JP4375388B2 - Information providing server and information providing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing server and an information providing method suitable for application to a network information providing system in the Internet, personal computer communication, etc., and in particular, an information providing server and information capable of providing information suitable for a user's interests and preferences It relates to the provision method.

  In recent years, with the spread of the Internet and personal computer communication, for example, a service for providing information to a large number of users via a network, such as an information providing service using the WWW (World Wide Web) of the Internet, has been widely performed. However, the amount of information available to network users is increasing, and it has become difficult to search for necessary information from a large amount of information. Therefore, it is required to select and present only appropriate information that suits the user's interests and preferences from a lot of information.

On the other hand, for example, Patent Document 1 below discloses an information distribution apparatus that selects information suitable for a user's interests and preferences using a user's usage history. This is by adding attributes such as genre to the main information (contents such as TV programs), analyzing the trial listening time for each user attribute, calculating the correlation between each user and the attribute, The main information having an attribute having a high value is provided to the user.
JP-A-10-257468

  However, in the conventional method, it is necessary to divide each content into genres and add attributes, which has been a heavy workload for business operators. Also, since only one user's usage history is used when selecting content, the content to be selected is limited, or content that matches interests and preferences cannot be selected with sufficient accuracy. There was a problem.

  In addition, it has been difficult for a user who uses a small number of times of content to select content that matches interests and preferences with sufficient accuracy. Furthermore, although a user's interest and preference change with time, it was difficult to select information based on the latest interest and preference.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides an information providing server and an information providing that can provide information with a sufficient work load that is less burdensome to the business operator and that matches the interests and preferences of the user with sufficient accuracy. It aims to provide a method. Furthermore, the present invention provides an information providing server and an information providing method capable of providing, with sufficient accuracy, information that matches the interests and preferences of users with a low number of uses, and information that matches the latest interests and preferences of users. The purpose is that.

The present invention provides the following means [1] to [8] in order to solve the above problems.
[1] In an information providing server that provides product information about a product to a terminal device used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user,
Product attribute storage means for associating and storing product identification information for identifying a product and product attribute information including a plurality of items including the creation date and registration date and time of the product;
User attribute storage means for storing at least one of user identification information associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices as a user attribute; ,
Usage history storage means for associating and storing the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product as usage history information;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means, a list of product identification information of the used products is created for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, and based on the list While obtaining the condition part and the conclusion part of the association rule, with respect to the product identification information constituting the obtained conclusion part, referring to the product attribute storage means, the product creation date or registration date is higher as the new date and time. A correlation rule creating means for calculating a priority of the correlation rule and creating a correlation rule table associating the correlation rule with the priority;
Calculate the fitness between the list of product identification information of the products used by the one user and the condition part of the correlation rule table, and obtain a score that becomes higher as the fitness is higher and the priority is higher. Product selection means for calculating and selecting product identification information from the conclusion part in order of decreasing score,
A transmission unit that reads any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected by the product selection unit from the product attribute storage unit, and transmits the item to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing server characterized by comprising:
[2] In an information providing server that provides product information about a product to a terminal device that is used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user,
Product attribute storage means for associating and storing product identification information for identifying a product and product attribute information including a plurality of items including the creation date and registration date and time of the product;
User attribute storage means for storing at least one of user identification information associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices as a user attribute; ,
Usage history storage means for associating and storing the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product as usage history information;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means, a correspondence in which a list of product identification information of the corresponding used products is associated with each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user Create a table, obtain the condition part and the conclusion part of the correlation rule based on the correspondence table, and refer to the product attribute storage means for the product identification information constituting the obtained conclusion part, A correlation rule creating means for calculating a priority of the correlation rule such that the registration date and time is higher as the new date and time, and creating a correlation rule table in which the correlation rule and the priority are associated;
Obtaining a list of product identification information of products used by the one user from the correspondence table, calculating the degree of matching between the list and the condition part of the correlation rule table, the degree of matching is high and the A product selection means for calculating a score that becomes a larger value as the priority becomes higher, and selecting product identification information from the conclusion part in order of increasing score so as not to overlap;
A transmission unit that reads any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected by the product selection unit from the product attribute storage unit, and transmits the item to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing server characterized by comprising:
[3] In an information providing server that provides product information about a product to a terminal device used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user,
Product identification information for identifying a product, and product attribute information consisting of a plurality of items including classification information obtained by classifying the product corresponding to a classification item and creation date / time or registration date / time of the product in association with each other Attribute storage means;
User attribute storage means for storing at least one of user identification information associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices as a user attribute; ,
Usage history storage means for associating and storing the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product as usage history information;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, A list of classification information of the used products is created, and a correlation rule in which each of the condition part and the conclusion part is configured by the classification information is obtained based on the list, and referring to the product attribute storage unit, A priority level is calculated such that the product creation date / registration date / time of the product corresponding to the classification information in the determined conclusion part becomes higher as the date / time is newer, and the correlation rule table correlates the correlation rule with the priority level. A correlation rule creation means to be created;
Calculates the degree of matching between the classification information list of products used by the one user and the condition part of the correlation rule table, and calculates a score that increases as the degree of matching increases and the priority increases. Then, product selection means for selecting product identification information corresponding to the classification information of the conclusion part in order of decreasing score from the product attribute storage means,
A transmission unit that reads any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected by the product selection unit from the product attribute storage unit, and transmits the item to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing server characterized by comprising:
[4] In an information providing server that provides product information about a product to a terminal device used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user,
Product identification information for identifying a product, and product attribute information consisting of a plurality of items including classification information obtained by classifying the product corresponding to a classification item and creation date / time or registration date / time of the product in association with each other Attribute storage means;
User attribute storage means for storing at least one of user identification information associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices as a user attribute; ,
Usage history storage means for associating and storing the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product as usage history information;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, Create a correspondence table corresponding to the list of classification information of the used products corresponding to each, and obtain a correlation rule comprising each condition part and conclusion part based on the classification information based on the correspondence table, Referring to the product attribute storage means, calculate the priority of the association rule such that the creation date or registration date and time of the product corresponding to the classification information in the determined conclusion part is higher as the new date and time, A correlation rule creating means for creating a correlation rule table associating a correlation rule with the priority;
A list of classification information of products used by the one user is obtained from the correspondence table, and a degree of conformity between the list and a condition part of the correlation rule table is calculated. A product selection unit that calculates a score that becomes a larger value as the degree increases, and selects product identification information corresponding to the classification information of the conclusion part in order of increasing score from the product attribute storage unit;
A transmission unit that reads any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected by the product selection unit from the product attribute storage unit, and transmits the item to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing server characterized by comprising:
[5] Product attribute storage means and user for providing product information about products to a terminal device used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user In the information providing method in the information providing server comprising the attribute storing means and the use history storing means,
A user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices to store product identification information for identifying a product and product attribute information including a plurality of items including the creation date or registration date and time of the product in the product attribute storage unit At least one of the user identification information corresponding to the terminal identification information and the terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices is stored in the user attribute storage means as a user attribute, A storage step of storing in the usage history storage means as usage history information in association with user identification information or terminal identification information of a user who uses the product;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means, a list of product identification information of the used products is created for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, and based on the list With respect to the product identification information constituting the determined conclusion part by obtaining the condition part and the conclusion part of the association rule, the product creation date or registration date is higher as the product creation date or registration date is newer with reference to the product attribute storage means. A correlation rule creating step of calculating a priority of the correlation rule and creating a correlation rule table in which the correlation rule and the priority are associated;
Calculate the fitness between the list of product identification information of the products used by the one user and the condition part of the correlation rule table, and obtain a score that becomes higher as the fitness is higher and the priority is higher. A product selection step for calculating and selecting product identification information from the conclusion part in order of decreasing score;
A transmission step of reading out any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected in the product selection step from the product attribute storage unit and transmitting it to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing method in the information providing server, comprising:
[6] Product attribute storage means and user for providing product information about products to a terminal device used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user In the information providing method in the information providing server comprising the attribute storing means and the use history storing means,
A user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices to store product identification information for identifying a product and product attribute information including a plurality of items including the creation date or registration date and time of the product in the product attribute storage unit At least one of the user identification information corresponding to the terminal identification information and the terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices is stored in the user attribute storage means as a user attribute, A storage step of storing in the usage history storage means as usage history information in association with user identification information or terminal identification information of a user who uses the product;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means, a correspondence in which a list of product identification information of the corresponding used products is associated with each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user Create a table, obtain a condition part and a conclusion part of an association rule based on the correspondence table, and refer to the product attribute storage means for the product identification information constituting the obtained conclusion part, and the creation date or registration of the product A correlation rule creating step for calculating a priority of the correlation rule such that the date and time is a higher value as the new date and time, and creating a correlation rule table in which the correlation rule and the priority are associated;
Obtaining a list of product identification information of products used by the one user from the correspondence table, calculating the degree of matching between the list and the condition part of the correlation rule table, the degree of matching is high and the A product selection step of calculating a score that becomes a larger value as the priority becomes higher, and selecting product identification information from the conclusion part in order of decreasing score,
A transmission step of reading out any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected in the product selection step from the product attribute storage unit and transmitting it to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing method in the information providing server, comprising:
[7] Product attribute storage means and user for providing product information regarding products to a terminal device used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user In the information providing method in the information providing server comprising the attribute storing means and the use history storing means,
Product identification information for identifying a product, and product attribute information including a plurality of items including classification information obtained by classifying the product corresponding to a classification item and creation date / time or registration date / time of the product are associated with the product attribute. At least one of user identification information stored in storage means and associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices is used as the user attribute. Stored in the user attribute storage means and associated with the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product, and stored as usage history information in the usage history storage means Steps,
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, A list of classification information of the used products is created, a correlation rule in which each of a condition part and a conclusion part is configured by the classification information is obtained based on the list, and the request is obtained by referring to the product attribute storage means. Calculate the priority so that the higher the creation date or registration date of the product corresponding to the classification information in the conclusion part, the higher the value is, and create the correlation rule table associating the correlation rule with the priority A correlation rule creation step,
Calculates the degree of matching between the classification information list of products used by the one user and the condition part of the correlation rule table, and calculates a score that increases as the degree of matching increases and the priority increases. Then, a product selection step of selecting product identification information corresponding to the classification information of the conclusion part from the product attribute storage means in order from the highest score,
A transmission step of reading out any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected in the product selection step from the product attribute storage unit and transmitting it to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing method in the information providing server, comprising:
[8] Product attribute storage means and user for providing product information regarding products to a terminal device used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user In the information providing method in the information providing server comprising the attribute storing means and the use history storing means,
Product identification information for identifying a product, and product attribute information including a plurality of items including classification information obtained by classifying the product corresponding to a classification item and creation date / time or registration date / time of the product are associated with the product attribute. At least one of user identification information stored in storage means and associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices is used as the user attribute. Stored in the user attribute storage means and associated with the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product, and stored as usage history information in the usage history storage means Steps,
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, Creating a correspondence table corresponding to the list of classification information of the corresponding products used correspondingly, obtaining a correlation rule in which each of the condition part and the conclusion part is configured by the classification information based on the correspondence table; Referring to the attribute storage means, calculate the priority of the correlation rule such that the creation date / registration date / time of the product corresponding to the classification information in the determined conclusion part is higher as the date / time is newer, and the correlation A correlation rule creating step for creating a correlation rule table associating the rules with the priorities;
A list of classification information of products used by the one user is obtained from the correspondence table, and a degree of conformity between the list and a condition part of the correlation rule table is calculated. A product selection step of calculating a score that becomes a larger value as the degree becomes higher, and selecting product identification information corresponding to the classification information of the conclusion part in order of decreasing score from the product attribute storage unit,
A transmission step of reading out any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected in the product selection step from the product attribute storage unit and transmitting it to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing method in the information providing server, comprising:

  According to the information providing server and the information providing method of the present invention, it is possible to provide product information that matches the interests and preferences of individual users. And since the present invention creates a correlation rule using the usage history of each user and selects product information based on it, in the information providing system to which the information providing server and information providing method of the present invention are applied, Less work burden on users and operators. Furthermore, since the information provision server and the information provision method of the present invention create an association rule by comprehensively using each user's usage history, it is possible to select information with high accuracy. In particular, since the correlation rule creating means calculates the priority using the product creation date or registration date, the latest product information can be preferentially provided.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an information providing server and an information providing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Configuration of the embodiment]
FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of an information providing system using a server 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the information providing system is configured by connecting a server 1 that provides product information and a user terminal device 2 via a network 3 such as the Internet.

  The server 1 has the following configuration. A transmission / reception unit 11 that controls the network 3. A product attribute storage unit 12 that stores a product ID (product identification information) for identifying a product and attribute data (product attribute information) such as a product title, a producer, a genre, a production date and time, or a registration date and time. A user attribute storage unit 13 for storing a user ID (user identification information) of a user or a terminal ID (terminal identification information) for identifying a terminal. A use history storage unit 14 that records and stores a product ID of a used product and a user ID or terminal ID of a user who uses the product ID. A correlation rule creation unit 15 that creates a correlation rule between product attributes and a priority of the correlation rule based on data in the usage history storage unit 14. A product selection unit 16 that calculates the degree of matching with a correlation rule for each user or terminal, and selects a product by applying a correlation rule having a high degree of matching and priority. The control unit 17 controls the entire server 1.

  Note that the products here are digital contents and articles such as text, still images, sounds, and moving images, regardless of whether they are charged or free. Further, when the product is digital content, a means for storing the digital content may be provided in the server, and the desired digital content may be transmitted from the server to the terminal in response to a user request.

  Further, the producer of the product in the above attribute data includes information such as manufacturer name, brand name, writer name, director name, composer name, performer name, performer name, and the like.

  In FIG. 1, each unit of the server 1 is illustrated as hardware, but each unit 11 to 17 may be realized as software as a built-in program process. Thereby, the server 1 can be realized by a personal computer, a workstation, or other computers.

  The terminal device 2 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a network control circuit, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a display device such as a display, and performs a processing operation using a built-in program. As the terminal device 2, a general personal computer can be used.

[Operation of the embodiment]
Next, the operation of the server 1 according to the embodiment having such a configuration will be described. In the server 1 of this embodiment, it is necessary to uniquely identify a user or a terminal. In this embodiment, a case of identifying a user will be described. However, when a terminal is identified, the user ID of this embodiment may be associated with the terminal ID.

[User registration operation]
In order to receive the information providing service, the user performs user registration on the server 1 side. This user registration is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 2, and when performing user registration, the user operates the terminal device 2 in step S1, for example, the name and sex of the user. Enter user attributes such as address and date of birth. The user attribute information indicating the user attribute input by the user is transmitted to the server 1 side via the network 3.

  The server 1 receives the user attribute information transmitted from the user via the transmission / reception unit 11 under the control of the control unit 17 and supplies the user attribute information to the user attribute storage unit 13. The user attribute storage unit 13 has a user attribute table including attributes such as a user ID, a password, and a name input by the user in a format as shown in FIG. Is provided.

  In step S2, after confirming that the user attribute information transmitted from the user is not already stored in the user attribute table, the control unit 17 creates an unused user ID and a corresponding password. To do. In step S3, a new entry is assigned to the user attribute storage unit 13, and the formed user ID and password are stored in the user attribute table together with the received user attribute information. Moreover, the control part 17 transmits the formed user ID and password to the terminal device 2 side via the transmission / reception part 11 with such storage control.

  The user obtains the user ID and password transmitted from the server 1 via the terminal device 2, and thereafter receives the information providing service in the information providing system using the user ID and password. .

  In this embodiment, an example of authenticating a user using a password will be described, but the user may be authenticated by other means such as fingerprint verification.

[Correlation rule creation operation]
The association rule creation is performed asynchronously with the information providing operation to the user. For example, an association rule is created with a frequency of once a day.

  As a technique for analyzing sales data of products, a technique called association rules is used. For example, it is disclosed in documents “Agrawal, R., Srikant, R .: Fast Algorithms for Mining Association Rules, Proc. Of VLDB pp487 (1994)” and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-287106.

  The correlation rule derives a rule “if A, then B” based on a large number of case data. Here, A is called a condition part, and B is called a conclusion part. For example, by analyzing sales data of a grocery store, a rule such as “60% of customers who bought bread buy juice” is derived. The ratio including both A and B in all transaction data is called support, and the ratio including both A and B in transactions including A is called confidence. In the above example, if the percentage of people who buy both bread and juice in the overall transaction is 20%, the support level is 20% and the confidence level is 60%.

  In general, rules that have both high support and confidence and are not obvious are considered useful. In addition, since such rules are often enormous, in order to shorten the calculation time or reduce the required computer resources, the minimum confidence and minimum support are determined in advance. Only those rules whose support level exceeds these are efficiently obtained.

  The association rule is conventionally used for the purpose of finding useful information for the operator. On the other hand, in the present invention, an association rule is used for the purpose of selecting a product suitable for each user.

  FIG. 4 shows a processing flow of the correlation rule creation means. First, in step S11, a user / product attribute correspondence table is created. This is a correspondence between a user ID and a list of product attributes used by the user (usage attribute list). As will be described later, each time a user uses or purchases a product, the user ID, product ID, and use date and time are stored in the use history storage unit 14 in the format shown in FIG.

  When individual products are handled independently without grouping the products, data in the usage history storage unit 14 is read, and as shown in FIG. 6, a list of user IDs and product IDs used by the users To correspond to the user / product attribute correspondence table. For example, when products are grouped for each product producer, the data in the usage history storage unit 14 and the data shown in FIG. 13 in the product attribute storage unit 12 are read out, and as shown in FIG. The ID and the list of producers of the products used by the user are associated with each other to form a user / product attribute correspondence table. The same applies when products are grouped by genre. Control is performed so that the same items do not overlap in the usage attribute list of each user.

  Next, in step S12 shown in FIG. 4, the condition part, the conclusion part, the support level, and the certainty factor of the association rule are calculated. Based on the user / product attribute correspondence table, the user ID is made to correspond to the transaction ID of the above document, and a correlation rule satisfying the predetermined minimum support and minimum certainty is obtained according to the method of the above document.

  In step S13, the priority of each correlation rule is calculated. The priority calculation method is determined according to the type of product. For example, the certainty of the association rule may be used as it is as the priority. Alternatively, when a newly registered product is handled preferentially, for example, the priority is calculated by the following equation (1). In Equation 1, P is a priority, C is a certainty factor, Ta is an average value of production date / time or registration date / time of a product having a product attribute described in the conclusion part, Tc is a current date, and F is shown in FIG. Such a monotonically decreasing function. In this case, the newer the production date or registration date of the product corresponding to the conclusion part, the higher the priority.

  The correlation rule table shown in FIG. 9 is created by the above processing. This condition part includes one or more product attributes, and the conclusion part includes one product attribute. The table is sorted in descending order of priority.

  Depending on the type of product, a time-series correlation rule may be obtained in consideration of the temporal order of use. That is, the normal correlation rule does not distinguish between the case of “purchasing product B after purchasing product A” and the case of “purchasing product A after purchasing product B”. . In this case, products are not grouped, and product IDs are arranged in the usage attribute list of the user / product attribute correspondence table in the order used by the user. When a plurality of the same products are used, the average of the use date is obtained for each product, and the order in the use attribute list is determined accordingly. In step S12 shown in FIG. 4, an association rule is obtained by reflecting the order of items described in the usage attribute list.

[Information provision operation]
Next, when the user attribute is registered on the server 1 side and the correlation rule is created in this way, it is possible to receive the information providing service in the information providing system.

  This information providing service is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 10. When receiving the information providing service, in step S21, the user operates the terminal device 2 to obtain the acquired user ID and password. Make input. The terminal device 2 transmits the user ID and password input by the user to the server 1.

  The control unit 17 of the server 1 receives the user ID and password via the transmission / reception unit 11 and compares them with the user ID and password registered in the user attribute table of the user attribute storage unit 13 in step S22. To do. The information providing service described below is performed only when a match between the two is detected. If the two do not match, an error code is returned to the terminal device 2 side. As a result, the user notices an error in the input of the user ID or password, and inputs the correct user ID or password again.

  Next, the control unit 17 of the server 1 detects a match between the user ID and password transmitted from the user and the user ID and password registered in the user attribute table of the user attribute storage unit 13. Then, in step S23, a product menu is individually created for the user and transmitted to the user side.

[Product menu creation operation]
This product menu is created in the product selection unit 16 in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG. In the following, it is assumed that E products are selected from a large number of products and presented to the user.

  First, in step S31, the usage attribute list L of the user ID of the user using the terminal is acquired from the user / product attribute correspondence table.

  In step S32, a control variable i for controlling the number of repetitions is initialized to 1.

  In step S33, the degree of matching Mi between the user and the i-th rule in the correlation rule table is calculated. The fitness Mi can be calculated by various methods. For example, if the item set constituting the condition part of the i-th rule is Ki, Mi = 1 if Ki is a subset of the usage attribute list L, and Mi = 0 otherwise.

  Alternatively, if the product is digital content and the user can repeatedly use what has been downloaded once, the item in the conclusion part of the i-th rule is Ri, and Ki is a subset of the usage attribute list L If Ri is not a subset of L, Mi = 1, and if not, Mi = 0.

  Alternatively, in consideration of the date and time when the user uses the product, for example, the fitness Mi may be calculated according to the following equation (2). Here, Qi is the number of item sets Ki constituting the condition part of the i-th rule, Tj is the date and time when the user uses the j-th item in Ki, Tc is the current date and time, and F is FIG. A monotonically decreasing function, φi, as shown, is a function such that φi = 1 when Ki is a subset of the usage attribute list L, and φi = 0 otherwise.

  In addition, when the correlation rule creation unit creates a time-series correlation rule, if the user does not use the product according to the order of items described in the condition part of the i-th rule, Mi = 0.

  In any case, if the user does not meet the i-th rule at all, Mi = 0.

  In step S34 in FIG. 11, it is determined whether or not Mi is 0. If it is 0, the process proceeds to step S37. If it is not 0, the process proceeds to step S35.

  In step S35, a score Vi indicating the degree of association between the user and the product is calculated. The score Vi can be obtained by various calculation methods. For example, the priority of the i-th rule is Pi, and is obtained by the following equation (3). In this case, when both the fitness Mi and the priority Pi are high, the score Vi is also high.

  In step S36, Vi, Ki, and the product ID of the recommended product obtained by the above processing are added as a new row in the candidate product table in the format shown in FIG. Here, the product ID of the recommended product is the item Ri in the conclusion part of the correlation rule table when the correlation rule is created without grouping the products. When the products are grouped, a product that matches the product attribute of Ri is searched from the product attribute storage means, and one appropriate product is selected from the products that meet the conditions, and the product ID is recorded. For example, you can select the most recent product with the date and time of production among the products that meet your requirements. In step S37, the value of the control variable i is incremented by one.

  In step S38, it is checked whether the value of the control variable i is equal to or smaller than the number N of rows in the correlation rule table. If so, the process proceeds to step S33, and if not, the process proceeds to step S39.

  In step S39, E product IDs are selected from the candidate product table in descending order of the score Vi so that the recommended product IDs do not overlap.

  Further, in some cases, control is performed such that the number of times the same condition part item set Ki is used is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and E product IDs are selected. The reason for this will be described below. For example, assume that the usage attribute list L of a certain user is shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that the product ID “1” is a product belonging to the genre A, and the remaining “2”, “3”, “4”, and “5” are products belonging to the genre B. The product ID “1” is a popular product and is used by many users, but the remaining products are not very popular and have few users. Such a situation can be determined that the user basically likes the product of genre B, but also uses the general popular product “1”. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 14B, the candidate product table in such a case has many rows including the product “1” in the condition part, and the score Vi tends to be high. Therefore, if a rule with a large score Vi is simply applied, many rules including “1” are applied to the condition part, and “2” to “5” considered to represent the user's original preference. Is difficult to apply. Such a problem can be avoided by limiting the number of times the same condition part (“1” in this example) is applied to a certain value or less.

  Next, in step S40, product attribute information such as title, producer, and genre corresponding to the selected product ID is read from the product attribute storage means, and a product menu is created together with the product ID. The product attribute storage means stores product attributes in the format shown in FIG.

  The product menu created in this way is transmitted from the server 1 to the terminal device 2 side, and all the routines in the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When all the routines in the flowchart shown in FIG. 11 are completed, the information providing system proceeds to step S24 in the flowchart shown in FIG.

[Content selection by user]
Next, in step S <b> 24 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 10, the user selects desired content from the product menu received via the terminal device 2.

  That is, since the title, the author, the genre, and the like are displayed on the display of the terminal device 2 in a display format as shown in FIG. 15, for example, the user selects a desired product. Thereby, the product ID corresponding to the product selected by the user is transmitted from the terminal device 2 to the server 1.

[Usage history storage operation by the server]
Next, when a product ID corresponding to the product selected by the user is transmitted from the terminal device 2, the control unit 17 of the server 1 uses the transmitted product ID together with the transmitted product ID in step S25 shown in FIG. The user ID and use date and time are stored in the use history storage unit 14. As a result, a usage history table including attributes such as user ID, product ID, usage date and time is formed in the usage history storage unit 14 in the format shown in FIG.

  If the product is charged, billing processing is performed, but details are omitted.

[Content data transmission operation]
Next, when the product is digital content, in step S26 shown in FIG. 10, the control unit 17 searches the product main body (content) data corresponding to the received product ID together with such storage control, and applies. The product main body data is transmitted to the terminal device 2. A product attribute table is formed in the product attribute storage unit 12 in a format as shown in FIG. 13, and for each product ID that uniquely identifies a product, a title, a producer, a genre, a production date or registration date, a product Stores attributes such as the storage location of main body data.

  The control unit 17 searches the storage location of the product main body data body from the product attribute table based on the product ID transmitted from the user terminal device 2. The product main body data itself is stored in storage means (not shown) in the server 1 or storage means of another server, and the control unit 17 reads the product main body data and transmits it to the terminal device 2.

  If the product is an article or the like, a shipping procedure or the like is performed in step S26.

  Thereby, the user can obtain the audio output or the video corresponding to the product main body data (content selected by the user) transmitted from the server 1 via the terminal device 2 in step S27.

  Finally, the description of the above embodiment is an example of the present invention. For this reason, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the technical idea according to the present invention, even if other than this embodiment. Of course.

  (A) As described above, by using the information providing server and the information providing method of the present invention, it is possible to provide product information suitable for the interests and preferences of individual users. And since the present invention creates a correlation rule using the usage history of each user and selects product information based on it, in the information providing system to which the information providing server and information providing method of the present invention are applied, Less work burden on users and operators. Furthermore, since the information providing server of the present invention creates an association rule by comprehensively using each user's usage history, it is possible to select information with high accuracy.

  (B) When the correlation rule creation means creates the correlation rule that takes into account the time order of product use also using the product use date and time, the order of use among a plurality of products is determined. In the case of such a product, the accuracy of the association rule can be increased, and as a result, more accurate information can be provided.

  (C) Correlation rule creation means includes, as a correlation rule between product attributes, a correlation rule between product producers, a correlation rule between product genres, and a correlation rule between product identification information In this case, it is possible to select information with higher accuracy even for users with a small number of uses.

  This will be described. In the case of a user with a small number of uses, the number of corresponding rows is reduced in the candidate product table of FIG. In the embodiment, it is assumed that E items are selected. However, in an extreme case, there may be no corresponding row and no item can be selected. By creating not only a correlation rule between product identification information but also a correlation rule between product producers and a correlation rule between product genres as a correlation rule between product attributes, Such cases can be reduced. For example, if a user has only used one type of product (genre A) and has created a correlation rule between product identification information, only one product can be recommended (more than two recommended products) In this case, it is assumed to be one). On the other hand, it is assumed that an association rule is created between product genres and product genre A to product genre B is created. Generally, since the genre B includes a plurality of products, a plurality of products can be recommended. The same applies when grouping by product producer.

  (D) When the association rule creation means calculates the priority using the creation date or registration date of the product, it is possible to preferentially provide the latest product information.

  (E) When the merchandise selection means calculates the degree of fitness using the merchandise use date and time, information selection adapted to the latest interests and preferences of the user can be performed.

  (F) When the product selection means controls the same user so that the same condition part of the association rule is not used more than a predetermined number of times and selects the product, the user's preference is Even in a wide range, it is possible to provide information reflecting the overall trend without being biased toward a specific field.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the information provision system using the server of one Example. It is a flowchart which shows the registration procedure of a user. It is a figure which shows the data format of a user attribute storage part. It is a flowchart of the process of an association rule preparation part. It is a figure which shows the data format of a utilization log | history storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of the user and goods attribute corresponding table created in an association rule creation part. It is a figure which shows another example of the user and goods attribute corresponding table created in an association rule preparation part. It is a figure which shows the characteristic of the function F (x) used by an association rule preparation part. It is a figure which shows the data format of the correlation rule table | surface created with an association rule preparation part. It is a flowchart of the information provision operation | movement of an information provision system. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a goods selection part. It is a figure which shows the data format of the candidate goods table | surface produced in a goods selection part. It is a figure which shows the data format of a goods attribute storage part. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement in a goods selection part. It is a figure which shows the goods menu displayed on a terminal screen.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Server 2 Terminal device 3 Network 11 Transmission / reception part 12 Product attribute storage part 13 User attribute storage part 14 Usage history storage part 15 Correlation rule preparation part 16 Product selection part 17 Control part

Claims (8)

In an information providing server that provides product information about products to a terminal device that is used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user,
Product attribute storage means for associating and storing product identification information for identifying a product and product attribute information including a plurality of items including the creation date and registration date and time of the product;
User attribute storage means for storing at least one of user identification information associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices as a user attribute; ,
Usage history storage means for associating and storing the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product as usage history information;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means, a list of product identification information of the used products is created for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, and based on the list While obtaining the condition part and the conclusion part of the association rule, with respect to the product identification information constituting the obtained conclusion part, referring to the product attribute storage means, the product creation date or registration date is higher as the new date and time. A correlation rule creating means for calculating a priority of the correlation rule and creating a correlation rule table associating the correlation rule with the priority;
Calculate the fitness between the list of product identification information of the products used by the one user and the condition part of the correlation rule table, and obtain a score that becomes higher as the fitness is higher and the priority is higher. Product selection means for calculating and selecting product identification information from the conclusion part in order of decreasing score,
A transmission unit that reads any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected by the product selection unit from the product attribute storage unit, and transmits the item to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing server characterized by comprising: In an information providing server that provides product information about products to a terminal device that is used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user,
Product attribute storage means for associating and storing product identification information for identifying a product and product attribute information including a plurality of items including the creation date and registration date and time of the product;
User attribute storage means for storing at least one of user identification information associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices as a user attribute; ,
Usage history storage means for associating and storing the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product as usage history information;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means, a correspondence in which a list of product identification information of the corresponding used products is associated with each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user Create a table, obtain the condition part and the conclusion part of the correlation rule based on the correspondence table, and refer to the product attribute storage means for the product identification information constituting the obtained conclusion part, A correlation rule creating means for calculating a priority of the correlation rule such that the registration date and time is higher as the new date and time, and creating a correlation rule table in which the correlation rule and the priority are associated;
Obtaining a list of product identification information of products used by the one user from the correspondence table, calculating the degree of matching between the list and the condition part of the correlation rule table, the degree of matching is high and the A product selection means for calculating a score that becomes a larger value as the priority becomes higher, and selecting product identification information from the conclusion part in order of increasing score so as not to overlap;
A transmission unit that reads any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected by the product selection unit from the product attribute storage unit, and transmits the item to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing server characterized by comprising: In an information providing server that provides product information about products to a terminal device that is used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user,
Product identification information for identifying a product, and product attribute information consisting of a plurality of items including classification information obtained by classifying the product corresponding to a classification item and creation date / time or registration date / time of the product in association with each other Attribute storage means;
User attribute storage means for storing at least one of user identification information associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices as a user attribute; ,
Usage history storage means for associating and storing the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product as usage history information;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, A list of classification information of the used products is created, and a correlation rule in which each of the condition part and the conclusion part is configured by the classification information is obtained based on the list, and referring to the product attribute storage unit, A priority level is calculated such that the product creation date / registration date / time of the product corresponding to the classification information in the determined conclusion part becomes higher as the date / time is newer, and the correlation rule table correlates the correlation rule with the priority level. A correlation rule creation means to be created;
Calculates the degree of matching between the classification information list of products used by the one user and the condition part of the correlation rule table, and calculates a score that increases as the degree of matching increases and the priority increases. Then, product selection means for selecting product identification information corresponding to the classification information of the conclusion part in order of decreasing score from the product attribute storage means,
A transmission unit that reads any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected by the product selection unit from the product attribute storage unit, and transmits the item to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing server characterized by comprising: In an information providing server that provides product information about products to a terminal device that is used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user,
Product identification information for identifying a product, and product attribute information consisting of a plurality of items including classification information obtained by classifying the product corresponding to a classification item and creation date / time or registration date / time of the product in association with each other Attribute storage means;
User attribute storage means for storing at least one of user identification information associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices as a user attribute; ,
Usage history storage means for associating and storing the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product as usage history information;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, Create a correspondence table corresponding to the list of classification information of the used products corresponding to each, and obtain a correlation rule comprising each condition part and conclusion part based on the classification information based on the correspondence table, Referring to the product attribute storage means, calculate the priority of the association rule such that the creation date or registration date and time of the product corresponding to the classification information in the determined conclusion part is higher as the new date and time, A correlation rule creating means for creating a correlation rule table associating a correlation rule with the priority;
A list of classification information of products used by the one user is obtained from the correspondence table, and a degree of conformity between the list and a condition part of the correlation rule table is calculated. A product selection unit that calculates a score that becomes a larger value as the degree increases, and selects product identification information corresponding to the classification information of the conclusion part in order of increasing score from the product attribute storage unit;
A transmission unit that reads any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected by the product selection unit from the product attribute storage unit, and transmits the item to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing server characterized by comprising: Product attribute storage means and user attribute storage means for providing product information related to products to a terminal device used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user And an information providing method in an information providing server comprising a usage history storage means,
A user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices to store product identification information for identifying a product and product attribute information including a plurality of items including the creation date or registration date and time of the product in the product attribute storage unit At least one of the user identification information corresponding to the terminal identification information and the terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices is stored in the user attribute storage means as a user attribute, A storage step of storing in the usage history storage means as usage history information in association with user identification information or terminal identification information of a user who uses the product;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means, a list of product identification information of the used products is created for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, and based on the list With respect to the product identification information constituting the determined conclusion part by obtaining the condition part and the conclusion part of the association rule, the product creation date or registration date is higher as the product creation date or registration date is newer with reference to the product attribute storage means. A correlation rule creating step of calculating a priority of the correlation rule and creating a correlation rule table in which the correlation rule and the priority are associated;
Calculate the fitness between the list of product identification information of the products used by the one user and the condition part of the correlation rule table, and obtain a score that becomes higher as the fitness is higher and the priority is higher. A product selection step for calculating and selecting product identification information from the conclusion part in order of decreasing score;
A transmission step of reading out any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected in the product selection step from the product attribute storage unit and transmitting it to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing method in the information providing server, comprising: Product attribute storage means and user attribute storage means for providing product information related to products to a terminal device used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user And an information providing method in an information providing server comprising a usage history storage means,
A user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices to store product identification information for identifying a product and product attribute information including a plurality of items including the creation date or registration date and time of the product in the product attribute storage unit At least one of the user identification information corresponding to the terminal identification information and the terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices is stored in the user attribute storage means as a user attribute, A storage step of storing in the usage history storage means as usage history information in association with user identification information or terminal identification information of a user who uses the product;
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means, a correspondence in which a list of product identification information of the corresponding used products is associated with each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user Create a table, obtain a condition part and a conclusion part of an association rule based on the correspondence table, and refer to the product attribute storage means for the product identification information constituting the obtained conclusion part, and the creation date or registration of the product A correlation rule creating step for calculating a priority of the correlation rule such that the date and time is a higher value as the new date and time, and creating a correlation rule table in which the correlation rule and the priority are associated;
Obtaining a list of product identification information of products used by the one user from the correspondence table, calculating the degree of matching between the list and the condition part of the correlation rule table, the degree of matching is high and the A product selection step of calculating a score that becomes a larger value as the priority becomes higher, and selecting product identification information from the conclusion part in order of decreasing score,
A transmission step of reading out any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected in the product selection step from the product attribute storage unit and transmitting it to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing method in the information providing server, comprising: Product attribute storage means and user attribute storage means for providing product information related to products to a terminal device used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user And an information providing method in an information providing server comprising a usage history storage means,
Product identification information for identifying a product, and product attribute information including a plurality of items including classification information obtained by classifying the product corresponding to a classification item and creation date / time or registration date / time of the product are associated with the product attribute. At least one of user identification information stored in storage means and associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices is used as the user attribute. Stored in the user attribute storage means and associated with the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product, and stored as usage history information in the usage history storage means Steps,
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, A list of classification information of the used products is created, a correlation rule in which each of a condition part and a conclusion part is configured by the classification information is obtained based on the list, and the request is obtained by referring to the product attribute storage means. Calculate the priority so that the higher the creation date or registration date of the product corresponding to the classification information in the conclusion part, the higher the value is, and create the correlation rule table associating the correlation rule with the priority A correlation rule creation step,
Calculates the degree of matching between the classification information list of products used by the one user and the condition part of the correlation rule table, and calculates a score that increases as the degree of matching increases and the priority increases. Then, a product selection step of selecting product identification information corresponding to the classification information of the conclusion part from the product attribute storage means in order from the highest score,
A transmission step of reading out any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected in the product selection step from the product attribute storage unit and transmitting it to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing method in the information providing server, comprising: Product attribute storage means and user attribute storage means for providing product information related to products to a terminal device used when a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a network and used by at least one user And an information providing method in an information providing server comprising a usage history storage means,
Product identification information for identifying a product, and product attribute information including a plurality of items including classification information obtained by classifying the product corresponding to a classification item and creation date / time or registration date / time of the product are associated with the product attribute. At least one of user identification information stored in storage means and associated with a user who uses each of the plurality of terminal devices and terminal identification information for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices is used as the user attribute. Stored in the user attribute storage means and associated with the product identification information of the used product and the user identification information or terminal identification information of the user who used the product, and stored as usage history information in the usage history storage means Steps,
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, for each user identification information or terminal identification information of the user, Creating a correspondence table corresponding to the list of classification information of the corresponding products used correspondingly, obtaining a correlation rule in which each of the condition part and the conclusion part is configured by the classification information based on the correspondence table; Referring to the attribute storage means, calculate the priority of the correlation rule such that the creation date / registration date / time of the product corresponding to the classification information in the determined conclusion part is higher as the date / time is newer, and the correlation A correlation rule creating step for creating a correlation rule table associating the rules with the priorities;
A list of classification information of products used by the one user is obtained from the correspondence table, and a degree of conformity between the list and a condition part of the correlation rule table is calculated. A product selection step of calculating a score that becomes a larger value as the degree becomes higher, and selecting product identification information corresponding to the classification information of the conclusion part in order of decreasing score from the product attribute storage unit,
A transmission step of reading out any item of the product attribute information corresponding to the product identification information selected in the product selection step from the product attribute storage unit and transmitting it to the terminal device used by the one user;
An information providing method in the information providing server, comprising:

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