JP5284064B2 - Product ID server device and method for controlling product ID server device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for presenting a search result having added value when searching for a desired product in so-called online shopping.

  Currently, a so-called “net shopping” service is provided in which a client PC can access a virtual store on the net and purchase a desired product. In addition, in this service, using the fact that product information is stored in a server as a database, for example, a search keyword such as “emotional lock” is input on a website of an online CD shop, and the search result of the product information database is used. It is also possible to easily find a desired product.

Also, using the database of product purchase history by user, etc., arrange the products with the highest number of purchases among the search results at the top, or present products purchased by users with similar product purchase trends in a separate frame. A recommendation (recommendation) function is also provided. Patent Document 1 also discloses a technique for making it easy to visually grasp the recommendation function using a 3D browser and to enhance entertainment properties.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-220074

  However, in the above conventional technique, there is a problem that only limited information such as a merchandise purchase history only at the shop is used for sorting the search results for the purpose of recommending the user.

  Specifically, on the Internet, an environment in which many users can easily transmit information through a service such as a blog has been prepared. Therefore, there are a lot of user transmission information such as product impressions on the net. However, in spite of this, useful transmission information scattered on the Internet is not used in the above-described merchandise search technology in the Internet shop.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention collects web pages containing word-of-mouth information, product introduction information, and the like on the net by a crawler. A search server device having a function such as rearranging the search results on the top of the search result as a product introduced on a recently updated web page using the data is a hot product among users, for example. provide.

  Specifically, a first product information storage unit that stores product information in association with a product ID, a first content holding unit that stores identification information of content posted on a web page on the Internet and its update timing in association with each other. The first crawler unit that updates the first content holding unit, the object included in the content indicated by the identification information held in the first content holding unit and the product information are compared, and the update timing and the product A product ID server device comprising: a first association unit that associates IDs; and a first sort unit that sorts in order of update timing associated with each product ID when sorting all or part of the product IDs provide.

  A second product information storage unit that stores product information in association with the product ID; a second content storage unit that stores the identification information of content posted on a web page on the Internet and its update timing; The second crawler unit that updates the two content holding unit, the object included in the content indicated by the identification information held in the second content holding unit and the product information are compared, and the degree of association between the two is determined by a predetermined rule. If the degree of association in the degree-of-association calculating unit is greater than or equal to the predetermined degree, the update is performed when the degree-of-association is calculated according to When associating the timing and the product ID with each other and sorting all or part of the product ID, the product is associated with each product ID. Also it provides combined product ID server device having a second sorting unit that sorts the obtained update timing order, the. Also provided is a product ID server device further comprising a rule management unit for managing the rules held in the rule holding unit.

  Or in order to solve the above subject, this invention collects the web page which posted the word-of-mouth information on the net, product introduction information, etc. with a crawler, and counts how many for every goods. And a search server device having a function of rearranging the products with a large number of web pages such as introductions using the counted number of web pages for each product as a hot product among users as the top of the search result I will provide a.

  Specifically, a third product information storage unit that stores product information in association with a product ID, a third content information storage unit that stores identification information of content posted on a web page on the Internet, and a third content The third crawler unit that updates the information holding unit and the object included in the content indicated by the identification information held in the third content information holding unit and the product information are compared to associate the object with the product ID. A third associating unit, a number calculating unit that calculates the number of objects associated with each of the product IDs, and the object associated with each product ID when sorting all or part of the product IDs. A product ID server device having a third sorting unit for sorting in numerical order is provided.

  Moreover, the control method of the above product ID server apparatuses is also provided.

  With the present invention having the above-described configuration, the product search result is displayed in accordance with the topic level of the product by using useful information such as the update timing of the product impression sent by many users on the net. Can be sorted.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  In the first embodiment, claims 1 and 5 will be mainly described. In the second embodiment, claims 2, 3, 6, and 7 will be mainly described. In the third embodiment, claims 4 and 8 will be mainly described.

Example 1
<Overview>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a product search performed by the product ID server device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1 (a), for example, by using a service such as a so-called “blog”, many people can easily send their impressions about the products they like. Therefore, the product ID server apparatus according to the present embodiment collects data, addresses, and the like of web pages that introduce such products on the net using a crawler. Also, the update date of the web page is also acquired.

  Thereafter, a user who accesses a net shop site such as a CD inputs a search keyword “emotional lock” in order to search for a desired CD or DVD. Then, the product ID server apparatus according to the present embodiment searches its product information database with the input search keyword, and acquires product search results such as “AK New Album” and “Back Hoe Budokan Live”. . When the search result is returned to the user's client terminal, the update date and time of the web page related to the product collected by the crawler is referred to.

  As a result, it can be seen that the update date of the web page introducing “AK's new album” is newer than that of “Back Hoe's Budokan Live”. Therefore, the product ID server apparatus of the present embodiment assumes that “AK's new album” is the hotter topic in the world, as shown in FIG. Sort. The product search results sorted in this way are returned to the user's client terminal.

<Functional configuration>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks in the product ID server device according to the present embodiment. Note that the functional blocks of the product ID server apparatus described below can be realized as hardware, software, or both hardware and software. Specifically, if a computer is used, a CPU, a main memory, a bus, or a secondary storage device (a hard disk, a non-volatile memory, a storage medium such as a CD or a DVD, a read drive for the medium, etc.), information Input devices used for input, printing equipment, display devices, other hardware components such as external peripheral devices, interfaces for external peripheral devices, communication interfaces, driver programs for controlling these hardware, Other examples include application programs and user interface applications.

  Then, by CPU processing according to the program developed on the main memory, the data input from the input device or other interface and held in the memory or hard disk is processed and stored, An instruction for controlling the software is generated. Further, the present invention can be realized not only as a product ID server device but also as a method. A part of the invention can be configured as software. Furthermore, a software product used for causing a computer to execute such software and a recording medium in which the product is fixed to a recording medium are naturally included in the technical scope of the present invention (the same applies throughout the present specification). Is).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the “product ID server device” (0200) of this embodiment includes a “first product information storage unit” (0201), a “first content holding unit” (0202), It has a “first crawler part” (0203), a “first association part” (0204), and a “first sort part” (0205).

  The “first product information storage unit” (0201) has a function of storing product information in association with a product ID, and is realized by, for example, an HDD (hard disk drive), a nonvolatile memory, or another secondary storage device. Can do. Specifically, in the first product information storage unit, information necessary for product purchase such as product identification information, product name, price, genre, product search keywords, etc. are associated with each other in a database. That is.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of product information stored in the first product information storage unit. As shown in this figure, for example, the product name “Shonan Literature” identified by “ID: X001” is a product whose genre is “CD”, “AK (artist)”, “Shonan literature (album title)”. , “Emotional Rock (Music Classification)” and the like are associated with each other. Alternatively, for example, a product name “red string” identified by “ID: X002” is a product whose genre is “book”, and “red string (book name)”, “May (author)”, “mobile phone novel” (Literature classification) "and other keywords are associated.

  In this way, for example, when a search keyword such as “emotional lock” input to search for a desired product by the user is received, “X001: Shonan Literature (CD)” or “X001: Product information such as “X004: Live @ Budokan (DVD)” can be searched.

  Further, by accumulating product names, product images, and the like in this way, it is possible to appropriately associate word-of-mouth pages collected by a first crawler unit described later.

  The “product ID” is information presented to the user as a search result as will be described later. Therefore, it is desirable that the “product ID” is identification information that makes it easy to grasp the product content, such as the above “product name”. . Therefore, the ID does not have to be able to completely uniquely identify the product. In that case, it is preferable to add unique identification information (ID) for managing the product and information separately from the product ID, and store and manage it in the product information storage unit.

  The “first content holding unit” (0202) has a function of holding the identification information of the content posted on the web page on the Internet and the update timing of the content in association with each other, such as an HDD, a nonvolatile memory, and the like. The secondary storage device can be realized. Specifically, identification information indicating resources (contents) such as HTML documents, images, and sounds on the net collected by the crawler program of the first crawler unit described later is associated with the update timing and the secondary information as described above. It is stored in a storage device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of content identification information held as a content database in the first content holding unit and its update timing. As shown in this figure, for example, a web page identified by “ID: P001” includes an HTML document indicated by an address “http: //...Music_review01 (.html)”, and “http: ///. ··· The update timing (acquisition date and time) is “October 9, 2008” in the web page composed of the link image indicated by the address “Jacket01.jpg”. Further, for example, a web page identified by “ID: P002” is an HTML document indicated by an address “http: //...AK_Official (.html)” and an address “http: //...SB.jpg”. And is held in association with the update timing “September 31, 2008”.
Note that the content identification information held by the first content holding unit includes, for example, address information such as a URL indicating the location of the content on the Internet as described above. In the case of adopting such a configuration, the product ID server apparatus of the present embodiment can be configured not to hold an enormous number of content data existing on the Internet. And when content data itself is required, such as when compared with product information, which will be described later, the address is referred to, and content data (objects such as text and images) is acquired from the net each time. Condition.

  Alternatively, any identification information other than an address may be used as content identification information, and the content data itself may be collected and held by a crawler or the like in the product ID server device of the present embodiment.

  Then, it is possible to determine which product information the web page contains by performing arithmetic processing using content objects such as HTML documents and images specified by the identification information held in this way. it can. The product ID server apparatus according to the present embodiment uses the determination result to associate the information update timing with the product information.

  The “update timing” includes, for example, information indicating the latest timing among the date and time information when the later-described crawler acquires the content. Or the timing which shows the newest date and time when the content of the said content was changed and updated by the user may be sufficient. In the latter case, the information indicating the update timing is acquired by, for example, a method of acquiring the update date / time information from the header information of the content data, or specifying information recorded as the update date / time in the HTML document from a tag or the like. , And the method of acquisition.

The “first crawler unit” (0203) has a function of updating the first content holding unit, and can be realized by, for example, a CPU, a main memory, a crawler program, or the like. Specifically, for example, as with a “crawler program” that is used by ordinary search service providers to create a search index, the web page link structure on the Internet is periodically followed, and data and URLs related to the content of the web page. And so on, and a new or updated web page is collected.
The crawler program is configured to selectively collect only the updated content after comparing the acquired content with the previously acquired content and determining whether or not the information content is updated. Therefore, as described above, the content acquisition date and time by the crawler can be used as the content update timing.

  Then, using the latest contents on the Internet collected and updated by the crawler program in this way, it is determined how much the product is currently taken up as a topic.

  The “first association unit” (0204) compares the update timing and the product ID by comparing the object included in the content indicated by the identification information held in the first content holding unit with the product information. It has a function of associating and can be realized by, for example, a CPU, a main memory, an associated program, and the like.

  FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an example of association processing in the first association unit. As shown in FIG. 5A, morphological analysis is performed on page display text data, page titles, and the like in an HTML document “Music_view01.html” as content, and a character string is extracted as the object. Then, it is determined by the logical operation processing of the CPU whether or not the extracted character string matches all or part of the product name stored in the first product information storage unit. If there is a matching character string, the introductory text, etc., assumes that a comment about the product is posted, and associates the update timing “2008.10.09” of the “Music_review01.html” with the product information. That's it.

  Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5B, an image may be used as an object included in the content. Specifically, the image data in the web page which is the content (object), for example, “Jacket01.jpg” is compared with image data for product introduction stored as product information by pattern matching processing or the like. If the degree of coincidence between both images is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the web page including the image is assumed to be a page introducing the product, and information indicating the update timing of the content is associated with the product information. Condition.

  In addition, regarding the acquisition process of the content (object) for comparison with the product information, for example, the following forms can be cited. That is, as described above, when the first content holding unit holds an address such as a URL of the content, a form in which the content on the net at the address is acquired each time the comparison process is performed. Further, when the first content holding unit holds arbitrary identification information other than the address, and the product ID server device holds the content data itself, the content is stored from its own storage device based on the identification information. The form to acquire is mentioned.

  In this way, the product ID server apparatus according to the present embodiment can generate table data in which the product ID and the update timing as illustrated in FIG. 6 are associated with each other.

  Normally, information related to one product is often posted on a plurality of web pages such as Mr. A's blog, Mr. B's blog, and a product sales page of the M music store. In such a case, for example, only one latest update timing may be associated with one product information. Alternatively, all the update timings may be associated, and the statistical update processing may be associated with the post-statistical update timing by calculating the average update timing from, for example, the data for the most recent one week.

  In addition, for the update timing data for the most recent one week, the points on the current day are converted to 1.0, the points on the previous day are converted to 0.8, and so on, and the accumulated point value is calculated for each item of product information. . Then, the accumulated value may be associated with the product information as a point indicating the conversion timing after statistical processing.

  In addition, for example, the official HP of the product may be excluded from the symmetric data of the comparison process in the association unit so that the arbitraryness of the product provider is excluded. Specifically, the domain name of the seller is registered for the product information, and the content acquired from the URL with the matching domain name is excluded from comparison symmetry.

  As described above, the product ID server device of the present invention is characterized by adding a time concept to product information that does not directly have a time concept by using a web page update timing such as introduction of the product. And in this respect, for example, it is different from a news distribution site / server apparatus that sorts news information to which time concept is added from the beginning as “topic news”.

  The “first sorting unit” (0205) has a function of sorting in order of update timing associated with each product ID when sorting all or part of the product IDs, for example, CPU, main memory, first It can be realized by a sort program. Specifically, for example, when a search result is returned in response to a product search instruction from the user, the order of the search result is rearranged in ascending or descending order at the update timing.

  As described above, the product ID server apparatus according to the present embodiment can add a time concept of “update timing of a product introduction page” to product information that does not have a time concept unlike news information. And the search result according to the goods search request from a user can be sorted using the time concept, for example. Therefore, the product information rearranged in a form reflecting the current topic level of the product can be presented to the user.

  In addition, the product ID server device of the present embodiment searches a web page that is sorted and laid out by adding product information such as image data and product description other than the product ID such as the product name, for example, as shown in FIG. You may further provide the function to reply to a user. Specifically, the product ID server apparatus according to the present embodiment may include a product information output unit that outputs a web page that arranges product information associated with each product ID in accordance with a sorting result in the sorting unit. .

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a configuration in the product ID server device when the above functional components are realized as hardware. The operation of each hardware component in the process of associating the product information with the update timing and the sorting process of the product search result corresponding to the update timing will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in this figure, the product ID server device is a first crawler unit, a first association unit, and a first sort unit, and also executes a “CPU (central processing unit)” ( 0801) and “main memory” (0802). In addition, a “HDD” (0803) which is a first product information storage unit and a first content holding unit, a “communication IF (interface)” (0804) for communicating with a user client terminal, and the like are also provided. They are connected to each other via a data communication path such as a “system bus” to transmit / receive information and process information.

  A program is read out to the “main memory”, and the “CPU” refers to the read out program and executes various arithmetic processes according to the procedure indicated by the program. In addition, a plurality of addresses are assigned to each of the “main memory” and “HDD”, and in the arithmetic processing of the “CPU”, the address is specified and the stored data is accessed to access the data. It is possible to perform the arithmetic processing used.

  Here, the product ID server device of the present embodiment reads the first crawler program, the first association program, the first sort program, and the like in the “main memory”. First, the “CPU” interprets the first crawler program, and according to the program, identification information such as URL indicating a content object such as HTML document data or image data of a known web page is acquired. Also, URLs indicating content objects of other web pages are collected by following the links of the known web pages. Then, for example, the acquisition date and time such as the URL of the content is stored in the content database (DB) of “HDD” as the update timing. Also, this crawler program is run periodically, and if the contents of a known web page are new or an unknown web page is uploaded to the network, the contents of this content database are updated. Update as appropriate.

  Subsequently, the “CPU” interprets the first association program and reads the URL of the content object from the content database of “HDD” accordingly. Then, a content object on the net is acquired with reference to the URL, and stored in address 1 of “main memory”. For example, if the content object is text data, a morphological analysis process is performed to extract a character string, and the character string is stored at addresses 2... Of “main memory”.

  Then, for example, product names are sequentially read out from the product information database stored in “HDD”, and it is determined by the logical operation processing of “CPU” whether or not it matches the extracted character string. As a result, if there is no match, the web page including the content object is deleted from the content database, assuming that no product is listed. On the other hand, if the character string included in the content matches the product name, it is determined that the web page including the content object contains information related to the product. Therefore, the update timing of the content is read from the content database and associated with the product information. Based on the association, information indicating the update timing is added to and stored in the product information in the product information database of “HDD”.

  Thereafter, for example, when a search key transmitted from the client terminal of the user is acquired through “communication IF”, the search key is stored at address 3 of “main memory”. Then, the product information database of “HDD” is searched by logical operation processing of “CPU”, and product information including the search key is specified. When the search results are arranged as a list and returned to the client, the “CPU” rearranges the product IDs of the search results in the order of the update timing associated with the product IDs according to the sort program, and the “main memory” address 5 To store. The sorted search result is returned from the “communication IF” to the client terminal as a response to the search request.

<Process flow>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of processing in the product ID server device of the present embodiment. The steps shown below may be steps executed by each hardware configuration of the computer as described above, or may be processing steps that constitute a program for controlling the computer recorded on a medium. I do not care.

  As shown in this figure, first, the first content holding unit that holds the identification information indicating the content and the update timing thereof is updated with the collected data of the crawler (step S0901). The object included in the content indicated by the identification information is compared with the product information to associate the update timing with the product ID (step S0902).

  After that, for example, when all or part of the product IDs hit in response to a product search request are sorted, the product IDs are sorted in the order of update timing associated with each product ID (step S0903).

<Brief description of effect>
As described above, the product ID server device according to the present embodiment can associate the time information such as the topic level of the product with the product information by using the update timing of the product impression web page on the network. Then, the product search result and the like can be rearranged according to the topic level of the product and presented to the user.

<< Example 2 >>
<Overview>
This embodiment, like the product ID server device of the above embodiment, has a function of associating time information such as the topic level of the product with the product information by using the update timing of the product impression web page on the net. Prepare. In this embodiment, the association process is performed by calculating the degree of association using a predetermined rule held in the rule holding unit.

<Functional configuration>
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks in the product ID server device according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “product ID server device” (1000) of this embodiment includes a “second product information storage unit” (1001), a “second content holding unit” (1002), It has a “crawler part” (1003), a “second association part” (1006), and a “second sort part” (1007). In addition, about these structural requirements, the “first product information storage unit”, the “first content holding unit”, the “first crawler unit”, the “first association unit”, and the “first association unit” described in the above embodiment are described. Since it has the same function and configuration as the “one sort unit”, its detailed description is omitted.

  The product ID server apparatus according to the present embodiment further includes a “relationship degree calculation unit” (1004) and a “rule holding unit” (1005).

  The “relevance degree calculation unit” (1004) has a function of comparing the object included in the content indicated by the identification information held in the content holding unit with the product information and calculating the degree of relevance between the two according to a predetermined rule. For example, it can be realized by a CPU, a main memory, an association degree calculation program, or the like.

  Specifically, for example, if the “object included in the content” is a character string extracted by morphological analysis such as text data for page display or page title in an HTML document, it matches the product name that is product information. There is a method of calculating the ratio as the degree of relevance. For example, if the “object included in the content” is the link image data in the page, the matching degree of the feature points is determined by the pattern matching process using the feature points with the product image data that is the product information. Is calculated as follows.

  In the “second association unit” (1006), for example, if the degree of association calculated as a percentage is equal to or higher than the predetermined degree “80”, the update timing and the product ID are associated as described in the above embodiment. , And so on.

  The “rule holding unit” (1005) has a function of holding a predetermined rule used for calculating the degree of association, and can be realized by, for example, an HDD, a nonvolatile memory, or another secondary storage device. . Specifically, the predetermined rule to be held includes, for example, a rule that determines a matching processing method or procedure for a character string or an image.

  In addition, the product ID server device of the present embodiment may further include a “rule management unit” (not shown) for managing the held rules. For example, the rule management unit performs management such as editing, addition, and deletion of rule contents in accordance with an operation input from the user and other trigger input.

<Process flow>
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of processing in the product ID server device according to the present embodiment. The steps shown below may be steps executed by each hardware configuration of the computer as described above, or may be processing steps that constitute a program for controlling the computer recorded on a medium. I do not care.

  As shown in this figure, first, the second content holding unit that holds the content identification information and its update timing in association with the collected data of the crawler is updated (step S1101). Then, the degree of association α between the object included in the content indicated by the identification information and the product information is calculated (step S1102). Subsequently, whether or not the calculated relevance degree α is equal to or greater than a predetermined degree p is determined by a logical operation process of the CPU or the like (step S1103). Are associated (step S1104).

  Thereafter, for example, when all or part of the product IDs hit in response to a product search request are sorted, the product IDs are sorted in the order of update timing associated with each product ID (step S1105).

<Brief description of effect>
As described above, the product ID server device according to the present embodiment can associate the time information using the update timing of the web page with the product information according to the degree of association between the product impression web page on the net and the product information. it can. Then, the product search result and the like can be rearranged according to the time information of the product, and for example, a new product can be presented to the user as a topic.

Example 3
<Overview>
In the present embodiment, similar to the above embodiment, the product ID having a function of associating information on the web page collected by the crawler (update timing in the above embodiment) with the product information and sorting the product search results and the like using the information. It is a server device. The difference from the product ID server device of the above embodiment is that the information collected by the crawler and associated with the product information is not the update timing of the web page related to the product but the number of pages.

  In other words, in the product ID server device of the present embodiment, as the number of web pages such as product introductions and impression blogs for the product increases, it is determined that the product has become a hot topic in the world, such as a product search result. For example, the order is sorted.

  In addition, in combination with the above embodiment, the number of web pages whose update timing is within the last week is counted, and the level of word-of-mouth shown on the web page is hot both temporally and numerically. You may comprise so that goods may be sorted into a high rank.

  As described above, in the product ID server device according to the present embodiment, the number of product introductions, impression pages, and the like are also used to consider the topicality of the product, and the product search result and the like can be presented to the user after sorting. .

<Functional configuration>
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks in the product ID server device according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “product ID server device” (1200) of this embodiment includes a “third product information storage unit” (1201), a “third content holding unit” (1202), and a “third product”. It has a “crawler part” (1203), a “third association part” (1204), a “number calculation part” (1205), and a “third sort part” (1206).

  The “third product information storage unit” (1201) has a function of storing product information in association with the product ID, and the basic function, configuration, etc. are described in the above-mentioned embodiment. The description thereof will be omitted because it is the same as “Part”.

  The “third content holding unit” (1202) has a function of holding the identification information of the content posted on the web page on the Internet, and the “third content holding unit” of the above embodiment except that the update timing is not associated. Part "and its basic functions and configuration are the same configuration requirements. The third content holding unit may be configured to hold the web page in association with the update timing. In that case, as described above, in addition to the numerical word-of-mouth level, products that are hot in time can be sorted in the higher rank.

  The “third crawler unit” (1203) has a function of updating the content information holding unit, and its basic function and configuration are the same as those of the “first crawler unit” described in the above embodiment. The description is omitted.

  The “third association unit” (1204) has a function of comparing an object included in the content indicated by the identification information held in the content information holding unit with the product information and associating the object with the product ID. Have. Therefore, the comparison process for the association is the same as the “first association unit” in the above embodiment, except that the object associated with the product ID is not the update timing but the content object (that is, the web page on the Internet). Can be realized.

  Then, by associating the object with the product ID here, the number of web pages on which the product indicated by the product ID is introduced can be counted. Of course, as described above, the third association unit may also associate the update timing with each other.

  The “number calculation unit” (1205) has a function of calculating the number of objects associated with each product ID, and can be realized by a CPU, a main memory, a number calculation program, or the like. In this way, by counting the number of web pages taken up for each product, for example, product search results can be rearranged in descending order of the number.

  Further, if the update timing is also associated with the product ID, for example, only the number of objects updated in the most recent week may be counted. Alternatively, as described above, the update timing data for the most recent week is weighted for counting, such as 1.0 for the current day, 0.8 for the previous day, and so on. May be configured to count.

  If the third association unit is configured not to perform the association process between the product ID and the object, but only to perform the comparison process between the product information and the object, the number calculation unit performs the following process for calculating the number. May be performed. That is, as a result of the comparison in the third associating unit, if the degree of association is equal to or higher than a predetermined degree (that is, if the conditions for association are satisfied), the number is counted.

  The “third sort unit” (1206) has a function of sorting in order of the number of objects associated with each product ID when sorting all or part of the product ID, and serves as a reference for the sorting. Except for the fact that the count is not the update timing but the count number (of the web page), the “first sort unit” of the above embodiment and its basic functions and configurations are the same configuration requirements.

  As described above, the product ID server device of the present embodiment can consider the topicality of the product by using the number of product introductions, impression pages, and the like for each product. Therefore, the product search result and the like can be presented to the user after sorting based on the topicality indicated by the number of web pages.

  Further, if the product ID is further associated with the update timing, it is possible to sort the products that are hot in both numerical and time shown on the web page.

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a configuration in the product ID server device when the functional components are realized as hardware. The operation of each hardware component in the count process of the number of content objects for each product and the sort process of the product search result corresponding to the count number will be described using this figure.

  As shown in this figure, the product ID server device is a third crawler unit, a third association unit, a number calculation unit, and a third sort unit, and “CPU” (1301) that executes various other arithmetic processes. ) And “main memory” (1302). In addition, a third product information storage unit and a third content holding unit “HDD” (1303), a “communication IF” (1304) for communicating with the user's client terminal, and the like are also provided. They are connected to each other via a data communication path such as a “system bus” to transmit / receive information and process information.

  Here, the product ID server device of the present embodiment reads the third crawler program, the third associated program, the number calculation program, the third sort program, and the like in the “main memory”. First, the “CPU” interprets the third crawler program, and in accordance with the program, as described above, the origin and link of a known web page are followed to indicate the content object of the web page on the network, such as a URL. Collect identification information. Also, the update timing of the collected web pages may be updated and acquired as described above.

  Subsequently, the “CPU” interprets the third association program and reads the URL of the content object from the content database of “HDD” accordingly. Then, a content object on the net is acquired with reference to the URL, and stored in address 1 of “main memory”. For example, if the content object is text data, a morphological analysis process is performed to extract a character string, and the character string is stored at addresses 2... Of “main memory”.

  Then, for example, product names are sequentially read from the product information database stored in “HDD”, and it is determined by the logical operation processing of “CPU” whether or not it matches the extracted character string. As a result, if the character string included in the content matches the product name or the like, it is determined that the web page including the content object contains information related to the product. Therefore, the content object is associated with the product information and stored in the product information database. Then, the above process is repeated, and the web page objects whose product names coincide with each other for a predetermined ratio or more are associated with each product.

  Subsequently, the “CPU” interprets the number calculation program, and counts the number of objects associated with the product ID accordingly. Then, the number is associated with the product information and stored in the product information database.

  Thereafter, for example, when a search key transmitted from the client terminal of the user is acquired through “communication IF”, the search key is stored at address 3 of “main memory”. Then, the product information database of “HDD” is searched by logical operation processing of “CPU”, and product information including the search key is specified. Then, when the search results are arranged as a list and returned to the client, the “CPU” rearranges the product IDs of the search results in the order of the count number associated with the product ID according to the sort program, and the address 5 of “main memory”. To store. The sorted search result is returned from the “communication IF” to the client terminal as a response to the search request.

<Process flow>
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of processing in the product ID server device according to the present embodiment. The steps shown below may be steps executed by each hardware configuration of the computer as described above, or may be processing steps that constitute a program for controlling the computer recorded on a medium. I do not care.

  As shown in this figure, first, the identification information of the content of the web page on the network is collected using the collected data of the crawler, and the third content holding unit is updated (step S1401). Then, the object included in the content indicated by the identification information is compared with the product information, and the content object is associated with the product ID (step S1402). Subsequently, the number of objects associated with each product ID is calculated (step S1403).

  Thereafter, for example, when all or part of the product IDs hit in response to a product search request or the like are sorted, the product IDs are sorted in the order of counts calculated for each product ID (step S1404).

<Brief description of effect>
As described above, the product ID server device of this embodiment can count the number of web pages such as product introductions and impression blogs for the product. The higher the number of counts, the more the order in which product search results are arranged can be sorted as products that are hotter topics.

  Furthermore, by taking into account the update timing, for example, the level of word-of-mouth, etc. shown on the web page can be sorted and presented to the user by sorting hot products in the upper and lower levels. it can.

The figure showing an example of the goods search by the goods ID server apparatus of Example 1. The figure showing an example of the functional block in the goods ID server apparatus of Example 1. The figure showing an example of the merchandise information accumulate | stored in the 1st merchandise information storage part of the merchandise ID server apparatus of Example 1. The figure showing an example of the content currently hold | maintained in the 1st content holding | maintenance part of the goods ID server apparatus of Example 1, and its update timing. The conceptual diagram for demonstrating an example of the correlation in the 1st correlation part of the goods ID server apparatus of Example 1. FIG. The figure showing an example of table data of goods ID generated by association processing of the goods ID server device of Example 1, and update timing The figure showing an example of another sorted goods search result screen by the goods ID server apparatus of Example 1. The figure showing an example of the hardware constitutions in the goods ID server apparatus of Example 1. The figure showing an example of the flow of a process in the goods ID server apparatus of Example 1. The figure showing an example of the functional block in the goods ID server apparatus of Example 2. The figure showing an example of the flow of a process in the goods ID server apparatus of Example 2. The figure showing an example of the functional block in the goods ID server apparatus of Example 3. The figure showing an example of the hardware constitutions in the goods ID server apparatus of Example 3. The figure showing an example of the flow of a process in the goods ID server apparatus of Example 3.

Explanation of symbols

0200 Product ID Server Device 0201 First Product Information Storage Unit 0202 First Content Holding Unit 0203 First Crawler Unit 0204 First Association Unit 0205 First Sort Unit

Claims (8)

A first product information storage unit that stores product information in association with the product ID;
A first content holding unit that holds the identification information of content posted on a web page on the Internet and the update timing of the content in association with each other;
A first crawler unit for updating the first content holding unit;
A object other than the product ID included in the content indicated by the identification information stored in the first content retaining unit, and wherein by comparing the object and the commodity information about the commodity identified with the product ID A first association unit associating an update timing with the product ID;
When sorting all or part of the product IDs, a first sorting unit that sorts in order of update timing associated with each product ID;
A product ID server device having A second product information storage unit that stores product information in association with the product ID;
A second content holding unit that holds the identification information of the content posted on the web page on the Internet and the update timing of the content in association with each other;
A second crawler unit for updating the second content holding unit;
A object other than the product ID included in the content indicated by the identification information stored in the second content holding unit, and by comparing the object and the commodity information about the commodity identified with the product ID both A degree of relevance calculation unit that calculates the degree of relevance according to a predetermined rule;
A rule holding unit for holding a predetermined rule used for calculating the degree of association;
When the degree of association in the degree-of-association calculation unit is a predetermined degree or more, a second association unit associating the update timing with the product ID;
When sorting all or part of the product IDs, a second sort unit for sorting in order of update timing associated with each product ID;
A product ID server device having   The product ID server device according to claim 2, further comprising a rule management unit that manages the rules held in the rule holding unit. A third product information storage unit that stores product information in association with the product ID;
A third content holding unit holding identification information of content posted on a web page on the Internet;
A third crawler unit for updating the third content holding unit;
A object other than the product ID included in the content indicated by the identification information held by the third content holding unit, and by comparing the object and the commodity information about the commodity identified with the product ID Object And a third associating unit that associates the product ID with the product ID,
A number calculator for calculating the number of objects associated with each product ID;
When sorting all or part of the product IDs, a third sorting unit for sorting in order of the number of objects associated with each product ID;
A product ID server device having A first product information storage unit that stores product information in association with a product ID, a first content holding unit that stores the identification information of content posted on a web page on the Internet and the update timing of the content in association with each other, A product ID server device control method comprising:
A first crawling step for updating the first content holding unit;
A object other than the product ID included in the content indicated by the identification information stored in the first content retaining unit, and wherein by comparing the object and the commodity information about the commodity identified with the product ID A first associating step associating an update timing with the product ID;
A first sorting step for sorting in order of update timing associated with each product ID when sorting all or part of the product IDs;
A method for controlling a product ID server device that causes a computer to execute A second product information storage unit that stores product information in association with the product ID, a second content holding unit that stores the identification information of content posted on a web page on the Internet and the update timing of the content in association with each other, A product ID server device control method comprising:
A second crawling step for updating the second content holding unit;
A object other than the product ID included in the content indicated by the identification information stored in the second content holding unit, and by comparing the object and the commodity information about the commodity identified with the product ID both A relevance degree calculating step of calculating the relevance degree of the above according to a predetermined rule that is held in advance;
If the degree of association in the degree-of-association calculating step is a predetermined degree or more, a second associating step associating the update timing with the product ID;
A second sorting step for sorting in order of update timing associated with each product ID when sorting all or a part of the product IDs;
A method for controlling a product ID server device that causes a computer to execute   The control method of the product ID server device according to claim 6, further causing a computer to execute a rule management step for managing the predetermined rule. A control method for a product ID server apparatus, comprising: a third product information storage unit that stores product information in association with a product ID; and a third content storage unit that stores identification information of content posted on a web page on the Internet Because
A third crawling step for updating the third content holding unit;
A object other than the product ID included in the content indicated by the identification information held by the third content holding unit, and by comparing the object and the commodity information about the commodity identified with the product ID Object A third associating step associating the product ID with the product ID;
A number calculating step for calculating the number of objects associated with each product ID;
When sorting all or part of the product IDs, a third sorting step of sorting in order of the number of objects associated with each product ID;
A method for controlling a product ID server device that causes a computer to execute

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