JP4527770B2 - Information retrieval apparatus, computer program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Description

    The present invention relates to an information search apparatus, an information search method, and a program for causing a computer to execute the method for searching a WEB site on the Internet based on a keyword input by a user.

  Conventionally known robotic search engines and directory type search engines are known as search engines for full-text search of WEB sites (WEB pages) on the Internet according to user search instructions.

  When a keyword related to information to be searched is specified, the robot-type search engine periodically collects information on all WWW servers that can be found on the Internet using a WWW search program called a WEB robot or spider. The information is automatically indexed. Since this robot type search engine automatically collects data of WEB sites all over the world by a computer, it has an advantage of a large amount of information.

  The directory-type search engine allows the operator to categorize the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the WEB site in advance, such as art, business, education, etc., and the user can search by specifying keywords for each field. To do. Since this directory type search engine classifies information by field, the user can use it like an occupational telephone book, and has the advantage that it is convenient when searching after determining a field.

  However, such a conventional search engine has the following problems. In the case of a robot-type search engine, there is an advantage that a large amount of information is collected. On the other hand, since the search robot simply indexes the words that appear in the collected WEB site information, the WEB site In many cases, there are tens of thousands of cases. For this reason, there is a problem that a site that is not originally related to the user is displayed as a search result, the quality of the search result is low, and the user needs an enormous amount of time to narrow down the target WEB site. .

  In addition, since the search robot performs a search, even if different users search, as long as the search is performed with the same keyword, only the same search result is always obtained, and a satisfactory search result is obtained for all users having different profiles and preferences. There is a problem that it is rarely obtained.

  In the case of a directory-type search engine, the data input and classification of the WEB site is basically performed manually, so the amount of information is two to three orders of magnitude less than the service provided by the robot-type search engine. There is a problem that you can not find anything other than. In addition, since the data input and classification of the WEB site depend on the business processing ability of the worker, there is a limit in increasing the amount of information.

  In the case of a directory-type engine, the collected WEB site information is simply classified according to the field. Therefore, as with the robot-type search engine, even if a different user searches, the same keyword is always used. There is a problem that only search results can be obtained, and satisfactory search results are rarely obtained for all users having different profiles and preferences.

On the other hand, a system that provides a search result according to the user's preference has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). In this system, identification information for specifying the information so that the user can handle the information. Are registered as bookmarks based on user operations, and categories are assigned based on the user's intentions. Further, by determining the degree of coincidence between users of information in each category, the similarity of preference between the user and other users is evaluated and determined, and other users who are determined to have high similarity are evaluated. The information can be introduced to the user. According to this, since the user introduces information evaluated by other users with similar preferences from the system, time and cost for searching for information can be saved.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-187666

  However, in the conventional system, it is possible to provide unknown information to the user who receives the provision based on the similarity of the user's preference. However, at the time of keyword search, the trend of the user having the common preference (for example, the common preference) Provide as an index the number of pages that a user with a hobby refers to) and the latest trend of the page (for example, whether it has been updated recently, or has recently become particularly popular) Information cannot be sorted out.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object thereof is to make a search result at the time of keyword search more valuable to a user.

The present invention for solving the above problems is an information search apparatus for searching for information on a web page on the Internet based on search information input from a client terminal and transmitting a search result to the client terminal.
Registration information storage means for storing registration information relating to a web page;
Receiving means for receiving the search information from the client terminal;
First search result generating means for searching a Web page related to a keyword included in the search information from search information and generating a first search result;
It is data specific to the user of the client terminal, and for the corresponding user, at least regarding age, gender, regional attribute, occupation, unmarried, dwelling form, annual income, car ownership, and hobby User data storage means for storing user data including information for each user;
Extraction means for extracting identification information for identifying the user from the search information;
Among user data stored in the user data storage means, user data acquisition means for acquiring first user data corresponding to the identification information;
From registration information relating to the Web page included in the first search result stored in the registration information storage means, setting information relating to presence / absence of use of the registration information included in the search information, and the first user data Selecting means for selecting the first registration information using
Calculating means for calculating, for each Web page, a weight value of the Web page included in the first search result based on the first registration information;
Rank determining means for determining the rank of the Web page included in the first search result based on the weighting value calculated for each Web page;
Second search result generation means for generating a second search result by sorting Web pages included in the first search result according to the determined order;
Transmitting means for transmitting the second search result to the client terminal;
Wherein the registration information for the Web page, at least, the sum of each of the user data of the number of times referenced by the plurality of user type, the user data of the number of times referenced by a plurality of users within a latest predetermined period the total for each type, one of the number of users of each type of the user data that has registered the Web page in the bookmark is included,
The setting information is information for specifying the registration information used for calculating the weighting value,
The selection unit selects, as the first registration information, registration information corresponding to at least various types of information included in the first user data among the registration information specified in the setting information.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the search result at the time of keyword search can be made more valuable to the user. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The accompanying drawings are included in the specification, constitute a part thereof, show an embodiment of the present invention, and are used to explain the principle of the present invention together with the description.
It is a figure corresponding to an example of the whole system configuration corresponding to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure corresponding to an example of composition of client 101 corresponding to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure corresponding to an example of composition of server 103 corresponding to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the registration content of the user database 104 corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the registration content of the bookmark database 105 corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the registration content of the URL database 106 corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the registration content of the URL database 106 corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart corresponding to an example of the process between the client 101 and the server 103 when an online bookmark is used, corresponding to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen displayed on the display 207 of the client 101 corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the display screen displayed on the display 207 of the client 101 corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the display screen displayed on the display 207 of the client 101 corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart corresponding to an example of the process between the client 101 and the server 103 when the search process corresponding to the embodiment of the present invention is executed. It is a flowchart corresponding to an example of the search process in the server 103 corresponding to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the constituent elements described in this embodiment are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them.

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a search system corresponding to this embodiment. Clients 101 a, 101 b, 101 c (hereinafter collectively referred to as “client 101”) that are operated by the user to browse content, a server 103 that performs search, and a content server 108 that publishes content are respectively connected to the Internet 102. It is connected to the. In addition, a user database 104, a bookmark database 105, a URL database 106, and a search database 107 are connected to the server 103.

  The client 101 is an information processing apparatus as a client terminal that can be operated by a user and browse content published on the Internet, and includes a notebook personal computer, a desktop personal computer, a portable information terminal, a mobile phone, and the like. It is assumed that software capable of displaying content described in a predetermined page description language (for example, HTML, XML, PDF, PS, etc.) on the display screen is installed in the client 101. In the following embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, a case where a so-called Internet browser is installed as the software will be described as an example.

  The client 101 is connected to the Internet 102 by a LAN which is an access means including a network cable such as Ethernet (registered trademark). Note that the access means to the network 102 is not limited to the Ethernet (registered trademark) cable, and may be constituted by a communication cable conforming to the RS232C interface, or a wireless communication means such as a wireless LAN. It is assumed that the server 103 and the content server 108 described later include similar access means.

  The Internet 102 is a network in which networks all over the world are connected to each other, but may be a network that can be connected only within a specific organization, such as an intranet.

  The server 103 is an information processing apparatus as an information search apparatus that provides a search service to the client 101, and manages information stored in the user database 104, bookmark database 105, URL database 106, and search database 107. . The server 103 periodically accesses a website that can be browsed on the Internet 102, collects the URL, title, and full-text data included therein, and updates the URL database 106 and the search database 107.

  Further, the update of the bookmark database 105 is monitored, and when a new URL is added to or deleted from the user bookmark, information registered in the corresponding URL database 106 is updated. In addition, the selection operation of the URL registered in the bookmark in the client 101 is monitored, and the reference count of each user is recorded. The server 103 is connected to a user database 104, a bookmark database 105, a URL database 106, and a search database 107 by, for example, a LAN.

  The user database 104, the bookmark database 105, the URL database 106, and the search database 107 are information processing apparatuses in which predetermined database software is installed, and manage various data. The user database 104 manages user data information. The bookmark database 105 manages bookmark data for each user. The URL database 106 uniformly manages registration information regarding pages registered by each user in bookmarks. The search database 107 manages information for search processing.

  The content server 108 is an information processing apparatus that provides content such as a web page. For example, software such as a web server is installed.

  In this specification, for the sake of convenience, the server 103, the user database 104, the bookmark database 105, the URL database 106, and the search database 107 are described as being realized by physically independent information processing apparatuses. The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, these may be realized by a single information processing apparatus. The user database 104, bookmark database 105, URL database 106, and search database 107 are described as being connected to the server 103 via a LAN or the like. For example, the user database 104, bookmark database 105, URL database 106, and search database 107 are connected to the server 103 via the Internet 102 or an unshown intranet. The form which can communicate may be taken.

<Configuration of information processing apparatus>
Next, an outline of the information processing apparatus constituting the search system corresponding to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the client 101. The user database 104, the bookmark database 105, the URL database 106, and the search database 107 as the information processing apparatus described above may be configured in the same or equivalent hardware configuration.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 200 denotes a CPU that executes application programs, operating systems (OS), control programs, and the like stored in a hard disk device (hereinafter referred to as HD) 205, and information necessary for executing the programs in the RAM 202. Control to temporarily store files and the like.

  A ROM 201 stores therein various data such as a program such as a basic I / O program, font data used for document processing, and template data. A RAM 202 temporarily stores various data, and functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 200.

  Reference numeral 203 denotes an external storage drive for realizing access to a recording medium, and a program or the like stored in the medium (recording medium) 204 can be loaded into the computer system. As the medium 204, for example, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a PC card, a DVD, an IC memory card, an MO, a memory stick, or the like can be used.

  Reference numeral 205 denotes an external storage device, which uses an HD functioning as a large-capacity memory in this embodiment. The HD 205 stores application programs, OS, control programs, related programs, and the like.

  Reference numeral 206 denotes an instruction input device, which corresponds to a keyboard, a pointing device (such as a mouse), a touch panel, or the like. Using the instruction input device 206, the user instructs the client 101 to input a command or the like for controlling the device.

  A display 207 displays a command input from the instruction input device 206, a response output of the client 101 in response thereto, and the like.

  A system bus 209 manages the flow of data in the information processing apparatus. Reference numeral 208 denotes an interface (hereinafter referred to as I / F), which exchanges data with an external device via the I / F 208.

  In addition, it can also be comprised as an alternative of a hardware apparatus with the software which implement | achieves a function equivalent to the above each apparatus.

  In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the program and related data according to the present embodiment are directly loaded from the medium 204 to the RAM 202 and executed. However, every time the program according to the present embodiment is operated, the program is already executed. May be loaded into the RAM 202 from the HD 205 in which is installed. It is also possible to record the program according to the present embodiment in the ROM 201, configure it as a part of the memory map, and execute it directly by the CPU 200.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a device configuration of the server 103. Functions and applications of the CPU 300, ROM 301, RAM 302, external storage drive 303, media 304, HD 305, instruction input device 306, display 307, I / F 308, system bus 309, and their relationship will be described with reference to FIG. Similar or equivalent to Note that in FIG. 3, database 310 is connected to system bus 309. Here, the database 310 is a generic term for the user database 104, the bookmark database 105, the URL database 106, and the search database 107.

<User data structure>
FIG. 4A is a diagram for explaining an example of the structure of user data stored in the user database 104. The user data is composed of various information relating to the characteristics and attributes of individual users.

  In FIG. 4A, 401 is a user ID, which is an identifier uniquely assigned to uniquely identify each user. A password 402 is used for authentication when each user accesses personal information registered or uses a bookmark. 403 is the user name, 404 is the user's email address, 405 is the age, 406 is the gender, 407 is the region attribute where the user is active or resides, 408 is the occupation, 409 is unmarried, 410 is the residence type, 411 is the annual income, 412 is a private car ownership, and 413 is a hobby. Each data is provided in advance by the user and registered as user data. Further, the above contents are given as an example of user data, and it is not necessary that all of them are registered, and other information that characterizes the user may be registered.

<Bookmark structure>
In this embodiment, bookmarks are created and updated by the user, but all bookmark data is stored in the bookmark database 105 connected to the server 103 for each user, and when the user starts a web browser on the client 101. , Downloaded to the client 101 and displayed on the web browser.

  The bookmark is composed of a URL and a folder that stores the URL as a specific unit in a known directory structure. That is, each URL is registered in a directory tree for each user (hereinafter referred to as a bookmark directory), and may be directly under the bookmark directory or in an arbitrarily created folder.

  FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an example of management of information related to a page registered in a bookmark. In FIG. 4B, the user ID is an identifier of a user who uses the bookmark, and corresponds to the user ID 401 in FIG. 4A. Thereby, the correspondence between the user and the bookmark can be taken. In 422, information for identifying the Web page to be registered is registered. In the present embodiment, the URL database 106 is used to manage information about each page in a unified manner, so that the URL of the corresponding page is not stored in each bookmark of the user. Instead, the URL database 106 stores an identification number (URL-ID) for managing the page. If the URL database 106 is not used, the URL itself may be registered.

  Reference numeral 423 denotes a bookmark name given to each page. The bookmark name 423 may be a name arbitrarily set when the user registers a bookmark, or may be a name originally assigned to the page. Reference numeral 424 denotes the date and time when the page was created (corresponding to the date and time when the page was first published on the network 102). Reference numeral 425 indicates the date and time when the page was updated to the latest. Reference numeral 426 indicates the date and time when the user referred to the page most recently. Reference numeral 427 denotes the total number of times the user refers to the page. The total number of times of reference refers to the total number of times the user has referred to the page so far. Reference numeral 428 denotes the number of times the user has referred to the page recently. Here, the most recent reference count refers to the total number of times the page has been referred to by the user in the most recent predetermined period (for example, one week, one month, etc.).

  In addition to the table shown in FIG. 4B, a directory table is prepared in the bookmark database 105 and stored therein regarding the relationship between the pages registered in the bookmark and information on the folder storing the page.

  Here, as described above, the server 103 periodically monitors the update of each page registered as a bookmark, and updates the contents of the update date and time 425 when there is an update.

<Configuration of URL database>
The URL database 106 registers information related to the page corresponding to the URL-ID 422 registered in the bookmark database 105. FIG. 4C is a diagram illustrating an example of management of information regarding pages in the URL database 106.

  4C, reference numeral 422 represents an ID (identifier) given to the URL, and corresponds to the URL-ID 422 in FIG. 4B. Reference numeral 429 denotes a URL to which a URL-ID 422 is given. Reference numeral 430 denotes a title inherent to the Web content corresponding to the URL. The creation date / time and update date / time are the same as in FIG. 4B. Reference numeral 431 denotes the last reference date and time, which indicates the date and time when one of the bookmark users referred to the page most recently. Reference numeral 432 denotes the total of the total reference counts 427 of a plurality of users, that is, the total number of times the page is referred to by a plurality of users.

  The latest reference count 433 represents the total of the latest reference counts 428 of a plurality of users, that is, the total number of times the page is referred to by a plurality of users within the latest predetermined period. Therefore, “the most recent predetermined period” is the same as in FIG. 4B. For example, since a recently-launched but popular page has the most recent reference count 433, it is possible to determine the most popular degree for each page. Reference numeral 434 denotes the number of increased anchors, which indicates the number of anchors added within the most recent predetermined period for the page. In this embodiment, the anchor refers to link information to another page embedded in the page. Further, “the most recent predetermined period” is the same as described above. Reference numeral 435 denotes the number of bookmarks registered, which indicates the number of users who have registered the page in the bookmark.

  Further, the URL database 106 manages the reference count and the bookmark registration count for each user data of the user who registers the page in the bookmark. FIG. 4D is a diagram illustrating another example of management of information regarding pages in the URL database 106.

  In FIG. 4D, the total reference count, the latest reference count, and the bookmark registration count corresponding to the details of the user data are registered for each page. Reference numeral 422 denotes a URL-ID assigned to each page. Reference numeral 440 denotes user data, in which individual user data shown in FIG. 4A is registered. Reference numeral 441 denotes the total number of times of reference, and the total number of times of reference with respect to the page, which is totaled for each user data, is registered. Reference numeral 442 denotes the latest reference count, and the total of the reference counts in the most recent predetermined period for the URL, which is counted for each user data, is registered. The “predetermined predetermined period” is the same as described above. Reference numeral 443 denotes the number of bookmarks registered, and a value obtained by totaling the number of users who have registered the page in the bookmark for each user data is registered.

  In FIG. 4D, for user data 440, age 405, hobby 413, and job type 408 are described as registered examples. When age 405 is taken into account, a certain age group such as “10's”, “20's”, etc. For each, a total reference count 441, a latest reference count 442, and a bookmark registration count 443 are registered. In other words, it can be read from FIG. 4D that the total of the teenage users referring to the URL is 100 times, and that the total of the 20-year users referring to the URL is 300 times.

  As for the most recent reference count, it can be read that teenagers are 30 times and 20s are 20 times. That is, the Web content corresponding to this URL is generally more interested by users in their 20s than users in their teens. It can be seen that is getting stronger. Further, by referring to the bookmark registration number 443, it is possible to grasp how many bookmarks are registered by which age group in their teens to 40s.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the user data 440 includes a plurality of items other than “age”, “hobby”, and “job type”. For each of these user data, the total reference count 441, the latest reference count 442, and the bookmark The registered number 443 is registered. The data of the total reference count 441, the latest reference count 442, and the bookmark registration count 443 for each user data can be obtained by using the data shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

  In the present embodiment, each registered content of the database exemplified in FIGS. 4A to 4D is referred to as registration information.

<Configuration of search database>
The search database 107 manages information for search processing as search information for searching for a Web page related to a keyword provided by a user. Search data collected from a Web site on the Internet 102 Is registered. The search data mainly includes an identifier, a keyword, an attribute, a data acquisition time, a data acquisition URL, a URL title, a full text data (Description), and the like of each search data, but may include other data.

<Online bookmark>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart corresponding to an example of processing between the client 101 and the server 103 when an online bookmark is used in the client 101. First, when a Web browser is started in the client 101 (“YES” in step S551), a bookmark data request is notified to the server 103 together with the user ID 401 (501), and the server 103 is based on the notified user ID 401. The bookmark database 105 is searched and bookmark data of the user is selected (step S552). The selected bookmark data is transmitted from the server 103 to the client 101 (502).

  The client 101 displays the activated web browser on the display 207, and displays bookmark information based on the bookmark data transmitted from the server 103 in the bookmark display area of the web browser (step S553).

  Thereafter, the client 101 monitors whether or not an operation for the bookmark from the user has been accepted. If the operation has been accepted (“YES” in step S554), the bookmark operation content is notified to the server 103 (503). . Here, the bookmark operation received from the user includes, for example, selection of a URL registered in the bookmark, addition of a new URL, editing of registered URL information (including deletion), and the like.

  When the bookmark operation content is received from the client 101, the server 103 updates each database based on the received content. If the notification is, for example, a notification that a user has selected a URL, the reference date and time 426, the total reference count 427, the latest reference count 428, the last reference date and time 431, the total reference count 432, and the latest reference for the corresponding URL. The reference count 433, the total reference count 441, and the latest reference count 442 are updated.

  When the user finishes browsing the Web browser, a termination notification is transmitted from the client 101 to the server 103 (504), and a termination response is returned from the server 103 (505).

  As described above, the contents of the bookmark database 105 and the URL database 106 managed by the server 103 are always updated based on the operation received from the user.

<Search process 1 (Search screen)>
Next, a specific description will be given of processing when the client 101 executes Web page search processing using the server 103 in the present embodiment.

  6A to 6C are diagrams illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the display 207 when the user executes a search process in the client 101. FIG. When a user intends to execute a search process, a predetermined URL is designated and a search page provided by the server 103 is accessed. At this time, the first screen displayed on the display 207 is a screen 600 as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C. The screen 600 is largely divided into a search screen 601 and a bookmark display area 606. In the bookmark display area 606, bookmark display based on the bookmark data provided from the server 103 is performed, and the user can select and browse a page registered in the bookmark.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the server 103 provides a search service with the name “XX search”, and the search screen 601 includes a keyword input area 602, a search execution button 603, an option 604, and a setting button 605. Is displayed. The keyword input area 602 is an area for receiving an input of a keyword that the user wants to search. The search execution button 603 is a button for instructing the server 103 to perform a search process according to the content of the set option for the input keyword. In option 604, an instruction is received from the user as to whether or not to sort search results based on page information and user data as shown in FIG. 6C. That is, when “use” is selected, a search using the contents set as an option is performed. On the other hand, when “not use” is selected, normal search processing is executed without using the content set as an option, and the search result is notified to the client 101.

  In the case of FIG. 6A, since “use” is selected, a search using option setting contents is performed. When “use” is selected, the setting button 605 is activated. When the selection of the setting button 605 is accepted, a user ID input screen as shown in FIG. 6B is displayed and a search is performed. It is confirmed whether or not the user to be registered is registered in the user database 104. After this confirmation, an option setting screen as shown in FIG. 6C is displayed. On the other hand, when “not use” is selected, the setting button 605 is grayed out, and the display screens as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C are not provided.

Next, FIG. 6B will be described. FIG. 6B is a screen displayed on the display 207 when the setting button 605 is selected in FIG. 6A. This screen is a screen for confirming whether or not the user is registered in the user database 104.
In the screen 610, reference numeral 611 denotes a display field that accepts an input regarding the presence / absence of user registration from a user who wants to perform a search. Here, either “Yes” or “No” can be selected. When “Yes” is selected, input fields 612 and 613 for receiving input of “user name” and “password” are displayed. On the other hand, when “none” is selected, these input fields 612 and 613 are grayed out or not displayed at all.

  Reference numeral 614 denotes a determination button, which is operated when confirming input contents. A cancel button 615 is operated when the user wants to return to the screen of FIG. 6A. If the user registration 611 is set to “none” when the enter button 614 is operated, the screen is switched to FIG. 6C without transmitting data to the server. On the other hand, if the user registration 611 is set to “Yes” and “user name” and “password” are accepted, the accepted data is transmitted to the server 103.

  The server 103 searches the user database 104 for a user name 403 and a password 402 that match the “user name” and “password” received from the client 101. If a matching “user name” is registered, the server 103 notifies the client 101 of the presence / absence of user data registered in the user database 104 and the user ID 401. Upon receiving the notification from the server 103, the client 101 displays the screen in FIG. 6C. On the other hand, if a matching “user name” is not registered, an error message is notified from the server 103 to the client 101. Upon receiving the error message from the server 103, the client 101 displays the screen of FIG. 6B and accepts input of “user name” and “password” again.

  Next, FIG. 6C will be described. FIG. 6C is a screen displayed on the display 207 after the enter button 614 is selected in FIG. 6B. In addition, this screen accepts setting of option information used in the search in the server 103, more specifically, designation of registration information used to calculate the weight value of each page included in the search result. It is also a screen for.

  The option input screen 620 roughly shows page information 621, user data 622, and entrusted 623. Items that can be set for the page information 621 include an update date and time, a total reference count, the latest reference count, an increased anchor count, and a bookmark registration count. These items correspond to the registration information of the update date and time 425, the total reference count 432, the latest reference count 433, the increased anchor count 434, and the bookmark registration count 435 of FIG. 4C registered in the URL database 106, respectively. Therefore, when any of these items is selected, the corresponding registration information is used when determining the display order of the pages included in the search result in the server 103 (as will be described later with reference to FIG. 8). Used.

  Items that can be set for the user data 622 include age, sex, regional attributes, occupation, unmarried, annual income, presence of a car, and hobbies. These items correspond to items related to the specified user data among the registered information about the total reference count 441, the latest reference count 442, and the bookmark registration count 443 in FIG. 4D registered in the URL database 106, respectively. ing.

  For example, when the age is selected from the user data 622, the generation to which the user belongs is determined based on the age of the user who made the designation out of the age of the user data 440 in FIG. 4D, and the corresponding registration Information is identified. Therefore, when any of these items is selected, the corresponding registration information is used when determining the display order of the pages included in the search result in the server 103 (as will be described later with reference to FIG. 8). Used.

  The entrusting 623 can be selected when the user does not specify the page information 621 or the user data 622. When the entrusting 623 is selected, for example, the search may be performed using all option information, or specific page information 621 and user data 622 are set in advance, and the setting is performed. You may search using it.

The setting items in the options are not limited to those described above, and other items may naturally be included.
In the screen shown in FIG. 6B, items that can be set for the page information 621 and the user data 622 are displayed. Such display is registered in the user database 104 and each setting of the user data 622 is set. As shown in FIG. 4A, it is meaningless if user data is not registered without omission.

  For example, some users may not be registered in the user database 104. In such a case, even if a setting is received for the setting item of the user data 622, it cannot be used for the search. Such a user should have set the user registration 611 to “none” on the screen of FIG. 6B. Therefore, it is preferable that only the page information 621 is displayed on the screen 620 and the user data 622 is grayed out corresponding to the setting contents. According to this, even a user who is not registered in the user database can be searched using at least the page update date and time and the latest reference count.

  Further, there may be a person who registers only part of user data and does not register other user data. In such a case, even if a setting is received for an item that is not registered, it cannot be used for a search. Therefore, only items corresponding to the user data registered in the user database 104 among the setting items of the user data 622 are displayed based on the notification regarding the presence / absence of the user data registered in the user database 104 received from the server 103. However, it is preferable to gray out the others. According to this, a user can perform a search using at least user data registered by the user.

  When the user finishes option input, the user can confirm the contents of the option input by the enter button 624. When the determination button 624 is selected, the search screen 601 returns to the contents shown in FIG. 6A. If the cancel button 625 is selected, the screen returns to the screen of FIG. 6A. At that time, the option setting contents may be reset, or the input contents so far may be retained.

<Search process 2 (search process)>
Next, the flow of processing when actually executing a search will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, when the URL of the page of the search service provided by the server 103 is selected in the client 101 (“YES” in step S751), the client 101 notifies the server 103 of a request for search screen information ( 701). In response to the request for search screen information from the client 101, the server 103 transmits search screen information as search information generation information for generating search information described later in the client 101 (702). Upon receiving the search screen information from the server 103, the client 101 displays a search screen as shown in the search screen 601 in FIG. 6A on the display 207 (step S752).

  Next, an input such as whether or not to set a keyword or an option is received from the user (step S753). When option setting is performed, the screen of FIG. 6B is displayed to determine whether or not user registration is set. Is determined (step S754). If option setting is not made, the following steps S753 to S756 are skipped and the process proceeds to step S757.

  When the user registration 611 is set to “none” on the screen displayed in FIG. 6B, “user registration is not present” is not set (“NO” in step S754), and the process proceeds to step S756. . On the other hand, when the user registration 611 is set as “present” and “user name” and “password” are input in the input fields 612 and 613, “user registration is present” is set (step S754). Therefore, the input information is transmitted to the server 103 as user authentication information (703).

  The server 103 uses the user authentication information including the “user name” and “password” transmitted from the client to verify user authentication, that is, whether the user is a user registered in the user database 104. (Step S755). If the user is registered as a result of the verification, a user authentication result including the user ID 401 and information on the presence / absence of user data registered in the user database 104 is transmitted to the client 101 for the user ( 704). If the user is not registered, a user authentication result including an error message is transmitted to the client 101 (704).

  Next, in step S756, an option input screen as shown in FIG. 6C is displayed and option input is accepted. Subsequently, a search execution instruction by selection of the search execution button 603 is accepted (step S757). When the search execution button 603 is selected, if the server 103 has received the keyword and the option setting content received in steps S753 and S756 and the user authentication result (704), the search is performed there. Search information including the included user ID 401 is transmitted (705). Here, when the user who performs the search is an unregistered user, a predetermined code indicating that the user is not registered may be included in the search information instead of the user ID 401 and transmitted.

  Upon receiving the search information transmitted from the client 101, the server 103 performs a search process based on the keyword, creates a search result based on the contents of the option setting (step S758), and transmits the search result to the client 101. (706). Upon receiving the search result from the server 103, the client 101 displays the received search result on the search screen 601 of the display 207 (step S759).

  Thereafter, when the search is executed again according to the input from the user, the processing from step S751 is resumed. If the user ends browsing of the Web browser (“YES” in step S760), an end notification is transmitted from the client 101 to the server 103 (707), and an end response is returned from the server 103 ( 708).

  Next, details of the process in step S758 of FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart corresponding to an example of search processing in the server 103.

First, in step S801, the server 103 receives the search information transmitted from the client 101, and extracts the user ID 401 of the user who requested the search (search request user) from the received search information. Next, in step S802, user data is acquired from the user database 104 based on the extracted user ID 401.
If the search requesting user is not registered in the user database 104, the user ID 401 is not included in the search information even though a code indicating the unregistered user is included. Further, even if the user is originally registered in the user database 104, if the option setting 604 in FIG. 6A is set to “not use”, the user authentication result (704) in FIG. 7 is not received. The search information does not include the user ID 401. For these users, acquisition of user data is naturally not performed.
Next, in step S803, the search database 107 is searched by a known method based on the keyword included in the search information. In step S804, data matching the search condition based on the keyword is acquired as the search result 1. This search result 1 is a search result obtained by the search process, regardless of the user data (that is, the occupation or age of the search requesting user) and the page information (update date and time, reference count, etc.). The degree of association with the keyword is determined based on the criteria such as the keyword specified in the page or how many words are similar to the keyword, and the pages are arranged in the order of the association.

  In step S805, the contents of the option setting 604 of the search requesting user are identified based on the search information. If the option is set to “not use” in the option setting 604, the process proceeds to step S816, and the search result 1 is transmitted to the client 101. On the other hand, if “use” is set, the process proceeds to step S806, and the point Ps of each page is calculated based on the rank of the search result 1. For example, if 100 pages are included in the search result 1, points from the head can be added as 100, 99, 98... 1 based on the ranking. In addition, points of 100, 90, 80... 10 may be given to only the top 10 cases. In any case, a weight based on the rank of the search result 1 is given to each page included in the search result 1 as Ps.

  In step S807, the order of pages included in the search result 1 is set to Nu, and Nu is set to 1. Next, in step S808, if a page with the Nu rank in the search result 1 is selected and information is registered in the URL database 106 for the page based on the URL of the page, the registered registration is performed. Get all the information. Next, in step S809, based on the contents of the option setting set in the search information and the user data acquired in step S802, based on the user data, the registration information acquired Narrow down the registration information used for page weighting.

  For example, in the case of FIG. 6C, only “recent reference count” is selected as the page information 621, and “age” and “job type” are selected as the user data 622. 4C and 4D, the most recent reference count 433, the total reference count 441, the most recent reference count 442, and the bookmark registration count 443 corresponding to the age and job type of the search requesting user are selected. Only the registration information is narrowed down.

  Here, a case has been described in which the registration information described in FIGS. 4C and 4D is used for narrowing down, but since which registration information is used is determined based on the contents of the option setting, FIG. Alternatively, it is naturally possible to perform the narrowing down using only one of FIGS.

  In step S808 and step S809, all registration information is once read and then narrowed down, but this is only described as an example. In other words, the corresponding registration information may be acquired directly from the URL database 106 based on the contents of the option settings set in the search information and the user data.

Next, in step S810, the narrowed registration information is Pr and the weighting value is Pw, and a point based on the registration information: Pu is calculated (Pu = Pr × Pw).
Here, when the page itself is not registered in the URL database 106, or when the page itself is registered, but information corresponding to the narrowed registration information is not registered (for example, the page May be accessed by a person other than a specific hobby). In the present invention, by using this point Pu, it is possible to reflect the relevance between the page and the search requesting user and the usefulness of the information on the page in the search result. That is, by using the total reference count 441, the latest reference count 442, and the bookmark registration count 443, it is registered in a page or bookmark that many other users who have selected the same type of occupation as the search requesting user refer to. The page can be ranked higher in the search result. In addition, by using the total reference count 432, the latest reference count 433, the increased anchor count 434, and the bookmark registration count 435, pages and anchors that are widely supported by the user beyond the user's occupation and hobbies. It is possible to rank pages that are actively updating information by increasing the number of search results.

  Here, Pr can be used as a numerical value as it is when it is counted numerical information such as the total number of times of reference. However, for information that cannot be directly used as a numerical value, such as the update date and time 425, the Pr value can be obtained by obtaining a difference from the current date and time, and further obtaining the reciprocal thereof. In any case, it suffices if conversion can be performed so that the value of Pr becomes larger as it approaches the current date and time. In addition, the weighting value Pw may be given uniformly for all registration information, or a higher value may be given for specific registration information. For example, there is a method in which the weighting value Pw of the total reference count 441 is set to 100 and the weighting value of the total reference count 432 is set to 10 even with the same total reference count. For registration information that cannot be directly used as a Pr value, such as the update date and time 425, a weighting value different from other registration information may be prepared.

  Next, in step S811, the point Pu for each piece of registration information calculated in step S810 is summed to calculate a paste. This point Post is a weight given to each page based on the registration information.

  In step S812, it is determined whether or not the paste has been calculated for all pages. If there is a remaining page (“NO” in step S812), Nu is incremented and the process returns to step S808 to calculate the point Past. Continue processing. On the other hand, if the paste is calculated for all pages (“YES” in step S812), the process proceeds to step S814, and the point for determining the search result 2 for each page: Puall is Puall = Ps + Pust. calculate. Thereby, it is possible to obtain a search result reflecting both the search result and the option setting contents of the search requesting user. In this embodiment, the case where Ps and Past are simply added is described. However, further weighting may be performed here, for example, Puall = Ps + Pust · N (N is a predetermined number). In this way, the contents of the user option settings are further reflected in the generated search results. Further, the ranking of the search result 1 may not be considered at all. In this case, the process of calculating Ps in step S806 and this process are skipped, and Puall = Pust.

  Next, in step S815, the order of pages is determined in descending order based on the value of Pull calculated in step S814, and the search result 2 is created by sorting the order of the search results 1. In step S816, search result 2 (search result 1 if directly transferred from step S805) is transmitted to the client 101.

  As described above, the server 103 corresponding to the present embodiment can perform a search process based on information other than the user data of the search requesting user and the contents of the page, and create a search result.

  More specifically, user's personal information such as occupation, age, and hobby is handled as an independent item, and statistical information of users with common items (for example, the total number of reference of teenage users and golf as a hobby) It is possible to create a search result worth providing to the search requesting user using the user's most recent reference count).

  In searching, user data to be used can be designated in advance by option setting 604. As a result, the user himself / herself narrows down user data that should be actively used, and it is possible to narrow down pages that are highly relevant to the keyword originally intended by the user with a high probability.

  For example, when a user whose hobby is “golf” and whose occupation is “computer programmer” inputs “driver” as a keyword, the user decides whether to treat “hobby” or “profession” preferentially. If not specified, a page related to “driver” in golf and a page related to “driver” related to the computer program are mixed and included in the search result. However, if the user has previously selected “hobby” in the option setting 604, the page related to “job type” is excluded from the weighting target, so that the page related to “driver” in golf is surely retrieved. Will be ranked higher.

  Further, in this embodiment, the pages are weighted based on the most recent reference count. Therefore, even if the page has just been recently launched and the total reference count is not so large, it is of course necessary if the page is a popular page. The number of the latest references increases, and the point (Pu) becomes higher than other pages. Accordingly, such a page is ranked higher in the search results. Also, even if there is a page with a broken link, such a page usually does not increase in the number of the latest references, so it is possible to exclude it from the search results by using this latest number of references. It becomes.

  Furthermore, if the increased number of anchors is used, it is possible to actively collect information on a blog (web log) or the like, and rank a page that is open to the top of the search results.

[Other embodiments]
The above processing (for example, processing according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 or FIG. 8 above) is stored as a program in a storage medium such as a CD-R, ROM, DVD-ROM, or MO, and is stored in this storage medium. The computer can perform the above processing by causing the computer to read (install or copy) the stored program or to download the program from a predetermined server via a network. Therefore, it is obvious that this storage medium is also within the scope of the present invention. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, in order to make the scope of the present invention public, the following claims are attached.

Claims (7)

An information search device that searches information on a Web page on the Internet based on search information input from a client terminal, and transmits a search result to the client terminal.
Registration information storage means for storing registration information relating to a web page;
Receiving means for receiving the search information from the client terminal;
First search result generating means for searching a Web page related to a keyword included in the search information from search information and generating a first search result;
It is data specific to the user of the client terminal, and for the corresponding user, at least regarding age, gender, regional attribute, occupation, unmarried, dwelling form, annual income, car ownership, and hobby User data storage means for storing user data including information for each user;
Extraction means for extracting identification information for identifying the user from the search information;
Among user data stored in the user data storage means, user data acquisition means for acquiring first user data corresponding to the identification information;
From the registration information regarding the Web page included in the first search result stored in the registration information storage means, setting information regarding whether to use the registration information included in the search information, and the first user data Selecting means for selecting the first registration information using
Calculation means for calculating, for each Web page, a weighting value of the Web page included in the first search result based on the first registration information;
Rank determining means for determining the rank of the Web page included in the first search result based on the weighting value calculated for each Web page;
Second search result generation means for generating a second search result by sorting Web pages included in the first search result according to the determined order;
Transmission means for transmitting the second search result to the client terminal,
Wherein the registration information for the Web page, at least, the sum of each of the user data of the number of times referenced by the plurality of user type, the user data of the number of times referenced by a plurality of users within a latest predetermined period the total for each type, one of the number of users of each type of the user data that has registered the Web page in the bookmark is included,
The setting information is information for specifying the registration information used for calculating the weighting value,
The selecting means selects, as the first registration information, registration information corresponding to at least information relating to each type included in the first user data among the registration information specified in the setting information. A characteristic information retrieval device. The registration information includes at least the total number of times the Web page has been referred to by a plurality of users, the total number of times the Web pages have been referred to within a predetermined period, and the Web page registered in a bookmark. The information search apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising any one of the number of existing users and the number of anchors added within a most recent predetermined period.   3. The information search according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit calculates the weight based further on a rank of the Web page included in the first search result in the first search result. apparatus. When the setting information does not specify the registration information used to calculate the weight, the selection unit does not select the first registration information,
4. The information search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit transmits the first search result to the client terminal. 5. Further comprising generation information transmission means for transmitting search information generation information for generating the search information to the client terminal;
The said client terminal receives the input of the said keyword using the said search information production | generation information, and the setting input regarding the presence or absence of the utilization of the said registration information, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. The information retrieval device described.   A computer program for causing a computer to function as the information search device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the computer program according to claim 6.

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