KR20020060859A - Advertizing Method Providing Intermediate Advertizing Images between Consecutive Mini Games - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An advertisement method is provided to increase advertisement effect and inform a user of correct advertisement contents by making the user turn upon the advertisement for enough time to be satisfied by an advertiser. CONSTITUTION: A network interface(112) for sending and receiving data packet and a web browser(114) are installed in an operation system(110) of a client computer. A shockwave plug-in(116) for playing a shockwave object is installed in the web browser(114). The shockwave plug-in(116) downloads a game file(118) via the network interface(112) and the web browser(114) so that the user enjoys a game. The game file(118) includes game data(118a) for playing the game and a module(118b) for preceding the game and reporting a game result.

Description

Advertising Method Providing Intermediate Advertizing Images between Consecutive Mini Games}

The present invention relates to an advertising method, and more particularly to an online advertising method through a communication network.

The proliferation of the Internet has changed the aspects of human life and forms of economic activity in many ways. This phenomenon is remarkable in the areas of advertising, marketing and games. In particular, Internet advertisements are attracting much attention compared to conventional TVs and newspapers due to characteristics such as real-time services and timelessness of the Internet regardless of time. Such Internet advertising methods include advertising their own products through our homepage, providing banners with advertisement text to Internet users through other sites, and providing advertisements to users for video. There are many ways to make it visible through the back.

Banner advertising is the most widely used internet advertising method. When a user clicks on a banner, the banner advertisement moves to a homepage of an advertising company or provides an advertising message in a manner of displaying specific advertisement contents. These banner ads can be used to count the number of views of users who have seen the ads, to easily identify the awareness of the ads, to tailor ads to specific consumer groups, to link ads to purchases, as well as to update ad content. This has the advantage of being easy and inexpensive.

However, the recent congestion of online advertisements has surpassed the existing media, and since the banner advertisements are mostly composed of graphics or animations, the perception of online advertisements is slowing down, and the dissatisfaction with online advertisements is considerable. Therefore, questions about the effectiveness of online advertising have been raised. In addition, the advertising method using the banner has a disadvantage that it is difficult to focus the user's eyes easily because the size of the banner is small, it can not hold the eyes of the user for a long time. In addition, the troublesome process of downloading the relevant advertisement data by clicking on the banner or accessing the site, and the time burden for downloading or accessing, may cause inconvenience to the user. It is a factor that restricts user access to advertisements.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, it is possible to hold the eyes of the user for a sufficient amount of time intended by the advertiser can increase the advertising effect, and to deliver more accurate advertising content to the user To provide a technical problem.

1 is a view for explaining a schematic configuration of a system to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a view showing in more detail the Internet server system shown in FIG.

3 illustrates in more detail an example of software loaded on any one of the client computers shown in FIG.

4 is a flow diagram illustrating the game progression in more detail executed by the software of the client computer.

5a to 5c is a flow chart showing the overall sequence of the game progress and advertising method according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: server system 100a, 100b, 100c: client computer

12: web server 14: network interface

16: Web Document 18: DB Management Application

20: File Management Application 24: Game Files

110: operating system 112: network interface

114: Web Browser 116: Shockwave Plug-in

118: Game File 118a: Game Data

118b: Game Progress / Result Reporting Module

The advertisement method of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem provides an advertisement image between each mini-game while providing a plurality of mini-games. First, (a) a storage means for storing a plurality of game files and scores for each user is provided in the server. In this state, (b) in response to the user's request, the first game file is provided to the user terminal via a communication network so that the user can enjoy the game. (c) When the user wants to proceed to the next game after the user completes the game, the advertisement image is provided to the user terminal to be displayed for a predetermined time, and then the second game file is provided to the user terminal so that the user Allow the game to be enjoyed. Step (c) may be repeated as many as the game number.

For users who have completed all games, the server can determine the winner based on the accumulated score or the accumulated score ranking. To this end, the game score may be reported to the server at the end of each minigame, and the reference score data is provided to the user terminal before and after. In order to prevent hacking from the outside, the game score data from the user terminal can be encrypted, in which case the server decrypts the accepted game score data and stores the decrypted data in the storage means. In the present specification including the claims, "reference score data" means the score of the user in the game, the cumulative score of the user, the cumulative score up to the game of the user who completed the game, the entire game It refers to the score data including any one or more of the final cumulative score, other scores and combinations of the users completed.

Each user can try to proceed to the next step each time he completes each game for the award, each time an advertisement provided by the server is displayed on the terminal display for a period of time. In particular, in order to increase the accumulated score, the already completed unit mini game may be executed again. In this case, the advertisement image may be displayed again and repeatedly exposed to the same advertisement.

In the present specification, the term "mini game" is preferably a plugin that can be loaded in a web browser loaded on a user terminal as it can be downloaded in a short time due to a lack of data such as tetris, batter, puzzle, quiz, etc. A game that can be run by plug-in. In a preferred embodiment, the plug-in uses shockwave provided by Macromedia. However, the plug-in suitable for implementing the present invention is not limited thereto, and a client script such as javascript may also be used.

The advertising method of the present invention can be used by each website owner or operator campaignably for promoting a site, a product or a company.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view for explaining a schematic configuration of a system to which the present invention is applied. The advertising method of the present invention is implemented by a server system 10 connected to the Internet. The Internet server system 10 can be connected to the user's client computers 100a, 100b, and 100c via the Internet, and retrieves the web document as an http response to the http request from each of the client computers 100a, 100b, and 100c. to provide. In particular, when an http request on a page for a minigame is received, the Internet server system 10 provides the client computer with a data file for the game, which can run on a Shockwave plug-in. It has a ".dcr" extension.

FIG. 2 shows the Internet server system 10 in more detail in FIG. 1. The Internet server system 10 is a World Wide Web (WWW) server (hereinafter abbreviated as 'web server') and allows the web server 12 to transmit and receive data packets according to the TCP / IP protocol over the Internet. Network interface 14, a plurality of web documents 16 in hypertext markup language (HTML), applications 18, 22, database 20, and a number of game files 24. It includes. In addition, the Internet server system 10 includes a hub (not shown) and a router (not shown) for connecting to the Internet through the network interface 14. Meanwhile, the Internet server system 10 physically includes a large storage medium such as a hard disk. The web documents 16, the application programs 18 and 22, the database 20, and the game files 24 are provided. ) May be stored in a hard disk.

Web server 12 is implemented using, for example, Netscape's Netscape Enterprise Server or Microsoft's Internet Information Server. The web documents 16 are documents that are transmitted to the client computers 100a, 100b, and 100c and displayed on the screen, and each document file is prepared in hypertext markup language (HTML) and provided in units of screens. Such web documents 16 may include, for example, an initial screen, a system introduction screen, a member registration screen, a game page screen, and the like. In the preferred embodiment, some of the web documents 16 are made accessible to the applications 18, 22 via the Common Gateway Interface (CGI). In a variant embodiment, web documents 16 may be linked to application programs 18 and 22 by server scripts such as ASP or PHP scripts.

Among the applications 18 and 22, the DB management application 18 stores member registration data in a member table of the database 20 in response to a member registration / change request from the client computers 100a, 100b, and 100c. Change In addition, the DB management application 18 stores and updates the game result score data of the corresponding user in the member score table in response to the unit minigame end report from the client computers 100a, 100b, and 100c. In a preferred embodiment, game result score data from client computers 100a, 100b, 100c are encrypted, and DB management application 18 also performs the function of decrypting this data.

On the other hand, the file management application 22 provides the client computer with the game file 24 stored in the hard disk in response to a client request via the web server 12 or in accordance with the instructions of the DB management application 18. In the preferred embodiment, the game file 24 is a shockwave object created and compressed using a director, a multimedia authoring tool provided by Macromedia. The specific structure of each game file 24 is mentioned later. In addition, the file management application 22 reads the advertisement file stored in the hard disk before and after each user starts one mini game and provides it to the client computer through the web server 12. Therefore, each client computer user may watch the same or different advertisement image for a certain time at the start of each minigame. The advertisement video is preferably in a multimedia form including a video in MPEG.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the minigame is provided through an event held by the Internet server system 10 operator for a limited time, for a predetermined period or semi-permanently. In such a case, the advertisement image file is about the company introduction or product introduction of the owner or operator of the Internet server system 10. However, in another embodiment of the present invention, the website implemented by the Internet server system 10 may be an advertising agency site or a game portal site. In this case, the advertisement image file may include not only contents of a company introduction or a product introduction of the server system 10 owner or operator, but also at least one other advertisers who may interact with the Internet server system 10 operator online or offline. Includes advertising content about.

FIG. 3 shows an example of software loaded and executed on any one of the client computers 100a, 100b and 100c shown in FIG. 1.

As a hardware platform of the client computers 100a, 100b, and 100c, conventional personal computers may be used. However, client computers are equipped with modems or Ethernet adapters and can be connected to the Internet using a telephone line or a dedicated line, and are equipped with a web browser or a WAP browser so that other forms of computing can be used to browse documents on the Internet. Note that this includes a device (Computing device).

As shown in FIG. 3, a network interface 112 and a web browser 114 are installed and executed on an operating system 110 of a client computer, which enables data packets to be transmitted and received according to the TCP / IP protocol over the Internet. . In a preferred embodiment, the web browser 114 has a WaveWave plug-in 116 installed and executed to play the WaveWave object. With the client computer connected to the server system 10, the Shockwave plug-in 116 downloads the game file 118 via the network interface 112 and the web browser 114 to allow the user to enjoy the game. In general, a WAVE file with a ".dcr" extension is not very large and the download time is not very long.

Each game file 118 includes game data 118a for executing the game, and a module 118b for reporting the progress and result of the game. The game progress and result reporting module 118b manipulates the game data 118a in response to user instructions applied via a mouse, keyboard, and joystick to allow the game to run, and user selection upon completion of each minigame. Accordingly, the game result score is reported to the Internet server system 10 through the web browser 114. At this time, in order to prevent hacking from the outside, the game progress and result report module 118b encrypts and transmits the game result score according to a predetermined algorithm. As such an encryption algorithm may be determined by a server operator's selection, a specific type thereof may be easily selected and implemented by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

4 illustrates the game progression process executed by the software of the client computer in more detail.

When a user requests a game file by accessing the server system 10 of the present invention through the client computers 100a, 100b, and 100c, the server system 10 sends the game file to the user's client computers 100a, 100b, and 100c. (Step 151). At this time, when the user attempts to play the game of the first level after initial accessing the game score or to initialize the accumulated game score, the file for the game of the first level is downloaded. On the other hand, if you want to continue the process interrupted in the previous connection session, you can download the game of the next level after the termination in the previous session.

When the game file is downloaded to the client computers 100a, 100b, and 100c, the shock wave plug-in 116 is operated to start the game and proceed with the game (steps 152 and 153). If there is a special situation in the course of the game, the user can terminate the session, in which case the game results are not transmitted to the server. In the absence of such circumstances, the game continues until a certain score is reached or until it can no longer survive in a general manner (step 154). When the game is completed in step 154, the user may select whether to save the game (step 155). If the user does not want to save the game and wants to restart the game, the user can proceed to step 152 to enjoy the game again. In this case, in order to prevent the game from being played continuously without watching the advertisement image, it is preferable that a predetermined number of retry limits is set. If the user wants to restart the game in step 155, it is determined whether the limit is exceeded (step 158), and the process proceeds to step 152 only if the limit is not exceeded. In the case of transmitting the result to the server, the game can be retried only after viewing the advertisement video again (step 157).

On the other hand, in step 155, if the user is satisfied with the game result score and wishes to store the score, the game progress / result reporting module 118b of the game file encrypts the game result score through the web browser 114. Send to the server (steps 156 and 157). Accordingly, the DB management application 18 of the server system 10 decrypts the score and stores the score in the member score table.

5a to 5c show the overall flow of the game progression and advertising method according to the present invention.

First, when a user accesses the server system 10 of the present invention through the client computers 100a, 100b, and 100c, an initial screen is displayed through the web browser of the client computers 100a, 100b, and 100c (step 201). ). When the user logs in using the user name (ID) and password obtained through the membership registration process in advance (step 202), a game page including a list of games is displayed so that the user can select and enjoy the game ( Step 203). When the user selects the desired game, the server system 10 transmits the advertisement file stored in the hard disk to the client computer before proceeding with the game. Accordingly, the event product advertisement or image advertisement is displayed on the user's computer for a predetermined time (steps 204 and 205). Next, the web server 12 transmits the game file of the next level after the user completes the previous session to the user computer, so that the user can enjoy the game (step 206).

Then, when the game score storage request is received from the client computer (step 207), the web server 12 stores the score in the member score table of the database 20 through the DB management application 18. Next, the web server 12 transmits the advertisement file to the client computer prior to providing the game file of the next level so that the advertisement is displayed for a predetermined time (step 208). In addition, the web server 12 reads and processes the data stored in the member score table of the database 20 through the DB management application 18 and provides the reference score data to the client computer in the form of a list (step 209). Here, the "reference score data" means the score of the user in the game, the cumulative score of the user, the cumulative score of the user who completed the game to the game, the final cumulative score of the users who completed the entire game, Other scores and combinations thereof. Based on this reference score data, each prize-minded user can predict his or her final score results and refer to the progress of the game. Meanwhile, in another embodiment of the present invention, the order of steps 208 and 209 may be reversed.

After providing the advertisement image and the user score list in steps 208 and 209, a game file of the second level is provided according to the user's selection (step 210). As in the case of playing the game of the first level, the game result score is stored in the server system 10 according to the user's selective request after the game of the second level. If the user wants to store the game score data, after storing the score, the advertisement file is transmitted to the computer to the client computer to display the advertisement for a predetermined time (step 212), and then the user score list is displayed. Step 213).

As described above, after repeating the game progress and advertisement display process, if the user has played the final game (step 214) and the result score of the game satisfies the predetermined level (step 215), the advertisement is displayed on the user's computer. In operation 216, the user score list for the game is displayed in operation 217. Afterwards, the product advertisement is displayed according to the user's score or rank (step 218), and the user's re-challenge is determined (step 219), and the game page is displayed again (step 203).

On the other hand, if the user does not want to store the scores because the user did not obtain the desired score at each step and at the same time the number of retries for the level is exceeded (steps 207, 211 or 215), In operation 203, the game may be restarted at the level after viewing the advertisement image. In addition, as described above, it is of course possible to allow each user to abandon the cumulative scores accumulated so far and restart the game from the beginning.

Those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will understand that the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are to be understood as illustrative in all respects and not as restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown by the following claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

As described above, the present invention inserts an advertisement image consisting of a still image image or a moving image movie having a size of 2 to 6 times or more than a conventional banner advertisement in the middle of each mini game. Here, mini-games are provided in a way to break through the gate, which can stimulate the user's curiosity and challenge spirit, and simultaneously motivate the user to provide prizes, thereby actively attracting the user to the website and the advertisement contents. In addition to the large size of the advertisement image, it is possible to grasp the user's eyes for a certain period of time before proceeding to the next step, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the advertisement through the Internet. In particular, when the advertisements between the mini-games are properly combined with the banner advertisements presented in the course of the game and the product advertisements according to the ranking, the advertisement effect may be further increased. Each user re-challenges the same advertisement repeatedly, maximizing the effectiveness of the advertisement. Website owners or companies that campaign using these advertising techniques may provide tailored advertisements tailored to the company or product, or to the audience.

Claims (8)

A method for advertising to a user terminal through the communication network in an Internet server accessible by the user terminal through a communication network, (a) providing storage means for storing the first to nth game files and the score for each user; (b) providing the first game file to the user terminal through a communication network so that the user can enjoy the game; And (c) if a predetermined requirement is satisfied, providing a second game file to the user terminal after providing an advertisement image to the user terminal so that the user can enjoy the game; After the step (c) is determined whether the requirements are met again, if the requirements are met again after the i-th game file (i is greater than or equal to 3 and less than or equal to n after providing an advertisement video) Natural mission), and repeating this process until all of the n game files are provided. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined requirement is reported from the user terminal that the game is finished. The advertisement method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined requirement is reported from the user terminal that at least a predetermined score set for the game is completed and the game is finished. According to claim 2 or 3, wherein step (b) and (c) each of Each time the user finishes each game, receiving game score data for the step from the user terminal and storing the game score data in the storage means; Advertising method through a communication network comprising a. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the game score data from the user terminal is encrypted, and thus decrypts the accepted game score data and stores the decrypted data in the storage means. The method of claim 4, wherein step (c) Providing reference score data to the user terminal immediately after providing the advertisement image to the user terminal; Advertising method through a communication network further comprising. The method of claim 4, wherein step (c) Providing reference score data to the user terminal before providing the advertisement image to the user terminal; Advertising method through a communication network further comprising. The method of claim 4, wherein (d) selecting a winner based on any one of a cumulative score of each user, a cumulative score ranking, and a combination thereof; Advertising method through a communication network further comprising.