JP5056803B2 - Information providing server and information providing method - Google Patents

Description

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

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

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

JP-A-10-257468

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

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

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has a low work burden on the business operator.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an information providing server and an information providing method capable of providing information suitable for the user's interests and preferences with sufficient accuracy. Furthermore, the present invention provides an information providing server and an information providing method capable of providing, with sufficient accuracy, information that matches the interests and preferences of users with a low number of uses, and information that matches the latest interests and preferences of users. The purpose is that.

The present invention, in order to solve the above problems, there is provided the following equipment, methods.
[1] In an information providing server that is connected to a plurality of terminal devices via a network and provides information based on product identification information of a product to one terminal device,
Product attribute storage means for storing product attribute information including classification information obtained by classifying products corresponding to classification items and product creation time or registration time in association with product identification information for identifying products ;
Usage history in which the product identification information of a used product is associated with user identification information of a user who uses the product or terminal identification information of a terminal device used to use the product and is stored as usage history information Storage means;
-Out based on and the use history storage means is included in the product attribute information stored in the stored use history information and the product attributes storing means to the classification information, the classification of each and the conclusion part condition part The priority that becomes higher as the creation rule or the registration time of the product corresponding to the classification information included in the conclusion part is newer as the confidence rule of the correlation rule is higher and the correlation rule constituted by information is created. It calculates a correlation rule creation means for creating a correlation rule between the priority and the correlation rule table in which a plurality register extended correlation rules that are associated with,
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, the user identification information of one user or one terminal One usage set that is a set of classification information corresponding to the terminal identification information of the device is created, and the higher the priority is, the higher the priority is for the extended correlation rule that is a subset of the one usage set. A score that is a large value is calculated, and the extended correlation rule is selected and used from the extended correlation rule in which the score is calculated in descending order, and based on the classification information of the conclusion part, the one user or Product selection means for selecting a predetermined number of information to be provided to the one terminal device ;
An information providing server characterized by comprising:
[2] The product selection unit calculates a degree of matching between the one usage set and the condition part of the extended correlation rule with respect to an extended correlation rule whose condition part is a subset of the one usage set. The score is calculated so that the higher the fitness and the higher the priority, the larger the score.
The information providing server according to [1] above, wherein
[3] The product selection means calculates the score using a multiplication value of the fitness and the priority.
The information providing server according to [2] above, wherein
[4] The use history information of the use history storage means includes the product use time of the used product,
The product selection means is based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means. Is a subset of the one usage set, for each product used by the one user or the one terminal device corresponding to the classification information of the condition part, the product is the one usage The degree of use is calculated based on the average value of the degree of use for each condition part of the association rule table, and the degree of use becomes larger as the product use time is newer when used by the person or the one terminal device. Calculate
The information providing server according to [2] or [3] above, wherein
[5] The product selection unit may be configured such that when the condition part of the correlation rule table is a subset of the one usage set , the condition part of the correlation rule table is not a subset of the one usage set. Calculating the goodness of fit so as to be a large value;
The information providing server according to any one of [2] to [4] above .
[6] The product selection means may be configured such that when the conclusion part of the correlation rule table is not a subset of the one usage set , the conclusion part of the correlation rule table is a subset of the one usage set. Calculating the goodness of fit so as to be a large value;
The information providing server according to any one of [2] to [5] above, wherein
[7] The correlation rule creating means calculates a novelty degree that becomes a larger value as the creation time or registration time of the product corresponding to the product identification information included in the conclusion part is newer, The priority is calculated using a multiplication value with the novelty level.
The information providing server according to any one of [1] to [6] above, wherein
[8] The product selection means uses the extended correlation rules to descending order of the scores from the extended correlation rules the score is calculated to obtain the classification information of the conclusion part, respectively the obtained classification information On the other hand, referring to the product attribute storage means, the product identification information of the product having the latest creation time or registration time is selected from among the corresponding products.
The information providing server according to any one of [1] to [7] above, wherein
[9] The product selection unit calculates the score earlier in the extended correlation rule having a higher priority.
The information providing server according to any one of [1] to [8] above, wherein
[10] The product selection unit further selects the information provided to the one user or the one terminal device based on the classification information of the conclusion part so as not to overlap.
The information providing server according to any one of [1] to [9] above, wherein
[11] The correlation rule creating means creates each of a condition part and a conclusion part from the classification information, and creates a correlation rule including one classification information in the conclusion part,
The product selection means sets the extended correlation rules in descending order of the scores so that the number of extended correlation rules having the same content condition part is equal to or less than a first predetermined number among the extended correlation rules for which the scores are calculated. Select and use, based on the classification information of the conclusion part, select a second predetermined number of information to be provided to the one user or the one terminal device,
The information providing server according to any one of [1] to [10] above, wherein
[12] In an information providing method in an information providing server that is connected to a plurality of terminal devices via a network and provides information based on product identification information of a product to one terminal device.
A first storage step of storing product attribute information including classification information obtained by classifying products corresponding to classification items and product creation time or registration time in product attribute storage means in association with product identification information for identifying products When,
Usage history storage means as usage history information by associating the product identification information of a used product with user identification information of a user who uses the product or terminal identification information of a terminal device used for using the product A second storing step for storing in
-Out based on and the use history storage means is included in the product attribute information stored in the stored use history information and the product attributes storing means to the classification information, the classification of each and the conclusion part condition part The priority that becomes higher as the creation rule or the registration time of the product corresponding to the classification information included in the conclusion part is newer as the confidence rule of the correlation rule is higher and the correlation rule constituted by information is created. is calculated, and create association rule step of creating a correlation rule table in which a plurality create the corresponding extended correlation rule was and said priority as correlation rules,
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, the user identification information of one user or one terminal One usage set that is a set of classification information corresponding to the terminal identification information of the device is created, and the higher the priority is, the higher the priority is for the extended correlation rule that is a subset of the one usage set. A score that is a large value is calculated, and the extended correlation rule is selected and used from the extended correlation rule in which the score is calculated in descending order, and based on the classification information of the conclusion part, the one user or A product selection step of selecting a predetermined number of pieces of information to be provided to the one terminal device ;
An information providing method characterized by comprising:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In step S2, after confirming that the user attribute information transmitted from the user is not already stored in the user attribute table, the control unit 17 creates an unused user ID and a corresponding password. To do. In step S3, the user attribute storage unit 1
3 is assigned a new entry and the received user attribute information together with the formed user I
D and password are stored in the user attribute table. Further, the control unit 17 sends the formed user ID and password together with such storage control via the transmission / reception unit 11 to the terminal device 2.
To the side.

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

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

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

As a technique for analyzing sales data of products, a technique called association rules is used. For example, the document “Agrawal, R., Srikant, R .: Fast Algor
itms for Mining Association Rules, Proc.
of VLDB pp487 (1994) "and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-287106.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Next, the control unit 17 of the server 1 includes the user ID and password transmitted from the user,
When a match with the user ID and password registered in the user attribute table of the user attribute storage unit 13 is detected, a product menu is individually created for the user in step S23 and transmitted to the user side. To do.

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

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

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

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

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

Alternatively, in consideration of the date and time when the user uses the product, for example, the fitness Mi may be calculated according to the following equation (2). Here, Qi is the number of item sets Ki constituting the condition part of the i-th rule, Tj is the date and time when the user uses the j-th item in Ki, and T
c is the current date and time, F is a monotonically decreasing function as shown in FIG. 8, φi is a function such that φi = 1 when Ki is a subset of the usage attribute list L, and φi = 0 otherwise. is there.

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

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

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

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

In step S36, Vi, Ki and the product ID of the recommended product obtained by the above processing are shown in FIG.
2 is added as a new row of the candidate product table in the format shown in 2. Here, recommended product I
D is the item Ri in the conclusion part of the correlation rule table when the correlation rule is created without grouping the products. When the products are grouped, a product that matches the product attribute of Ri is searched from the product attribute storage means, and one appropriate product is selected from the products that meet the conditions, and the product ID is recorded. For example, you can select the most recent product with the date and time of production among the products that meet your requirements. In step S37, the value of the control variable i is incremented by one.

In step S38, it is checked whether the value of the control variable i is equal to or smaller than the number N of rows in the correlation rule table. If so, go to Step S33, otherwise, go to Step S33.
Proceed to 39.

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

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

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

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

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

[Content selection by user]
Next, in step S24 of the flowchart shown in FIG.
The desired content is selected from the merchandise menu received via.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Claims (12)

In an information providing server that is connected to a plurality of terminal devices via a network and provides information based on product identification information of a product to one terminal device,
Product attribute storage means for storing product attribute information including classification information obtained by classifying products corresponding to classification items and product creation time or registration time in association with product identification information for identifying products ;
Usage history in which the product identification information of a used product is associated with user identification information of a user who uses the product or terminal identification information of a terminal device used to use the product and is stored as usage history information Storage means;
-Out based on and the use history storage means is included in the product attribute information stored in the stored use history information and the product attributes storing means to the classification information, the classification of each and the conclusion part condition part The priority that becomes higher as the creation rule or the registration time of the product corresponding to the classification information included in the conclusion part is newer as the confidence rule of the correlation rule is higher and the correlation rule constituted by information is created. It calculates a correlation rule creation means for creating a correlation rule between the priority and the correlation rule table in which a plurality register extended correlation rules that are associated with,
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, the user identification information of one user or one terminal One usage set that is a set of classification information corresponding to the terminal identification information of the device is created, and the higher the priority is, the higher the priority is for the extended correlation rule that is a subset of the one usage set. A score that is a large value is calculated, and the extended correlation rule is selected and used from the extended correlation rule in which the score is calculated in descending order, and based on the classification information of the conclusion part, the one user or Product selection means for selecting a predetermined number of information to be provided to the one terminal device ;
An information providing server characterized by comprising: The product selection means calculates the degree of matching between the one usage set and the condition part of the extended correlation rule with respect to the extended correlation rule whose condition part is a subset of the one usage set, and The score is calculated so that the higher the degree and the higher the priority, the larger the value.
The information providing server according to claim 1. The product selection means calculates the score using a multiplication value of the fitness and the priority.
The information providing server according to claim 2. The usage history information of the usage history storage means includes the product usage time of the used product,
The product selection means is based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means. Is a subset of the one usage set, for each product used by the one user or the one terminal device corresponding to the classification information of the condition part, the product is the one usage The degree of use is calculated based on the average value of the degree of use for each condition part of the association rule table, and the degree of use becomes larger as the product use time is newer when used by the person or the one terminal device. Calculate
The information providing server according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that When the condition part of the correlation rule table is a subset of the one usage set , the product selection means has a larger value than when the condition part of the correlation rule table is not a subset of the one usage set. Calculating the goodness of fit so that
The information providing server according to claim 2, wherein the server is an information providing server. It said product selection means, when the conclusion of the association rules table is not a subset of the one available set, and a value greater than the conclusion of the association rules table is a subset of the one available set Calculating the goodness of fit so that
The information providing server according to any one of claims 2 to 5 , wherein the information providing server is configured as described above. The correlation rule creation means calculates a novelty level that becomes a larger value as the creation time or registration time of the product corresponding to the product identification information included in the conclusion part is newer, and the confidence level of the correlation rule and the novelty level The priority is calculated using a multiplication value of
The information providing server according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the information providing server is configured as described above. The product selection means uses the extended correlation rule in descending order of the score from the extended correlation rule for which the score is calculated , acquires classification information of the conclusion part, and for each of the acquired classification information, While referring to the product attribute storage means, select the product identification information of the product with the latest creation time or registration time from among the corresponding products,
The information providing server according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the information providing server is configured as described above. The product selection means calculates the score earlier in an extended correlation rule having a higher priority.
The information providing server according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , wherein the information providing server is configured as described above. The product selection means further selects the information provided to the one user or the one terminal device based on the classification information of the conclusion part so as not to overlap.
The information providing server according to any one of claims 1 to 9 , wherein the information providing server is configured as described above. The correlation rule creation means comprises each of a condition part and a conclusion part by the classification information, and creates a correlation rule including one classification information in the conclusion part,
The product selection means sets the extended correlation rules in descending order of the scores so that the number of extended correlation rules having the same content condition part is equal to or less than a first predetermined number among the extended correlation rules for which the scores are calculated. Select and use, based on the classification information of the conclusion part, select a second predetermined number of information to be provided to the one user or the one terminal device,
The information providing server according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein: In an information providing method in an information providing server connected to a plurality of terminal devices via a network and providing information based on product identification information of a product to one terminal device,
A first storage step of storing product attribute information including classification information obtained by classifying products corresponding to classification items and product creation time or registration time in product attribute storage means in association with product identification information for identifying products When,
Usage history storage means as usage history information by associating the product identification information of a used product with user identification information of a user who uses the product or terminal identification information of a terminal device used for using the product A second storing step for storing in
-Out based on and the use history storage means is included in the product attribute information stored in the stored use history information and the product attributes storing means to the classification information, the classification of each and the conclusion part condition part The priority that becomes higher as the creation rule or the registration time of the product corresponding to the classification information included in the conclusion part is newer as the confidence rule of the correlation rule is higher and the correlation rule constituted by information is created. is calculated, and create association rule step of creating a correlation rule table in which a plurality create the corresponding extended correlation rule was and said priority as correlation rules,
Based on the usage history information stored in the usage history storage means and the classification information included in the product attribute information stored in the product attribute storage means, the user identification information of one user or one terminal One usage set that is a set of classification information corresponding to the terminal identification information of the device is created, and the higher the priority is, the higher the priority is for the extended correlation rule that is a subset of the one usage set. A score that is a large value is calculated, and the extended correlation rule is selected and used from the extended correlation rule in which the score is calculated in descending order, and based on the classification information of the conclusion part, the one user or A product selection step of selecting a predetermined number of pieces of information to be provided to the one terminal device ;
An information providing method characterized by comprising:

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