs processing for selecting and displaying an electronic book. Processing such as selection and display of an electronic book is performed using conventional technology, and a description thereof is omitted.

  The input unit 27 receives user input. The output unit 28 performs output by using images, sounds, and the like.

  In the present embodiment, the electronic book terminal 2 selects and displays advertisements. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an apparatus for selecting advertisements (advertisement selection apparatus) and an apparatus for displaying advertisements are separated. It may be a configuration. Thereby, for example, when one advertisement selection device and a plurality of advertisement display devices are provided in the home, advertisements and various management information are distributed to the advertisement selection device, and each advertisement display device Can only display advertisements transmitted from the advertisement selection device.

  Next, the configuration of the main part of the advertisement distribution server 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the advertisement distribution server 3. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the advertisement distribution server 3 includes an advertisement submission management unit 61, a management information processing unit 62, an advertisement transmission unit 63, and a storage unit 64. The storage unit 64 includes advertisement space management information 71, campaign management information 72, advertisement management information 73, and advertisement data 74.

  First, the advertisement space management information 71, campaign management information 72, advertisement management information 73, and advertisement data 74 stored in the storage unit 64 will be described.

  The advertising space management information 71 is the same as the advertising space management information 32 described above. The campaign management information 72 is the same as the campaign management information 33 described above. The advertisement management information 73 is the same as the advertisement management information 34 described above.

  The advertisement data 74 is data of advertisements displayed on the electronic book terminal 2.

  The advertisement submission management unit 61 causes the storage unit 64 to store advertisement data and various management information transmitted from the advertiser terminal 4. The management information processing unit 62 transmits management information and update information stored in the storage unit 64 in response to a request from the advertisement management server 1.

  The advertisement transmission unit 63 transmits the advertisement data stored in the storage unit 64 in response to a request from the electronic book terminal 2.

(Display example on e-book reader)
Next, a display screen example in the electronic book terminal 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display screen in the electronic book terminal 2.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the display screen (display area) 201 of the electronic book terminal 2 includes an electronic book display area 202, an advertisement frame 203, an advertisement frame 204, and a page number 205.

  The electronic book display area 202 is an area where the contents of the electronic book are displayed. The advertising space 203 and the advertising space 204 are areas where advertisements are displayed. The size of this advertising space can be set freely. In addition, the display positions of the advertisement frame 203 and the advertisement frame 204 can be freely set. For example, the display position can be designated by a page number.

  The page number 205 is an area where the page number is displayed. Thus, the display screen 201 displays the contents, advertisements, and page numbers of the electronic book. The example of the display screen shown here is an example, and the display screen is not limited to this.

(Ad trafficking)
Next, advertisement submission will be described. For the advertisement submission, the advertiser corresponds to the advertisement space ID 302 of the book management information 31 from the advertiser terminal 4 to the advertisement distribution server 3, the advertisement data included in the campaign, the charging method, the maximum number of times, and the distribution. This is done by sending advertisement-related data such as period and display conditions.

  The advertisement submission management unit 61 of the advertisement distribution server 3 that has acquired the advertisement-related data from the advertiser terminal 4 includes the advertisement space management information 71, the campaign management information 72, the advertisement management information 73, the advertisement data stored in the storage unit 64. 74 is updated.

(Advertising pre-delivery process)
Next, advertisement pre-delivery processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of advertisement pre-delivery processing.

  The advertisement pre-distribution process is a process of acquiring the advertisement data 52 and the management information 53 from the advertisement management server 1 and the advertisement distribution server 3 in advance when the electronic book terminal 2 is online. Here, it is assumed that the user of the electronic book terminal 2 obtains only the electronic book whose book ID is “B1001” and stores it in the storage unit 26.

  In addition, the advertisement pre-delivery process may be scheduled to be performed periodically during a time period when the user does not use the electronic book terminal 2, for example, when sleeping, or the user may use the electronic book terminal 2. It may be performed in the background during use.

  As shown in FIG. 11, first, the advertisement processing unit 41 of the electronic book terminal 2 transmits a management information request to the advertisement management server 1 at a predetermined time (S401). The management information request includes the book ID 301 of the book stored in the electronic book terminal 2.

  The management information processing unit 11 of the advertisement management server 1 that has acquired the management information request refers to the book management information 31 stored in the storage unit 13 and corresponds to the book ID 301 “B1001” included in the management information request. The advertising space ID 302 and the display location 303 to be extracted are extracted (S402). Here, the advertising space IDs 302 “F101”, “F102”, “F103” and the respective display locations 303 “1”, “1”, “150” are extracted.

  Next, the management information processing unit 11 of the advertisement management server 1 refers to the advertisement space management information 32 and extracts a campaign ID 312 corresponding to the extracted advertisement space ID 302. Further, the management information processing unit 11 requests update information of each management information from the advertisement distribution server 3 (S403) and acquires it (S404). Then, the management information processing unit 11 compares the acquired update information with the update date / time 322 of the campaign management information 33 and the update date / time 332 of the advertisement management information 34, and the campaign management information 33 corresponding to the extracted campaign ID 312, It is determined whether or not the advertisement management information 34 is the latest (S405).

  When the campaign management information 33 and the advertisement management information 34 are not the latest (NO in S405), the management information processing unit 11 requests the latest campaign management information 33 and the advertisement management information 34 from the advertisement distribution server 3 (S406). Is acquired (S407). On the other hand, when the campaign management information 33 and the advertisement management information 34 are the latest (YES in S405), or when the latest campaign management information 33 and the advertisement management information 34 are acquired in step S407, the management information processing unit 11 The book management information 31 corresponding to the book ID 301 “B1001” included in the management information request, the advertisement space management information 32 corresponding to the advertisement space ID 302 extracted in step S402, the campaign management information 33, and the advertisement management information 34 are electronically stored. It transmits to the book terminal 2 (S408, output probability transmission step).

  Here, the advertisement space ID 302 “F101” corresponds to the campaign IDs 312 “C101”, “C102”, “C103”, and “C104”, and the advertisement IDs 328 “A001” to “A008” corresponding to the campaign IDs 312 respectively. Advertisement management information 34 is extracted and transmitted. The remaining advertisement space ID 302 is processed in the same manner, and the advertisement management information 34 is extracted and transmitted.

  Next, the electronic book terminal 2 stores the received book management information 31, advertisement space management information 32, campaign management information 33, and advertisement management information 34 in the storage unit 26. Then, referring to the acquisition destination URL 338 included in the advertisement management information 34, the advertisement distribution server 3 is requested to acquire advertisement data (S410) and acquired (S411).

  The advertisement processing unit 41 of the electronic book terminal 2 refers to the campaign management information 33, the update date and time 322 (332) of the advertisement management information 34, the distribution period 325 (334), the display condition 327 (336), etc. The advertisement data is requested by selecting only those whose contents are updated from the acquired advertisement data or those that may be displayed on the electronic book terminal 2. Thereby, only the necessary amount of advertisement data can be acquired, and the time required for the advertisement pre-distribution process can be shortened.

  After acquiring the advertisement data, the electronic book terminal 2 transmits the advertisement performance information 51 accumulated so far in the storage unit 26 to the advertisement management server 1 (S412). Then, the advertisement management server 1 acquires the advertisement performance information 51 (S413). The transmission process of the advertisement performance information 51 will be described later.

  If the connection between the electronic book terminal 2 and the advertisement management server 1 and the advertisement distribution server 3 is disconnected for some reason and acquisition of each management information and advertisement data fails, the processing in steps S401 to S413 is performed after a predetermined time has elapsed. Should be executed.

  Although the case where the electronic book terminal 2 transmits the book ID 301 of one electronic book is described here, the same applies to the case where there are a plurality of electronic books. That is, the electronic book terminal 2 transmits a management information request including a plurality of book IDs 301 to the advertisement management server 1, and the advertisement management server 1 executes the processes of steps S 402 to S 408 described above for each book ID 301.

(Ad display process)
Next, the advertisement display process will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14 are flowcharts showing the flow of the advertisement display process.

  When the user reads an electronic book using the electronic book terminal 2 in the offline state, a pre-stored advertisement is displayed along with the display of the electronic book. Here, it is assumed that the user reads the first page (one page) of the electronic book whose book ID 301 is “B1001”.

  First, the advertisement processing unit 41 refers to the book management information 31 stored in the storage unit 26 and extracts a corresponding advertisement space ID 302 from the book ID 301 and the page number information (S501). Here, since the book ID is “B1001” and the page number is “1”, “F101” and “F102” are extracted.

  Next, the advertisement processing unit 41 determines whether or not any of the extracted advertisement space IDs 302 for which the corresponding advertisement ID 328 has not been selected (S502). If there is one for which the corresponding advertisement ID 328 is not selected (YES in S502), one of the advertisement space IDs 302 for which the corresponding advertisement ID 328 is not selected is selected (S503). Here, it is assumed that the advertisement space ID 302 “F101” is selected.

  Next, the advertisement processing unit 41 refers to the advertisement space management information 32 stored in the storage unit 26 and extracts a campaign ID 312 corresponding to the advertisement space ID 302. Here, campaign IDs 312 “C101” to “C104” are extracted. Then, campaign ID selection processing for selecting one campaign ID 312 to be displayed in the advertisement space ID 302 from the campaign ID 312 is performed (S504).

  The campaign ID selection process will be described with reference to FIG. First, the advertisement processing unit 41 extracts the campaign ID 312 corresponding to the advertisement space ID 302 (S1301), and acquires the current date (S1302). The current date can be acquired from a clock unit (not shown). Then, the advertisement processing unit 41 compares the acquired current date with the distribution period 325 of the campaign management information 33, and selects a campaign ID 312 within the distribution period (S1303).

  Next, the advertisement processing unit 41 selects a campaign ID 312 that matches the display condition 327 of the campaign management information 33 (S1304). Then, the campaign ID 312 selected in step S1304 is selected according to the display probability 326 (S1305). Selection according to the display probability 326 is performed as follows.

  First, if the display probability 326 is set to a fixed value, the probability of that value is assumed. The display probability of the campaign ID 312 in which the display probability 326 is not set at a fixed value is determined by equally dividing the remainder obtained by subtracting the total of the amount set at the fixed value from 100. Based on the determined display probability 326, a campaign ID 312 to be displayed on the advertising space ID 302 is selected using a random number or the like. If the display probabilities 326 of all the campaign IDs 312 are set as fixed values, and the total of all the fixed values is less than 100, the value obtained by subtracting the total value from 100 is distributed at a fixed value ratio. Then, the display probability may be determined.

  If there is no campaign ID 312 selected as a result of the processing in steps S1303 and S1304, the default advertisement (advertisement when there is no advertisement to be displayed) set in advance in the advertisement space ID 302 is selected. Good. Moreover, what is necessary is just to acquire a default advertisement at the time of the prior delivery process mentioned above.

  For example, if the user is 20 years old and the current date and time is September 20, 2010, all campaigns with campaign IDs 312 “C101” to “C104” match the distribution period and display conditions. Therefore, all the campaigns “C101” to “C104” are selected in steps S1303 and S1304. The display probability of each campaign ID 312 is determined as follows.

  First, since the fixed values are set to the fixed values, the display probabilities of “C101” and “C104” are “40%” and “10%”, respectively. Then, “50%” obtained by subtracting “50%”, which is the total of fixed values, from 100 is equally distributed between the remaining “C102” and “C103”, so that “C102” and “C103” Each of the display probabilities is “25%”.

  Then, the advertisement processing unit 41 selects only one campaign to be displayed with the advertisement space ID 302 using a random number or the like with this probability.

  For example, if the user is 20 years old and the current date and time is September 10, 2010, the campaign ID 312 “C103” is out of the distribution period and is not selected in step S1303. Therefore, in this case, three campaign IDs 312 “C101”, “C102”, and “C104” are selection candidates. The display probability of each campaign ID 312 remains “40%” and “10%” for “C101” and “C104” set as fixed values, and the remaining 50% is assigned to “C102”. It is done.

  When the campaign ID 312 to be displayed in the advertisement space ID 302 is selected in the campaign ID selection process in step S504, the advertisement processing unit 41 refers to the campaign management information 33 and extracts the advertisement ID 328 corresponding to the campaign ID 312. Then, an advertisement ID 328 to be displayed in the advertisement space ID 302 is selected from the extracted advertisement IDs 328 (S505).

  The process for selecting the advertisement ID 328 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the advertisement processing unit 41 extracts an advertisement ID 328 corresponding to the campaign ID 312 (S1401). Next, the advertisement processing unit 41 compares the current date with the distribution period 334 of the advertisement management information 34, and selects an advertisement ID 328 within the distribution period (S1402). Then, the advertisement processing unit 41 selects an advertisement ID 328 that matches the display condition 336 of the advertisement management information 34 (S1403).

  Then, the advertisement ID 328 selected in step S1403 is selected according to the priority 335 (S1404). Selection according to the priority 335 is made based on the ratio of the priority 335 of the advertisement ID 328 to be written to the total value of the priorities 335 of the respective advertisement IDs 328.

  For example, if the current date and time is September 10, 2010, the advertisement ID 328 “A003” is not selected in step S1402, and “A001” and “A002” are selected. Since the priority 335 of the advertisement IDs 328 “A001” and “A002” is “5” and “3”, respectively, the advertisement ID 328 “A001” is selected with a probability of 5 / (5 + 3) × 100 = 62.5% The advertisement ID 328 “A002” is selected with a probability of 3 / (5 + 3) × 100 = 37.5%. Then, the advertisement processing unit 41 selects only one advertisement to be displayed in the advertisement space ID 302 using a random number or the like with this probability.

  When the advertisement ID 328 to be displayed in the advertisement space ID 302 is selected by the advertisement ID selection process, the process returns to step S502, and it is determined whether or not there is an advertisement space ID 302 for which the advertisement ID 328 has not been selected.

  When the advertisement ID 328 is selected for all the advertisement space IDs 302 extracted in step S501 (NO in S502), screen data combining the contents of the electronic book to be displayed and the advertisement data to be displayed in each advertisement space is displayed. Generate (S506) and output (S507). Note that the screen data combining the contents of the electronic book to be displayed and the advertisement data is like a display screen 201 (FIG. 4).

  In the above example, every time the page is moved, the advertisement space ID 302 corresponding to the next page is extracted, and the advertisement to be displayed is selected and displayed. However, the advertisement selection method is limited to this. is not. When the user selects an e-book, select the advertisement to be displayed or display a page for all the ad slots included in the e-book. Or an advertisement to be displayed may be selected. Thereby, while the user is reading the electronic book, the process of selecting the advertisement to be displayed on the previous page is completed, so that the time that the user waits when the page is advanced can be reduced.

(Advertising results collection process)
Next, a process in which the advertisement management server 1 collects record information that is a record of the number of times an advertisement is displayed or clicked on the electronic book terminal 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram illustrating a flow of processing in which the advertisement management server 1 collects performance information. Here, a case where there is one electronic book terminal 2 will be described, but the number of electronic book terminals 2 is not limited to one.

  When the electronic book terminal 2 displays the advertisement, the advertisement result processing unit 44 uses the information of the displayed advertisement space ID 302, campaign ID 312 and advertisement ID 328 to store the advertisement result information 51 stored in the storage unit 26. Update. Specifically, the display count of the corresponding advertisement is increased by one. If there is no corresponding advertisement field, a new field is added from the received information, and the display count is recorded as 1.

  Further, when the user performs a click operation on the displayed advertisement through the input unit 27, the advertisement performance processing unit 44 similarly uses the advertisement performance information from the advertisement space ID 302, the campaign ID 312 and the advertisement ID 328 of the clicked advertisement. 51 is updated.

  In this way, the electronic book terminal 2 stores the advertisement performance information 51 in the storage unit 26 until it is time to transmit it to the advertisement management server 1. The transmission of the advertisement performance information 51 to the advertisement management server 1 is executed at the timing of step S412 in FIG.

  When the electronic book terminal 2 transmits the advertisement performance information 51 to the advertisement management server 1 together with the terminal information of the terminal itself (S601), the advertisement performance processing unit 44 displays the number of times the advertisement performance information 51 is displayed and the number of clicks. Is reset to 0 (S602). The management information itself may be reset.

  When transmission of the advertisement performance information 51 of the advertisement management server 1 from the electronic book terminal 2 fails, the advertisement performance information 51 is not reset, and the transmission process is executed again after a predetermined time has elapsed.

  On the other hand, when the performance processing unit 12 of the advertisement management server 1 receives the advertisement performance information 51 (S603, output count acquisition step), it updates the advertisement performance management information 35 (a, b) according to the content of the received information. (S604).

  For example, when the content of the advertisement performance information 51 of FIG. 10 is received, the performance processing unit 12 adds the display count of the advertisement IDs 328 “A001” to “A003” included in the campaign ID 312 “C101” for 10 times. The total display count 344 of the campaign ID 312 “C101” in the management information 35 (a, b) is increased. Then, the display probability 326 of the campaign management information 33 is adjusted based on the total display count 344 and the upper limit count 343 of the updated advertisement performance management information 35 (a, b) (S605, output probability adjustment step). This adjustment process will be described later.

  Here, the advertisement record collection process is executed immediately after the advance advertisement distribution process, but the timing of the advertisement record process is not limited to this. It may be executed immediately before the advance advertisement delivery process, or may be executed at a timing independent of the advance advertisement delivery process.

(Display probability adjustment processing)
(First processing method)
Next, processing in which the advertisement management server 1 adjusts the display probability 326 of the campaign management information 33 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for adjusting the display probability 326.

  FIG. 17 is a view showing the display probability 326 after adjustment. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an adjustment table 1001 used for display probability adjustment.

  First, the display probability adjustment unit 22 determines whether or not there is a campaign that needs to be adjusted in the updated advertisement performance management information 35 (a, b) (S801). Whether or not adjustment is necessary is determined by whether or not the degree of achievement (approach degree) exceeds a threshold value. Here, the degree of achievement represents how close the total number of display times is to the upper limit number of times when the campaign is an impression guarantee type billing. In the case of click-guaranteed charging, it represents how close the total number of clicks is to the upper limit number. The degree of achievement is calculated by (total display count 344 / upper limit count 343) or (total click count 345 / upper limit count 343).

  Then, if there is a campaign whose reach exceeds the threshold, it is determined whether there is another campaign corresponding to the same advertisement space ID 302 as the campaign (S802). If there is another campaign (YES in S802), adjustment of the display probability 326 is started.

  First, the display probability 326 of the campaign to be adjusted is adjusted (S803). Next, the display probability 326 of the campaign corresponding to the same advertisement space ID 302 as the campaign to be adjusted is adjusted (S804). A specific adjustment method will be described later.

  When the adjustment of the display probabilities 326 of all campaigns is completed, the campaign management information 33 is updated (S805).

  If there is no campaign whose degree of achievement exceeds the threshold (NO in S801), or if there is no other campaign corresponding to the same advertising space ID 302 (NO in S802), the process ends.

  The above process will be specifically described. Here, description will be made assuming that the display probabilities of the campaign IDs 312 “C101” to “C104” corresponding to the advertisement frame ID 302 “F101” shown in FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the display probability of each campaign before adjustment is 40% for “C101”, 25% for “C102”, 25% for “C103”, and 10% for “C104”. Here, it is assumed that the advertisement performance management information 35a reflecting the advertisement performance information 51 received from the electronic book terminal 2 is in a state as shown in FIG.

  First, the display probability adjusting unit 22 determines whether there is a campaign for adjusting the display probability 326 (S801). Here, the achievement degrees of the campaign IDs 312 “C101” to “C103” are 91%, 60%, and 20%, respectively. Here, if the threshold value of the degree of achievement is “90%”, the degree of arrival of “C101” exceeds the threshold value (YES in S801). Therefore, “C101” is extracted as a campaign for adjusting the display probability 326. Note that the display probability 326 is adjusted when the degree of reach exceeds the threshold value for the first time, and is not an adjustment target thereafter.

  In “C101”, there are other campaigns “C102”, “C103”, and “C104” that have the same advertising space ID 302 “F101” (YES in S802). Therefore, the display probability 326 of “C101” is adjusted (S803). Adjustment of the display probability 326 of “C101” is performed using the adjustment table 1001. Specifically, the display probability 326 is adjusted from “40%” to “10%”. However, no adjustment is made when the display probability before adjustment is lower than 10%.

  Thereafter, when all adjustments for the adjustment target campaign are completed, the display probabilities 326 of “C102”, “C103”, and “C104” that are campaigns other than the adjustment target are adjusted (S804). Of these, “C104”, whose charging method 323 is the period-designated charging method, does not change the display probability 326 because the charge does not change depending on the number of advertisements displayed.

  For both “C102” and “C103”, the charging probability 326 is adjusted because the charging method 323 is an impression-guaranteed charging method.

  In the processing so far, the display probability 326 of “C101” is determined to be 10%, and the display probability 326 of “C104” is also determined to be 10%. Therefore, the display probabilities 326 of “C102” and “C103” are values obtained by equally dividing 80% obtained by subtracting the total value of the display probabilities 326 of “C101” and “C104” from 100. As a result, the display probabilities 326 of “C102” and “C103” are each 40% as shown in “After adjustment of C101” in FIG.

  And the content of the campaign management information 33 memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 13 is updated to the display probability 326 adjusted in this way (S805).

  Thereafter, when the advertisement performance information 51 is further received and the reach of the campaign ID 312 “C102” exceeds the threshold, the display probability 326 of “C102” is changed from “40%” to “10%”. As a result, the display probability 326 of the campaign ID 312 “C103” is adjusted to 70% as shown in “after C102 adjustment” in FIG.

  After that, when the total display count 344 of the campaign ID 312 “C101” reaches the upper limit count and the distribution ends, the display probability 326 of “C101” becomes 0%. Since “C102” has already been adjusted, the display probability 326 remains 10%, and the display probability 326 of “C103” is 80% as shown in “After the end of C101 distribution” in FIG. Become.

  In the above example, one threshold is used for determining the adjustment target in step S801, and the uniform display probability value is used as the adjusted display probability in step S803. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A configuration may be adopted in which the display probability is adjusted in stages as the degree of achievement increases. For example, the display probability adjusting unit 22 may determine the corresponding display probability as the adjusted display probability each time the degree of achievement exceeds each threshold using the adjustment table 1001 shown in FIG. Good.

  In addition, when there are a plurality of campaigns whose reach has exceeded the threshold, the above process may be performed in descending order of reach.

(Second processing method)
Next, another processing method for adjusting the display probability will be described. In the first processing method described above, a threshold set in advance is used for determining the adjustment target in step S801, and a display probability value set in advance is used as the display probability after adjustment in step S803. The method is to determine these values dynamically.

  Specifically, as shown in the advertisement performance management information 35b in FIG. 9B, the display probability adjusting unit 22 displays the total display per predetermined period with the current display probability in addition to the total display count of each campaign. The average increase (average value) of the number of times is calculated and held. Here, advertisement performance information 51 is transmitted from each electronic book terminal 2 at a frequency of once a day, and the average increase in the total number of display times per day is calculated.

  Then, using the value of the average increase amount 346, it is determined whether there is a campaign to be adjusted (S801). More specifically, when the value of (upper limit number 343) − (total number of display times 344) is an approach value (approach degree), and this approach value is smaller than the average increase amount 346 (approach value <average increase amount 346) ), The campaign to be adjusted.

  This is because, when the approach value becomes smaller than the average increase amount 346, there is a high possibility that the total display count 344 will exceed the upper limit count 343 in the next day.

  This will be described with reference to the example shown in FIG. As shown in the advertisement performance management information 35b, the average increase amount 346 of the total number of display times per day for the campaign ID 312 “C101” whose display probability 326 is 40% is 700 times. On the other hand, the upper limit number 343 of the campaign ID 312 “C101” is 10,000 times, and the total display number 344 is 9800 times. And if it progresses at the same pace as it is, the total display number 344 will be 10500 times in the next day, and will exceed the upper limit number 343. Therefore, the value (200 times) of (upper limit number 343 “10000 times”) − (total number of display times 344 “9800 times”) is set as the approach value, and this approach value is smaller than the average increase amount 346 “700 times”. In this case, the display probability 326 of the campaign is the adjustment target.

  In step S803, the adjusted display probability is calculated based on the approach value and the average increase amount. Specifically, it is calculated by (original display probability) × (approach value / average increase amount). In the case of the campaign ID 312 “C101”, it is adjusted to 40% × (200 times / 700 times) ≈11%. According to this calculation formula, the adjusted display probability can be expected to increase so that the total number of displays in the next day is approximately the upper limit.

  Subsequent processing is the same as in the first processing method.

  Thus, when the display probability of each campaign is adjusted, thereafter, the average increase amount per day from the adjustment time is calculated and used for the determination in step S801. This is because when the display probability is adjusted, the average increase amount also changes, so that the average increase amount until then is not helpful.

  In the method described above, the average increase amount is calculated every day, but is not limited thereto. For example, the average increase amount may be calculated separately for weekdays and holidays, and the average increase amount to be compared with the approach value may be properly used depending on whether the next day is a weekday or a holiday. Further, the average increase amount may be calculated separately for each time zone such as morning and evening.

  As described above, by adjusting the display probability of the campaign in which the total number of display times is close to the upper limit number, the total display number can be made to reach the upper limit number at a moderate increase rate. Therefore, the number of times of display exceeding the upper limit number can be suppressed as compared with before the display probability is adjusted. Furthermore, since the display probability of other campaigns is relatively increased by the adjustment, it is possible to suppress the loss of the media owner's revenue opportunity and increase the opportunities for displaying the advertisements of other advertisers.

[Embodiment 2]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those shown in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and explanation thereof is omitted. FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the electronic book terminal 2 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of the campaign management information 33 acquisition process.

  In the present embodiment, the difference from the first embodiment is that, as shown in FIG. 19, the display probability that the electronic book terminal 2 acquires and updates the campaign management information 33 from the advertisement management server 1 in the advertisement display process. The update unit (communication enabled state determination means) 45 is provided.

  As illustrated in FIG. 20, first, the advertisement selection unit 43 of the electronic book terminal 2 extracts an advertisement space ID 302 to be displayed (S501 in FIG. 12). Thereafter, the information of the extracted advertising space ID 302 is transmitted to the display probability update unit 45.

  The display probability update unit 45 first determines whether or not the electronic book terminal 2 is online (S1101). If it is not online (NO in S1101), the process is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S502 in FIG.

  On the other hand, in the online state (YES in S1101), the display probability update unit 45 transmits the received information on the advertisement space ID 302 to the advertisement management server 1 (S1102).

  The management information processing unit 11 of the advertisement management server 1 extracts the campaign ID 312 and the campaign management information 33 corresponding to the received advertisement space ID 302 from the storage unit 13 (S1103), and transmits them to the electronic book terminal 2 (S1104).

  The display probability update unit 45 of the electronic book terminal 2 uses the received campaign management information 33 to update the campaign management information 33 stored in the storage unit 26 (S1105), and ends the display probability update process. In step S1102, the display probability update unit 45 also transmits the update date and time of the management information stored in the storage unit 26 to the advertisement management server 1, and acquires data only when the management information has been updated. The amount of communication data can also be reduced.

  As described above, when the campaign and the advertisement to be displayed in the advertisement space are selected and the electronic book terminal 2 is in the online state, the campaign management information 33 including the display probability 326 is updated, so that the advance advertisement acquisition process can be performed. It is possible to select an advertisement according to the latest situation such as a case where the display probability 326 has been adjusted from the point in time or a campaign that has already been distributed. Therefore, the frequency | count that an advertisement is displayed exceeding an upper limit frequency can be suppressed less.

  In addition, since the advertisement data itself can be obtained by the advertisement acquisition process in advance, unlike the online advertisement system, the amount of communication data can be suppressed very small. Furthermore, the user's waiting time due to the advertisement display can be kept short at the time of user operation such as page movement of the electronic book.

  Moreover, even if the advertiser wants to stop displaying the advertisement immediately for some reason, it can cope with it.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and the embodiments can be obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. The form is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

(Configuration by software)
Finally, each block of the advertisement management server 1, the electronic book terminal 2, and the advertisement distribution server 3, in particular, the management information processing unit 11, the result processing unit 12 (the result totaling unit 21, the display probability adjusting unit 22), the control unit 25 ( The advertisement processing unit 41 (advertisement selection unit 43, advertisement performance processing unit 44), electronic book processing unit 42), advertisement submission management unit 61, management information processing unit 62, and advertisement transmission unit 63 are integrated on an integrated circuit (IC chip). It may be realized by hardware by a logic circuit formed in the above, or may be realized by software using a CPU (central processing unit).

  In the latter case, the advertisement management server 1, the electronic book terminal 2, and the advertisement distribution server 3 have a CPU that executes instructions of a control program for realizing each function, a ROM (read only memory) that stores the program, and the program A RAM (random access memory) to be developed, a storage device (recording medium) such as a memory for storing the program and various data, and the like are provided. The object of the present invention is the program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of the control program of the advertisement management server 1, the electronic book terminal 2, and the advertisement distribution server 3, which are software for realizing the functions described above. Is supplied to the above-mentioned advertisement management server 1, electronic book terminal 2, and advertisement distribution server 3, and the computer (or CPU or MPU (microprocessor unit)) records the recording medium on the recording medium. This can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code.

  Examples of the recording medium include tapes such as a magnetic tape and a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk / hard disk, a CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) / MO (magneto-optical) / Disks including optical discs such as MD (Mini Disc) / DVD (digital versatile disk) / CD-R (CD Recordable), cards such as IC cards (including memory cards) / optical cards, mask ROM / EPROM (erasable) Uses semiconductor memory such as programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) / EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable read-only memory) / flash ROM, or logic circuits such as PLD (Programmable logic device) and FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) be able to.

  Further, the advertisement management server 1, the electronic book terminal 2, and the advertisement distribution server 3 may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited as long as it can transmit the program code. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN (local area network), ISDN (integrated services digital network), VAN (value-added network), CATV (community antenna television) communication network, virtual private network (virtual private network), A telephone line network, a mobile communication network, a satellite communication network, etc. can be used. The transmission medium constituting the communication network may be any medium that can transmit the program code, and is not limited to a specific configuration or type. For example, infrared data such as IrDA (infrared data association) or remote control can be used for wired such as IEEE (institute of electrical and electronic engineers) 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL (asynchronous digital subscriber loop) line, etc. , Bluetooth (registered trademark), IEEE 802.11 wireless, HDR (high data rate), NFC (Near Field Communication), DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, etc. Is possible. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  In the offline advertisement distribution system, it is possible to prevent the advertisement from being displayed exceeding the upper limit number of times, so that the present invention can be applied to all offline advertisement distribution systems. Further, an advertisement distribution system in which the advertisement display terminal is likely to be disconnected from the network, for example, the advertisement display terminal is suitable for an advertisement distribution system of a mobile terminal.

1 Advertising management server (advertising server)
2 Electronic book terminal (advertising output device)
3 Advertising distribution server (advertising server)
5 Advertising distribution system (advertising control system)
11 Management information processing unit (output probability transmission means)
21 Results tabulation section (output count acquisition means)
22 Display probability adjustment unit (output probability adjustment means, average value calculation means)

Claims (10)

Each of the advertisements included in the advertisement group and the advertisement group in the state in which the advertisement output apparatus can communicate with the advertisement output apparatus that selects and outputs an advertisement output in one output unit from the advertisement group consisting of a plurality of advertisements. An output server for selecting an advertisement to be output with the output probability in the state where communication with the advertisement output device is impossible,
When communication with the above advertisement output device is possible,
An output number acquisition means for acquiring an output number that is the number of times each of the advertisements is output in an output unit of the advertisement output device;
For each of the advertisements, the degree of output indicating how close the output number acquired by the output number acquisition means is close to a predetermined upper limit number of the advertisement is calculated, and the output of the advertisement with the high calculated degree of proximity An output probability adjusting means for reducing the probability;
An advertisement server, comprising: output probability transmission means for transmitting the output probability adjusted by the output probability adjustment means and advertisement identification information indicating an advertisement output with the output probability to the advertisement output device.   2. The advertisement server according to claim 1, wherein the output probability adjusting means sets the ratio of the output count to the upper limit count as the approach degree, and adjusts the output probability when the approach degree exceeds a threshold value.   The advertisement server according to claim 2, wherein there are a plurality of the threshold values, and the output probability adjusting unit adjusts the output probability every time the degree of approach exceeds the threshold value.   4. The advertisement server according to claim 3, wherein the output probability adjustment unit adjusts the output probability in order from an advertisement with the highest degree of approach when there are a plurality of advertisements with the degree of approach exceeding the threshold. 5. . Comprising an average value calculating means for calculating an average value of the increase in the number of output times for each predetermined period in the past,
The output probability adjusting means uses the value obtained by subtracting the output number from the upper limit number as the approach degree, and sets the output probability of an advertisement with the approach degree equal to or less than the average value as a ratio of the approach degree to the average value. The advertisement server according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement server is adjusted to a value obtained by multiplying the output probability before adjustment. A storage unit for storing advertisements to be transmitted to the advertisement output device;
The advertisement output which acquired the advertisement identification information which shows the advertisement output with the output probability and the output probability from the advertisement server according to any one of claims 1 to 5, and transmits the advertisement transmitted to the advertisement output device. The advertisement selection device, wherein the advertisement is selected from the storage unit and the selected advertisement is transmitted to the advertisement output device.   An advertisement control system including the advertisement server according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and an advertisement output device that acquires an advertisement and an output probability of the advertisement from the advertisement server.   An advertisement server control program for operating the advertisement server according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the advertisement server control program causes a computer to function as each of the above means.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the advertisement server control program according to claim 8 is recorded. Each of the advertisements included in the advertisement group and the advertisement group in the state in which the advertisement output apparatus can communicate with the advertisement output apparatus that selects and outputs an advertisement output in one output unit from the advertisement group consisting of a plurality of advertisements. The advertisement server control method in the offline advertising system that selects the advertisement that the advertisement output device outputs with the output probability in a state where the output probability is transmitted and the advertisement output device cannot communicate with the advertisement output device,
When communication with the above advertisement output device is possible,
An output number acquisition step of acquiring an output number that is the number of times each of the advertisements has been output in the output unit of the advertisement output device;
For each of the advertisements, the degree of output indicating how close the output number acquired in the output number acquisition step is close to the predetermined upper limit number of the advertisement is calculated, and the output of the advertisement with the calculated high degree of approach is calculated An output probability adjustment step for reducing the probability;
An output probability transmission step of transmitting the output probability adjusted in the output probability adjustment step and the advertisement identification information indicating the advertisement output with the output probability to the advertisement output device; .

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