JP2022136286A - Information providing device, information providing method, and information providing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information providing device, an information providing program, and an information providing method which can notify a user of additional information about a restaurant satisfying a search condition even after the user completes browsing search result information.

SOLUTION: The information providing device comprises: a search processing unit which extracts a search object satisfying a search condition received from a user terminal, from among a plurality of preliminarily registered search objects in accordance with search operation performed on the user terminal and transmits information about the extracted search object as search result information to the user terminal; a browsing completion determination processing unit which determines whether browsing the search result information is completed on the user terminal or not; and an additional information transmission processing unit which transmits additional information about the search object satisfying the search condition to the user terminal after the browsing completion determination processing unit determines that browsing the search result information is completed.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

COPYRIGHT: (C)2022,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an information providing device, an information providing method, and an information providing program.

A system is known that reflects changes in restaurant status information (for example, whether or not the restaurant is full) on a search result page in real time (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).

JP 2018-005852 A

In the above system, after the user finishes browsing the search result page (for example, after the user closes the search result page, after the screen of the user terminal is turned off, etc.), the status information of the restaurant changes. The user cannot comprehend.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an information providing apparatus and an information providing program capable of notifying a user of additional information related to a restaurant that matches a search condition even after the user has finished browsing search result information. , and to provide an information provision method.

An information providing apparatus according to the present invention extracts, from among a plurality of pre-registered search targets, search targets that match search conditions received from the user terminal in response to a search operation performed at the user terminal, a search processing unit that transmits information about an extracted search target as search result information to a user terminal; a browsing end determination processing unit that determines whether or not browsing of the search result information in the user terminal has ended; an additional information transmission processing unit configured to transmit additional information related to a search target that matches the search condition to the user terminal after the end determination processing unit determines that browsing of the search result information has ended.

An information providing method according to the present invention is an information providing method in an information providing apparatus, in which a search received from a user terminal from among a plurality of pre-registered search targets in accordance with a search operation performed at the user terminal. Extracting search targets that match the conditions, transmitting information about the extracted search targets to the user terminal as search result information, and determining whether or not browsing of the search result information on the user terminal is finished. and, after it is determined that the browsing of the search result information is finished, transmitting additional information about the search target that matches the search condition to the user terminal.

According to an information providing program according to the present invention, a processor of an information providing apparatus matches a search condition received from a user terminal from among a plurality of pre-registered search targets in accordance with a search operation performed at the user terminal. Extracting a search target, transmitting information about the extracted search target as search result information to a user terminal, determining whether or not browsing of the search result information on the user terminal is finished, After it is determined that browsing of the search result information has been completed, the program causes the user terminal to transmit additional information related to a search target that matches the search condition.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, an information providing device and an information providing program capable of notifying a user of additional information related to a restaurant that matches a search condition even after the user has finished browsing search result information. , and methods of providing information are provided.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information providing system according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of store information used in the information providing system according to the embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of reservation information used in the information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of information provision processing executed by the information provision device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a search result page displayed on the user terminal in the information providing system according to the embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the page for each store displayed on the user terminal in the information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a map page displayed on a user terminal in the information providing system according to the embodiment of the invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of additional information displayed on the user terminal in the information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings for understanding of the present invention. It should be noted that the following embodiment is an example that embodies the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

[Information providing system 1]
As shown in FIG. 1, an information providing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an information providing device 2 and one or more user terminals 3. As shown in FIG. The information providing device 2 and the user terminal 3 can communicate via a communication network N1 such as the Internet, LAN, WAN, or public telephone line.

The information providing device 2 has a function as a search site that extracts search targets that match search conditions from among a plurality of pre-registered search targets. In this embodiment, a case where the search target is a restaurant and the information providing device 2 has a function as a restaurant search site will be described as an example. In other embodiments, the search target may be facilities other than restaurants (for example, hotels, karaoke rooms, parking lots, etc.). In addition, the search target may be any product (for example, daily necessities, foodstuffs, home electric appliances, furniture, passenger cars, home delivery lunches, movie theater tickets, train tickets, airplane tickets, etc.).

By the way, as a technology related to the present embodiment, a system is known that reflects changes in restaurant status information (for example, whether the restaurant is full or not) on a search result page in real time. In this system, after the user has finished viewing the search result page (for example, after the user closes the search result page, after the screen of the user terminal is turned off, etc.), the status information of the restaurant is changed. The user cannot comprehend. On the other hand, according to the information providing device 2 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to notify the user of additional information related to the search target even after the user has finished browsing the search result information.

[Information providing device 2]
As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing device 2 is a server including a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, an operation display unit 23, a communication I/F 24, and the like. The information providing device 2 is not limited to one computer, and may be a computer system in which a plurality of computers operate in cooperation. Various types of processing executed by the information providing device 2 may be distributed and executed by one or more processors.

The communication I/F 24 connects the information providing device 2 to the communication network N1 by wire or wirelessly, and executes data communication according to a predetermined communication protocol with an external device such as the user terminal 3 via the communication network N1. It is a communication interface for

The operation display unit 23 is a user interface that includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display that displays various types of information, and an operation unit such as a mouse, keyboard, or touch panel that receives operations.

The storage unit 22 is a nonvolatile storage unit such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive) that stores various types of information. Specifically, the storage unit 22 stores data such as store information D1 and reservation information D2. Here, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of store information D1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of reservation information D2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the store information D1 includes information such as "store ID", "store name", "area", and "genre" for each restaurant registered in the restaurant search site. included. The "store ID" is identification information for identifying the restaurant. The "store name" is the name of the restaurant. The "area" is information indicating the area (for example, prefecture) in which the restaurant is located. The "genre" is information indicating the genre of food offered at the restaurant. The store information D1 is referred to by the control unit 21 during search processing executed when the user searches for a desired restaurant on the restaurant search site.

The reservation information D2 is generated individually for each restaurant registered in the restaurant search site and stored in the storage unit 22. FIG. The reservation information D2 shown in FIG. 3 is the reservation information D2 regarding the store A. As shown in FIG. 3, the reservation information D2 includes information indicating reservation details such as "table", "reserved person's name", "number of people", and "usage time". The reservation information D2 is updated by the control unit 21 whenever it is detected that a reservation for a restaurant registered in the restaurant search site has been received. For example, when it is detected that a reservation for the restaurant has been accepted based on a signal received from a store terminal (not shown) provided in the restaurant, the control unit 21 makes a reservation for the restaurant. Update information D2.

In another embodiment, part or all of the information such as the store information D1 and the reservation information D2 may be stored in another server accessible from the information providing device 2 via the communication network N1. be done. Then, the control unit 21 of the information providing device 2 may acquire various kinds of information from the server and execute each process such as the information providing process (see FIG. 4) described later.

The storage unit 22 also stores data of a search page (not shown) for inputting search conditions. The storage unit 22 also stores data such as a search result page P1 (see FIG. 5), a store page P2 (see FIG. 6), and a map page P3 (see FIG. 7), which will be described later.

Further, the storage unit 22 stores a control program such as an information providing program for causing the control unit 21 to execute an information providing process (see FIG. 4), which will be described later. For example, the information providing program is non-temporarily recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD or DVD, and read by a reading device (not shown) such as a CD drive or DVD drive provided in the information providing device 2. and stored in the storage unit 22 .

The control unit 21 has control devices such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM. The CPU is a processor that executes various kinds of arithmetic processing. The ROM is a non-volatile storage unit in which control programs such as BIOS and OS for causing the CPU to execute various arithmetic processes are stored in advance. The RAM is a volatile or nonvolatile storage unit that stores various information, and is used as a temporary storage memory (work area) for various processes executed by the CPU. The control unit 21 controls the information providing device 2 by causing the CPU to execute various control programs pre-stored in the ROM or storage unit 22 .

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 21 controls a search processing unit 211, a browsing end determination processing unit 212, an additional information transmission processing unit 213, a reservation determination processing unit 214, a location information reception processing unit 215, and the like. Contains various processing units. The control unit 21 functions as a processing unit for these by executing various types of processing according to the information providing program by the CPU. Part or all of the processing units included in the control unit 21 may be configured by electronic circuits. The information providing program may be a program for causing a plurality of processors to function as the various processing units.

The search processing unit 211 extracts restaurants that match search conditions received from the user terminal 3 from among a plurality of restaurants registered in advance according to a search operation performed on the user terminal 3, and Information (for example, a search result page P1, a store-by-store page P2, a map page P3, etc., which will be described later) related to the restaurant is transmitted to the user terminal 3 as search result information.

The viewing end determination processing unit 212 determines whether or not the user terminal 3 has finished viewing the search result information. For example, the viewing end determination processing unit 212 may determine that viewing of the search result information has ended when the connection with the user terminal 3 is disconnected. Alternatively, the viewing end determination processing unit 212 may determine that viewing of the search result information has ended when no signal is received from the user terminal 3 for a predetermined time or longer.

The additional information transmission processing unit 213 transmits additional information related to restaurants that match the search conditions to the user terminal 3 after the browsing end determination processing unit 212 determines that the browsing of the search result information has ended. . For example, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 may transmit the additional information to the user terminal 3 by push notification. The information providing device 2 can transmit any message to the user terminal 3 at any timing by push notification and display the message on the user terminal 3 . As a method or system for implementing push notification, any known method or system (for example, web push notification implemented using a web browser, etc.) can be adopted. As a result, after the user of the user terminal 3 stops browsing the search result page P1 (for example, after the search result page P1 is hidden, after the user terminal 3 shifts to the power saving mode, etc.), Also, it is possible to notify the user of useful information related to restaurants that match the search conditions as the additional information. The additional information transmission processing unit 213 may transmit the additional information to the user terminal 3 by e-mail or short message service (SMS).

The additional information may include information about restaurants that has not yet been transmitted to the user terminal 3 by the search processing unit 211, among the information about restaurants that match the search conditions. For example, when the search result page P1 is composed of a plurality of pages, and only the information of the first page of the plurality of pages is transmitted to the user terminal 3, the additional information matches the search condition. Among the information about restaurants, the information about restaurants displayed on the second and subsequent pages of the search result page P1 may be included. As a result, for example, even if the user of the user terminal 3 stops browsing the search result page P1 without noticing that the search result page P1 is composed of a plurality of pages, two pages of the search result page P1 It is possible to notify the user of the information about the restaurant that was supposed to be displayed after the first as the additional information.

Further, the additional information may include information about restaurants that were unavailable (ie full) at the time of sending the search result information but became available (ie with vacancies) afterward. . As a result, after the user of the user terminal 3 stops browsing the search result page P1, it is possible to notify the user of the information on the restaurant that has changed from full to vacant as the additional information. When the search target is a product, the additional information was not available for purchase (i.e. out of stock) at the time of sending the search result information, but later became available for purchase (i.e. in stock). It may contain information about the product.

Further, the additional information may include information about restaurants that were available (that is, had vacant seats) at the time of sending the search result information, but that became unavailable (that is, fully occupied) thereafter. . As a result, after the user of the user terminal 3 stops browsing the search result page P1, it is possible to notify the user of the information on the restaurant that has changed from a state with vacant seats to a state with full seats as the additional information. Therefore, for example, while the user stops browsing the search result page P1 and is heading to the desired restaurant displayed on the search result page P1, the restaurant changes from a state with vacant seats to a state with full seats. Even if it does, the user can know it before arriving at the restaurant. If the search target is a product, the additional information was purchasable (that is, in stock) at the time of sending the search result information, but later became unpurchasable (that is, out of stock). It may contain information about the product.

Further, the additional information may include privilege information (for example, electronic coupons, discount information, etc.) related to the restaurant. This makes it possible to promote the use of the restaurant.

It should be noted that the additional information transmission processing unit 213 adds to the information transmitted to the user terminal 3 by the search processing unit 211 immediately before the browsing of the search result information ends (that is, the last page browsed by the user of the user terminal 3). Different additional information may be sent to the user terminal 3 accordingly. For example, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 determines that the information transmitted to the user terminal 3 by the search processing unit 211 immediately before the browsing of the search result information ends indicates a list of restaurants that match the search conditions. In the case of the page P1 (an example of the list page of the present invention), and in the case of the page P2 (an example of the individual page of the present invention) for each restaurant displayed according to the user operation on the list page. , different additional information may be sent to the user terminal 3 . For example, when the information transmitted to the user terminal 3 by the search processing unit 211 immediately before the browsing of the search result information ends is the search result page P1, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 displays the search result page P1. Information about each of the restaurants may be transmitted as additional information. On the other hand, if the information transmitted to the user terminal 3 by the search processing unit 211 immediately before the browsing of the search result information ends is the store page P2, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 corresponds to the store page P2. You may transmit only the information relevant to the restaurant which carries out as additional information. As a result, for example, when the user of the user terminal 3 browses the page P2 for each store and then heads for the restaurant corresponding to the page P2 for each store, an addition related to the restaurant corresponding to the page P2 for each store Only information can be transmitted to the user terminal 3 . Therefore, it is possible to prevent information related to restaurants other than the restaurant corresponding to the page P2 for each restaurant from being unnecessarily transmitted to the user terminal 3 as the additional information.

Further, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 determines that the information transmitted to the user terminal 3 by the search processing unit 211 immediately before the browsing of the search result information (that is, the last page browsed by the user of the user terminal 3) is In the case of the store-specific page P2, the restaurant extracted according to the restaurant corresponding to the store-specific page P2 from among the restaurants that match the search conditions (for example, the same restaurant as the restaurant corresponding to the store-specific page P2 restaurants of the genre, restaurants in the same budget range as the restaurant corresponding to the page P2 for each store, restaurants close to the restaurant corresponding to the page P2 for each store, etc.) are transmitted to the user terminal 3 as the additional information. You may Since the restaurant corresponding to the restaurant page P2 last browsed by the user of the user terminal 3 is considered to be a restaurant that meets the user's wishes, attribute information of the restaurant (for example, genre, average budget, It is possible to provide more appropriate additional information by transmitting information about other restaurants extracted according to location, etc., to the user terminal 3 as additional information.

Further, when the search condition is received from the user terminal 3 multiple times, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 sends the additional information related to the restaurant matching the latest search condition received from the user terminal 3 to the user terminal 3. may be sent to That is, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 does not transmit to the user terminal 3 additional information related to restaurants that match the old search conditions (that is, search conditions other than the latest search conditions) received from the user terminal 3. You may do so. This makes it possible to prevent unnecessary transmission of information related to restaurants that match the old search conditions to the user terminal 3 as the additional information.

Based on the signal received from the user terminal 3, the reservation determination processing unit 214 performs a reservation operation (for example, operation of the operation key K21 included in the page P2 for each store) to reserve the restaurant on the user terminal 3. determine whether or not

The location information reception processing unit 215 receives location information indicating the current location of the user terminal 3 from the user terminal 3 . The location information may be, for example, longitude and latitude information detected by GPS (Global Positioning System).

Note that the additional information transmission processing unit 213 may not transmit the additional information to the user terminal 3 when a predetermined transmission stop condition is satisfied.

For example, when the search condition includes usage date and time information indicating the usage date and time of the restaurant, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 transmits the additional information to the user terminal 3 after the usage date and time. You can choose not to send it. This makes it possible to prevent the additional information from being unnecessarily transmitted to the user terminal 3 after the date and time of use has arrived.

Further, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 may not transmit the additional information to the user terminal 3 when the reservation determination processing unit 214 determines that the reservation operation has been performed. As a result, for example, after the user of the user terminal 3 makes a reservation for the restaurant, the additional information (for example, information indicating that the restaurant is full) is unnecessarily transmitted to the user terminal 3. It is possible to suppress the storage.

Further, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 performs a call operation to the telephone number corresponding to the restaurant while browsing the search result information on the user terminal 3 (for example, operation of the operation key K23 included in the page P2 for each restaurant). is performed, the additional information may not be transmitted to the user terminal 3 . As a result, for example, after the user of the user terminal 3 makes a reservation for the restaurant by phone, the additional information (for example, information indicating that the restaurant is full) is unnecessarily transmitted to the user terminal 3. It is possible to suppress the fact that it is done.

Further, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 may not transmit the additional information to the user terminal 3 after the current position of the user terminal 3 reaches the location of the restaurant. As a result, for example, after the user of the user terminal 3 visits the restaurant, the additional information (for example, information indicating that the availability of the restaurant or another restaurant has changed) is sent to the user terminal 3. It is possible to suppress unnecessary transmission. Whether or not the current position of the user terminal 3 has reached the location of the restaurant can be determined, for example, by the location information acquired by the location information reception processing unit 215 and the location information indicating the location of the restaurant (for example, information of the longitude and latitude of the location of the restaurant).

Further, the additional information transmission processing unit 213 determines that the information transmitted to the user terminal 3 by the search processing unit 211 immediately before the browsing of the search result information (that is, the last page browsed by the user of the user terminal 3) is , the additional information may not be transmitted to the user terminal 3 in the case of the map page P3 (see FIG. 7) indicating the location of the restaurant. As a result, for example, when the user of the user terminal 3 browses the map page P3 and is heading to the restaurant corresponding to the map page P3, the additional information (for example, the availability of another restaurant has changed) It is possible to prevent unnecessary transmission of information such as information indicating that the

[User terminal 3]
As shown in FIG. 1, the user terminal 3 includes a control section 31, a storage section 32, an operation display section 33, a communication I/F 34, and the like. The user terminal 3 is, for example, an information processing device such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer.

The communication I/F 34 connects the user terminal 3 to the communication network N1 by wire or wirelessly, and performs data communication according to a predetermined communication protocol with an external device such as the information providing device 2 via the communication network N1. It is a communication interface for

The operation display unit 33 is a user interface that includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display that displays information such as various web pages, and an operation unit such as a mouse, keyboard, or touch panel that receives operations.

The storage unit 32 is a nonvolatile storage unit such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a flash memory that stores various types of information. For example, the storage unit 32 stores a control program such as a browser program. Specifically, the browser program is a control program for causing the control unit 31 to execute communication processing with an external device such as the information providing device 2 according to a communication protocol such as HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol).

The control unit 31 has control devices such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM. The CPU is a processor that executes various kinds of arithmetic processing. The ROM is a non-volatile storage unit in which control programs such as BIOS and OS for causing the CPU to execute various processes are stored in advance. The RAM is a volatile or nonvolatile storage unit that stores various information, and is used as a temporary storage memory (work area) for various processes executed by the CPU. The control unit 31 controls the user terminal 3 by causing the CPU to execute various control programs pre-stored in the ROM or storage unit 32 .

Specifically, the control unit 31 functions as a browser processing unit 311 by executing various processes according to the browser program stored in the storage unit 32 . The browser processing unit 311 causes the operation display unit 33 to display a web page provided from the information providing device 2 via the communication network N1, and executes browser processing for inputting an operation for the operation display unit 33 to the information providing device 2. It is possible. Part or all of the processing units included in the control unit 31 may be configured by electronic circuits.

[Information provision processing]
The information providing process executed by the control unit 21 of the information providing device 2 will be described below with reference to FIG. Note that the control unit 21 individually executes the information providing process corresponding to each user terminal 3 when an access from the user terminal 3 occurs. That is, the control unit 21 may execute the information provision processing corresponding to a plurality of user terminals 3 substantially in parallel by time division. In addition, the information providing process may be ended in the middle by a predetermined operation of the user terminal 3. FIG.

Further, the present invention can be regarded as an invention of an information providing method for executing one or more steps included in the information providing process, and one or more steps included in the information providing process described here can be May be omitted. The execution order of each step in the information providing process may differ within the range of producing the same effect. Furthermore, here, a case where each step in the information providing process is executed by the control unit 21 will be described as an example. are also contemplated as other embodiments.

<Step S11>
First, in step S<b>11 , the control unit 21 causes the operation display unit 33 of the user terminal 3 to display a search condition input page (not shown). Specifically, the control unit 21 transmits data (for example, HTML data) of the search condition input page to the user terminal 3 through the communication network N1. As a result, a search condition input page is displayed on the operation display unit 33 of the user terminal 3 .

<Step S12>
In step S12, the control unit 21 acquires search conditions. Specifically, the control unit 21 receives search conditions input by the user of the user terminal 3 via the search condition input page from the user terminal 3 through the communication network N1. The search conditions include, for example, usage date and time, number of users, area, genre, and the like.

<Step S13>
In step S13, the control unit 21 executes search processing for extracting restaurants that match the search conditions acquired in step S12 from among a plurality of restaurants registered in advance. Specifically, the control unit 21 compares the search conditions acquired in step S12 with the store information D1 shown in FIG. 2, and extracts restaurants that match the search conditions. When the search condition includes information on the date and time of use and the number of users, the control unit 21 refers to the reservation information D2, and selects the number of users at the date and time of use from among the plurality of restaurants. to extract restaurants that are available to groups of The processing of step S<b>13 is executed by the search processing section 211 of the control section 21 .

As another embodiment, when the search target is a product, the control unit 21 extracts a product that matches the search condition acquired in step S12 from among a plurality of products registered in advance. In this case, the control unit 21 may refer to inventory information indicating the inventory status of each product, and extract products that are in stock from among the plurality of products.

<Step S14>
In step S14, the control unit 21 causes the operation display unit 33 of the user terminal 3 to display the search result page P1 based on the result of the search process executed in step S13. Specifically, the control unit 21 transmits the data of the search result page P1 as shown in FIG. 5 to the user terminal 3 through the communication network N1. As a result, the search result page P<b>1 is displayed on the operation display unit 33 of the user terminal 3 . On the search result page P1, information (for example, store name, nearest station, required time from the nearest station, average budget, restaurant image, food image, etc.) about each restaurant extracted in step S13 is displayed. Each store is displayed in the store information display area R11. The processing of step S<b>14 is executed by the search processing section 211 of the control section 21 .

<Step S15>
In step S15, the control unit 21 executes various processes according to the user's operation.

For example, when any store information display area R11 included in the search result page P1 is operated, the control unit 21 determines that the restaurant corresponding to the operated store information display area R11 is selected by the user, The operation display unit 33 of the user terminal 3 is caused to display the store-specific page P2 (see FIG. 6) corresponding to the restaurant. Specifically, the control unit 21 transmits the data of the store page P2 corresponding to the restaurant to the user terminal 3 through the communication network N1. As a result, the operation display unit 33 of the user terminal 3 displays the store page P2 corresponding to the restaurant. The store-by-store page P2 includes detailed information about the restaurant (for example, store name, location, average budget, phone number, menu, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 6, the store page P2 includes an operation key K21, an operation key K22, an operation key K23, and an operation key K24. The operation key K21 is an operation key for accepting a reservation for a restaurant corresponding to the page P2 for each store. When the operation key K21 is operated, the control unit 21 accepts the reservation of the restaurant by the user of the user terminal 3 and updates the reservation information D2. The operation key K22 is an operation key for displaying a map indicating the location of the restaurant corresponding to the page P2 for each store. When the operation key K22 is operated, the control unit 21 causes the operation display unit 33 of the user terminal 3 to display the map page P3 (see FIG. 7) corresponding to the restaurant. Specifically, the control unit 21 transmits the data of the map page P3 corresponding to the restaurant to the user terminal 3 through the communication network N1. As a result, the map page P3 corresponding to the restaurant is displayed on the operation display unit 33 of the user terminal 3 . The operation key K23 is an operation key for calling the restaurant corresponding to the page P2 for each store. When the operation key K23 is operated, the control unit 21 uses the telephone function of the user terminal 3 to make a call to the restaurant. The operation key K24 is an operation key for returning from the store page P2 to the search result page P1. When the operation key K24 is operated, the search result page P1 is displayed on the operation display section 33 of the user terminal 3 again.

<Step S16>
In step S16, the control unit 21 determines whether or not the user has finished viewing the search result information (that is, the search result page P1, the store page P2, the map page P3, etc.). For example, the viewing end determination processing unit 212 may determine that viewing of the search result information has ended when the connection with the user terminal 3 is disconnected. Alternatively, the control unit 21 may determine that browsing of the search result information has ended when no signal is received from the user terminal 3 for a predetermined time or longer. Then, when it is determined that browsing of the search result information has ended (S16: Yes), the process proceeds to step S17. On the other hand, if it is determined that browsing of the search result information has not ended (S16: No), the process returns to step S15. The processing of step S<b>16 is executed by the browsing end determination processing section 212 of the control section 21 .

<Step S17>
In step S<b>17 , the control unit 21 acquires position information indicating the current position of the user terminal 3 . Specifically, the control unit 21 receives the location information from the user terminal 3 through the communication network N1. The processing of step S<b>17 is executed by the position information reception processing section 215 of the control section 21 .

<Step S18>
In step S18, the control unit 21 determines whether or not a predetermined transmission stop condition is satisfied. For example, the control unit 21 may determine that the transmission stop condition is satisfied when the date and time of use included in the search condition acquired in step S12 has arrived. Further, in step S15, the control unit 21 may determine that the transmission stop condition is satisfied when a reservation for a restaurant is received in response to the operation of the operation key K21 included in the page P2 for each store. Further, in step S15, the control unit 21 determines that the transmission stop condition is satisfied when the map page P3 is displayed on the user terminal 3 in response to the operation of the operation key K22 included in the store page P2. good too. Further, in step S15, the control unit 21 determines that the transmission stop condition is satisfied when a call to the restaurant is made in response to the operation of the operation key K23 included in the page P2 for each store. good too. In addition, based on the position information acquired in step S17, the control unit 21 determines that the current position of the user terminal 3 is the restaurant (for example, one of the restaurants included in the search result page P1 displayed in step S14). restaurant), it may be determined that the transmission stop condition is satisfied.

When it is determined that the transmission stop condition is satisfied (S18: Yes), the information providing process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that the transmission stop condition is not satisfied (S18: No), the process proceeds to step S19.

<Step S19>
In step S<b>19 , the control unit 21 determines whether or not there is additional information to be transmitted to the user terminal 3 . For example, if the search result page P1 is composed of a plurality of pages, and information of only a part of the plurality of pages has been transmitted to the user terminal 3, the control unit 21 detects the additional information ( For example, it may be determined that additional information shown in (A) of FIG. 8 exists. In addition, the control unit 21 determines which of the restaurants that match the search conditions acquired in step S12 has changed from a state with vacant seats to a state with full seats after the search processing in step S13 is executed. If it exists, it may be determined that the additional information (for example, the additional information shown in (B) of FIG. 8) exists. In addition, the control unit 21 determines which of the restaurants that match the search conditions acquired in step S12 has changed from full to vacant after the search processing in step S13 is executed. If it exists, it may be determined that the additional information (for example, the additional information shown in (C) of FIG. 8) exists. In addition, the control unit 21 detects the additional information (for example, Additional information shown in (D) of FIG. 8) may be determined to exist. In addition, the control unit 21 determines that the search result information last browsed by the user of the user terminal 3 (that is, the search result information last transmitted to the user terminal 3) is the store page P2, and the store page P2 If there is a specific restaurant in the same genre, in the same area, or in the same budget range as the corresponding restaurant (for example, a restaurant registered in advance as a “recommended restaurant”), the additional information (for example, the Additional information shown in (E) of 8) may be determined to exist.

Then, when it is determined that there is additional information to be transmitted to the user terminal 3 (S19: Yes), the process proceeds to step S20. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no additional information to be transmitted to the user terminal 3 (S19: No), the process returns to step S17.

<Step S20>
In step S20, the control unit 21 transmits additional information (for example, any of the additional information of (A) to (E) in FIG. 8) to the user terminal 3. FIG. For example, the control unit 21 transmits the additional information to the user terminal 3 by push notification. As a result, for example, additional information as shown in (A) to (E) of FIG. 8 is displayed on the operation display section 33 of the user terminal 3 . Then, the process returns to step S17. Note that in other embodiments, the additional information may be sent to the user terminal 3 by e-mail or short message service (SMS). The processing of step S<b>20 is executed by the additional information transmission processing section 213 of the control section 21 .

As described above, in the information providing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment, information about restaurants that match the search conditions is transmitted to the user terminal 3 as search result information. Then, after it is determined that browsing of the search result information on the user terminal 3 has ended, additional information related to restaurants matching the search conditions is transmitted to the user terminal 3 . Therefore, according to the information providing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment, after the user of the user terminal 3 stops browsing the search result page P1 (for example, after the search result page P1 is hidden, the user terminal 3 Even after shifting to power saving mode, etc.), it is possible to notify the user of useful information related to restaurants that match the search conditions as the additional information.

1 information providing system 2 information providing device 21 control unit 211 search processing unit 212 browsing end determination processing unit 213 additional information transmission processing unit 214 reservation determination processing unit 215 position information reception processing unit 22 storage unit 23 operation display unit 24 communication I/F
3 User terminal

Claims (9)

A search processing unit that transmits information about a search target as search result information to the user terminal in response to a search operation performed on the user terminal;
a viewing end determination processing unit that determines whether viewing of the search result information in the user terminal has ended;
an additional information transmission processing unit configured to transmit additional information related to the search target to the user terminal after the browsing end determination processing unit determines that the browsing of the search result information has ended;
with
The information providing apparatus, wherein the additional information includes information about search targets that were usable or purchasable at the time of transmission of the search result information but became unusable or purchasable thereafter. The search processing unit extracts a search target that matches a search condition received from the user terminal from among a plurality of pre-registered search targets in response to the search operation, and provides information about the extracted search target. to the user terminal as the search result information,
The information providing device according to claim 1. The additional information transmission processing unit transmits the additional information to the user terminal by push notification.
The information providing device according to claim 1 or 2. The viewing end determination processing unit determines that viewing of the search result information has ended when a connection with the user terminal is disconnected or when a signal from the user terminal is not received for a predetermined time or longer. do,
The information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The additional information includes information about search targets that have not yet been transmitted to the user terminal by the search processing unit, among information about search targets that match search conditions input in the search operation.
The information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The additional information includes information about search targets that were unavailable or unavailable for purchase at the time of sending the search result information, but became available or available for purchase thereafter.
The information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. When the search conditions input in the search operation are received from the user terminal a plurality of times, the additional information transmission processing unit transmits additional information about search targets that match the latest search conditions received from the user terminal. send to the user terminal,
The information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. An information providing method in an information providing device,
The processor of the information providing device,
Sending information about a search target as search result information to the user terminal in response to a search operation performed on the user terminal;
Determining whether or not browsing of the search result information on the user terminal has ended;
transmitting additional information related to the search target to the user terminal after it is determined that browsing of the search result information has ended;
An information providing method for performing
The information providing method, wherein the additional information includes information about search targets that were available or purchasable at the time of transmission of the search result information but became unavailable or purchasable thereafter. to the processor of the information providing device,
Sending information about a search target as search result information to the user terminal in response to a search operation performed on the user terminal;
Determining whether or not browsing of the search result information on the user terminal has ended;
transmitting additional information related to the search target to the user terminal after it is determined that browsing of the search result information has ended;
An information providing program for executing
The information providing program, wherein the additional information includes information about search targets that were available or purchasable at the time of transmission of the search result information but became unavailable or purchasable thereafter.

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