JP4511281B2 - Content search apparatus and content search method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a content search device and a content search method for searching for content provided by a server device connected to a network, and in particular, a content search device and a content search method capable of efficiently searching for content suitable for a user . About.

  The number of web pages provided on the Internet has increased dramatically, and a content search system called a search engine has been widely used in order to search for a target content from among them.

  Search engines can be broadly divided into full-text search engines that search for content by keywords, and directory search engines that search content by classifying content by category and selecting a category. .

  The full-text search type search engine has an advantage that it can periodically circulate various web pages and collect information on a huge number of contents in association with keywords. On the other hand, the directory-type search engine has an advantage that the content can be easily searched because a person classifies the content into an appropriate category.

  However, the directory type search engine has a drawback that the target content may not be searched because the number of contents registered in the category is reduced. For this reason, recently, a directory-type search engine can execute a search process using keywords as in the full-text search type search engine (see Non-Patent Document 1).

Yahoo Japan Corporation, “Search Option”, [online], 2004, [Search June 16, 2004], Internet <URL: http://search.yahoo.co.jp/option/>

  However, in the conventional technique represented by Non-Patent Document 1, only content that matches a specified keyword is provided as a search result, and content to be output as a search result is appropriately selected according to the user performing the search. There was a problem that it was difficult to do.

  Specifically, a search of content by a conventional search engine can obtain a huge number of search results, but it does not necessarily output content suitable for the user. Therefore, it has been a burden on the user, for example, it is necessary to perform a search by combining a plurality of appropriate keywords.

  Therefore, there is a strong demand for the development of a search technology that can not only provide content search results to users but also perform fine-grained correspondence in accordance with various user attributes.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems caused by the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a content search apparatus and a content search method capable of efficiently searching for a content suitable for a user. To do.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention is a content search device that searches for content provided by a server device connected to a network, and is provided by one or more pay content server devices. User information storage means for storing, as user information , purchase history of paid content previously purchased by the user among the paid content, paid content provided by the paid content server device, and free content server device Content storage means for storing information relating to provided free content, and purchase history of the user stored in the user information storage means as purchase history received from a management device for managing purchase history of paid content of the user update but every time you buy a paid content And purchase history management means that, read and search keyword receiving means for receiving a search keyword entered by the user, the user information of the user who entered the search keyword that has been accepted by the search keyword receiving means from said user information storage means, The purchase history determination means for determining whether or not the purchase history of the user stored in the user information storage means exists, and the purchase history of the user who has input the search keyword exists by the purchase history determination means. If it is determined, among the information related to the content stored in the content storage means, the paid content purchased in the past by the user corresponding to the purchase history of the user who entered the search keyword among a plurality of paid content Information and free content Information about the content when said search keyword to search for information about content matching, the purchase history of the user who entered the search keyword is not determined that there is stored in the content storage unit from among the information about Search means for searching for information related to the content that matches the search keyword from information related to the free content.

Also, in the present invention according to the above invention, the user information storage unit stores, as attribute information , information about content to be excluded from search results for each user, and the search unit is information about content based on the attribute information. There wherein results determines whether or not to correspond to the information about exclude content, characterized in that it excludes the information on content from the search results based on the judgment result.

In the present invention, the user information storage means accepts authentication information for authenticating whether or not the user is an authorized user, authenticates the user, and authenticates that the user is an authorized user. If the accepts information about the content to be included in the search target from the user, and stored for each user information about the content to be included in the search target accepted as attribute information, the searching means, based on the attribute information, wherein and performing a search for information about the content from the information about the content to be included in the search.

The present invention is also a content search method performed by a content search device that searches for content provided by a server device connected to a network, and a user among a plurality of pay content provided by one or a plurality of pay content server devices. A user information storage step for storing the purchase history of paid content purchased in the past as user information in the user information storage means for each user, and a purchase history received from a management device that manages the purchase history of the paid content of the user. A purchase history management step of updating the purchase history of the user stored in the user information storage means each time a user purchases paid content; a search keyword reception step of receiving a search keyword input by the user; and the search Tests accepted by the keyword acceptance process It reads the user information of the user who inputs a keyword from the user information storage unit, the user information and determines purchase history determination step whether the purchase history stored the user exists in the storage unit, the purchase history If it is determined by the determination step that the purchase history of the user who has input the search keyword exists, information on the paid content provided by the paid content server device and the free content provided by the free content server device is displayed. Among the information related to the content stored in the content storage means for storing, the information related to the paid content purchased by the user in the past corresponding to the purchase history of the user who entered the search keyword among the plurality of paid content and the free content Information about Retrieve information about the content that matches the search keyword from, when the purchase history of the user that entered the search keyword is not determined to be present, among the information about the content stored in the content storage unit, the And a search step of searching for information related to the content that matches the search keyword from information related to free content.

According to the invention, the purchase history of the paid content that the user has already purchased is stored, and when there is a purchase history of the paid content, the information related to the content is searched from the information related to the paid content that the user has already purchased, Since information related to general free content other than the paid content is searched, information related to content suitable for the user can be searched efficiently, and the user purchased in addition to the information related to free content . There is an effect that it is possible to search efficiently from information on paid content .

  Further, according to the present invention, information related to content to be excluded from the search result is stored as attribute information, and based on the attribute information, it is determined whether or not the content corresponds to content to be excluded from the search result. Since the content is excluded from the search result based on the result, the content that is unnecessary as the search result can be efficiently excluded.

  Further, according to the present invention, the authentication information for authenticating whether or not the user is a regular user is accepted and the user is authenticated, and the content to be included in the search target when the user is authenticated as the regular user The information related to the content to be included in the search target is stored as attribute information, and the content is searched from the content to be included in the search target based on the attribute information. The content introduced from can be easily included as a search target.

  Further, according to the present invention, information related to content that the user is permitted to search in advance is stored as attribute information, and based on the stored attribute information, content that is permitted to be searched in advance is stored. Since the content is searched, there is an effect that the content suitable for the user can be efficiently searched from the content that the user is permitted to search in advance.

Exemplary embodiments of a content search apparatus and a content search method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, the functional configuration of the content search apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the content search apparatus 50 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the content search device 50 is connected to user terminal devices 10a and 10b, free content server devices 20a and 20b, and pay content server devices 30a and 30b via the Internet 40.

  The user terminal devices 10a and 10b accept input of keywords from the user, send a search request for content published on the Internet to the content search device 50, receive search results from the content search device 50, display, etc. Terminal device that outputs to

  The free content server devices 20a and 20b are server devices that publish web page content for free. The paid content server devices 30a and 30b are server devices that publish web page content only to registered users.

  The content search device 50 collects and stores content information from the free content server devices 20a and 20b and the pay content server devices 30a and 30b, and accepts content search requests from the user terminal devices 10a and 10b together with keywords. In this case, content information matching the keyword is retrieved and output to the user terminal devices 10a and 10b.

  At that time, the content search device 50 not only searches for content that matches the keyword, but also searches for content that matches the user based on information related to the user's attributes.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the content search device 50 includes a communication unit 500, a content information storage unit 501, a content information collection unit 502, an index creation unit 503, a search input / output control unit 504, a user information storage unit 505, user information. A management unit 506 and a content search unit 507 are included.

  The communication unit 500 is a network interface that exchanges data with the user terminal devices 10a and 10b, the free content server devices 20a and 20b, or the pay content server devices 30a and 30b via the Internet 40.

  The content information storage unit 501 is a storage device such as a hard disk device, and stores content information collected from the free content server devices 20a and 20b and the pay content server devices 30a and 30b. In addition, when information about content of an image is collected, the content information storage unit 501 further stores a thumbnail image corresponding to the image.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content information 60 stored in the content information storage unit 501 illustrated in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the content information 60 stores information on a title, URL, description, text data, keyword, thumbnail image URL, and free charge category.

  The title is information on the title of the web page collecting the content. The URL is URL information of content collected from the web page. The explanatory text is an explanatory text explaining a web page assigned to the web page from which the content information is collected. The information of the explanatory text is information received from the terminal device of the administrator of the content information 60 (not shown).

  The text data is text data in the web page acquired from the web page, and keyword information is extracted from the text data by morphological analysis. The keyword is keyword information extracted from the text data, and is collated with the keyword input by the user when searching for content.

  The thumbnail image URL is information that specifies the storage position of the thumbnail image when information on the content of the image is collected and a thumbnail image corresponding to the image is generated and stored. The paid free category is information indicating whether the content for which information is collected is paid content or free content.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 1, the content information collection unit 502 includes information on free content provided free of charge from the free content server devices 20a and 20b and paid content provided for a fee from the paid content server devices 30a and 30b. It is a device that collects information.

  Specifically, the content information collection unit 502 collects information on the title, URL, and text data described in FIG. 2 from the free content server devices 20a and 20b and the pay content server devices 30a and 30b, and the content is an image. If so, the image data is collected.

  Here, in the case of collecting paid content information from the paid content server devices 30a and 30b, collection is performed by receiving provision of paid content information permitting a search in advance from a paid content provider.

  The index creation unit 503 creates the content information 60 shown in FIG. 2 from the information collected by the content information collection unit 502. Specifically, the index creation unit 503 extracts keyword information from the text data collected by the content information collection unit 502 by morphological analysis.

  Further, when the information of the image content is collected, the index creating unit 503 generates and stores a thumbnail image corresponding to the image, and registers the storage position of the thumbnail image in the content information.

  In addition, when the index creation unit 503 collects information on free content from the free content server devices 20a and 20b, the index creation unit 503 collects information on paid content from the paid content server devices 30a and 30b free of charge. , Set the free charge category to pay.

  Further, the index creating unit 503 receives information on the explanatory text describing the content from the terminal device of the administrator of the content information 60 (not shown) and stores it in the content information 60.

  The search input / output control unit 504 receives a content search request from the user terminal devices 10a and 10b together with a keyword, and outputs a search result to the user terminal devices 10a and 10b.

  The user information storage unit 505 is a storage device such as a hard disk device, and stores information related to user attributes. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the user information 70 stored in the user information storage unit 505 illustrated in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, this user information 70 stores user ID, purchased paid content, and filter information.

  The user ID is identification information for identifying a user who uses the content search service. The purchased paid content is information on paid content purchased in the past by the user identified by the user ID. Here, a case where the purchased content is an image is shown.

  The filter is information related to the content to be excluded from the search result. For example, in the example of FIG. 3, a filter “adult” is set, but in this case, an image that matches the keyword “adult” is excluded from the search results.

  In addition, keywords related to the keyword “adult” are stored in advance, and images matching the keywords related to “adult” and “adult” are excluded from the search results when the filter “adult” is set. It is good to do.

  In this content search process, when a content search request is received, content that matches the keyword is searched from paid content and free content purchased by the user in the past.

  In this way, by allowing content to be searched from paid content purchased by the user in the past, the user purchases a large number of paid content, and content is also included from the paid content purchased in bulk in addition to the free content. If you want to search, you can search efficiently.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 1, the user information management unit 506 stores information such as the user ID, the purchase history of the paid content of the user, or the filter in the user information storage unit 505 as the user information 70. The information stored as 70 is updated.

  Here, the purchase history information of the paid content of the user identified by the user ID is received from a management server device (not shown) that manages the online shopping of the user. The filter is set by the user, and information on the set filter is received from the user terminal devices 10a and 10b.

  The content search unit 507 performs a process of searching for content that matches the keyword received from the user terminal devices 10a and 10b with reference to information on free content or paid content stored in the content information storage unit 501.

  When searching for content, the content search unit 507 refers to the user information 70 stored in the user information storage unit 505 and performs processing to check whether the user has purchased paid content in the past.

  If paid content is purchased, content matching the keyword is searched from the free content, and content is searched from paid content purchased in the past among the paid content.

  Also, the content search unit 507 refers to the filter information stored as the user information 70, performs a process of removing content that matches the keyword set as the filter from the search result, and displays the final search result as the user terminal. Output to the devices 10a and 10b.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search result output screen 80 output to the user terminal devices 10a and 10b. In this search result output screen 80, thumbnail images of images searched by a certain keyword are displayed.

  When a paid image is searched, a “pay!” Mark is displayed, so that it can be easily understood that it is paid content. In addition, a link to the original image is also output, and by clicking on the link, a web page with the original image can be accessed.

  Next, a procedure of content search processing according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the content search process according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, first, the search input / output control unit 504 of the content search device 50 accepts the search keyword transmitted by the user terminal devices 10a and 10b (step S101).

  Then, the content search unit 507 reads the user information 70 from the user information storage unit 505 (step S102), and checks whether the user who transmitted the search keyword has purchase experience of paid content (step S103). Specifically, the content search unit 507 checks whether or not information on the purchased paid content of the user who transmitted the search keyword is registered in the user information 70.

  If there is a purchase experience of the paid content (step S103, Yes), the content search unit 507, among the content stored in the content information 60, the paid content registered as the purchased paid content in the user information 70, and Then, content that matches the keyword is searched from the free content (step S104).

  Thereafter, the content search unit 507 performs content filtering by removing, from the search results, content that matches the keyword set as the filter based on the filter information stored in the user information 70 (step S105). The final search result is output to the user terminal devices 10a and 10b (step S106).

  In step S103, when the user has no purchase experience of paid content (step S103, No), the content search unit 507 searches for content that matches the keyword only from the free content (step S107). The process proceeds to S105, and the subsequent processing is continued.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, the user information management unit 506 stores information related to user attributes in the user information storage unit 505 as the user information 70, and the content search unit 507 is based on the user information 70. Thus, since the free content and the paid content are searched, the content suitable for the user can be searched efficiently.

  Further, in the first embodiment, the content search unit 507 determines whether or not to search for paid content provided for a fee based on the user information 70, and searches for the content based on the determined result. Therefore, it can be determined whether or not the user has the right to search for paid content, and content suitable for the user can be efficiently searched.

  In the first embodiment, the user information management unit 506 stores information related to the paid content that the user has already purchased as user information 70 in the user information storage unit 505, and the content search unit 507 is based on the user information 70. Thus, since the content is searched from the paid content that the user has already purchased, it is possible to efficiently search from the paid content purchased by the user in addition to the free content.

  In the first embodiment, the user information management unit 506 stores the filter information related to the content to be excluded from the search result in the user information storage unit 505 as the user information 70, and the content search unit 507 stores the user information 70 in the user information 70. Based on this, it is determined whether the content corresponds to the content to be excluded from the search result, and based on the determined result, the content is excluded from the search result. Therefore, unnecessary content is efficiently excluded as the search result. can do.

  Here, in the first embodiment, information on the paid content purchased by the user in the past is stored as the user information 70, and the content matching the keyword is searched from among the paid content. Regardless of whether or not paid content is purchased, the user may be able to specify paid content to be included in the search target.

  For example, when a paid content is introduced from another user in a social network or the like, the user may be able to register the paid content information as user information 70.

  In this case, the user information management unit 506 of the content search device 50 receives the authentication information and the identification information of the paid content from the user who received the introduction of the paid content. The authentication information is information such as a password acquired from a user who introduced paid content in order to prove that the user has been introduced. A user who introduced paid content stores authentication information in the user information storage unit 505 of the content search device 50 in advance.

  When the user information management unit 506 receives authentication information from the user, the user information management unit 506 determines whether or not the authentication information matches the authentication information registered in advance. Is stored in the user information 70.

  When the content search request is received from the user, the content search unit 507 refers to the user information 70 and performs a process of searching for content that matches the keyword from among the paid content introduced by other users. Do it.

  As described above, in the modification of the first embodiment, the user information management unit 506 receives authentication information for authenticating whether or not the user is a regular user and authenticates the user, and the user is a regular user. When authenticated, information related to the content to be included in the search target is received from the user, information related to the content to be included in the search target is stored as user information 70 in the content information storage unit 505, and the content search unit 507 stores the user information. Since the content is searched from the content to be included in the search target based on 70, the content introduced by another person can be easily included in the search target.

  By the way, in the first embodiment, the content that matches the keyword is searched from the paid content purchased by the user in the past. However, the content is searched from the paid content according to the member type of the user in the content search service. It may be determined whether or not to permit this. Thus, in the second embodiment, a case will be described in which it is determined whether or not to permit searching for content from paid content based on the user's membership type.

  In the second embodiment, three types of members, ie, a premium member, a pay member, and a free member are considered as user member types. Here, the premier member and the paying member are members who pay the usage fee for the content search service. In particular, a premium member is a member who pays a higher usage fee than a paying member and can receive a higher quality service than a paying member. A free member is a member who has not paid the usage fee for the content search service.

  The functional configuration of the content search apparatus according to the second embodiment is substantially the same as the functional configuration of the content search apparatus 50 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. However, the data structure of the user information 70 stored in the user information storage unit 505 in the content search device 50 and the functions of the user information management unit 506 and the content search unit 507 are different from the first embodiment.

  Hereinafter, the content search device according to the second embodiment is described as a content search device 50 ′, and a dash “′” is added to a number for identifying each functional unit of the content search device 50 ′. And

  For example, the user information in the second embodiment is the user information 70 ′, the content information storage unit is the content information storage unit 501 ′, the search input / output control unit is the search request receiving unit 504 ′, and the user information storage unit is the user information storage unit 505 ′. The user information management unit will be described as a user information management unit 506 ′, the content search unit will be described as a content search unit 507 ′, and the content search processing according to the second embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information 70 ′ according to the second embodiment. This user information 70 'stores information on the user ID, member level, and trial period. The user ID is identification information for identifying a user who uses the content search service. The member type is information that stores the user's member type. In the example of FIG. 6, there are three types of member types: a premium member, a paying member, and a free member.

  The trial period is information that stores a period when a free member is allowed to search for paid content for a certain period in order to give an incentive to move to a premium member or a paid member.

  This trial period information is stored when a trial application for a paid content search service is received from a free member. The example of FIG. 6 shows a case where a user who is a free member is allowed to search for paid content for one month from the application reception date.

  The user information management unit 506 ′ in the second embodiment stores information such as a user ID, a user membership type, or a trial period as user information 70 ′ or information stored as user information 70 ′. Perform the update process.

  Here, the user membership type information identified by the user ID is received from a management server device (not shown) that manages user registration information for the content search service. The trial period is set by the user information management unit 506 'when a user who is a free member accepts a trial application for a paid content search service.

  In addition, when the content search unit 507 ′ in the second embodiment receives a content search request from the user, the content search unit 507 ′ acquires the user member type information from the user information 70 ′. Search for free content and paid content that match the keyword from both free content and paid content.

  In addition, when the user is a paid member, the content search unit 507 ′ searches for free content and searches for content that matches the keyword from a part of the paid content. Here, information on the paid content provided to the paying member is stored in advance in the content information storage unit 501 '. Examples of paid content that can be provided to a paying member include web page content that allows the paying member to search for content.

  In addition, when the user is a free member, the content search unit 507 'searches for content only from the free content. However, if the information is registered in the trial period, the content search unit 507 ′ determines whether or not the current day is within the trial period. In addition to searching for free content that matches the keyword, paid content that matches the keyword is searched from the paid content.

  Next, a procedure of content search processing according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of content search processing according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, first, the search input / output control unit 504 ′ of the content search device 50 ′ accepts the search keyword transmitted by the user terminal devices 10 a and 10 b (Step S <b> 201).

  Then, the content search unit 507 'reads the user information 70' (step S202), and checks whether the user who transmitted the search keyword is a premium member (step S203).

  If the user is a premier member (step S203, Yes), the content search unit 507 ′ searches for content that matches the keyword from the free content and the paid content (step S204), and the search result is sent to the user terminal. It outputs to apparatus 10a, 10b (step S205).

  If the user is not a premium member (No at step S203), the content search unit 507 'checks whether the user is a paying member (step S206). If the user is a paid member (step S206, Yes), the content search unit 507 ′ searches the free content and a part of the paid content for content that matches the keyword (step S207). In step S205, the search result is output to the user terminal devices 10a and 10b.

  If the user is not a paid member but a free member (step S206, No), the content search unit 507 ′ is in a trial period in which the user who is a free member can search for paid content. Whether or not is checked (step S208).

  If the user is in the trial period (step S208, Yes), the content search unit 507 ′ searches the free content and the paid content for content that matches the keyword (step S209), and proceeds to step S205. Then, the search result is output to the user terminal devices 10a and 10b.

  If the user is not in the trial period (No at Step S208), the content search unit 507 ′ searches for content that matches the keyword only from the free content (Step S210), and moves to Step S205 to search. The result is output to the user terminal devices 10a and 10b.

  Here, the content filtering process as described in the first embodiment is not performed. However, as in the first embodiment, the content filtering process is performed to remove unnecessary content, and a final search result is obtained. It is good also as outputting to user terminal device 10a, 10b.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, the user information management unit 505 ′ stores information related to the user membership type as user information 70 ′, and the content search unit 507 ′ uses the user information 70 ′. Since the content search is performed from the specific content determined for each member type, the content corresponding to the member type can be efficiently searched.

  In the second embodiment, the user information management unit 506 ′ stores information related to a period during which a search for paid content is permitted according to the user's membership type in the user information storage unit 505 ′ as user information 70 ′. Based on the user information 70 ′, the content search unit 507 ′ determines whether or not the time point at which the search is performed is included in a period during which the search for the paid content is permitted, and searches for the paid content based on the determined result. Because it is decided to execute, the user who is a free member who does not have the right to search for paid content may try to use the paid content search function to encourage the user to change the membership type to a paid member or a premium member. it can.

  As described above, in the first and second embodiments, the case where the content search processing is realized on a computer has been described. However, the program for realizing the content search processing is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and this recording is performed. The content search process may be realized by causing a computer to read and execute a program recorded on a medium.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the computer 100 that realizes the content search processing. As shown in FIG. 8, the computer 100 includes a CPU 110 that executes the program, an input device 120 that inputs data, a ROM 130 that stores various data, a RAM 140 that stores calculation parameters and the like, and content search processing. A reading device 150 that reads a program from a recording medium 200 that records a program for realizing, an output device 160 such as a display, and a network interface 170 that exchanges data with other computers via a network 300. The bus 180 is connected.

  CPU110 implement | achieves a content search process by reading the program recorded on the recording medium 200 via the reader 150, and executing a program. Examples of the recording medium 200 include an optical disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, and a hard disk. Further, this program may be introduced into the computer 100 via the network 300.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described so far, the present invention may be implemented in various different embodiments in addition to the above-described embodiments within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. It ’s good.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, image content is searched. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and content such as text such as news articles, audio, and moving images may be searched.

  Also, in the above embodiment, whether to search for content that matches the keyword from among the paid content that the user has purchased in the past, or whether to search for content from the paid content according to the user's membership type in the content search service However, the present invention is not limited to this, and if the creator of the paid site permits the user to search for the paid content in advance, the creator of the paid site Information on users who are permitted to search is acquired and stored as user data, and when the user who performs the search is a user registered in the user data, the content is searched from the free content and charged. You may make it perform a search of content from content.

  In the above embodiment, content information such as URL is collected, search is performed based on the collected content information, and the search result is output. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The content itself may be collected, content that matches the user's attribute information may be searched from the collected content, and the searched content may be output.

  In the above embodiment, the content matching the keyword is searched. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the specification of the condition that the searched content should satisfy, such as a black and white image. May be accepted and content satisfying the condition may be searched.

  In addition, among the processes described in this embodiment, all or part of the processes described as being performed automatically can be performed manually, or the processes described as being performed manually can be performed. All or a part can be automatically performed by a known method. In addition, the processing procedure, control procedure, specific name, and information including various data and parameters shown in the above-described document and drawings can be arbitrarily changed unless otherwise specified.

  Each component of the illustrated content search apparatus is functionally conceptual and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. In other words, the specific form of distribution / integration of content search devices is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and all or a part thereof is functionally or physically distributed in arbitrary units according to various loads and usage conditions. -Can be integrated and configured.

  Furthermore, the processing functions performed in the content search apparatus can be realized in whole or in part by a CPU and a program that is analyzed and executed by the CPU, or can be realized as hardware by wired logic.

As described above, the content search device and the content search method according to the present invention are useful for a content search system that needs to efficiently search for content suitable for a user.

It is a figure which shows the functional structure of the content search apparatus 50 which concerns on Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the content information 60 which the content information storage part 501 shown in FIG. 1 memorize | stores. It is a figure which shows an example of the user information 70 which the user information storage part 505 shown in FIG. 1 memorize | stores. It is a figure which shows an example of the search result output screen 80 output to user terminal device 10a, 10b. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of content search processing according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user information 70 'which concerns on Example 2. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of content search processing according to the second embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the computer 100 which implement | achieves a content search process.

Explanation of symbols

10a, 10b User terminal device 20a, 20b Free content server device 30a, 30b Paid content server device 30 Internet 50 Content search device 500 Communication unit 501 Content information storage unit 502 Content information collection unit 503 Index creation unit 504 Search input / output control unit 505 User information storage unit 506 User information management unit 507 Content search unit 60, 60 ′ Content information 70, 70 ′ User information 80 Search result output screen

Claims (4)

A content search device for searching for content provided by a server device connected to a network,
User information storage means for storing, as user information, a purchase history of paid content previously purchased by a user among a plurality of paid content provided by one or a plurality of paid content server devices ;
Content storage means for storing information relating to paid content provided by the paid content server device and free content provided by the free content server device ;
Purchase history management means for updating the purchase history of the user stored in the user information storage means with the purchase history received from a management device that manages the purchase history of the paid content of the user every time the user purchases the paid content ; ,
Search keyword receiving means for receiving a search keyword input by the user;
The user information of the user who has input the search keyword received by the search keyword receiving unit is read from the user information storage unit, and it is determined whether or not the purchase history of the user stored in the user information storage unit exists. Purchase history determination means to
If the purchase history determination means determines that the purchase history of the user who has input the search keyword exists, the search among a plurality of pay contents among the information related to the content stored in the content storage means The information related to the content matching the search keyword is searched from the information related to the paid content purchased by the user corresponding to the purchase history of the user who has input the keyword and the information related to the free content, and the search keyword is input. When it is not determined that the purchase history of the user exists, a search for searching for information related to the content that matches the search keyword from information related to the free content among information related to the content stored in the content storage means Means,
A content search apparatus comprising: The user information storage means stores information on content to be excluded from search results as attribute information for each user,
The search means determines whether the information about the content corresponds to the information about the content to be excluded from the search result based on the attribute information, and excludes the information about the content from the search result based on the determined result. The content search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The user information storage means receives authentication information for authenticating whether or not the user is a regular user, authenticates the user, and relates to content to be included in a search target when the user is authenticated as a regular user. Receiving information from the user, storing information about the content to be included in the received search target as attribute information for each user,
The content search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the search unit searches for information related to content from information related to content included in the search target based on the attribute information. A content search method performed by a content search device that searches for content provided by a server device connected to a network,
A user information storage step of storing, as user information, a purchase history of paid content previously purchased by a user among a plurality of paid content provided by one or a plurality of paid content server devices as user information in a user information storage unit;
A purchase history management step of updating the purchase history of the user stored in the user information storage means with the purchase history received from a management device that manages the purchase history of the paid content of the user every time the user purchases the paid content ; ,
A search keyword receiving step for receiving a search keyword input by the user;
The user information of the user who has input the search keyword received in the search keyword receiving step is read from the user information storage means, and it is determined whether or not the purchase history of the user stored in the user information storage means exists. Purchase history judgment process to
If the purchase history determination step determines that the purchase history of the user who has input the search keyword exists, the paid content provided by the paid content server device and the free content provided by the free content server device Among the information related to the content stored in the content storage means for storing information related to the information related to the paid content purchased in the past by the user corresponding to the purchase history of the user who has input the search keyword among a plurality of paid content, and the retrieved from the information about the free content information about the content that matches the search keyword, when said search keyword user purchase history you enter is not determined that there is stored in the content storage unit Among the information about the content, and the search step of searching for information about the content that matches the search keyword from among the information on the free content,
The content search method characterized by including.

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