JP5706795B2 - Application search server and application search method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an application search server and an application search method.

  In recent years, mobile terminals adopting an open platform have been put on the market one after another by telecommunication carriers and terminal manufacturers. A typical example of such a portable terminal is a so-called smartphone.

  By making the platform open and versatile, various developers can freely develop applications with virtually no restrictions. For this reason, a huge number of various types of applications are provided to users. Many users are attracted to the fact that they can select and use applications from a wide variety of options. On the other hand, it is becoming difficult to find an appropriate application from a huge number of options.

  In addition, there are a number of applications that can achieve a particular purpose, and it is not always easy to compare and review their advantages and disadvantages. Usually, as a situation where a user discovers an application to be installed on a mobile terminal, a case where it is found or hit by chance by an application search service, a case where it is introduced by a friend, a case where it is found by a magazine, or the like is considered. However, there is no objective guarantee that applications discovered in these ways are truly suitable for the user. Another application that accomplishes the same purpose may be more appreciated by many people.

  When comparing multiple applications that can achieve the same objective and finding a highly rated application, it is common to do the following: First, related keywords and categories are predicted, and the applications corresponding to the keywords and categories are narrowed down from applications existing in the market. Alternatively, if an article featuring a specific function of the application being searched for is available, the application can be narrowed down to some extent from the feature article. In any case, it is necessary to narrow down the application to some extent by keywords, categories, feature articles, and the like. Next, by reviewing other users' reviews of applications with a reduced number of candidates, or by actually using them on a trial basis, it should be compared with the currently used application and whether or not it should be installed on a mobile device. The user needs to make his own judgment. As described above, it is not always easy to determine whether or not the application can be introduced by comparing and examining the advantages and disadvantages of each application.

  On the other hand, since the application is developed and updated within a relatively short period of time, an application having a higher evaluation than the current application may appear in a subsequent short period of time. In general, in the case of an application, functions are added, changed, and deleted by updating, so that the contents of evaluation before and after the update may change significantly. This is very different from content that can be simply played back, such as music. Therefore, after an application that has been highly evaluated at a certain point is installed on a mobile device, the application that is recommended for the user may change as a result of the update of the application or the appearance of another excellent application. is there.

  Therefore, when a user finds an application that is most suitable for the user, the laborious work of comparing and examining the application must be frequently performed, but this is not easy.

  Although not limited to an application, there is a method called collaborative filtering as a method of searching for an item recommended for a user. In the case of this method, the similarity between users is determined from the usage history of the market by the user, and the item recommended to the target user is determined from the items used by the user similar to the target user. Such a method is described in Patent Document 1, for example. However, when determining an item in this way, it is necessary to know in advance the usage history of the market by the target user. Therefore, it is difficult to provide useful information to users who have not yet used the market sufficiently.

JP 2010-134733 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an application search server and an application search method that can easily find an application that achieves the same purpose as that of an application used by a user and has a high evaluation.

An application search server according to an embodiment includes:
An information storage unit for storing application information including basic information including at least an identifier of the application and evaluation information about the application;
A similar application search unit that searches for similar applications using the basic information;
An evaluation value calculation unit that calculates an evaluation value of each application for a predetermined period using the evaluation information;
A similar application information storage unit that stores similar relationships between applications and evaluation values of each application;
By referring to the similarity relationship and the evaluation value stored in the similar application information storage unit, an application similar to the application specified by the user's communication terminal and the evaluation value of the application are determined, and the specified An application selection unit that selects an application that is similar to the application and has a relatively good evaluation value;
An application search server comprising: a transmission unit that notifies information of a selected application to the communication terminal.

  According to one embodiment, it is possible to easily find an application that achieves the same purpose as the application used by the user and has a high evaluation.

The figure which shows an example of the radio | wireless communications system which uses an application search server. The figure which shows an example of an application search server. The figure which shows an example of application basic information in a table format. The figure which shows an example of application evaluation information in a table format. The figure which shows an example of the table used in searching for a similar application. The figure which shows an example of similar application information in a table format. It is a figure which shows an example of a portable terminal. The figure which shows the operation example performed between an application search server and a portable terminal. The figure which shows an example of the application search server used in a modification. It is a figure which shows an example of the information stored in a user information storage part in a table format. The figure which shows the operation example performed between an application search server and a portable terminal in a modification.

  The application search server according to an aspect of the present invention refers to a similar relationship between applications and a table of recent evaluation values, and determines similar applications and evaluation values for applications specified by the communication terminal. The application search server selects an application similar to the designated application and having a relatively good evaluation value as an application to be presented to the user. Thereby, it is possible to easily determine an application that can achieve the same purpose as the application used by the user and has a higher evaluation. Since the similarity relationship and the evaluation value are performed based on information of various users by the application search server, the information presented to the user has objective validity. Since the evaluation value reflects recent trends of various users, the application search server can provide the latest information to the users. Since the method for selecting an application according to such an embodiment does not rely on the use record of the market by the user or the like, it is possible to provide appropriate information to a user who does not have such a record.

  Embodiments will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the figures, similar elements are given the same reference numbers or reference signs. Examples will be described from the following viewpoints.

1. 1. Wireless communication system 2. Application search server Mobile terminal 4. Example of operation 5. Modification 5.1 Modification Using User Information 5.2 Other Evaluation Value Calculation Method

<1. Wireless communication system>
FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless communication system that uses an application search server 100. The wireless communication system 100 includes a mobile terminal 200, an application search server 100, and a communication network 50 that connects them so that they can communicate with each other. Although the portable terminal 200 is shown as an example, a fixed terminal may be used. More generally, the mobile terminal 200 can be any user device that can download and use an application. Examples of the user device include a mobile phone, an information terminal, a high-performance mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a portable personal computer, a palmtop computer, a laptop computer, and a desktop computer. Not. The portable terminal 200 can access the application search server 100 via the communication network 50 and acquire application information and the application itself. For example, the mobile terminal 200 may connect to an access point (not shown) and access the application search server 100 connected to the communication network 50 to which the access point is connected. The communication network 50 may be, for example, the Internet connected to a mobile communication network. The mobile terminal 200 may be connected to a base station (not shown) and access the application search server 100 connected to the communication network 50 to which the base station is connected. For simplicity of illustration, only one mobile terminal 200 is shown, but the number of mobile terminals is arbitrary.

<2. Application search server>
FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the application search server 100 as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows various elements included in the application search server 100, which are particularly relevant to the description of the embodiment. The application search server 100 includes an application information storage unit 102, a similar application search unit 104, an application evaluation value calculation unit 106, a similar application information storage unit 108, a reception unit 110, an application selection unit 112, and a transmission unit 114.

  The application information storage unit 102 stores a table of application basic information and a table of application evaluation information. Application basic information and application evaluation information are acquired from the application market and constitute application information. The application basic information includes information indicating an application identifier (ID), an application name or name, an application description, statistical information, an application category, an application developer, and the like. The statistical information may include statistical information in the information provided to the application search server 100 from the application provider or developer side, or use history information and user information (described later) acquired from various users. It may be acquired by counting and analyzing. Specific examples of the statistical information include, for example, a cumulative value of the number of users who have downloaded the target application, a class (class or grade) to which the cumulative value belongs, and the like. Therefore, the statistical information does not necessarily need to be included in the application basic information. The application evaluation information includes information indicating the content of evaluation or review for each application, a user evaluation value, information of a user who performed evaluation or posting, date and time of evaluation or posting, and the like. In general, the application basic information is used when determining a similar relationship between applications, and may be defined as information acquired from the developer or provider side of the application. On the other hand, the application evaluation information is used when calculating the evaluation value of each application, and may be defined as information obtained from the user side. The evaluation value may be derived, for example, as an average value of individual user evaluation values, but may be derived by other methods. This point will be described later.

  The distinction between the application basic information and the application evaluation information is not strict, and it may be defined such that a part of the information items included in one of the illustrated information is included in the other information. For example, statistical information of application basic information may be included in the application evaluation information. Therefore, more generally, both the basic application information and the application evaluation information shown in the drawing constitute “application information”, and a similarity relationship and an evaluation value described later are calculated using the application information. Further, the number and types of information items are not limited to the illustrated example, and one or more information items may be omitted, or one or more other information items (for example, information about images and prices). May be added.

  FIG. 3 shows application basic information in a table format. In the case of the illustrated example, an application ID for uniquely identifying an application, an application name, an explanatory text explaining the contents of the application, the number of application downloads, an application category, and a development that has developed the application Person information is included in the table. The application IDs “0001A”, “0001B”, and “0001C” have application names “application 1”, “application 2”, and “application 3”, respectively. In the case of the illustrated example, regarding the number of downloads of the application, numerical ranges such as “50,000 to 250,000”, “1,000 to 5,000”, “250,000 or more” are shown. This is not essential. The specific number actually downloaded by many users may be the “download number”. This is because it only needs to be used to determine the level of evaluation of the application. The category is synonymous with the genre, and “tool”, “entertainment”, and “game” are shown as examples. Developers such as “AAAA”, “BBBB”, and “CCCC” each create an application 1-3 and create a description for each. The illustrated example is merely an example, and more information items may be included, some information items may be omitted, or another expression method may be used. For example, the number of downloads may be expressed by a specific numerical value instead of a class. Further, other information such as a single comment by a developer may be stored as application information.

FIG. 4 shows the application evaluation information in a table format. In the case of the illustrated example, the application ID, the content of the review, the user evaluation value by the user who performed the review, the user who performed the posting, and the date and time of posting are included in the table. In the case of the illustrated example, three users “user X”, “user Y”, and “user Z” are reviewing the application whose application ID is “0001A”. The illustrated example is merely an example, and more information items may be included, some information items may be omitted, or another expression method may be used. For example, other information such as an application name may be included.
In the illustrated example, the user evaluation value is expressed by a value within a numerical range of 0 or more and 5 or less, but may be expressed by another numerical range, or expressed in an alternative format such as pass / fail. May be.

  The similar application search unit 104 in FIG. 2 calculates the application similarity from the application information stored in the application information storage unit 102 and stores information indicating the similarity relationship in the application information storage unit 108. The similarity relationship between applications may be calculated by any appropriate method. As an example, the similarity between applications may be calculated from the category information to which the application belongs, the application name, and the appearance frequency of nouns (words or character strings) included in the description. This is because applications that achieve the same purpose often belong to the same category. Similarly, if the same purpose is achieved, the frequency of appearance of keywords representing application characteristics tends to be similar to the application name and description. As an example, consider the case of searching for an application similar to an application that uses the shooting function of a camera. In this case, first, an application belonging to a category (for example, a camera category or a tool category) to which an application using a camera belongs is extracted (restriction is performed). Next, the name and / or explanation of the narrowed application is analyzed, and nouns registered in a keyword dictionary prepared in advance are extracted. The keyword dictionary includes nouns (more generally words or character strings) that are likely to represent application features such as “camera”, “image”, “browser”, “game”, “phone”, etc. It is registered. The name of the application and / or the appearance frequency of the noun extracted from the description is stored for each application.

  FIG. 5 shows “camera”, “image”, “game”,. . . The appearance frequency of the “calculation” keyword is stored in a table format for each application. Such a table is stored in the similar application information storage unit 108 of FIG. Regarding the two applications, if the frequency of appearance of individual keywords is close, they are similar, otherwise they are not similar. If the appearance frequency coincidence is defined as “similarity” and has a similarity equal to or greater than a threshold, it may be determined that the two applications are similar. As an example, the similarity may be calculated using cosine similarity. In the illustrated example, the application IDs “0001A” and “0001D” are relatively similar. For convenience of explanation, the similarity is determined based on the category, the application name, and / or the keyword included in the description, but this is not essential. The administrator of the application search server may register the similar relationship manually. Alternatively, applications similar to each other may be registered by inquiring the user of the application search server about the similarity of the applications. In that case, the application search server 100 may inquire the user whether, for example, “application 1” and “application 2” are similar.

  The application evaluation value calculation unit 106 in FIG. 2 calculates an application evaluation value (or simply referred to as “evaluation value”) based on the application information stored in the application information storage unit 102. The application evaluation value generally provides an indication of how high a large number of users are evaluating the application within an evaluation period (eg, the last month). The calculated application evaluation value is stored in the similar application information storage unit 108.

  The application evaluation value may be calculated by any appropriate method. For example, using the application evaluation information stored in the application information storage unit 102, an arithmetic average value of user evaluation values posted by various users within a certain evaluation period may be calculated as the application evaluation value. For example, in the case of the application evaluation information shown in FIG. 4, when the “evaluation period” is in August, the user evaluation values for the application ID “0001A” are “5” for user X and “4” for user Y. Therefore, the application evaluation value (or evaluation value) is (5 + 4) /2=4.5. The evaluation period may be designated as “immovable for the past one month from the current time”, or may be designated dynamically such as “for one month after the future application is updated”. This calculation method of the application evaluation value is merely an example, and other calculation methods may be used. This point will be described in “Modification”.

  The similar application information storage unit 108 stores the similarity relationship information calculated by the similar application search unit 104 and the evaluation value information calculated from the application evaluation value calculation unit 106 in association with each other.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of information stored in the table format in the similar application information storage unit 108. The illustrated table includes an application, an application similar to the application, and an evaluation value of each application in association with each other. The application “0001A” is similar to “0002A” and “0003A”, and the evaluation values of each application are “4.5”, “3.1”, and “4.1”, respectively. The similarity between the application “0001A” and the application “0002A” is equal to or higher than the similarity between the application “0001A” and the application “0003A” (more similar). Similarly, the application “0001B” is similar to “0002B” and “0003B”, and the evaluation values of each application are “3.1”, “3.3”, and “4.2”, respectively. The application “0001C” is similar to “0002C” and “0003C”, and the evaluation values of each application are “4.0”, “4.5”, and “3.8”, respectively. In the illustrated example, two similar applications are stored or associated with each application, but the number of similar applications to be stored may be one or more arbitrary numerical values.

  The receiving unit 110 in FIG. 2 receives application information from the mobile terminal 200 or another information source. All of the application information may be acquired from the mobile terminal 200. Or a part of application information may be acquired from the portable terminal 200, and other application information may be acquired from another information source. For example, an application ID is acquired from the mobile terminal 200, and information associated with the application ID (information other than the “application ID” in FIGS. 3 and 4) is acquired from some information providing server via the network. May be. The reception unit 110 notifies the application selection unit 112 of the acquired application information.

  The application selection unit 112 refers to the table (FIG. 6) stored in the similar application information storage unit 108 and acquires information corresponding to the application information acquired by the reception unit 110. The acquired information is notified to the transmission unit 114 as a similar application, and is notified to the user as a recommended application. For example, when the application information acquired by the reception unit 110 specifies an application “0001B”, the application selection unit 112 refers to the row corresponding to “0001B” in the table illustrated in FIG. Know that applications such as “0002B” and “0003B” are similar applications. As an example, in such a case, the applications “0002B” and “0003B” are notified to the user via the transmission unit 114. In the case of another operation example, the evaluation value is taken into consideration. When the application “0001B” is designated, the applications “0002B” and “0003B” similar to this application both have an evaluation value higher than the evaluation value (3.1) of “0001B”. Both may be notified to the transmission unit 114. Alternatively, only the application of “0003B” having the highest evaluation value among the options may be notified to the user via the transmission unit 114. Alternatively, only the application having an evaluation value that is higher than the evaluation value of the designated application by a predetermined threshold or more may be notified to the user. If an application of “0001A” is designated, applications similar to this application are “0002A” and “0003A”, but both have evaluation values lower than the evaluation value (4.5) of “0001A”. I don't have it. In this case, there is no application having a higher evaluation than the application “0001A” already owned by the user. Accordingly, the same “0001A” as the designated application may be notified to the user via the transmission unit 114, or a message may be notified to the user that there is no application with a higher evaluation than “0001A”. .

<3. Mobile device>
FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the mobile terminal 200 as shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows elements that are particularly relevant to the description of the present embodiment, among various elements included in the mobile terminal 200. The portable terminal 200 includes an application usage information storage unit 202, an application selection unit 204, a transmission unit 206, a reception unit 208, and a display unit 210.

  The application usage information storage unit 202 stores usage history information of applications owned by the user in the mobile terminal 200 for each application. Usage history information includes, for example, a user for an application such as the date and time of application startup, the cumulative number of startups, the number of times the application screen is displayed on the display, the date and time of application installation, and the date and time of application uninstallation. Includes information indicating the history of operations performed by. For example, usage history information indicating the number of activations may be recorded at a cycle such as every day. Alternatively, instead of a fixed period, the number of activations over a non-fixed period, such as the number of activations that have been activated since the previous transmission of usage history information to the application search server, may be recorded.

The application selection unit 204 refers to the application usage information storage unit 202 and notifies the transmission unit 206 of information (for example, including an application ID and the number of activations) corresponding to the application selected or designated by the user. The number of activations is merely an example, and other information in the usage history information may be used. Alternatively, the application selection unit 204 may automatically select information on the number of activations stored in the application usage information storage unit 202 and notify the transmission unit 206 together with the application ID. When selecting automatically, for example, an application whose number of activations falls within a certain range may be selected. The lower threshold and N _min, the upper limit threshold and N _max, start count N _A of a certain application A, N _min <N A _<if satisfying N _max, application A start count information transmission section 206 May be notified. The thresholds N _min and N _max may be values common to all applications, or may be set for each application category. This is because there are categories that are assumed to be frequently activated and categories that are not. In addition, the number of application downloads and the average number of activations of other users may be notified to the mobile terminal 200, and those values may be set as threshold values. Apart from the above example, the number of activations may be notified when the number of activations exceeds a predetermined threshold or when the number of activations falls below a predetermined threshold. Furthermore, when automatically reporting the number of activations, a plurality of methods for selecting a report target application may be prepared, and any method may be selected by the user.

  The transmission unit 206 transmits the usage history information to the application search server 100 regularly or irregularly. In addition, the transmission unit 206 transmits information about a specific application (including at least an ID) to the application search server 100. Application information similar to the specific application is provided from the application search server 100. In other words, information on the application that is the center of the similarity when such information provision is desired is transmitted from the transmission unit 206. The information to be transmitted is generally “application information”, but it is sufficient that at least an application ID for identifying the application is included. This is because the application search server 100 can acquire other information in the application information from a source other than the mobile terminal 200. The information transmitted from the transmission unit 206 may include information indicating the number of applications displayed.

  The receiving unit 208 receives information indicating a list of applications from the application search server. In the application list, one or more of information related to the application such as the application name, description, download count, evaluation value, icon information, and the like are shown.

  The display unit 210 displays a list of applications received from the application search server 100 (that is, similar application information). That is, one or more applications that are similar to the application specified by the user and have a high recent evaluation are displayed on the display unit 210 as a list. If there is no similar application with a higher evaluation than the application specified by the user, the application to be displayed does not exist or the same application as the application specified by the user is displayed in the list. The display unit 210 is, for example, a display, a control panel including a keypad, a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic EL panel, a touch screen, or the like, but is not limited thereto. In the present embodiment, the display unit 210 is covered with a touch-sensitive transparent panel, and can detect the movement of the user's finger for controlling the operation of the mobile terminal.

  In addition, it is not essential that the visual display unit 210 is used, and in general, an arbitrary user interface that exhibits a function of providing information to the user and a function of acquiring information input from the user is used. can do. The user interface can be any visual, audio or mechanical means. For example, the user interface typically includes selectable buttons, but may include any mechanical controls such as a keyboard, mouse, trackball, and the like. Further, the user interface may include a voice input unit such as a microphone so that the user can perform an operation struck, or a voice output unit such as a speaker that provides some information to the user by voice. It may be.

<4. Example of operation>
FIG. 8 shows an operation example performed between the application search server 100 and the mobile terminal 200 in the wireless communication system as shown in FIG.

  In step S <b> 301, the application search server 100 checks the similar relationship between various applications using the application information, and stores similar relationship information in the similar application information storage unit 108. Application information used for examining the similarity relationship is stored in the application information storage unit 102, and in particular, application basic information (FIG. 3) is used.

  In step S <b> 303, the application search server 100 calculates an evaluation value of each application using the application information, and stores the evaluation value in the similar application information storage unit 108. Application information used to calculate the evaluation value is stored in the application information storage unit 102, and in particular, application evaluation information (FIG. 4) is used.

  The similarity relationship and the evaluation value of each application are stored in the similar application information storage unit 108 in association with each other. In the illustrated example, the process of step S303 is shown after step S301, but the order of these processes may be as illustrated, may be reversed, or all or some of the processes may be performed simultaneously. . This is because it is only necessary to obtain the correspondence as shown in FIG.

  In step S <b> 305, the mobile terminal 200 transmits a request signal for requesting information provision to the application search server 100. The requested information is information on an application that the application search server recommends introduction to the user of the mobile terminal 200. Specifically, it is information of an application that is similar to the application specified by the request signal (achieves the same purpose) and has a recent reputation. The request signal may be sent consciously by a user who is looking for a new application, or the request signal is sent due to some operation by the user (for example, when a specific screen is displayed). May be. Alternatively, the request signal may be transmitted at a predetermined timing set in the mobile terminal 200 separately from the user's operation. In any case, the request signal includes application information designating at least one application.

  In step S307, the application search server 100 acquires application basic information and application evaluation information from the identifier (ID) of the application specified by the received request signal. When these pieces of information are not included in the request signal, the information is acquired from the application information storage unit 102 based on the identifier (ID) of the application. The application search server 100 refers to the similarity relationship and the evaluation value stored in the similar application information storage unit 108 to determine the applications similar to the application specified by the request signal and the evaluation values of those applications. . Then, in principle, the application search server 100 selects one or more applications that are similar to the designated application and have relatively good evaluation values (for example, select the top three that are similar and have good evaluation values). ). If there is no application having an evaluation value better than the evaluation value of the designated application, the designated application may be selected, or no application may be selected.

  In step S309, the application search server 100 transmits information on the application selected in step S307 to the mobile terminal 200.

  In step S311, the mobile terminal 200 provides the received application information to the user. Information of one or more applications that are similar to the application specified in step S305 and have a recent reputation is displayed on the display unit of the mobile terminal 200, for example. As a result, the user can introduce an objectively reliable application that meets his needs into the mobile terminal 200.

  Note that the timing of performing the operation example shown in FIG. 8 may be set in advance (for example, set at a constant cycle) in the application search server 100, or may be set as necessary (for example, in response to an external request). It may be done. For example, it may be performed every day. In any case, these processes need to be performed iteratively. This is because the similarity relationship and the evaluation value change with time.

<5. Modification>
<< 5.1 Modification Using User Information >>
In the case of the operation example shown in FIG. 8, the application search server 100 selects an application to be presented to the user based on the application specified by the request signal received in step S305. However, the present invention is not limited to such an operation example, and it is also possible to use user information indicating what application is stored in the mobile terminal 200. Hereinafter, such a modification will be described.

  Also in the modified example, it is possible to use a wireless communication system as shown in FIG. FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of the application search server 101 used in the modification. The application search server 101 can be used instead of the application search server 100 of FIG. In general, the application search server 101 is the same as the application search server 100, except that it additionally includes a user information storage unit 116.

  The user information storage unit 116 stores user information received from the mobile terminal 200. The user information is information indicating what kind of application is stored in the mobile terminal 200 by the user, and is notified from the mobile terminal 200 to the application search server 101 regularly or irregularly (as necessary). Is done. The user information may constitute a part of the above-described usage history information, or may be information different from the usage history information.

  FIG. 10 shows the user information stored in the user information storage unit 116 in a table format. In the case of the illustrated example, each of a plurality of users is managed in association with an identifier (ID) of an application owned by each user. The first user “User 1” owns three applications “0001A”, “0001B”, and “0001C”, that is, is installed in the mobile terminal. The second user “User 2” owns two applications “0002A” and “0002B”. The third user “User 3” owns three applications “0001A”, “0002B”, and “0003C”. The illustrated example is merely shown from the viewpoint of simplification, and other information may be included in the user information. For example, in addition to the information on the application owned by each user, history information such as the number of times the application is started and information on the uninstallation may be stored as user information.

  The application selection unit 112 selects an application to be notified to the user based on the user information stored in the user information storage unit 116. The selection method will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 11 shows an operation example performed between the application search server 101 and the mobile terminal 200 in a modification using user information.

  In step S401, as in step S301 in FIG. 8, the application search server 100 checks similarities between various applications using the application information, and stores similar relationship information in the similar application information storage unit. .

  In step S403, at a regular or irregular timing, the mobile terminal aggregates information on applications owned by the user (installed applications) to create user information.

  In step S <b> 405, the application search server 101 receives user information from the mobile terminal and stores the user information in the user information storage unit 116.

  In step S407, as in step S303 in FIG. 8, the application search server 100 calculates an evaluation value of each application using the application information, and stores the evaluation value in the similar application information storage unit.

  In step S411, the application search server 101 acquires application basic information and application evaluation information from the identifier (ID) of the application specified by the user information. When these pieces of information are not included in the request signal, the information is acquired from the application information storage unit 102 based on the identifier (ID) of the application. The application search server 101 refers to the similarity relationship and the evaluation value stored in the similar application information storage unit 108 to determine an application similar to the application specified by the user information and the evaluation value of those applications. . Then, the application search server 101 selects one or more applications that are similar to the designated application and have relatively good evaluation values in principle (for example, select the top three that are similar and have good evaluation values). ). If there is no application having an evaluation value better than the evaluation value of the designated application, the designated application may be selected, or no application may be selected. When selecting an application, among similar applications, an application already owned by the user may be excluded.

  In step S413, the application search server 101 transmits information on the application selected in step S411 to the mobile terminal 200.

  In step S415, the mobile terminal 200 provides the received application information to the user. Information on one or more applications similar to the application specified by the user information and having a recent reputation is displayed on the display unit of the mobile terminal 200, for example. As a result, the user can introduce an objectively reliable application that meets his needs into the mobile terminal 200.

  The timing at which the operation example shown in FIG. 11 is performed may be preset (for example, set at a constant cycle) in the application search server 101, or may be set as necessary (for example, in response to an external request). It may be done. For example, it may be performed every day. In any case, these processes need to be performed iteratively. This is because the similarity relationship and the evaluation value change with time.

<< 5.2 Other Calculation Methods for Evaluation Values >>
The method for calculating the evaluation value in the application evaluation value calculation unit 106 in FIGS. 2 and 9, the step S303 in FIG. 8, and the step S409 in FIG. 911 will be further described.

  [1] As described above, the evaluation value of an application may be obtained by arithmetically averaging user evaluation values given by various users who have reviewed the application.

[2] As another method for calculating the evaluation value, an increase rate or an increase rate of the number of application downloads may be used. This is because the higher the evaluation of the application, the more the number of application downloads tends to increase. The number of downloads can be extracted from application information provided by the application developer. Since the number of application downloads varies from day to day, for example, when the number of downloads per day is DL (n), the increase rate from one week ago is DL (n) / Σ _{(k = 0,..., 6). ) It} can be expressed by DL (n−k). n is a parameter indicating the number of days. The fixed period for calculating the increase rate is not limited to one week, and any appropriate period may be used. Such a numerical value may be reflected as an evaluation value as it is, or may be added to an evaluation value determined from some other viewpoint. For example, the evaluation value may be calculated by the sum of the arithmetic average value calculated from the viewpoint of [1] and the above increase rate.

[3] As another method for calculating the evaluation value, an increase rate or an increase rate of the number of users of the application may be used. This is because the higher the evaluation of the application, the greater the number of users of the application. The number of users is the same size as the number of downloads, but the information acquisition method is different. The number of downloads is provided from the developer side to the application search server as application information (basic information). On the other hand, the number of users can be obtained by counting usage history information or user information provided from the mobile terminal to the application search server. For example, when the application search server 101 updates the data in the user information storage unit 116, when the number of application users in the previous period is U _b and the number of users in the latest period is U, the increase rate is For example, it may be expressed by (U−U _b ). Alternatively, as in the example shown in [2] above, the increase rate may be normalized by the total value of the number of users in the previous period and the current period. Alternatively, the value of the increase rate may be adjusted by performing an operation such as sqr (U−U _b ).

[4] As another method for calculating the evaluation value, an increase rate or an increase rate of the number of activations of the application may be used. This is because the higher the evaluation of the application, the more the number of times the application is activated. The information on the number of times of activation can be obtained by summing up usage history information or user information provided from the mobile terminal to the application search server. For example, when the application search server 101 updates the data in the user information storage unit 116, if the total application activation count in the previous period is L _b and the total activation count in the latest period is L, the increase rate is For example, it may be expressed by (L−L _b ). Alternatively, as in the example shown in [2] above, the increase rate may be normalized by the total value of the total number of activations in the previous period and the current period. Alternatively, the value of the increase rate may be adjusted by performing an operation such as sqr (L−L _b ).

[5] As another method for calculating the evaluation value, an increase rate or an increase rate of the number of users who have uninstalled the application may be used. The number of users who have been uninstalled corresponds to the number of users who have acted in reverse to the number of downloads or users. In other words, the lower the evaluation of the application, the greater the number of users who have uninstalled the application. Information on the number of uninstalled users can be obtained by summing up usage history information or user information provided from the mobile terminal to the application search server. Since the number of application uninstalls varies from day to day, for example, when the number of daily uninstalls is DE (n), the rate of increase from the previous week is DE (n) / Σ _{(k = 0,...} ) _{. 6) It} can be expressed by DE (n−k). n is a parameter indicating the number of days. The fixed period for calculating the increase rate is not limited to one week, and any appropriate period may be used. An increase in the increase rate of uninstallation is associated with a decrease in the evaluation value, and a decrease in increase rate of the uninstallation is associated with an increase in the evaluation value. Therefore, in order to associate the increase rate of uninstallation with the positive evaluation value of the application, for example, it is conceivable to add a minus sign to the evaluation value.

  The evaluation value calculation method shown in [1]-[5] may be used alone, or two or more may be combined. When combining, the evaluation values calculated by the individual methods may be simply added, or may be weighted and added using some weighting factor.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, they are merely exemplary and those skilled in the art will appreciate various variations, modifications, alternatives, substitutions, and the like. For example, the present invention may be applied to any appropriate mobile communication system that recommends an application to a user through a network. Although specific numerical examples have been described in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, these numerical values are merely examples and any appropriate values may be used unless otherwise specified. The classification of the embodiment or item is not essential to the present invention, and the items described in two or more items may be used in combination as necessary, and the item described in one item may be used as another item. It may be applied (as long as it is not inconsistent) to the matters described. The boundaries between functional units or processing units in the functional block diagram do not necessarily correspond to physical component boundaries. The operations of a plurality of functional units may be physically performed by one component, or the operations of one functional unit may be physically performed by a plurality of components. For convenience of explanation, an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described using a functional block diagram, but such an apparatus may be realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The software is available on random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk (HDD), removable disk, CD-ROM, database, server and any other suitable storage medium May be. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications, modifications, alternatives, substitutions, and the like are included in the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 Communication network 100, 101 Application search server 102 Application information storage part 104 Similar application search part 106 Application evaluation value calculation part 108 Similar application information storage part 110 Reception part 112 Application selection part 114 Transmission part 116 User information storage part 200 Portable terminal 206 Transmission unit 202 Application usage information storage unit 206 Application selection unit 208 Reception unit 210 Display unit

Claims (9)

An information storage unit for storing application information including basic information including at least an identifier of the application and evaluation information about the application;
A similar application search unit that searches for similar applications using the basic information;
An evaluation value calculation unit that calculates an evaluation value of each application for a predetermined period using the evaluation information;
A similar application information storage unit that stores similar relationships between applications and evaluation values of each application;
The similarity application information storage unit by referring to the similarity relationship and the evaluation value is stored in, to determine the application that is similar to the application specified by the communication terminal of the user, the evaluation value of the similar application an application selecting unit for selecting an application that has a relatively good evaluation values, from among the similar application of,
An application search server comprising: a transmission unit that notifies the communication terminal of information on the selected application.   The application search server according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation value calculation unit calculates an evaluation value of the application based on an increase rate of the number of application downloads. The application search server further includes a user information storage unit that stores, for each user, user information including information on an application installed in the communication terminal of the user,
The application search server according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation value calculation unit calculates an evaluation value of the application based on an increase rate of the number of users who have installed the application. The user information includes activation number information indicating the number of times an application installed in the communication terminal of the user is activated,
The application search server according to claim 3, wherein the evaluation value calculation unit calculates an evaluation value of the application based on the activation number information stored in the user information storage unit. The user information includes information of an application uninstalled within a certain period,
The application search server according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the evaluation value calculation unit calculates an increase rate of the number of application uninstalls from the user information, and calculates an evaluation value of the application based on the increase rate.   The said application selection part selects the application which has a comparatively good evaluation value similar to the said specified application except the application installed in the said communication terminal of the said user. The application search server according to any one of the preceding claims.   The application search server according to claim 1, wherein, in addition to the identifier, the basic information includes at least an application name, a description, and a category.   The application search server according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, in addition to the identifier, the evaluation information includes at least an evaluation comment, an evaluation value, a contributor, and a posting date and time for an application. Search for similar applications using basic information including at least an application identifier, calculate evaluation values for each application within a certain period using evaluation information about the application, and evaluate the similarity between applications and the evaluation value of each application Store
By referring to the similarity relationship and the evaluation value is stored, it determines an application similar to the application specified by the communication terminal of the user, a relatively good evaluation of the evaluation value of the similar application the application has a value, choose from among the similar application,
An application search method comprising: notifying the communication terminal of information on a selected application.

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