JP7478291B1 - Information processing system, information processing device, program, application software, terminal device, and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide an information processing system, information processing device, terminal device, program, and information processing method capable of providing useful information to a viewer while protecting the viewer's personal information. [Solution] The system includes a terminal device that is accessible to a website that executes a process to determine non-personal information that does not identify the viewer as an individual and is managed by the viewer, and that acquires non-personal information based on viewer attributes related to the viewer entered into an input form on a webpage within the website having the same domain as the domain of the website, and generates an identifier associated with the non-personal information, and an information processing device that transmits an identifier that stores the address of the webpage prior to the transition, which is acquired each time the terminal device accesses the website and transitions to a different webpage within the website, by the terminal device. [Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing device, a program, application software, a terminal device, and an information processing method.

When providing various information to a viewer of a website via the website, a technology is known in which data called a cookie that contains the viewer's identification information and website access history is passed to the viewer's browser to identify the viewer and specify the access history, and information that is likely to be of interest to the viewer is provided based on the specified access history.

Patent document 1 discloses a technology that infers the characteristics of an accessing person based on a cookie attached to the accessing person's browser via the Internet, and provides the accessing person with content based on the inferred characteristics.

JP 2019-36074 A

By the way, there are two types of cookies: first-party cookies, which are issued by a web server in the domain the viewer is accessing, and third-party cookies, which are issued by a web server in a domain different from the domain the viewer is accessing.

By identifying a visitor and determining his/her access history based on such third-party cookies, it is possible to identify access history to a domain different from the domain of the web server that issues the first-party cookie, making it possible to provide information that is more likely to interest the visitor.

On the other hand, since identifying access history based on third-party cookies allows for a detailed understanding of a visitor's online behavior history, there is a tendency for the distribution of third-party cookies to be gradually restricted from the standpoint of protecting personal information.

If the distribution of third-party cookies is restricted, it may be possible to protect personal information, but it is feared that it will become impossible to identify access history to domains other than the domain of the web server that issues the first-party cookie, making it impossible to provide useful information to visitors.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide an information processing system, information processing device, program, application software, terminal device, and information processing method that can provide useful information to a viewer while protecting the viewer's personal information.

To achieve the above object, the information processing system according to the present invention includes a terminal device that is accessible to a website that executes a process for determining non-personal information that does not identify the viewer as an individual and is managed by the viewer, and that acquires non-personal information based on viewer attributes related to the viewer entered into an input form on a web page within the website that has the same domain as the domain of the website and generates an identifier associated with the non-personal information, and an information processing device that transmits an identifier that stores the address of the web page prior to the transition, which is acquired each time the terminal device accesses the website and transitions to a different web page within the website, by the terminal device.

According to this method, an identifier associated with non-personal information obtained based on the viewer attributes entered into an input form on a web page within the website is generated and stored in the viewer's terminal, while each time a web page within the website is transitioned, the address of the web page prior to the transition is stored in the identifier and transmitted to the information processing device.

As a result, the information processing device can grasp the behavioral characteristics of the viewer on the Internet without identifying the viewer as an individual, and based on the grasped behavioral characteristics, it can provide useful information about the viewer via viewer attributes, such as the department to which the viewer belongs, to businesses that request this type of information, while protecting the viewer's personal information.

Furthermore, when generating an identifier, useful information about the viewer is obtained as non-personal information, so any business can use this non-personal information to deliver advertisements that may be of interest to the viewer, for example, via viewer attributes such as the department to which the viewer belongs.

The non-personal information processed by this information processing system includes the name of the department to which the viewer belongs at the business where the viewer works as part of his/her job and the viewer's email domain.

The non-personal information processed by this information processing system includes the name of the department to which the viewer belongs at the business where the viewer works as part of his/her job and the viewer's email domain, and the terminal device executes department name recognition processing that does not recognize the viewer's first and last name as the name of a department if the viewer attributes entered into the input form include the viewer's first and last name and if the viewer's first and last name contains any characters that overlap with the name of a department.

The non-personal information processed by this information processing system includes the name of the department to which the viewer belongs at the business where the viewer works as a part of his/her job and the viewer's email domain, and the information processing device classifies and stores the identifiers based on the work attributes of multiple departments that are pre-registered as master data.

The non-personal information processed by this information processing system includes the name of the department to which the viewer belongs at the business where the viewer works as part of his/her job and the viewer's email domain, and the information processing device has a memory unit in which corporate information relating to the attributes of the business is stored, and performs a matching process by comparing the corporate information with related business information held by the customer company as information on related businesses related to the customer company, extracting corporate information corresponding to the related business information, and matching the email domain included in the corporate information with the viewer's email domain.

This information processing system uses an identifier as a leading identifier, and when the system is accessed via the other website by a terminal device that is accessible to the other website that is different from the website and executes a process to obtain non-personal information and that is managed by the viewer, the system associates the leading identifier with a subsequent identifier that is generated in association with non-personal information based on viewer attributes related to the viewer that are entered into an input form on a web page in the other website that has the same domain as the domain of the other website.

This information processing system uses a first identifier as an identifier, and when the system is accessed via the other website by a terminal device that is capable of accessing the other website that is different from the website and executes a process of acquiring non-personal information and is managed by the other viewer that is different from the viewer, the system executes a process of associating the first identifier with a second identifier that is generated in association with non-personal information based on viewer attributes related to the other viewer that are input into an input form on a web page in the other website that has the same domain as the domain of the other website.

To achieve the above object, the information processing device of the present invention includes a storage unit that stores an identifier associated with non-personal information acquired based on viewer attributes of the viewer entered into an input form on a webpage within a website having the same domain as the domain of the website, the identifier being generated by a terminal device that can access a website that executes a process to determine non-personal information that does not identify personal information that can identify the viewer, and that is managed by the viewer, and the identifier storing the address of the webpage prior to the transition acquired each time the terminal device accesses the website and transitions to a different webpage within the website is transmitted by the terminal device.

The program of the present invention for achieving the above object causes an information processing device implemented by a computer to execute a storage process for storing an identifier associated with non-personal information about the viewer obtained based on viewer attributes about the viewer entered into an input form on a webpage within a website having the same domain as the domain of a website that executes a process for determining non-personal information that does not identify the viewer as an individual, the non-personal information being sent by a terminal device managed by the viewer, and the identifier storing the address of the webpage prior to the transition, which is obtained when the terminal device accesses the website and transitions to a webpage within the website.

The application software of the present invention for achieving the above object causes a computer to execute an identifier generation process that is accessible to a website that executes a process for determining non-personal information that does not identify the viewer as an individual and is managed by the viewer, and that acquires non-personal information based on viewer attributes related to the viewer entered into an input form on a web page within a website having the same domain as the domain of the website, and generates an identifier associated with the non-personal information, and an identifier transmission process that transmits to an information processing device an identifier that stores the address of the web page prior to the transition, which is acquired when transitioning between web pages within the website after the identifier generation process is generated.

To achieve the above object, the terminal device according to the present invention executes an identifier generation process that generates an identifier associated with non-personal information acquired based on viewer attributes related to the viewer input into an input form on a webpage within a website having the same domain as the domain of the website when the website is accessed and that acquires non-personal information that does not identify the viewer as an individual, and an identifier transmission process that transmits to an information processing device an identifier that stores the address of the webpage prior to the transition, which is acquired when transitioning between webpages within the website after the identifier is generated in the identifier generation process.

In order to achieve the above object, the information processing method of the present invention involves an information processing device implemented by a computer that executes a storage process to store an identifier associated with non-personal information about the viewer acquired based on viewer attributes related to the viewer entered into an input form on a webpage within a website having the same domain as the domain of the website that executes a process to determine non-personal information that does not identify the viewer as an individual, the identifier being associated with non-personal information about the viewer that is entered into an input form on a webpage within a website having the same domain as the domain of the website that executes a process to determine non-personal information that does not identify the viewer as an individual, the identifier being an identifier that stores the address of the webpage prior to the transition that is acquired when the terminal device accesses the website and transitions between webpages within the website.

This invention makes it possible to provide useful information to viewers while protecting their personal information.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of the configuration of a computer implementing the web server, the viewer terminal, the information processing device, and the customer terminal of the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the configuration of a website used in the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of functions of a viewer terminal of the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an outline of functions of a viewer terminal of the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an outline of an identifier generated in the information processing system according to the present embodiment. 10 is a flowchart outlining a process for generating an identifier in the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a process for generating an identifier in the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of the functions of an information processing device of the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an outline of identifier information processed in the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an outline of company information processed by the information processing system according to the present embodiment. 10 is a flowchart outlining the process of the information processing device of the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an outline of identifier processing information processed in the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of the processing of the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an outline of identifier processing information processed in the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of the processing of the information processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of the functions of a customer terminal of the information processing system according to the present embodiment. 10 is a flowchart outlining the processing of the information processing system according to the present embodiment.

Next, an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 18.

Figure 1 is a block diagram outlining the configuration of an information processing system according to this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the information processing system 10 mainly comprises web servers 20a-20n, viewer terminals 30a-30n which are terminal devices, an information processing device 40, and a customer terminal 50, which are connected to each other via a network N such as the Internet.

The web servers 20a-20n are managed by businesses 1a-1n that perform a given business operation, the viewer terminals 30a-30n are owned by viewers 2a-2n who work at a given company, the information processing device 40 is deployed at a service provider 3 that provides a service using the information processing system 10, and the customer terminal 50 is owned by a customer company 4 that uses a service provided by the service provider 3.

In this embodiment, the service provided by the service provider 3 is a service that provides information to the client company 4 on the interests of the departments to which the viewers 2a-2n belong, based on the online behavioral history of the viewers 2a-2n, such as the history of websites visited by the viewers 2a-2n, and analyzes this information.

Next, we will explain the specific configuration of each part of the information processing system 10.

In this embodiment, the web servers 20a to 20n, the viewer terminals 30a to 30n, the information processing device 40, and the customer terminal 50 are implemented by computers having substantially the same hardware configuration, such as desktop or notebook computers.

Figure 2 is a block diagram outlining the computer's configuration.

As shown in the figure, the computer mainly comprises a processor 101, a memory 102, a storage 103, a transceiver unit 104, and an input/output unit 105, which are electrically connected to each other via a bus 106.

The processor 101 is a computing device that controls the operation of the computer, controls the sending and receiving of data between each element, and performs the processing required to execute application programs.

In this embodiment, the processor 101 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and executes application programs deployed in the memory 102 (described below) to perform various processes.

Memory 102 is implemented by a main memory device consisting of a volatile memory device such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).

This memory 102 is used as a working area for the processor 101, and also stores the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) that is executed when the computer starts up, as well as various configuration information, etc.

Storage 103 stores data and other information used for various processes by application programs, etc.

The transceiver 104 connects the computer to the network N. This transceiver 104 may be compatible with wireless communication standards such as Wi-Fi, or may be equipped with a short-range communication interface such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy).

If necessary, information input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse and output devices such as a display are connected to the input/output unit 105. In this embodiment, a keyboard, a mouse, and a display are each connected.

The bus 106 transmits, for example, address signals, data signals, and various control signals between the connected processor 101, memory 102, storage 103, transceiver unit 104, and input/output unit 105.

The web servers 20a to 20n shown in FIG. 1, together with an application server and a database server, constitute a web system that hosts a website W as shown in FIG. 3.

In this embodiment, for convenience, this web system will be referred to as web servers 20a to 20n.

In this embodiment, when a viewer 2a to 2n accesses any website W hosted by these web servers 20a to 20n via a viewer terminal 30a to 30n, tags are read using HTML descriptions and variables (described later) are defined on the viewer terminal 30a to 30n.

Figure 4 is a block diagram outlining the functions of the viewer terminals 30a to 30n. As shown in the figure, the viewer terminals 30a to 30n store a browser application 31, which is application software.

The browser application 31 is an application that enables users 2a to 2n to view, on their user terminals 30a to 30n, information on websites on the network N that have been searched for based on arbitrary search criteria input by the users 2a to 2n via their user terminals 30a to 30n.

Figure 5 is a block diagram outlining the functions of the browser application 31. As shown in the figure, the browser application 31 executes a non-personal information acquisition process 31, a department name recognition process 32, an identifier generation process 33, and an identifier transmission process 34.

In this embodiment, the non-personal information acquisition process 31 executes a process of acquiring non-personal information of the viewers 2a to 2n based on the viewer attributes of the viewers 2a to 2n inputted via the viewer terminals 30a to 30n into an input form on a web page (e.g., web page D) in a website W that is composed of multiple web pages A to n having the same domain, as shown in FIG. 3, for example.

The viewer attributes to be entered in the input form are expected to include, for example, the first and last names, addresses, workplaces, departments, telephone numbers, email addresses, etc. of the viewers 2a to 2n, but are not limited to these.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the non-personal information acquired includes the name of the department to which the viewers 2a to 2n belong at the company where the viewers 2a to 2n work and the email domain, but does not include personal information that can identify the viewers 2a to 2n (such as first and last names or email addresses).

In addition, departmental IP addresses may be obtained as non-personal information. In this case, the IP address may be any IP address, such as a static IP address, a dynamic IP address, or a data center IP address.

In this embodiment, the department name recognition process 32 is a process executed when the non-personal information acquisition process 31 is executed, and if the viewer attributes include the viewer's first and last name, and if the first and last names of the viewers 2a to 2n contain any characters that overlap with the name of a department, the process executes a process that does not recognize the name as the name of a department.

In this embodiment, names containing arbitrary characters, such as surnames containing the character "bu" (such as "Abe," "Yabe," "Ube") or surnames containing the character "mura" (such as "Amuro," "Himuro," "Muroi"), are pre-registered in a name dictionary, and when a registered name is entered into an input form, the name is processed so that it is not recognized as the name of a department.

In this embodiment, the identifier generation process 33 performs a process of generating an identifier, which is a file in which various non-personal information is recorded, by assigning an arbitrary identification code (ID) to non-personal information obtained from the viewer attributes entered into the input form, and a process of storing the generated identifier in the storage 103 of the viewer terminals 30a to 30n.

Figure 6 is a diagram outlining the identifier. As shown in the figure, the identifier is generated by recording non-personal information such as department names and email domains, along with IDs assigned to these non-personal information.

The ID assigned to this non-personal information is the same when it is assigned to one piece of non-personal information obtained based on viewer attributes entered by a viewer (e.g. viewer 2a) into an input form on a web page in one website W, and when it is assigned to another piece of non-personal information obtained based on viewer attributes entered by the same viewer 2a into an input form on a web page in another website W.

Furthermore, the same ID is assigned to non-personal information even if the viewers 2a to 2n who input the viewer attributes via the viewer terminals 30a to 30n are different, if the department name and email domain are the same.

In other words, for example, if viewer 2a and viewer 2b belong to the same department of the same company and share the same email domain, the ID assigned to the non-personal information by viewer 2a through the input of viewer attributes and the ID assigned to the non-personal information by viewer 2b through the input of viewer attributes will be the same ID.

On the other hand, even if the viewer 2a is the same, if he/she inputs viewer attributes different from those input earlier at different times (for example, if the department name is input as "Sales Division 1" in the earlier input and the department name is input as "Sales Division 2" in the later input), the ID assigned to the non-personal information by the earlier input and the ID assigned to the non-personal information by the later input will be different.

In this embodiment, the identifier transmission process 34 shown in FIG. 5 executes a process of transmitting the generated identifier to the information processing device 40 described later.

In this embodiment, when the viewer terminals 30a to 30n access the web servers 20a to 20n and transition between web pages within the website, each time a web page transition occurs, the address of the web page prior to the transition is stored in an identifier and transmitted to the information processing device 40.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when a viewer terminal 30a-30n accesses web page A of a website W that is composed of multiple web pages A-n having the same domain, and then transitions to web page B, the identifier transmission process 34 stores the address of web page A in the identifier and transmits it when transitioning to web page B.

Figure 7 is a flow chart outlining the process of generating an identifier, and Figure 8 is a diagram outlining the process of generating an identifier. First, when a viewer 2a to 2n accesses a web page D containing an input form of a website W via a viewer terminal 30a to 30n, variables are defined in step S1, as shown in Figure 7.

As shown in Figure 8, in this embodiment, the variables to be defined are "IP address", "Time", "URL (including title and description)", "Referrer (Ref)", "Email domain", and "Department", with "IP address" through "Referrer (Ref)" being set automatically upon access.

Next, the viewer 2a to 2n inputs the viewer attributes into the input form via the viewer terminal 30a to 30n, and if the input viewer attributes contain "@", it is recognized as an email address, and in step S2 shown in Figure 7, the email domain after "@" is obtained as non-personal information.

On the other hand, if the entered viewer attributes contain characters or words such as "department," "room," "team," or "group," it is recognized as the name of a department, and in step S3, the name of the department is obtained as non-personal information.

In this embodiment, when a name that is preregistered in the name dictionary is entered into the input form, the name is processed so that it is not recognized as the name of a department.

Next, in step S4, an ID is assigned to the acquired non-personal information to generate an identifier, which is then stored in the viewer terminals 30a to 30n.

Figure 9 is a block diagram outlining the functions of the information processing device 40. As shown in the figure, the information processing device 40 includes a first memory unit 41, a second memory unit 42 which is a memory unit, a third memory unit 43, a storage processing unit 44, a matching processing unit 45, an association processing unit 46, and an interest level calculation unit 47.

The first storage unit 41, the second storage unit 42, and the third storage unit 43 are realized by partitioning the storage area of the storage 103. In this embodiment, the identifier information D1 is stored in a database in the first storage unit 41, the company information D2 is stored in the second storage unit 42, and the identifier processing information D3 is stored in the third storage unit 43.

Figure 10 is a diagram outlining the identifier information D1. As shown in the figure, the identifier information D1 is configured by assigning a department code and a category to the identifier transmitted from the viewer terminals 30a to 30n.

The department code is an identification number assigned to a department based on the department name obtained as non-personal information, and the category is a label that classifies the attributes of the work performed in the department, such as "sales," "general affairs," or "personnel."

In this category, the labels assigned to each attribute that is classified according to the attributes of the business are preregistered as master data in this embodiment.

Figure 11 is a diagram outlining corporate information D2. Corporate information D2 is an accumulation of information about companies obtained from multiple media, and as shown in the figure, includes information extracted from the various accumulated information that is corporate attributes, such as the company name, the names of the company's employees, the departments they belong to, their job titles, and email domains, as well as various other data such as the company's address, company establishment, industry (business content), sales, number of employees, capital, profits, fiscal year end, industry information, group companies, organizational charts, and photos of the company building.

Information about a company obtained from multiple media may include various types of information, such as business cards, customer data, seminar lists, web logs, or customer inquiries.

In this embodiment, this company information D2 is assigned a company code that identifies at least one of the company, business division, or business establishment, and associates the same companies that belong to different groups or business establishments.

In this embodiment, the identifier processing information D3 is composed of the identifier first processing information and the identifier second processing information. An overview of the identifier processing information D3 composed of the identifier first processing information and the identifier second processing information will be described later.

The storage processing unit 44, matching processing unit 45, association processing unit 46, and interest level calculation unit 47 shown in FIG. 9 are realized by the processor 101 executing a program stored in the memory 102.

In this embodiment, the storage processing unit 44 receives the identifiers transmitted from the viewer terminals 30a to 30n, and executes a process of creating a database of the identifier information D1 and storing it in the first memory unit 41 (storage process).

If the storage processing unit 44 determines that the received identifier is an identifier for which a department name and email domain that have not been received before are stored as non-personal information based on the ID assigned to the non-personal information, it stores the identifier information D1 in a database in the first storage unit 41.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the storage processing unit 44 classifies the identifiers based on labels assigned to the attributes of the work in the department, which are preregistered as master data, and stores the identifiers in the first storage unit 41.

In this embodiment, the matching processing unit 45 executes a process of matching the email domain of any company included in the company information D2 with the email domain of any identifier included in the identifier information D1 (matching process), and generates identifier first processing information from the identifier processing information D3.

Figure 12 is a flowchart outlining the processing of the matching processor 45. Prior to the processing of the matching processor 45, first, related business information (described below) that is information held by the customer company 4 about related businesses (e.g., business partners) that have a business relationship with the customer company 4 is obtained from the customer company 4.

After acquiring the related business information from the customer company 4, in step S10, as shown in the figure, the related business information is compared with the company information D2 stored in the second memory unit 42, and in step S11, individual company information regarding any company corresponding to the related business information is extracted from the company information D2 based on the comparison between the related business information and the company information D2.

Furthermore, in step S12, the email domain contained in the extracted company information is matched with the email domain contained in the identifier information D1 stored in the first storage unit 41 to generate identifier first processing information.

Figure 13 is a diagram outlining the configuration of the identifier first processing information. As shown in the figure, the identifier first processing information d31 is composed of a company code and a company name that are determined by matching the mail domain included in the company information D2 with the mail domain included in the identifier information D1.

In other words, the company code and company name are determined by matching the email domain contained in company information D2 with the email domain contained in identifier information D1 and associating the department name contained in identifier information D1 that contains the matching email domain with the department name contained in company information D2.

In this embodiment, the association processing unit 46 shown in FIG. 9 performs a process of associating the leading identifier with the following identifier when, for example, a leading identifier is an identifier including an ID assigned to non-personal information acquired based on viewer attributes entered by a viewer 2a into an input form on a webpage in one website W, and a following identifier is an identifier including an ID assigned to non-personal information acquired based on viewer attributes entered by the same viewer 2a into an input form on a webpage in another website W (first association process).

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the first identifier is an identifier including an ID assigned to non-personal information acquired based on viewer attributes entered by viewer 2a into an input form on a webpage in one website W, and the second identifier is an identifier including an ID assigned to non-personal information acquired based on viewer attributes entered by viewer 2b, who is another viewer belonging to the same department of the same company as viewer 2a and has the same email domain, into an input form on a webpage in any website W, the association processing unit 46 executes a process of associating the first identifier with the second identifier (second association process).

The association processing unit 46 generates second identifier processing information from the identifier processing information D3 by performing a process of associating the preceding identifier with the following identifier (first association process) and a process of associating the first identifier with the second identifier (second association process).

Figure 14 is a block diagram outlining the first association process of the association processing unit 46. As shown in the figure, when a viewer 2a accesses a website W1 that acquires non-personal information via a viewer terminal 30a and inputs viewer attributes into an input form, a prior identifier f1 is generated and stored in the viewer terminal 30a.

Next, when the viewer 2a accesses the website W2, which acquires non-personal information by transitioning from the website W1, via the viewer terminal 30a and inputs the viewer attributes into the input form, the subsequent identifier f2 is generated and stored in the viewer terminal 30a, and the address of the website W1 is stored in the preceding identifier f1, which is then transmitted to the information processing device 40, not shown in FIG. 14.

In this embodiment, the leading identifier f1 and the following identifier f2 are generated based on non-personal information acquired by the same viewer, viewer 2a, inputting the same viewer attributes, so the ID stored in the leading identifier f1 and the ID stored in the following identifier f2 are the same ID.

Then, when viewer 2a accesses website W3, which transitions from website W2 via viewer terminal 30a to obtain non-personal information, or website Wn (not shown) which subsequently obtains non-personal information, and inputs viewer attributes into an input form, the identifiers generated on viewer terminal 30a can be understood to be the subsequent identifier f2 in relation to the preceding identifier f1.

In this embodiment, when viewer 2a accesses website W3, which acquires non-personal information by transitioning from website W2 via viewer terminal 30a, and inputs viewer attributes into an input form, subsequent identifier f2 is stored in viewer terminal 30a, and the address of website W2 is stored in subsequent identifier f2, and is transmitted to information processing device 40, not shown in FIG. 14.

Furthermore, when viewer 2a subsequently accesses website Wn (not shown) via viewer terminal 30a, which transitions from website W3 to obtain non-personal information, and inputs viewer attributes into an input form, a subsequent identifier f2 is generated in viewer terminal 30a, and the address of website W3 is stored in subsequent identifier f2, which is then transmitted to information processing device 40 (not shown in FIG. 14).

In this way, when the leading identifier f1, which stores the address of website W1, and the following identifier f2, which stores the addresses of websites W2 to Wn, are transmitted to and stored in the information processing device 40, the leading identifier f1 is overwritten by the following identifier f2, and the leading identifier f1 and the following identifier f2 are associated with each other to generate identifier second processing information.

Figure 15 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the configuration of the identifier second processing information. As shown in the figure, the identifier second processing information d32 associates with the identifier first processing information d31 the URLs (e.g. URL1 to URL3) of multiple websites W with different addresses (e.g. websites W1 to W3) that were viewed by the viewer 2a described in Figure 14 via the viewer terminal 30a.

Figure 16 is a block diagram outlining the second association process of the association processing unit 46. As shown in the figure, when a viewer 2a accesses a website W1 that acquires non-personal information via a viewer terminal 30a and inputs viewer attributes into an input form, a preceding identifier f1 is generated in the viewer terminal 30a.

Next, when the viewer 2a accesses the website W2, which acquires non-personal information by transitioning from the website W1, via the viewer terminal 30a and inputs the viewer attributes into the input form, the subsequent identifier f2 is generated and stored in the viewer terminal 30a, and the address of the website W1 is stored in the preceding identifier f1, which is then transmitted to the information processing device 40, not shown in FIG. 14.

After that, when the viewer 2a accesses a website Wn (not shown) that transitions from website W2 via the viewer terminal 30a to obtain non-personal information and inputs viewer attributes into an input form, a subsequent identifier f2 is generated and stored in the viewer terminal 30a, and the address of website W2 is stored in the subsequent identifier f2, which is then transmitted to an information processing device 40 (not shown in FIG. 14).

On the other hand, when a viewer 2b, who belongs to the same department of the same company as viewer 2a and has the same email domain as viewer 2a, accesses website W3 and inputs viewer attributes into the input form, a prior identifier f1 is generated and stored in viewer terminal 30b of viewer 2b.

After that, when viewer 2b accesses website Wn (not shown) via viewer terminal 30b, which transitions from website W3 to obtain non-personal information, and inputs viewer attributes into an input form, a subsequent identifier f2 (not shown) is generated and stored in viewer terminal 30b.

Here, let us assume that the leading identifier f1 and the following identifier f2 generated on the viewer terminal 30a of viewer 2a are the first identifier F1, and the leading identifier f1 and the following identifier f2 generated on the viewer terminal 20b of viewer 2b are the second identifier F2. In this case, it can be understood that the identifiers generated on the viewer terminals 30b to 30n by any viewer 2b to 2n other than viewer 2a by accessing websites W1 to Wn that obtain non-personal information and inputting viewer attributes into an input form are all the second identifier F2 compared to the first identifier F1.

In this embodiment, the first identifier F1 and the second identifier F2 are generated based on non-personal information acquired based on the viewer attributes entered by viewer 2a and viewer 2b who belong to the same department of the same company and have a common email domain, and therefore the ID stored in the first identifier F1 and the ID stored in the second identifier F2 are the same ID.

In this way, when the first identifier F1 and the addresses of the websites W1 to Wn and the second identifier F2 and the addresses of the websites W1 to Wn are transmitted to and stored in the information processing device 40, the first identifier F1 and the second identifier F2 are overwritten, and the first identifier F1 and the second identifier F2 are associated with each other to generate the identifier second processing information d32 as shown in FIG. 15.

In this embodiment, the interest level calculation unit 47 shown in FIG. 9 performs processing such as calculating the ratio when the total number of accesses to web pages in an arbitrary website is divided by the number of accesses by viewers 2a to 2n via the viewer terminals 30a to 30n in which the identifier is stored, or weighting, in accordance with the threshold, web pages in an arbitrary website for which the number of accesses by viewers 2a to 2n via the viewer terminals 30a to 30n in which the identifier is stored exceeds a preset threshold.

This makes it possible to grasp and analyze the degree of interest of visitors 2a-2n in information about websites and related information in which they are interested, or in the businesses 1a-1n that operate those websites, based on visitor attributes such as the department to which they belong.

Based on such analysis, online advertisements can be distributed via the website to the companies or departments to which the viewers 2a to 2n belong, or a list can be extracted of the companies or departments to which the viewers 2a to 2n belong who show a high level of interest in a particular piece of information.

Figure 17 is a block diagram outlining the functions of the customer terminal 50. As shown in the figure, the customer terminal 50 includes a memory unit 51 and an information processing unit 52.

The memory unit 51 is realized by partitioning the memory area of the storage 103. In this embodiment, the memory unit 51 stores related business information D4.

Related business information D4 is, for example, a collection of information about companies obtained from multiple media, and includes information extracted from the various collected information, such as the company's name, which is a company's attribute, the names of the company's employees, the departments and positions they belong to, etc., as well as various data such as the company's address, company's business location, industry (business content), sales, number of employees, capital, profits, fiscal year end, industry information, group companies, organizational charts, photos of the company building, etc.

Information about a company obtained from multiple media may include various types of information, such as business cards, customer data, seminar lists, web logs, or customer inquiries.

The information processing unit 52 is realized by executing a program stored in the memory 102 by the processor 101, and in this embodiment, performs information processing such as sending related business information D4 to the information processing device 40 and receiving analysis results from the information processing device 40.

Next, we will provide an overview of the processing of the information processing system 10 in this embodiment.

Figure 18 is a flowchart outlining the processing of the information processing system 10. As shown in the figure, first, in step S20, the viewers 2a to 2n access the website W that executes the processing to obtain non-personal information via the viewer terminals 30a to 30n.

Then, the user transitions to an arbitrary input form (such as "inquiry" or "request for information") on a web page within website W, and in step S21, viewers 2a to 2n input viewer attributes related to viewers 2a to 2n into the input form via viewer terminals 30a to 30n.

It is assumed that viewers 2a-2n who input their viewer attributes into such an input form have some interest or concern in the information provided on the website and related information, or in the businesses 1a-1n that operate the websites.

When the viewers 2a to 2n input their viewer attributes into the input form, in step S22, a process is executed to acquire non-personal information of the viewers 2a to 2n based on the viewer attributes (non-personal information acquisition process).

In this embodiment, the non-personal information acquired in the non-personal information acquisition process includes at least the name of the department to which the viewers 2a to 2n belong and the email domain.

In this non-personal information acquisition process, when a name that is pre-registered in the name dictionary is entered into the input form, the name is processed so as not to be recognized as the name of a department (department name recognition process).

Next, in step S23, an ID is assigned to the acquired non-personal information to generate an identifier (identifier generation process), and the generated identifier is stored in the viewer terminals 30a to 30n.

After the identifier is stored in the viewer terminal 30a to 30n, in step S24, when the viewer 2a to 2n transitions to a web page via the viewer terminal 30a to 30n, the address of the web page prior to the transition is obtained and stored in the identifier.

In the next step S25, the viewer terminals 30a to 30n transmit an identifier that stores the address of the web page before the transition to the information processing device 40 (identifier transmission process).

In this way, the information processing system 10 generates an identifier associated with the non-personal information obtained based on the viewer attributes entered into an input form on a web page within the website W and stores the identifier in the viewer terminals 30a to 30n, while transmitting an identifier that stores the address of the web page prior to the transition to the information processing device 40 each time a web page within the website W is transitioned.

Therefore, the information processing device 40 can grasp the behavioral characteristics of the viewers 2a to 2n on the Internet without identifying the viewers 2a to 2n as individuals, and based on the grasped behavioral characteristics, it can provide the client company 4 with useful information about the viewers 2a to 2n via viewer attributes, such as the department to which they belong, while protecting the personal information of the viewers 2a to 2n.

In particular, in this embodiment, the non-personal information includes the name of the department to which the viewers 2a-2n belong at the company where the viewers 2a-2n work as part of their job, and therefore it is possible to understand the online behavioral characteristics of each department in the company and provide the client company 4 with the information required by that department, thereby supporting marketing activities, sales activities, etc., undertaken for that department.

Furthermore, by executing a process of matching the email domain of any company included in company information D2 with the email domain of any identifier included in identifier information D1, the company name corresponding to the department name obtained as non-personal information can be determined, which can be used for insight analysis such as detecting the latent needs of the company, or for persona analysis in which virtual customers are set up to explore customer needs.

On the other hand, by executing a first association process that associates a preceding identifier with a following identifier and a second association process that associates a first identifier with a second identifier, it is possible to grasp the behavioral characteristics of viewers 2a to 2n on the Internet across multiple domains, allowing for more precise analysis.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the above embodiment, the case was described where the business entity in which the viewers 2a to 2n are engaged is a company, but this is not limited to a company and may be various other business entities such as individual business entities, non-profit organizations, etc.

In the above embodiment, the information processing device 40 is deployed at the service provider 3, but the information processing device 40 may be implemented in a cloud environment.

1a to 1n Business operators 2a to 2n Viewer 3 Service provider 4 Customer company 10 Information processing systems 20a to 20n Web servers 30a to 30n Viewer terminal (terminal device)
40 Information processing device

Claims (12)

a terminal device that is accessible to a website that executes a process for determining non-personal information that does not identify a viewer as an individual, is managed by the viewer, and acquires the non-personal information based on viewer attributes related to the viewer inputted into an input form on a web page of the website having the same domain as the domain of the website, and generates an identifier associated with the non-personal information;
an information processing device, in which the terminal device transmits the identifier, which is set with the address of a web page before a transition, acquired each time the terminal device accesses the website and transitions to a web page within the website;
An information processing system comprising: The non-personal information is:
Including the name of the department to which the viewer belongs at the business entity where the viewer works as a business and the viewer's email domain,
The information processing system according to claim 1 . The non-personal information is:
The name of the department to which the viewer belongs at the business entity where the viewer works as a business and the viewer's email domain are included,
The terminal device
When the viewer attributes input to the input form include the viewer's first and last name and when the viewer's first and last name include any characters that overlap with the name of the department, a department name recognition process is executed in which the first and last name is not recognized as the name of the department.
3. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2. The non-personal information is:
The name of the department to which the viewer belongs at the business entity where the viewer works and the viewer's email domain are included,
The information processing device includes:
classifying and storing the identifiers based on attributes of the business in the plurality of departments that are registered in advance as a master;
3. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2. The non-personal information is:
The name of the department to which the viewer belongs at the business entity where the viewer works as a business and the viewer's email domain are included,
The information processing device includes:
A storage unit is provided in which company information relating to company attributes is stored,
a matching process is executed to compare the company information with related business information held by the customer company as information on related businesses related to the customer company, extract the company information corresponding to the related business information, and match an email domain included in the company information with the email domain of the viewer;
3. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2. The identifier is a leading identifier;
a process of associating the preceding identifier with a subsequent identifier generated in association with the non-personal information obtained based on viewer attributes related to the viewer input into an input form on a web page in another website having the same domain as the domain of the other website when the other website, which is different from the website and which is accessible to the other website and which is managed by the viewer, is accessed via the other website by the terminal device, and which executes a process of determining the non-personal information;
The information processing system according to claim 1 . The identifier is a first identifier;
a process of associating the first identifier with a second identifier generated in association with the non-personal information obtained based on viewer attributes related to the other viewer inputted into an input form on a web page in the other website having the same domain as the domain of the other website when the other website is accessed via the other website by a terminal device that is accessible to the other website and is managed by a viewer different from the viewer and that executes a process of determining the non-personal information;
The information processing system according to claim 1 . a storage unit that stores an identifier associated with the non-personal information obtained based on a viewer attribute of the viewer input into an input form on a web page in a website having the same domain as the domain of the website, the identifier being generated by a terminal device that can access a website and that executes a process of determining non-personal information that does not identify a viewer as an individual and that is managed by the viewer;
the identifier, which is set with the address of the web page before the transition, is transmitted by the terminal device every time the terminal device accesses the website and transitions to a web page within the website;
Information processing device. An information processing device implemented by a computer,
a storage process for storing an identifier associated with the non-personal information obtained based on a viewer attribute related to the viewer inputted into an input form on a web page within a website having the same domain as the domain of a website that executes a process for determining non-personal information that does not identify the viewer as an individual, the identifier being set with the address of the web page prior to the transition, the identifier being obtained when the terminal device accesses the website and transitions to a web page within the website;
A program that executes the following. On the computer,
an identifier generation process that is accessible to a website that executes a process of determining non-personal information that does not identify a viewer as an individual, is managed by the viewer, and has the same domain as the domain of the website, and acquires the non-personal information based on viewer attributes related to the viewer inputted into an input form on a web page within the website, and generates an identifier associated with the non-personal information;
an identifier transmission process for transmitting, to an information processing device, the identifier, to which an address of a web page prior to the transition is set , the identifier being acquired when a web page is transitioned within the website after the identifier is generated in the identifier generation process;
Application software that runs the an identifier generation process for generating an identifier associated with the non-personal information acquired based on a viewer's attributes input into an input form on a web page of a website having the same domain as the domain of the website when the website is accessed and the process acquires non-personal information that does not identify the viewer as an individual;
an identifier transmission process for transmitting the identifier, which is set with an address of a previous web page acquired when a web page is transitioned in the website after the identifier is generated in the identifier generation process, to an information processing device;
A terminal device that runs An information processing device implemented by a computer,
a storage process for storing an identifier associated with the non-personal information obtained based on a viewer attribute related to the viewer inputted into an input form on a web page within a website having the same domain as the domain of a website that executes a process for determining non-personal information that does not identify the viewer as an individual, the identifier being set with the address of the web page prior to the transition, the identifier being obtained when the terminal device accesses the website and transitions to a web page within the website;
An information processing method for performing the above.