JP2010113542A - Information provision system, information processing apparatus and program for the information processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program or the like for forming user attributes by collecting information on users from a plurality of web sites. <P>SOLUTION: The program makes a computer function as: a browsing information acquisition means for acquiring browsing information provided or input in arbitrary different web sites and for recording the acquired information into a storage device of the computer; and a browsing information reporting means for transmitting the browsing information recorded into the storage device by the browsing information acquisition means. Consequently, the browsing information of a specific web site as well as a plurality of arbitrary different web sites, and retrieval key words input by the users are obtained in a cross-sectoral manner, thereby forming user attributes more properly. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing technique for collecting information related to a user and distributing information according to the attribute of the user.

  With the spread of the Internet, the value of the Internet media is increasing and the Internet advertising market is growing rapidly. Conventionally, there are various types of advertisements using the Internet, such as banner advertisements that display images with links to advertiser sites on websites, and text ads that include several lines of text in email magazines. ing.

  In addition, when distributing such advertisements, content-linked advertisements that are selected in conjunction with the contents of the web page and advertisements that are targeted according to attributes (profiles) such as the gender and preferences of the recipient users Various methods are known, such as targeting advertisements (personalized advertisements) for transmitting.

In particular, since the targeting advertisement distributes the advertisement only to users who are likely to be interested in the advertisement, it can be expected to obtain a high advertising effect. However, how to specify user attributes is a problem in the first place, and this causes a big difference in advertising effectiveness. Conventionally, as a method for determining the user attribute, a method of using a questionnaire result to the user, a method of estimating a user attribute by collecting a user operation history on a website using a cookie mechanism, etc. Is known (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-67289 A

  By the way, in general, since user preferences and interests change as time passes, the method using the above questionnaire results has pointed out a problem that a large deviation occurs in targeting as time passes. .

  On the other hand, in the case of the technique using cookies, information about the user and the date and time when the user visited the website last time can be recorded every time the user visits the website. It is possible to make it relatively small. However, in the method using cookies, cookies are stored and managed for each website, so information cannot be collected across multiple websites, and more precise targeting is possible. Can not.

  As a simple example, only the site A can acquire cookies stored by the shopping site A, and only the site B can acquire cookies stored by the book sales site B. Therefore, even if a certain user recently purchases golf equipment at the site A, the site B cannot know the information. When a user visits site B, it is expected that the user is likely to be interested if a golf know-how book is recommended or a banner advertisement of a golf course is posted. If there is no information related to golf in the history of, such information cannot conventionally be provided at the site B, leading to a result of missing a sales opportunity or the like.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a program or the like that collects information about a user across a plurality of websites when forming user attributes.

  In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the information providing system according to the present invention is an information providing system in which a user terminal and an information providing server are connected to each other via a network. Browsing information acquisition means for acquiring browsing information provided or input on a website and recording it in a storage device of the user terminal, and browsing for transmitting the browsing information recorded in the storage device by the browsing information acquisition means And an information report means. The information providing server transmits browsing information acquisition means for acquiring browsing information received from the user terminal, user attribute specifying means for specifying user attributes based on the browsing information history, and the specified user attributes to the network. User attribute reporting means.

  According to a second aspect of the information providing system of the present invention, in the information providing system in which the user terminal and the information providing server are connected to each other via a network, the user terminal is provided on any different website, or Browsing information acquisition means for acquiring inputted browsing information and recording it in a storage device of the user terminal, browsing information reporting means for transmitting the browsing information recorded in the storage device by the browsing information acquisition means, and an information providing server Category acquisition means for receiving the category information from the storage device and recording it in the storage device, user attribute calculation means for calculating the user attribute based on the history of the category information accumulated in the storage device, and the calculated user attribute to the network User attribute reporting means for transmission. An information provision system is provided with a means for generating category information to which browsing information received from a user terminal belongs and transmitting the category information to the user terminal.

  According to this invention, since it becomes possible to obtain all the browsing information obtained by browsing not only a specific website but also a plurality of different arbitrary websites, the user's preference and interest at the present time It becomes possible to form user attributes in accordance with, and more appropriate targeting becomes possible.

  The first mode is a mode in which the information providing server accumulates the browsing information reported from the user terminal in association with the user terminal and calculates the user attribute based on the browsing information history. In the second aspect, the information providing server returns category information to the user terminal every time browsing information is reported from the user terminal, and the user terminal accumulates the category information and based on the category information history. It differs in that it is a mode for calculating attributes.

  Whether one or both of information accumulation and user attribute calculation is performed on the user terminal side or on the information providing server side depends on the capacity and processing speed of the program executed on the user terminal side, the processing capability of the information providing server, and browsing It is possible to select appropriately according to the contents of information, user attributes, and category information. In general, in order to organize a large amount of browsing information and output certain category information, a large-capacity database and a high computing capacity are required. Therefore, it is preferable to use a server to shorten the processing time. However, if the processing capacity of the user terminal is high, a series of processes from the accumulation of browsing information to the calculation of user attributes can be executed on the user terminal side without interposing an information providing server.

  In addition, by using category information, it is possible to sort a large amount of browsing information in terms of user preferences and interests, so that user preferences and interests can be more efficiently and effectively reflected in user attributes. it can. However, it is not always necessary to use the category information (that is, the category generation unit), and the browsing information may be accumulated and the user attribute may be directly calculated from the browsing information history.

  In the information providing system of the present invention, a web server is further connected to the network, the web server acquires a user attribute from the network, filters information according to the user attribute, and selects the information selected by the filtering as a user. Means for transmitting to.

  With this configuration, if filtering based on the user attribute is performed on the web server, information according to the user's preference and interest can be selected or extracted and provided to be browsed on the user terminal. It becomes. This filtering may be involved in the user terminal.

  Here, in the present invention, the “browsing information” is selected from the group consisting of metadata provided on different arbitrary websites, website address information, and search keywords input to a search engine provided on the website. One or more information.

  In the present invention, “metadata” is text data included in hypertext that can be acquired by accessing a website, and includes information that is not displayed by a browser.

  In the present invention, “address information” is information for specifying a location in the network, and is a concept including a URL and an IP address.

  In the present invention, “search engine” refers to Google (registered trademark) or Yahoo! This includes not only a search function provided on an Internet information search site such as (registered trademark) but also a search function for site search (homepage search) provided individually on a shopping site or the like.

  In the present invention, the (user) “attribute” indicates various information about the user, and is collectively referred to as a so-called user profile such as a user's age, gender, ID, preference, interest, behavior history, region, and the like. Information.

  In the present invention, the program executed on the user terminal of the above system is as follows.

  The program for a user terminal in the system of the first aspect is provided with a browsing information acquisition program that acquires a browsing information provided on a computer at any different website or is input to a storage device included in the computer. And a browsing information reporting means for transmitting the browsing information recorded in the storage device by the browsing information acquisition means.

  The user terminal program in the system of the second aspect includes a user attribute calculation unit that calculates a user attribute based on a history of received category information, and a user attribute calculated by the user attribute calculation unit Is a program for further functioning as user attribute reporting means for transmitting.

  Furthermore, the present invention is also directed to a computer-readable recording medium on which the above program is recorded.

  The information processing apparatus as a user terminal realized by the computer executing the program is provided for recording the browsing information provided or input on any different website for the first aspect. A storage device, browsing information acquisition means for acquiring browsing information and recording it in the storage device, and browsing information reporting means for transmitting the browsing information recorded in the storage device by the browsing information acquisition means are provided.

  Further, with respect to the second aspect, user attribute calculation means for calculating user attributes based on the received category information history, and user attribute report means for transmitting user attributes calculated by the user attribute calculation means, We will be further prepared.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, as a program executed on the user terminal, the computer filters information received from the server computer according to the user attribute specified by the user attribute specifying means, and the information selected by the filtering is used by the user. It may be a program for further functioning as the information selection means to be presented on the screen.

  The information processing apparatus as a user terminal realized by the computer executing the program filters information received from the server computer according to the user attribute calculated by the user attribute calculation means, and is selected by the filtering. The information selection means for presenting the information to the user is further provided.

  According to such an invention, in addition to being able to form a user attribute by acquiring all the keywords input and searched at a plurality of different arbitrary websites, the information received from the server computer can be appropriately Can be filtered.

  The program of the present invention can be installed or loaded on a computer through various recording media such as an optical disk such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, and a semiconductor memory, or via a communication network.

  In this specification and the like, the means does not simply mean a physical means, but includes a case where the functions of the means are realized by software. Further, the function of one means may be realized by two or more physical means, or the functions of two or more means may be realized by one physical means.

  According to the present invention, by providing means for acquiring and accumulating browsing information provided at different arbitrary websites, it is possible to appropriately set the results of collecting information about users across a plurality of websites as user attributes. It can be reflected. This makes it possible to select information and advertisements that are more optimized than conventional targeting advertisements and distribute them to the user, and to provide information that is more useful to the user than before, so that a higher advertising effect can be expected. .

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same element and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.
(Embodiment 1)
Embodiment 1 of the present invention relates to the first aspect of the present invention, in which a user terminal transmits browsing information, and an information providing server specifies a user attribute based on the browsing information.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information providing system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the information collection system 100 includes a user terminal (information processing apparatus) 10, a plurality of web servers 20, and an information providing server 30, which are mutually connected via a network N such as the Internet. It is comprised by connecting to.

  The user terminal 10 is a computer used by the user. For example, a personal computer (PC) or a mobile terminal (such as a mobile phone or a PDA) can be used. In the present embodiment, an information processing program described later is installed in the user terminal 10, thereby realizing a function of acquiring browsing information of a website and recording it in the local storage device 12. Moreover, it is preferable that the user terminal 10 is provided with the browser for browsing a website.

  The web server 20 is a computer that establishes a website on a network N such as the Internet and provides various services to the user terminal 10 and the like via the website. Examples of websites established by the web server 20 include various sites such as an information search site, a shopping site, an information site providing various information, and a blog.

  The information providing server 30 has a function of forming an attribute (profile) of a user based on browsing information regarding a website browsed by the user terminal 10 and distributing information such as advertisements according to the user attribute to the user terminal 10. It has a computer.

  The network N is a communication line for transmitting / receiving information to / from the user terminal 10, the plurality of web servers 20, and the information providing server 30. For example, it may be any of the Internet, a LAN, a dedicated line, a packet communication network, a telephone line, a corporate network, other communication lines, combinations thereof, and the like, regardless of whether they are wired or wireless.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of computers included in the user terminal 10, the web server 20, and the information providing server 30. As shown in FIG. 2, each computer includes a CPU (control means) 40 for controlling the operation of the entire computer, a main storage device 41 used as a work area, an external storage device 42 for storing various information, and an input interface 43. A dedicated or general-purpose computer including the output interface 44, the communication interface 45, and the bus 46 connecting them can be applied.

  Each server may be composed of a single computer or may be composed of a plurality of computers distributed on a network. A single computer may have a plurality of server functions.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating functional configurations of the user terminal 10 and the information providing server 30 according to the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 3, the user terminal 10 acquires browsing information provided from a website or input by the user when the user browses the website, and records it in the local storage device 12. Browsing information acquisition means 13 for performing browsing, and browsing information reporting means 14 for reading the browsing information recorded in the storage means 12 and transmitting it to the information providing server 30 via the network N.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the information providing server 30 includes a browsing information acquisition unit 35 that acquires browsing information received from the user terminal 10 via the network N, and a user attribute that identifies a user attribute based on the browsing information history. The identification means 34 and the user attribute report means 38 which transmits the identified user attribute to the web server 20 or the user terminal 10 via the network N are provided. In the present embodiment, the user attribute specifying unit 34 generates category information to which browsing information received from the user terminal 10 belongs and stores the category information in the storage device 32, and the history of the category information accumulated in the storage device 32. And user attribute calculation means 37 for calculating user attributes based on the above.

  In the present embodiment, an information processing program (client software) according to the first aspect of the present invention is used by an operator of the information providing server 30 for a person who uses the user terminal 10 (that is, an Internet user). ) And the user who received the distribution of the information providing program installs the information providing program on the user terminal 10. This information providing program includes a program for causing a computer (user terminal 10) to realize a part (including at least the browsing information acquisition means 13) or all of each functional means shown in FIG. The computer in which the information providing program is installed functions as the user terminal 10 that realizes part or all of the functional units shown in FIG.

  Distribution of the information providing program may be performed by recording the program on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, or the user may download the program through a network. Furthermore, the information processing program may be incorporated as a part of another program, or may be distributed to users by being bundled with another program.

  The browsing information acquired by the browsing information acquisition unit 13 is any of metadata provided on different arbitrary websites, website address information, and a search keyword input to a search engine provided on the website, or , Information composed of a combination of these. The information acquisition target website is a search engine (web search, web site search site provided by various web servers 20 (web information search site, shopping site, information magazine site, community site, etc.)). News search, shopping search, image search, word-of-mouth search, blog search, site search, etc.). Metadata is text data included in a part of hypertext that is referred to when a user accesses using a browser or the like, and a website is extracted to the top when it is detected by a search engine or the like. Information that can be included. The address information is a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols indicating the location of the website in the network N, and corresponds to URL information or IP address information. The search keyword is character information input for a search by the user using an input means such as a keyboard on the accessed website. Since the metadata is information for characterizing the website, it is suitable as browsing information of the present invention that suggests the user's preference and interest. Address information is suitable as browsing information for the present invention, because it is possible to subsequently reconnect to the website specified by the address information and obtain the latest information so that user preferences and interests can be brushed up later. . The search keyword is input for the user to directly indicate the target of the search, and simply indicates the information that the user wants to search. Therefore, the search keyword is suitable as the browsing information of the present invention.

  FIG. 4 is an image diagram showing a flow of processing and the like by the browsing information acquisition unit 13 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, homepage information such as hypertexts of various websites indicated by arrows 60 is generally provided from the web server 20 to the user terminal 10. On the user terminal 10, a page 50 of the accessed website is displayed by a browser or the like. The home page information 60 includes metadata 56 in addition to characters, images, and control information for displaying the home page 50 and can be acquired by the user terminal 10. Further, the address information 58 is acquired when the home page information 60 is accessed. Further, when the user performs a search using a search engine provided on the home page 50, the search keyword is also acquired. For example, when the user inputs a keyword in the input form (input box) 52 and then clicks the search button 54, the search keyword input in the input form 52 is transmitted from the user terminal 10 to the web server 20 (FIG. 4 arrow 62). The web server 20 searches the database in the server 20 based on the received search keyword and returns the search result to the user terminal 10 (arrow 66 in FIG. 4).

  The browsing information acquisition unit 13 according to the present embodiment acquires the address information 58 of the website when accessing the homepage 50 and records it as a part of the browsing information in the local storage device 12 of the user terminal 10 ( Arrow 64 in FIG. Further, the metadata 56 is extracted from the home page information 60 of the home page 50 and recorded as another part of the browsing information. Further, when the search button 54 is clicked and the like, and a process in which the keyword input to the input form 52 is transmitted to the web server 20 is triggered (trigger), the search keyword is acquired and recorded as part of the browsing information.

  As described above, the browsing information acquisition unit 13 is realized by an information processing program installed in the user terminal 10 and does not use any cookie mechanism. Therefore, the browsing information acquisition means 13 does not acquire only the search keyword input in a specific website, but acquires it including metadata and address information, and obtains it when accessing an arbitrary different website. Metadata, address information, and input search keywords can be acquired, so that user attributes can be specified from browsing information acquired across a plurality of websites.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the browsing information reporting unit 14 reads the browsing information recorded in the local storage device 12 periodically or irregularly immediately after browsing and transmits it to the information providing server 30. It has a function (arrow 68 in FIG. 5). However, the browsing information recorded in the storage device 12 may be transmitted in response to a request from the information providing server 30. When browsing information is transmitted from the second time onward, it is preferable to send the difference from the previous transmission from the viewpoint of efficient use of network resources.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the information providing server 30, the browsing information acquisition unit 35 receives browsing information (arrow 68 in FIG. 5) transmitted from the user terminal 10. When the browsing information is received, the category generating unit 36 of the user attribute specifying unit 34 compares the received browsing information with a database stored in the storage device 32 provided in the information providing server 30, and the received browsing information belongs. An ID (identifier) of a category (genre, classification) is acquired. For example, in this database, related browsing information (keywords) is associated with each category such as gourmet, music, entertainment, sports, company, and electrical appliance. As an example, the category “gourmet” is associated with keywords such as Japanese, Chinese, French, Italian, etc. as related browsing information in advance. At this time, a plurality of categories may be associated with one browsing information, or one category may be associated with a group of browsing information. Each category is given a category ID for identifying the category. For example, if one of the keywords included in the received browsing information is “Chinese”, the database is collated to acquire the category “gourmet”. Thus, the information providing server 30 generates a category ID corresponding to the received browsing information and stores it in the storage device 32 (arrow 70 in FIG. 5).

  Here, the information providing server 30 may be configured so that the category ID can be updated. For example, referring to the address information of the website included in the browsing information, the information providing server 30 accesses the website regularly or irregularly, and metadata from information such as hypertext of the latest website Etc., and the category ID can be updated based on the newly obtained metadata or the like.

  The user attribute calculation unit 37 has a function of reading the category ID accumulated and accumulated in the storage device 32 periodically or irregularly, analyzing the history of this category ID, and specifying the user attribute. . At this time, the user attribute calculation means 37 performs calculation processing by applying a predetermined logic to the category ID history, and calculates a weight (weight) according to the user's interest or the like for each category. The weighting array for each category is recorded in the local storage device 32 as a user attribute.

  It is preferable that the logic for calculating the user attribute evaluates the user attribute in consideration of the time axis, such as highly evaluating the point of the category ID related to the recently input browsing information and attenuating the point as time passes. As a result, the calculated user attribute matches the user's current interest / preference.

  With reference to FIG. 5, the case where the user terminal 10 accesses the predetermined web server 20 in which the cooperation with the information providing server 30 is defined will be described. When there is an access from the user terminal 20 (arrow 72 in FIG. 5), the web server 20 requests the information providing server 30 to transmit the user attribute (arrow 74 in FIG. 5) with information specifying the user terminal 10. In response to a request from the web server 20, the user attribute reporting unit 38 of the information providing server 30 reads the user attribute associated with the user terminal 10 recorded in the local storage unit 32, and transmits the user attribute via the network N. To the requesting web server 20.

  In addition, it is preferable that the user attribute report means 38 provides security so that the user attribute is transmitted only to a specific web server determined in advance. This can prevent unauthorized use of user attributes.

  After that, the web server 20 that has acquired the user attribute performs targeting based on the user attribute, incorporates information selected according to the user attribute from a plurality of pieces of information into homepage information and the like, and transmits the information to the user terminal 10. (Arrow 80 in FIG. 5).

An outline of the operation of the information providing system 100 configured as described above will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment.
First, as shown in FIG. 6, an operator of the information providing server 30 distributes an information processing program to a person who uses the user terminal 10 (that is, an Internet user). The user who received the distribution installs this information processing program in the user terminal 10 and starts using the information providing service according to the present embodiment (S10).

  Thereafter, when the user of the user terminal 10 accesses an arbitrary website using a browser or the like and browses the website or searches using a search engine provided on the website, the browsing information is displayed. It is acquired and recorded, and the category ID to which the keyword belongs is stored locally. For example, website address information is extracted, metadata is extracted from the hypertext of the website, search keywords entered by the user into the search engine are acquired, combined, and stored in the local storage device 12 (S12). ). This browsing information acquisition process and storage process are repeated each time a website is browsed, and information is accumulated across a plurality of websites.

  Then, regularly or irregularly, the browsing information accumulated at a predetermined timing is transmitted to the information providing server 30 via the network N (S14).

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the information providing server 30 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, when browsing information is transmitted via the network N at the predetermined timing, browsing information is acquired in the information providing server 30 (S20). When the browsing information is acquired, it is checked against a database stored in the local storage device 32, and the category to which the received browsing information belongs is acquired. Then, a category ID for identifying the acquired category is generated, and the user terminal 10 is stored in the storage device 32 in association with the specific information (S22). At this time, the current time information is recorded together with the category ID. Thereby, the history of the category ID for a certain user terminal 10 is formed.

  Next, at a predetermined timing determined regularly or irregularly, the history of the category ID stored in the storage device 32 in association with each user terminal 10 is referred to, and the user attribute is calculated (S24). For example, an arithmetic process is performed on the category ID history based on a predetermined logic, and a weight according to the user's interest or the like is calculated for each category, and an array of a plurality of categories corresponding to the weight is locally set as a user attribute. It is recorded in the storage device 32.

  When the web server 20 is accessed to browse a predetermined website from the user terminal 10 and the web server 20 requests the information providing server 30 to provide user attributes in response to this access, the storage device of the information providing server 30 The latest user attribute stored while being updated at 32 is read out and provided to the web server 20 via the network N. Information targeted based on the user attribute is distributed from the web server 20 to the user terminal 10 via the network N (S26).

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to follow the user's preferences and interests that change every moment more appropriately and in a timely manner, and more appropriate targeting is possible. Specifically, since browsing information obtained by browsing a plurality of different websites is accumulated, information on all websites accessed by the user can be acquired across the web. Therefore, the user attribute estimated from the browsing information history includes information that matches the user's preferences and interests at the present time, and enables more accurate targeting than in the past.

  In particular, according to the first embodiment, since the program executed on the user terminal 10 only needs to transfer the browsing information to the information providing server 30, the processing load on the user terminal 10 can be suppressed to a small amount.

(Embodiment 2)
Embodiment 2 of the present invention relates to the second aspect of the present invention, wherein the user terminal transmits browsing information, the information providing server generates category information based on the browsing information, and returns it to the user terminal. The user attribute is specified based on the category information history.

  The schematic configuration of the information providing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention and the hardware configuration of the computer included in the user terminal 10, the web server 20, and the information providing server 30 are the same as those in the first embodiment (FIG. 1). And FIG. 2), the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the user terminal 10 and the information providing server 30 according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the user terminal 10 acquires browsing information provided from a website or input by the user when the user browses the website, and records it in the local storage device 12. Browsing information acquisition means 13 for reading, browsing information recording means 14 for reading the browsing information recorded in the storage means 12 and transmitting it to the information providing server 30 via the network N, and browsing for recording the browsing information in the storage device 12 User attribute specifying means 15 for analyzing the history of information and specifying user attributes, user attribute reporting means 18 for reading the specified user attributes and transmitting them to the information providing server 30 or the web server 20, and optionally a web server 20 or information received from the information providing server 30 is filtered using the user attribute recorded in the storage device 12. An information selecting means 19 for, and a. The user attribute specifying unit 15 acquires the category information provided from the information providing server 30 and stores it in the local storage device 12, and specifies the history of the category information stored in the local storage device 12. And a user attribute calculation means 17 for calculating a user attribute based on the above logic.

  The information providing server generates browsing information acquisition means 35 that acquires browsing information received from the user terminal 10 via the network N, and category information to which the browsing information received from the user terminal 10 belongs and stores the category information in the storage device 32. Generating means 36.

  In the second embodiment as well, an operator of the information providing server 30 distributes an information processing program (client software) to a person who uses the user terminal 10, and the user provides the information providing program to the user terminal 10. install. The information providing program includes a program for causing a computer (user terminal 10) to realize a part (including at least the keyword acquiring unit 13) or all of the functional units shown in FIG. And the computer in which this information provision program was installed functions as the user terminal 10 which implement | achieves a part or all of each function means shown in FIG. The method for distributing the information providing program is the same as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an image diagram showing a flow of processing and the like according to the second embodiment.
The operation of the keyword acquisition unit 13 of the user terminal 10 is the same as that in the first embodiment, and a description thereof is omitted. Briefly, as described in FIG. 4, when the user terminal 10 accesses the web server 20, the browsing information acquisition unit 13 acquires browsing information related to the website and stores it in the local storage device 12. To do.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the browsing information reporting means 14 of the user terminal 10 reads the browsing information recorded in the local storage device 12 periodically or irregularly immediately after browsing, The data is transmitted to the providing server 30 (arrow 68 in FIG. 9). In the information providing server 30 that has received the transfer of the browsing information, the browsing information acquisition unit 35 acquires the browsing information, and the browsing information acquired by the category generation unit 36 is analyzed to generate category information.

  Next, the category generation unit 36 collates the received browsing information with a database stored in the storage device 32 included in the information providing server 30, and acquires a category ID to which each received browsing information belongs. The details are the same as those of the category generating means of the first embodiment. The generated category ID is transmitted to the user terminal 10 via the network N (arrow 70 in FIG. 9).

  When the category ID is transferred, in the user terminal 10, the user attribute specifying unit 15 specifies the user attribute based on the category ID. Specifically, the category ID transferred by the category acquisition unit 16 is stored in the local storage device 12. At this time, it is preferable to store the time information together. Next, the user attribute calculation means 17 reads the category ID accumulated in the storage device 12 periodically or irregularly, analyzes the history of this category ID, and calculates the user attribute. The details of user attribute calculation are considered as in the first embodiment.

  With reference to FIG. 10, a case where the user terminal 10 accesses a predetermined web server 20 in which cooperation with the information providing server 30 is defined will be described. When there is an access from the user terminal 20 (arrow 72 in FIG. 10), the web server 20 requests the information providing server 30 to transmit a user attribute (arrow 74 in FIG. 10) with information specifying the user terminal 10. When receiving the request from the web server 20, the information providing server 30 requests the user terminal 10 specified by the specific information of the user terminal 10 to read the user attribute (arrow 76 in FIG. 10). Upon receiving a request from the information providing server 30, the user terminal 10 reads the user attribute from the local recording device 12 and returns it to the information providing server 30. Then, the information providing server 30 transfers the user attribute received from the user terminal 10 to the requesting web server 20 (arrow 78 in FIG. 10). The web server 20 that has acquired the user attribute performs targeting based on the user attribute, incorporates information selected in accordance with the user attribute from a plurality of pieces of information into homepage information, and transmits the information to the user terminal 10 (FIG. 10 arrows 80).

  FIG. 12 is an image diagram showing a flow of processing of a modified example in which the web server 20 reads the user attribute directly from the user terminal 10. As shown in FIG. 12, when the user terminal 10 accesses the web server (arrow 82 in FIG. 12), the web server 20 acquires user attributes from the user terminal 10 without going through the information providing server 30. Is requested (arrow 84 in FIG. 12). Upon receiving this request, the user terminal 10 reads the user attribute from the storage device 12 and sends it back to the web server 20 if there is no problem in authenticating the server ID and password transmitted by the web server 20 along with the request (see FIG. Arrow 86 in FIG. And the web server 20 which received the user attribute performs targeting based on the said user attribute, and transmits the information selected according to the user attribute from the plurality of information to the user terminal 10 (arrow 88 in FIG. 12). ).

  The information selection means 19 provided as an option here filters the information received from the web server 20 or the information providing server 30 using the user attributes recorded in the local storage device 12, and the information selected as a result Is provided to the user. By the information selection means 19, for example, the web server 20 can transmit a plurality of types of advertisement information to one advertisement space, and can select an advertisement to be displayed on the user terminal 10 side. Thereby, targeting according to a user attribute becomes possible, without a user attribute flowing out and leaking from the user terminal 10.

An outline of the operation of the information providing system 100 according to the second embodiment configured as described above will be described.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the user terminal 10 according to the second embodiment.

  Since the process (steps S10 to S14) up to the distribution and installation of the program, the acquisition of the browsing information, and the transmission (steps S10 to S14) is the same as in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted. The information providing server 30 receiving the browsing information collates the database stored in the local storage device 32 with the browsing information, acquires the category to which the received browsing information belongs, and identifies the acquired category. A category ID for the user terminal 10 is returned to the user terminal 10 via the network N.

  The user terminal 10 that has received the return of the category ID acquires the category ID and stores it in the local storage device 12 together with the time information (S15).

  Next, the user terminal 10 refers to the history of the category ID stored in the storage device 12 at a predetermined timing determined regularly or irregularly, and calculates the user attribute in the same manner as in the first embodiment. (S16).

  In order to browse a predetermined website from the user terminal 10, the web server 20 is accessed, and the web server 20 requests the information providing server 30 to provide user attributes in response to the access, and the information providing server 30 further includes the user. When the terminal 10 is requested to transfer the user attribute, the latest user attribute stored in the storage device 12 of the user terminal 10 while being updated is read and provided to the web server 20 via the information providing server 30. Information targeted based on the user attribute is distributed from the web server 20 to the user terminal 10 via the network N (S17).

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, it is possible to target with higher accuracy than in the past.

  In particular, according to the second embodiment, since the user terminal 10 executes calculation of user attributes, the concentration of processing load on the information providing server 30 can be reduced. It is particularly suitable when the processing capacity of the user terminal is high.

(Modification)
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified and applied.
For example, in the above embodiment, the browsing information acquired by the browsing information acquisition unit 13 is temporarily recorded in the local storage device 12. However, the browsing information is transferred to the information providing server 30 without being recorded in the storage device 12. You may comprise.

  In the above embodiment, the information providing server 30 has a database that associates the browsing information with the category to which the browsing information belongs, and the information providing server 30 collates the category ID corresponding to the browsing information. The collation database may be downloaded from the server 30 by the user terminal 10, and the category to which the search keyword belongs may be collated and acquired locally on the user terminal 10 side.

  Furthermore, although the example which acquires the keyword searched with the search engine which a website provides as browsing information was shown in the said embodiment, the keyword which the user terminal 10 searched locally desktop is acquired as browsing information, and user attribute is acquired. You may make it use for calculation of.

  Furthermore, the logic for calculating the user attribute is not limited to that shown in the present embodiment, and various other logics can be adopted. For example, in the above embodiment, the category information is generated from the browsing information, and the user attribute is calculated from the history of the category information. However, the user attribute is converted after being converted into other intermediate information instead of the category information. You may comprise so that it may calculate. Further, the logic for calculation may be configured so that user attributes are directly calculated from the accumulation of browsing information without generating intermediate information such as category information. For example, it is possible to generate a keyword histogram from the browsing information history and determine the user attribute based on the keyword showing a high usage frequency.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the information provision system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of a computer. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the information provision system in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is an image figure which shows flows, such as a browsing information acquisition process in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is an image figure which shows flows, such as a process from browsing information report to targeting information provision. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process in the user terminal 10 of Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow in the information providing server 30 according to the first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the information provision system in Embodiment 2. FIG. It is an image figure which shows flows, such as browsing information acquisition and category information acquisition processing, in Embodiment 2. It is an image figure which shows flows, such as a process from website browsing to provision of targeting information in Embodiment 2. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process in the user terminal 10 of Embodiment 2. FIG. It is an image figure which shows the flow of the modification of the process from website browsing to provision of targeting information in Embodiment 2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 User terminal, 12, 32 Storage device, 13 Browse information acquisition means, 14 Browse information report means, 15, 34 User attribute specification means, 16 Category acquisition means, 17, 37 User attribute calculation means, 18, 38 User attribute report means , 19 Information selection means, 20 Web server, 30 Information providing server, 35 Browsing information acquisition means, 36 Category generation means, 50 pages, 52 input form, 54 Search button, 100 Information collection system, N network

Claims (11)

In an information providing system in which a user terminal and an information providing server are connected to each other via a network,
The user terminal is
Browsing information acquisition means for acquiring browsing information provided on or input from any different website and recording it in a storage device of the user terminal;
Browsing information reporting means for transmitting the browsing information recorded in the storage device by the browsing information acquisition means,
The information providing server includes:
Browsing information acquisition means for acquiring browsing information received from the user terminal;
User attribute specifying means for specifying user attributes based on the browsing information history;
User attribute reporting means for transmitting the identified user attribute to the network;
An information providing system. In an information providing system in which a user terminal and an information providing server are connected to each other via a network,
The user terminal is
Browsing information acquisition means for acquiring browsing information provided on or input from any different website and recording it in a storage device of the user terminal;
Browsing information reporting means for transmitting browsing information recorded in the storage device by the browsing information acquisition means;
Category acquisition means for receiving category information from the information providing server and recording the category information in the storage device;
User attribute calculation means for calculating a user attribute based on a history of category information stored in the storage device;
User attribute reporting means for transmitting the calculated user attribute to the network;
With
The information providing server includes:
Generating category information to which browsing information received from the user terminal belongs, and comprising means for transmitting the category information to the user terminal;
Information provision system. The information providing system further includes a web server connected to the network,
The web server is
Means for acquiring the user attribute from the network, filtering information according to the user attribute, and transmitting information selected by the filtering to the user;
The information providing system according to claim 1 or 2. Computer
Browsing information acquisition means for acquiring browsing information provided on or input from any different website and recording it in a storage device of the computer, and
Browsing information reporting means for transmitting browsing information recorded in the storage device by the browsing information acquisition means;
Program to function as. The computer,
User attribute calculation means for calculating user attributes based on the received category information history, and
User attribute reporting means for transmitting the user attribute calculated by the user attribute calculating means;
As a further function,
The program according to claim 4. The computer,
Information selecting means for filtering information received from a server computer according to the user attribute specified by the user attribute calculating means, and presenting the information selected by the filtering to the user;
As a further function,
The program according to claim 5. The browsing information is one or more pieces of information selected from the group consisting of metadata provided on different arbitrary websites, address information of the websites, and search keywords input to a search engine provided on the websites. including,
The program according to any one of claims 4 to 6.   The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the program as described in any one of Claims 4 thru | or 7. A storage device for recording browsing information provided or entered at any different website;
Browsing information acquisition means for acquiring the browsing information and recording it in the storage device;
Browsing information reporting means for transmitting browsing information recorded in the storage device by the browsing information acquisition means;
An information processing apparatus comprising: User attribute calculation means for calculating user attributes based on the received history of category information;
User attribute reporting means for transmitting the user attribute calculated by the user attribute calculating means;
Further comprising
The information processing apparatus according to claim 9.
An information processing apparatus comprising: According to the user attribute calculated by the user attribute calculation means, further comprising information selection means for filtering the information received from the server computer and presenting the information selected by the filtering to the user.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 10.

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