JP2012141782A - Knowledge search system and reward application method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a knowledge search system equipped with a mechanism for enhancing the incentive of an answerer by cooperating with an affiliate program in a knowledge search service in a Q&A format for improving the volume and quality of answers to a question.SOLUTION: In a knowledge search system of the present invention, a knowledge search server includes: acceptance means for accepting a question including advertisements and answers; storage means for storing the question and the answers in association; specification means for specifying one answer as the best answer; and transmission means for transmitting information of an answerer of the answer specified as the best answer to an affiliate server. The affiliate server includes: storage means for storing an affiliate reward sum to be paid to a questioner on the basis of the advertisements included in the question; and calculation means for, when receiving the information of the answerer from the knowledge search server, calculating a best answer reward sum to be paid to the answerer on the basis of the affiliate reward sum.

Description

  The present invention relates to a knowledge search system and a reward granting method.

  In recent Internet advertisements, affiliate programs that are reward-type advertisements are widely known. Website visitors purchase the advertiser's products and services, etc. through advertisements installed on the website that serves as the advertising medium, and to the website operator (or administrator) according to the profits obtained from the purchase. , An advertising form in which a part of the profit is given as a success fee.

  Website operators have made various efforts to encourage website viewers to purchase advertisers' products and services, etc., in order to obtain more success fees. For example, handling an advertisement for a product related to the theme (topic) of a website is highly likely to be a product that matches the taste of a visitor who has visited the website. In addition, by handling advertisements of products purchased on the blog, etc. along with comments on the products purchased by the user, it encourages viewers to purchase.

  On the other hand, a knowledge search service in Q & A (Question and Answer) format is known as one of the Internet communities. It is a community service where users can share knowledge and wisdom on the electronic bulletin board of the website using Q & A. The questioner posts the question Q or what he / she wants to ask other people as a question Q, and another user posts an answer A to the question Q.

  Usually, such a Q & A-type knowledge search service has a point (contribution), and when a question is made or an answer is given, the user is given a point. There are also grades (titles) given according to points.

  Points are awarded, especially when the best answer (best answer) is selected from a plurality of answers. There are various selection methods. For example, the question answerer himself / herself in question Q selects the best answer that he / she thinks, and for example, the answer A that many viewers think is excellent by voting by the viewer is the best answer.

  In the knowledge search service, by introducing such a point system, users are encouraged to use and participate in Q & A, and in particular, depending on the best answer system, they are devised to obtain high-quality answers from respondents. Yes.

  As a technique related to these, Patent Literature 1 describes a system (help desk) that collects useful answers by giving a point to an answerer by a questioner. Patent Document 2 describes a knowledge search device that can improve the user interface and the quality of answers when selecting a best answer in a Q & A database.

JP 2007-058360 A JP 2005-302000 A

  However, the point system in the conventional knowledge search service encourages users to use / participate a certain amount, but it is only a fictitious point or a fictitious grade. There was an aspect that could not be said to be an incentive to obtain. In other words, under the conventional point system, the knowledge search service was largely answered and operated by respondent volunteers.

  The present invention has been proposed in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to provide a mechanism for increasing the incentive of respondents by linking with an affiliate program in a knowledge search service in a Q & A format. It is an object of the present invention to provide a knowledge search system and a reward granting method that improve the quantity and quality of answers to questions.

  In order to achieve the above object, a knowledge search system according to the present invention is a knowledge search system in which a knowledge search server, an affiliate server, and a user terminal are connected via a network. Among the answers, a question including an advertisement from the questioner's terminal, a receiving means for receiving the answer from the answerer's terminal for the question, a storage means that stores and manages the question and the answer in association with each other, A means for specifying one answer as a best answer, and a sending means for transmitting information of the respondent of the answer specified as the best answer to an affiliate server, wherein the affiliate server includes an advertisement included in the question. Based on the storage means for storing the affiliate reward amount to be paid to the questioner, and the information on the respondent is received from the knowledge search server. , Based on the Affiliate remuneration, characterized in that it comprises a calculating means for calculating a best answer remuneration paid to the respondent.

  In addition, in order to achieve the above object, in the knowledge search system, when the storage unit receives a response from the respondent's terminal for the question when the predetermined condition is satisfied, the storage unit includes a predetermined BA together with the response. The remuneration rate surplus rate is stored and managed in association with each other, and the transmission means transmits the predetermined BA remuneration rate surplus rate to the affiliate server together with the information of the respondent, and the calculation means adds the affiliate remuneration amount to the affiliate remuneration amount. On the other hand, a best answer reward amount to be paid to the respondent is calculated by multiplying a predetermined BA reward rate by a BA reward rate obtained by adding the predetermined BA reward rate additional rate.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the knowledge search system, the predetermined condition is that the number of answers accepted for a question is equal to or less than a predetermined number, or answers accepted in a category to which the question belongs. It is a condition that the total number is less than or equal to a predetermined number.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the knowledge search system, the knowledge search server includes a user evaluation unit that provides an evaluation value to the respondent and stores the evaluation value for each respondent, The condition is characterized in that the evaluation value of the respondent who has made an accepted answer to the question is a condition that is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the knowledge search system, the predetermined condition is a condition that a reception time of an answer received for a question is before a predetermined time has elapsed from a reception time when the question is received It is characterized by being.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the knowledge search system, the predetermined BA reward rate is a value arbitrarily designated by a questioner or a predetermined value. .

  In order to achieve the above object, in the knowledge search system, the knowledge search server and the affiliate server are servers constructed in one server.

  In addition, what applied the arbitrary combination of the component of this invention, expression, or a component to a method, an apparatus, a system, a computer program, a recording medium, etc. is also effective as an aspect of this invention.

  According to the present invention, in a knowledge search service in a Q & A format, a knowledge search system and a reward granting system that improve the amount and quality of answers to a question by providing a mechanism for increasing the incentive of respondents by cooperating with an affiliate program A method can be provided.

It is a network block diagram concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the knowledge search server 1 and the affiliate server 2. FIG. It is a functional block diagram which shows the main functions of one Embodiment of the knowledge search system 100 which concerns on this embodiment. An example of advertising product DB22 is shown. An example of Q & ADB12 is shown. An example of the question Q is shown. An example of affiliate DB23 (the 1) is shown. An example of reward DB25 is shown. It is a sequence diagram explaining a Q & A posting process. It is a sequence diagram explaining the contract processing of advertising goods. It is a sequence diagram explaining BA specification and the calculation process of a reward. An example (part 2) of the Q & ADB 12 is shown.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Overview]
In this embodiment, the questioner of the knowledge search service in the Q & A format is an affiliate program participant. Therefore, if the website viewer purchases the advertiser's products (including products, services, etc., but will be referred to simply as products below) through advertisements installed on the website (advertisement medium) operated by him / her, the success fee As part of that benefit.

  Here, the questioner uses the Q & A format knowledge search service and posts the question Q on the electronic bulletin board [YJ1] provided by the website that operates the Q & A format knowledge search service. At this time, it is assumed that the question Q is a question regarding a product (product A). For example, if the product A is game software, a method of enjoying the game, a strategy method, and the like are posted as question contents. At the same time, the questioner installs an advertisement for the product A in the posted content of the question Q. The advertisement placement method depends on the affiliate program. For example, a hyperlink is added to the term “product A” in the question context, or if there is an image of “product A”, a hyperlink is added to the image. Needless to say, the link includes information on an identifier (such as an ID) for identifying the affiliate program participant so that the purchase contract can be tracked from which website.

  On the other hand, the respondent posts an answer A to the question Q. In most cases, multiple answers A are posted sequentially over time. At a certain time, the best answer A among the plurality of answers A is selected (determined) as the best answer. At this point, since a plurality of answers A to the question Q have been posted and the best answer has been selected, it can be said that the question Q has been closed for the time being.

  On the other hand, for example, a user (a third party other than the questioner and the respondent) has the same question as the question Q when viewing the posting history of the questioner Q and the answerer A of the respondent on the electronic bulletin board. If you do, you can almost resolve your own questions. Some users may see various posting histories from their interests. Here, while a certain user is viewing the posting history of the question Q and the answer A, the user becomes interested in the product A that is the subject of the question, and the advertisement of the product A in the posting of the question Q Purchases the product A of the advertiser. In this case, the questioner who is also an affiliate program participant is given a part of the profit as a success fee.

  In the present embodiment, a system is introduced that distributes (returns) a predetermined amount of the success fee to the respondents selected as the best answer among the success fees obtained by the questioner who is also an affiliate program participant. To do. In other words, respondents (especially respondents who made the best answer) are distributed with a certain amount of success fees generated by purchasing advertising products, rather than the conventional points and grades. Introduce a mechanism to increase incentives.

  In this way, by increasing the incentives of respondents, it is expected that many answers will be posted and that higher quality answers will be posted. Thereby, in the Q & A format knowledge search service, it is possible to enhance the posting of the answer A to the question Q on the electronic bulletin board.

  Another aspect is that by increasing the incentives of respondents, more answers are posted and higher-quality answers are posted, which facilitates the viewing of third-party users, Can increase the probability of purchasing advertising products and services, and the closing rate. In this case, the questioner who is also an affiliate program participant can get more profit as a success fee. In addition, a predetermined amount of success fee is distributed (returned) to the respondent who made the best answer.

  This will be described in detail below.

[System configuration]
(Network configuration)
First, a network configuration for carrying out the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a network configuration diagram according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, in the knowledge search system 100 according to the present embodiment, a knowledge search server 1, an affiliate server 2, a questioner's terminal 3, and a respondent's terminal 4 are connected via a network 5 such as the Internet. ing.

  As described above, the knowledge search server 1 is a server that provides a community service for knowledge search in which users share knowledge and wisdom in a Q & A manner on an electronic bulletin board of a website. The questioner posts the question Q on the electronic bulletin board of the website of the knowledge search server 1 as a question Q and what other people want to ask, and other users post an answer A to the question Q. To do.

  The affiliate server 2 is a server that provides affiliate advertisements and manages and manages affiliate programs in Internet advertisements. Based on affiliate advertisements, when a website visitor purchases an advertiser's products or services, etc., a success fee is paid to the website operator (or administrator, affiliate program participant) according to the profits obtained from the purchase. Is managing.

  The questioner's terminal 3 and the respondent's terminal 4 are both user terminals (for example, PCs) for using the knowledge search service. For convenience of explanation, the questioner's terminal 3 and the respondent's terminal 4 are separated.

(Hardware configuration)
Here, the hardware configuration of the knowledge search server 1 and the affiliate server 2 according to the present embodiment will be briefly described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the knowledge search server 1 and the affiliate server 2.

  In FIG. 2, the knowledge search server 1 and the affiliate server 2 include a CPU 112, a ROM 113, a RAM 114, a NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory) 115, an I / F (Interface) 116, and an I / F 116 connected to a system bus 111. And an I / O (Input / Output Device) 117 such as a keyboard, mouse, monitor, CD / DVD (Compact Disk / Digital Versatile Disk) drive, HDD 118, and NIC (Network Interface Card) 119. M is a medium (recording medium) such as a CD / DVD in which a program or data is stored.

  Each device does not need to be configured as a single computer device, and may be a composite device including a plurality of computer devices. The terminals 3 and 4 can be configured by a general PC including a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, and can be realized by a hardware configuration similar to that shown in FIG.

(Functional configuration)
Next, the main functional configuration of each device in the knowledge search system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing main functions of one embodiment of the knowledge search system 100 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in the figure, the knowledge search server 1 has a Q & A reception unit 11, a Q & ADB (storage unit) 12, a BA specifying unit 13, and a BA respondent transmission unit 14 as main functions.

  The Q & A accepting unit 11 accepts a question Q including an advertisement from the questioner's terminal 3 and an answer A from the respondent's terminal 4 to the question. Specifically, when the question Q is received from the questioner, the question Q is uploaded on the electronic bulletin board, and when the respondent who has viewed the question Q receives the answer A to the question, the question is answered on the electronic bulletin board. Correspond to Q and up.

  The Q & ADB (storage unit) 12 is a Q & ADB (database) that stores and manages the uploaded question Q and the answer A to the question Q in association with each other. An answer A (s) is associated with one question Q and managed. A specific example of the Q & ADB 12 will be described later.

  The BA specifying unit 13 specifies one answer A as a best answer from one or a plurality of answers A of the Q & ADB 12. The identification method can be various as described above, but in this embodiment, the questioner himself / herself of the question Q selects the best answer that he / she thinks. That is, the BA specifying unit 13 specifies the best answer based on the information related to one answer A input as the best answer by the BA input unit 33 of the terminal 3.

  The BA respondent transmission unit 14 transmits information of the respondent who has been identified as the best answer by the BA specifying unit 13 to the affiliate server 2.

  Next, the affiliate server 2 has an affiliate management unit 21, a product DB 22, an affiliate DB 23, a reward amount determination unit 24, and a reward amount DB 25 as main functions.

  The affiliate management unit 21 [YJ2] is a functional unit that generally manages and manages affiliate programs. Based on the advertisement contained in the affiliate question Q, the contract history (purchase history) and the affiliate reward amount to be paid to the questioner are managed and recorded in the affiliate DB 23.

  The advertisement product DB 22 is a DB that holds advertisement data of affiliate advertisement products. A specific example of the product DB 22 will be described later.

  The affiliate DB 23 is a DB in which the contract history of the advertising product, the affiliate reward amount for the affiliate program participant (questioner in the present embodiment), and the like are recorded. A specific example of the affiliate DB 23 will be described later.

  When receiving the information of the respondent from the knowledge search server 1, the reward amount determination unit 24 pays the respondent who has made the best answer based on the affiliate reward amount for the affiliate program participant (the questioner in this embodiment). Calculate the answer fee. The best answer reward is calculated by a predetermined method, which will be described later.

  The reward amount (details) DB 25 is a DB in which rewards for affiliate program participants and the best answer reward amount calculated by the reward amount determination unit 24 are stored. This reward is paid as a reward to affiliate program participants and respondents who have made best answers.

  Next, the terminal 3 includes an advertisement product selection unit 31, a Q posting unit 32, and a BA input unit 33 as main functions.

  The advertising product selection unit 31 is a functional unit that accesses the advertising product DB 22 and selects an advertising product as an advertisement when an affiliate program participant embeds an advertisement in a web page (question Q is also a form of web page). .

  The Q posting unit 32 posts the question Q to the knowledge search server 1. Specifically, the questioner creates a question Q including an advertisement and uploads it on the electronic bulletin board on the website of the knowledge search server 1.

  The BA input unit 33 identifies one answer A as the best answer from one or more answers A of the Q & ADB 12. Specifically, the questioner accesses the Q & ADB 12 and identifies (determines) one answer A that is considered to be the best answer from the answers A to the question Q that he / she asked.

  Next, the terminal 4 has an A posting unit 41 as a main function.

  The A posting unit 41 posts the answer A to the knowledge search server 1. Specifically, the question Q posted by the questioner is browsed, an answer A to the question Q is created, and uploaded on the electronic bulletin board of the knowledge search server 1.

  These functions are actually realized by a computer by a program executed by the CPU of each device.

  Although the functions of the knowledge search server 1 and the affiliate server 2 have been described separately, it is possible to construct both servers as one server. In this case, the functions of both the above-described servers may be provided in that one server. In this case, since it is one server, it goes without saying that the BA respondent transmission unit 14 can be omitted.

(Advertisement product DB 22)
FIG. 4 shows an example of the advertisement product DB 22. The advertisement product DB 22 is a DB that is referred to when an affiliate program participant embeds an advertisement in a website (for example, the question Q) and holds information about the advertisement product. As shown in the figure, the advertisement product DB 22 stores information such as “product ID”, “product information”, “price”, “reward rate”, “advertisement data”, and the like.

  “Product ID” indicates a product identifier uniquely given to each product for management. “Product information” is explanation information of the product or information on advertising product appeal points. “Price” indicates the sales price of the product, and “Reward rate” indicates the rate of compensation for the sales price paid to the affiliate program participant when the product is closed. “Advertisement data” indicates advertisement data (link information) in which an affiliate program participant embeds an advertisement in a website (for example, question Q). In the advertisement data, the parameter ID 1 is the product ID of the advertisement product, ID 2 is the affiliate ID given to the affiliate program participant, and ID 3 is the question ID (question number) to be posted. The question ID (question number) may be automatically numbered and input by the knowledge search server 1 after the question Q is posted.

(Q & ADB12)
FIG. 5 shows an example of the Q & ADB 12. The Q & ADB 12 is a Q & ADB (database) that stores and manages the uploaded question Q and the answer A to the question Q in association with each other. As shown in the drawing, (a) of Q & ADB 12 stores information such as “Q_ID”, “post data”, “post date / time”, “user ID”, “affiliate user ID”, and the like.

  “Q_ID” is a question ID of the questioner, and indicates a question identifier uniquely given to each question for management. “Posted data” indicates posted content (question content). “Posted date and time” indicates the date and time (date and time) when the question was posted. “User ID” indicates a user ID of a questioner given as a user on the knowledge search service. “Affiliate user ID” indicates a user ID given to an affiliate program participant. It is acquired from the advertisement data, or input when a question Q is posted separately. In this embodiment, the questioner is also an affiliate program participant, and therefore has two IDs, “user ID” and “affiliate user ID”.

  Also, (b) of Q & ADB 12 is information held for each “Q_ID” of (a). That is, the answer information is the answer to one question (“Q_ID”) made by the questioner. (B) of the Q & ADB 12 stores information such as “Q_ID”, “A_ID”, “post data”, “post date / time”, “user ID”, “BA”, and the like.

  “Q_ID” corresponds to the question identifier of (a). In this example, since “Q_ID” is an answer, all “Q_ID” is Q001. “A_ID” indicates an answer identifier uniquely given to each question for management. “Posted data” indicates post content (response content). “Posted date / time” indicates the date and time when the answer was posted. “User ID” indicates the user ID of the respondent given as a user on the knowledge search service. “BA” indicates a best answer by a flag “1”. For example, a flag “1” is set for one answer identified as the best answer.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the question Q. In this case, a questioner who is “user1111” posted a question whose question ID “Q_ID” is Q001. In addition, “Role Playing XX Game” in the post data corresponds to an advertisement, and hyperlink information “http: //.../? ID1 = X001? ID2 = user0123? ID3 = Q001” is embedded. . Here, “X001” is the product ID of the game software, “user0123” is the affiliate user ID, and “Q001” is the question identifier of the question Q. These parameters are embedded in the link information, and can be grasped on the affiliate server 2 side (affiliate DB 23) when the advertising product is purchased based on the advertisement. In other words, it tracks which products were purchased on which websites and which affiliate program participants contributed.

  When a user who has viewed the question Q clicks on the advertisement, that is, clicks on the link information "http: //.../? ID1 = X001? ID2 = user0123? ID3 = Q001", the advertisement product site "http: // Jump to “・ /”. When a user purchases a product on this site, a contract (purchase) is notified to the affiliate server 2, and at this time, the affiliate information “ID1 = X001”, “ID2 = user0123”, “ID3 = Q001” "Is passed.

(Affiliate DB23)
FIG. 7 shows an example of the affiliate DB 23 (part 1). The affiliate DB 23 is a DB in which the contract history (purchase history) of the advertising product, the affiliate reward amount for the affiliate program participant, and the like are recorded. As shown in the figure, the affiliate DB 23 has information such as “contract ID”, “contract date / time”, “product ID”, “affiliate user ID”, “Q_ID”, “reward amount”, “BA remuneration amount”, and the like. Stored.

  The “contract ID” indicates a contract identifier uniquely given to each contract for management purposes. The “contract date and time” indicates the date and time when the product was contracted (purchased). “Product ID” indicates the product identifier of the product that has been closed. “Affiliate user ID” indicates the user ID of the affiliate program participant of the website on which the advertisement of the contracted product was posted. “Q_ID” indicates a question ID which is a question identifier of a question which is a website on which an advertisement for a contracted product is posted. “Remuneration amount” indicates the amount of remuneration for affiliate program participants. For example, an amount obtained by multiplying the price of the product by a predetermined reward rate is the amount of reward. “BA reward amount” (best answer reward amount) indicates the reward amount to the respondent who made the answer identified as the best answer. For example, the BA reward amount is obtained by multiplying the reward amount to the affiliate program participant by a predetermined reward rate.

(Reward DB 25)
FIG. 8 shows an example of the reward DB 25. The reward DB 25 is a DB that is obtained by counting the affiliate DB 23 and stores the reward for the affiliate program participant and the best answer reward calculated by the reward amount determination unit 24. This reward is paid as a reward to affiliate program participants and respondents who have made best answers.

  As shown in the figure, the reward DB 25 includes information such as “contract ID”, “contract date / time”, “product ID”, “affiliate user ID”, “Q_ID”, “reward amount”, “BA reward amount”, and the like. Stored. Since it is extracted from the affiliate DB 23, it is the same as the affiliate DB 23, but in addition to this, information of the final reward amount collected is held.

  Reference is made to FIG. (A) is a record / line where the affiliate user ID of the affiliate DB 23 is “user0123”, and shows the amount of compensation for the affiliate program participant whose affiliate user ID is “user0123”. Looking at the contract IDs “S001” and “S201”, two purchases of the product ID “X001” were concluded by the advertisement of the product ID “X001” installed in the question (website) having the Q_ID “Q001”. I understand that. Also, when looking at the contract ID “S004”, it is understood that one purchase of the product ID “X142” has been closed by the advertisement of the product ID “X142” set in the question (website) whose Q_ID is “Q025”. . The total reward for these three affiliate program participants is “340 (yen)” 801, and the total reward for the respondent who made the best answer is “130 (yen)” 802. By dividing this amount, the final reward amount for the affiliate program participant is calculated as “210 (yen)” 803.

  Reference is made to FIG. (B) is a record / line where the Q_ID of the affiliate DB 23 is “Q001”, and the reward amount to the user ID “user0010” who is the answerer who made the best answer to the question with the Q_ID “Q001” Indicates. Looking at the contract IDs “S001” and “S201”, two purchases of the product ID “X001” were concluded by the advertisement of the product ID “X001” installed in the question (website) having the Q_ID “Q001”. I understand that. The final BA reward amount for the user ID “user0010” who made the best answer to the question whose Q_ID is “Q001” is calculated as “80 (yen)” 804.

  These rewards can be referred to from the user management screen of the affiliate server 2 or the like. For example, the “user0123” who is an affiliate program participant can access the affiliate server 2 and check the final reward amount on the affiliate user management screen. On the other hand, there is a possibility that the user ID “user0010” who is the answerer who made the best answer may not be an affiliate program participant. In this case, in cooperation with the knowledge search server 2, the user management screen of the knowledge search server 2 It is good to be able to confirm the final BA reward amount.

[Information processing]
Information processing of the knowledge search system 100 according to the first embodiment will be described. A description will be given along the above-mentioned [Overview] with reference to the drawings.

(Q & A posting)
FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating the Q & A posting process.

  S1: The questioner operates the terminal 3 to access the advertising product DB 22 of the affiliate server 2. The advertisement product selection unit 31 of the terminal 3 refers to the advertisement product DB 22 and selects a product to be advertised.

  S2: The questioner operates the terminal 3, and the Q posting unit 32 of the terminal 3 posts the question Q to the knowledge search server 1. At this time, an advertisement is placed in the question Q (see, for example, FIG. 6).

  S3: When receiving the question Q, the Q & A receiving unit 11 of the knowledge search server 1 registers the question Q in the Q & ADB 12. As shown in FIG. 5A, in addition to the “post data”, the question Q includes “Q_ID”, “post date / time”, “user ID” of the questioner, “affiliate user ID” of the questioner, and the like. Are also stored together.

  S4: Meanwhile, the respondent operates the terminal 4 and browses the question Q of the knowledge search server 1.

  S5: The respondent operates the terminal 4, and the A posting unit 41 of the terminal 4 posts the answer A to the knowledge search server 1 [YJ3].

  S6: When receiving the answer A, the Q & A receiving unit 11 of the knowledge search server 1 registers the answer A (s) in association with the question Q in the Q & ADB 12. As shown in FIG. 5B, in addition to the “post data”, the question Q includes information such as “Q_ID”, “A_ID”, “post date”, and “user ID” of the respondent. Stored.

(Sale of advertising products)
FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining the contract processing of the advertising product.

  S11: A general arbitrary viewer operates the terminal X (arbitrary terminal) and browses the question Q and the answer A of the knowledge search server 1.

  S12: A general viewer operates the terminal X to operate (for example, click) an advertisement installed in the question Q. As described above, since the hyperlink information (for example, see FIG. 6) is embedded in the advertisement, the screen transitions to the advertisement product site Y that is the link destination.

  S13: A general viewer operates the terminal X and purchases an advertising product on the advertising product site Y. Specifically, for example, a product is designated on the advertisement product site Y and a purchase application is made.

  S14: The advertisement product site Y performs a purchase process for the advertisement product. In this purchase process, the advertising product site Y notifies the affiliate server 2 of the contract information of the advertising product. Specifically, as the contract information on which website and which affiliate program participant purchased the contribution, in addition to “contract date and time”, “product ID” (for example, X001) included in the link information is used. Yes, “Affiliate User ID” (for example, user0123), “Q_ID” (for example, Q001), etc. are notified.

  S15: When the affiliate server 2 receives the contract information of the advertisement product from the advertisement product site Y, the affiliate server 2 registers the contract information in the affiliate DB 23 (see, for example, FIG. 7). At the time of registration, the “reward amount” can be calculated and registered by referring to “price” and “reward rate” of the advertisement product DB 22. The “BA reward amount” can be calculated and registered based on the “reward amount” and a predetermined “BA reward rate”. The predetermined “BA reward rate” will be described later.

(BA identification and calculation of reward)
FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram for explaining the BA identification and reward calculation processing.

  S21: The questioner operates the terminal 3 and browses the answer A [YJ4] of the knowledge search server 1.

  S 22: The questioner operates the terminal 3 to select the best answer from the answers A as the best answer, and inputs the answer 1 to the knowledge search server 1 as the best answer. Specifically, the BA input unit 33 of the terminal 3 specifies (determines) one answer A that is considered to be the best answer as the best answer, and inputs the one answer to the knowledge search server 1 as the best answer.

  S23: Upon receiving the best answer input, the BA specifying unit 14 of the knowledge search server 1 sets a flag “BA” in the Q & ADB 12 (see, for example, FIG. 5B).

  S24: Further, when the BA specifying unit 14 of the knowledge search server 1 specifies the best answer, it refers to the record / line in which the “BA” flag 1 of the Q & ADB 122 is set, and the information of the respondent who performed the best answer is displayed. It transmits to the affiliate server 2. At this time, in addition to the “user ID” (for example, Q0010) of the best answer respondent, at least “Q_ID” (for example, Q001) is transmitted as the respondent information.

  S25: When the affiliate server 2 receives the information of the respondent, the affiliate server 2 refers to the affiliate DB 23 and calculates a reward amount. The calculated reward amount is registered in the reward amount DB 25 (see, for example, FIG. 8).

  In particular, in calculating the remuneration amount for the respondent who made the best answer, first, the key “Q_ID” (for example, Q001) of the question Q for which the answerer made the best answer from the record / line of the affiliate DB 23. The contract history based on the question Q that the respondent made the best answer is extracted. Specifically, among the records / lines in the affiliate DB 23 of FIG. 7, there are two records / lines with “Q_ID” of Q001, “contract ID” of A001 and S201. FIG. 8B shows the two extracted cases, and the “final BA reward amount” 804, which is the sum of the “BA reward amount”, is given to the respondent who made the best answer (“user ID”: Q0010). It will be paid against.

[BA reward rate]
In the above-described embodiment, a system is introduced that distributes (returns) a predetermined amount of the success fee to the respondents selected as the best answer among the success fees obtained by the questioner who is also an affiliate program participant. did. This can increase incentives for respondents, so it is expected that many answers will be posted and that higher quality answers will be posted. As a result, in the Q & A-type knowledge search service, the question Q on the electronic bulletin board To answer A can be improved.

  Here, the BA reward rate will be mentioned. The BA reward rate is determined in advance as a standard BA reward rate. The standard BA reward rate can be set uniformly by the knowledge search service provider, or the questioner (affiliate program participant) can determine the standard BA reward rate each time. For example, referring to FIG. 8B again, with the contract IDs “S001” and “S201”, the reward amount to the affiliate program participant is 120 yen, whereas the BA reward amount is 40 yen. This is because in this example, the standard BA reward rate is set to 33%. Note that the standard BA reward rate is determined as follows when the following predetermined conditions are satisfied in order to further enhance the posting of answers.

(Volume collateral)
The BA reward rate is set higher as the number of answers posted to the question is smaller. Alternatively, the smaller the number of answers posted in the category to which the question belongs, the higher it is set.

  If the number of responses is small, there are several possible causes. For example, when the answer is difficult (there are few people who can answer), or when the question itself is unattractive. Aside from the latter, in the case of the former, the smaller the number of answers posted to a question, the higher the BA reward rate, so that it is possible to attract knowledgeable respondents and increase the amount of answers. The search service posting can be enhanced.

  In addition, in some categories (fields), there are fields in which the number of posted responses is substantial, while in other fields, the number of posted responses is small across the questions in the category. It seems that few people can answer in a specific field. Accordingly, the BA reward rate is set higher as the number of answers posted in the category to which the question belongs (for example, see the upper left category in FIG. 6), thereby attracting knowledgeable respondents and increasing the amount of answers. Therefore, it is possible to enhance the posting of knowledge search services.

  Specifically, when the number of answers is less than a predetermined number, or when the number of answers per question unit in a category is less than the predetermined number, a BA reward rate of, for example, a predetermined percentage is added to the standard BA reward rate. . On the electronic bulletin board or the like, for example, a message such as “Currently answering this question and selecting the best answer will add 3% to the standard BA reward rate.”

(Quality guarantee)
The BA reward rate is determined according to user evaluation for a user (answerer) who posts an answer. Generally, a mechanism for evaluating each other's users (user evaluation means) is known on community sites. Therefore, users who make high-quality questions and answers are given high evaluations (evaluation values) by other users, so for users with such high user evaluations, the BA reward rate is By setting it high, the quality of the answer can be improved, so that the posting of the knowledge search service can be enhanced.

  Specifically, when the user evaluation of the respondent is not less than a predetermined value, for example, a predetermined BA reward rate is added to the standard BA reward rate. And on the user management screen and notifications, for example, “You are a user evaluation A, so if you are selected as the best answer, a 3% BA reward rate will be added to the standard BA reward rate.” Do.

  Moreover, you may determine BA reward rate according to the user evaluation with respect to an answer. For example, a BA reward rate of a predetermined percentage is added to the answer using a mechanism that enables evaluation from other users such as “Useful!”.

(Securing speed)
The BA reward rate is set higher as the elapsed time after the question is posted is shorter. This is to encourage prompt answers. As a result, the respondent responds as soon as possible, so the posting of the knowledge search service can be enhanced.

  Specifically, if the question is within a predetermined elapsed time since the question was posted, a BA reward rate of, for example, a predetermined percentage is added to the standard BA reward rate. On the electronic bulletin board or the like, for example, a message such as “Currently answering this question and selecting the best answer will add 3% to the standard BA reward rate.” Further, for example, it is possible to provide a step in the elapsed time such as 3% within 1 hour, 2% within 2 hours, 1% within 1 hour, and the like.

(Example)
FIG. 12 shows an example (part 2) of the Q & ADB 12. Compared to FIG. 5, an item “standard BA reward rate” is added to FIG. 12A, and an item “BA reward addition rate” is added to FIG. 12B. When the standard BA reward rate is uniform (fixed), the value of the standard BA reward rate may be held on the affiliate server 2 side as shown in FIG. 7, but the BA reward rate depends on the situation as in the above example. Is added, a mechanism is also required on the knowledge search server 1 side.

  Here, a case where “the BA reward rate is set higher as the number of answers posted to a question is smaller” will be described with reference to the drawing. The questioner designates the standard BA reward rate when posting the question Q. If not specified, the standard BA reward rate will be used. When receiving the question Q from the questioner, the Q & A receiving unit 11 of the knowledge search server 1 registers the question Q in the Q & ADB 12 (S3 in FIG. 9, FIG. 12A). In addition to “post data” and the like for the question Q, when the questioner specifies a standard BA reward rate, the standard BA reward rate is held in the “standard BA reward rate” of the Q & ADB 12. On the other hand, when the standard BA reward rate is not specified, it is blank (the prescribed standard BA reward rate is applied).

  After posting the question Q, the knowledge search server 1 always knows the number of answers to the question Q. When the number of responses is less than the prescribed number, on the electronic bulletin board, etc., “If you answer this question and are selected as the best answer, a 3% BA reward rate will be added to the standard BA reward rate.” Is displayed. When an answer is made by the respondent during the display, 3% addition is recorded for the answer at the “BA reward addition rate”.

  When receiving the answer A from the respondent, the Q & A receiving unit 11 of the knowledge search server 1 registers the answer A in association with the question Q in the Q & ADB 12 (S6 in FIG. 9, FIG. 12B). In response A, in addition to “post data” and the like, the BA reward rate addition rate is held in the “BA reward addition rate” of Q & ADB12.

  Referring to FIG. 12, when “Q_ID” is a question of Q001, the questioner does not designate a standard BA reward rate, and for an answer of “A_ID” of A002 and A003, a predetermined number of answers Since it was answered at the following time point, the BA reward rate surplus rate is 3%. At this point, since BA has not yet been selected, “BA” in the figure is parenthesized (1).

  Thereafter, when the best answer is selected and identified (S22 and S23 in FIG. 11), the BA identifying unit 14 of the knowledge search server 1 refers to the record / line in which the flag “BA” of the Q & ADB 122 is set, The information of the respondent who made the best answer is transmitted to the affiliate server 2 (S24 in FIG. 11). At this time, the respondent's information includes “user ID” (for example, Q0010), “ In addition to “Q_ID” (for example, Q001), the values of “standard BA reward rate” and “BA reward extra rate” are also transmitted.

  When the affiliate server 2 receives the information of the respondent, the affiliate server 2 refers to the affiliate DB 23 and calculates a reward amount. The calculated reward amount is registered in the reward amount DB 25 (S25 in FIG. 11).

  In calculating the remuneration amount for the respondent who made the best answer, first, from the record / line of the affiliate DB 23, the “Q_ID” (for example, Q001) of the question Q for which the answerer made the best answer is used as a key. The contract history based on the question Q that the respondent made the best answer is extracted. Specifically, among the records / lines in the affiliate DB 23 of FIG. 7, there are two records / lines with “Q_ID” of Q001, “contract ID” of A001 and S201. FIG. 8 (b) is an extract of the two cases, and the “standard BA reward rate” (33% here) is applied to the “final BA reward amount” 804, which is the sum of the “BA reward amount”. This is the final BA reward amount to be paid to the respondent who made the best answer. However, here, recalculation is performed based on the above-mentioned “standard BA reward rate” and “BA reward additional rate” values included in the respondent information. For example, “Standard BA reward rate” is blank (standard BA reward rate) and “BA reward addition rate” is 3%, so the BA reward rate is 36% (33% + 3%). The BA reward amount is 240 yen x 36% ≒ 86 yen.

  This means that 6 yen was added to the original BA reward amount of 80 yen because the respondent who made the best answer answered when the number of answers was small. That is, the added amount functions as an incentive for the respondent, and the amount of answers to the question can be increased.

  In addition, when ensuring quality, it can implement | achieve with the structure substantially the same also about the case where speed is ensured. Specifically, when guaranteeing quality, refer to the user evaluation of respondents that are managed separately at the time of reply A posting, and if the evaluation value is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, for example, a record of 3% addition is recorded as “BA reward Go with the "add-on rate". In order to guarantee the speed, when answer A is posted, the question QA posting time is compared with the answer A posting time, and if it is before the predetermined time has elapsed, for example, 3% addition is recorded at the “BA reward addition rate” Keep it.

[Summary]
As described above, in the knowledge search system 100 according to the present embodiment, among the success rewards obtained by the questioner who is also an affiliate program participant, a predetermined amount of the success reward is distributed to the respondent selected as the best answer ( (Reduction) was introduced. This can increase incentives for respondents, so it is expected that many answers will be posted and that higher quality answers will be posted. As a result, in the Q & A-type knowledge search service, the question Q on the electronic bulletin board To answer A can be improved.

  Another aspect is that by increasing the incentives of respondents, more answers are posted and higher-quality answers are posted, which facilitates the viewing of third-party users, Can increase the probability of purchasing advertising products and services, and the closing rate. In this case, the questioner who is also an affiliate program participant can get more profit as a success fee. In addition, a predetermined amount of success fee is distributed (returned) to the respondent who made the best answer.

  In other words, according to the above-described embodiment, in the knowledge search service in the Q & A format, the knowledge search service is provided with a mechanism for increasing the incentive of respondents by cooperating with the affiliate program, and improving the quantity and quality of answers to the questions. A system or the like can be provided.

  Although the present invention has been described based on each embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the requirements shown here, such as combinations with other elements listed in the above embodiments. With respect to these points, the present invention can be changed within a range that does not detract from the gist of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form. Moreover, what applied the component, expression, or arbitrary combinations of the component of this invention to a method, an apparatus, a system, a computer program, a recording medium, etc. is also effective as an aspect of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Knowledge search server 2 Affiliate server 3, 4 Terminal 5 Network 11 Q & A reception part 12 Q & ADB
13 BA identification section 14 BA respondent transmission section 21 Affiliate management section 22 Product DB
23 Affiliate DB
24 Reward amount determination unit 25 Reward amount DB
31 Advertising Product Selection Unit 32 Q Posting Unit 33 BA Input Unit 111 System Bus 112 CPU
113 ROM
114 RAM
115 NVRAM
116 I / F
117 I / O
118 HDD
119 NIC

Claims (8)

A knowledge search system in which a knowledge search server, an affiliate server, and a user terminal are connected via a network [YJ5]
Knowledge search server
A receiving means for receiving a question including an advertisement from the questioner's terminal and an answer from the respondent's terminal to the question;
Storage means for storing and managing the question and the answer in association with each other; and a specifying means for specifying one answer as a best answer among the answers;
Sending means [YJ6] for sending information of respondents of the answer identified as the best answer to the affiliate server;
With
Affiliate server
Storage means for storing an affiliate reward amount to be paid to the questioner based on the advertisement included in the question;
Upon receiving the information of the respondent from the knowledge search server, a calculation means for calculating a best answer reward amount to be paid to the respondent based on the affiliate reward amount;
A knowledge retrieval system comprising: When the storage means receives a response from the respondent's terminal for the question when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the storage means stores and manages a predetermined BA reward rate addition rate in association with the response,
The transmission means transmits the predetermined BA reward rate extra rate to the affiliate server together with the information of the respondent,
The calculation means calculates the best answer reward amount to be paid to the respondent by multiplying the affiliate reward amount by a BA reward rate obtained by adding the predetermined BA reward rate to the additional rate. ,
The knowledge search system according to claim 1. The predetermined condition is a condition in which the number of answers accepted for a question is equal to or less than a predetermined number, or the total number of answers accepted in a category to which the question belongs is equal to or less than a predetermined number
The knowledge search system according to claim 2. Knowledge search server
While providing an evaluation value for the respondent, the user evaluation means for storing the evaluation value for each respondent,
The predetermined condition is a condition that the evaluation value of the respondent who has made an accepted answer to the question is a predetermined value or more;
The knowledge search system according to claim 2. The predetermined condition is a condition that a reception time of an answer received for a question is before a predetermined time elapses from a reception time when the question is received;
The knowledge search system according to claim 2. The predetermined BA reward rate is a value arbitrarily designated by a questioner or a predetermined value;
The knowledge search system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein The knowledge search server and the affiliate server are servers built on one server;
The knowledge search system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: A reward granting method for respondents who answered questions in a knowledge search system in which a knowledge search server, an affiliate server, and a user terminal are connected via a network,
Knowledge search server
An acceptance procedure for receiving a question including an advertisement from the questioner's terminal and an answer from the respondent's terminal to the question;
A storage procedure for storing and managing the question and the answer in association with each other, and a specific procedure for specifying one answer as a best answer among the answers
A transmission procedure for transmitting information of respondents of the answer identified as the best answer to the affiliate server;
With
Affiliate server
A storage procedure for storing an affiliate reward amount to be paid to the questioner based on the advertisement included in the question;
When receiving the information of the respondent from the knowledge search server, a calculation procedure for calculating a best answer reward amount to be paid to the respondent based on the affiliate reward amount;
A reward granting method characterized by comprising:

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