TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invent ion relates to an advert isement informat ion
sharing system for car rying out a contribut ion, browsing and
advert isement ut i l izat ion of an art icle to which an advert isement is
added5 .
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] In accordance wi th the spread of the Internet , a display of an
advert isement which has been car ried out only on a medium that has an
at tract ing force of customers, such as a newspaper, a magazine, an actual
10 store or the l ike, before, can be carried out by anyone freely.
[0003] As a method for insert ing an adver t isement by using the Internet ,
an advert isement mode that is referred to as “af fi l iate market ing”, which
car ries an advert isement image relat ing to a commodi ty of another
person on a homepage of his or her own so that a reward can be obtained,
15 has been general ly known.
[0004] The affi l iate market ing refers to an insert ing method for an
Internet advert isement in which, when a reader of the advert isement has
purchased a commodi ty l isted on the advert isement , or made a contract
for purchasing a commodi ty l isted thereon through a l ink that is inserted
20 to the homepage, the administrator of the home page can accept an
achievement reward.
[0005] In this case, in order to car ry out an insert ion of such an
advert isement , normal ly, i t is necessary to have his or her own homepage,
3
or to manage a blog of his or her own. At this t ime, if there is no
at tract ing force of customers in the contents displayed on the homepage
of his or her own, the advert isement informat ion publ ished thereon is not
effect ively propagated to many people.
[0006] Moreover, in order to insert an advert isement , i t is necessary t5 o
individual ly make a contract wi th an advert iser or to learn a method or
the l ike for insert ing a l ink. For those who want to newly display an
advert isement , these jobs that form the premise of the publ icat ion
become large obstacles.
10 [0007] Prior Art Document 1 has described a technique relat ing to an
advert isement managing device in which an administrator of a homepage
col lects affi l iates who want to insert an advert isement onto his or her
homepage so that the affi l iates are al lowed to publ ish the advert isement .
PRIOR ART DOCUMENT
15 PATENT DOCUMENT
[0008] Patent Document 1: JP-A No. 2009-116629
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
Problem to be Solved by the Invention
[0009] In accordance with the invention of Patent Document 1, even the user who has
20 not carried out the publication of an advertisement before is allowed to easily publicize
an advertisement. For this reason, the publication of advertisements by the use of the
Internet has been widely popularized.
4
[0010] However, it cannot be said that in these advertisement publishing systems, the
published advertisement is sufficiently utilized. To many readers, advertisements
published on the Internet are simply considered as obstacles at the time of browsing
web pages, and these are not subjects that can be positively browsed by the readers
themselves5 .
[0011] In accordance with the prior art, effects for increasing the amount of insertion of
advertisements in the entire Internet and for relatively increasing the utilization of
advertisements accordingly can be expected. However, such effects as to particularly
enhance the interest of the readers of the advertisements and allow the readers to utilize
10 the advertisements by further following links thereof cannot be achieved.
[0012] The present invention has been devised in view of the above-mentioned
circumstance, and its object is to provide an advertisement information sharing system
in which by allowing anyone to easily contribute an advertisement added article and
by also presenting an advertisement that draws attention of the readers of the article,
15 the manuscript publication of the advertisement article by the contributor and the
browsing and utilization of the advertisement by the readers can be accelerated.
Means for Solving the Problem
[0013] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides
an advertisement information sharing system including a contributor terminal for
20 outputting an article with an advertisement added thereto, a user terminal for
outputting user information and an advertisement information sharing server.
The advertisement information sharing server records browsing history information
having contributor information of an advertisement added article that is published to
users having relevant information indicating connections between the contributor and
5
a user, and browsed by the user and advertisement specifying information for
specifying an advertisement added to the advertisement added article.
The advertisement information sharing server comprises a manuscript publication
means which adds the advertisement information relating to the advertisement target
to the article information containing the contents relating to the advertisement targe5 t
inputted from the contributor terminal so as to record the resulting information as an
advertisement added article; a history collation means for carrying out a collating
process with the browsing history information of the user, by utilizing the
advertisement specifying information inputted in association with the user
10 information; and an addition means in which when the authentication is confirmed by
the history collation means, an advertisement utilization privilege is added to the
privilege information of the user and the contributor described in the browsing history
information and the advertisement specifying information is associated with the user
information in a corresponding store presented based upon the advertisement
15 information of the target advertisement added article, and outputted to the
advertisement information sharing server in association with the user information from
the user terminal or a store terminal installed in the corresponding store.
[0014] Upon publishing an article, the contributor is allowed to contribute the article
with an advertisement added thereto so that it becomes unnecessary to carry out
20 time-consuming complicated jobs, such as an individual contract with an
advertisement enterprise and learning of an opening method for a homepage and an
inserting method of an advertisement, which have been conventionally required.
Therefore, anyone can easily insert an advertisement. Moreover, by allowing
contributions of users relating to a user himself or herself to be displayable, it becomes
25 possible to browse articles of the users who belong to a community to which the user
6
belongs, or have similar tastes in commodities, and those commodities suitable for his
or her tastes can be obtained as advertised commodities to be inserted. For this
reason, the effect for accelerating the utilization of the advertisement can be obtained.
[0015] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, the
advertisement information sharing server is characterized by recording browsin5 g
history information having contributor’s information of an advertisement added article
browsed by the user and advertisement specifying information for specifying the
corresponding advertisement, and it is also provided with a history collating means for
collating inputted collation user’s information and the advertisement specifying
10 information with the browsing history information of the collation user, and an
addition means which in the case when the authentication is given by the history
collation means, adds an advertisement utilization privilege to the privilege
information of the collation user and the contributor described in the browsing history
information.
15 [0016] By allowing the readers to utilize the advertisement, it becomes possible to
insert an advertisement that is beneficial to both of the contributor of an advertisement
added article and the readers thereof, and even in the case of inserted advertisements
that have not yet drawn attention of many readers, the effects for drawing more
attention to the contents thereof and for encouraging the utilization of the
20 advertisement can be expected. Since by the utilization of the advertisement, the
readers of the advertisement added article are allowed to have its privilege added to
himself or herself, the readers become to more positively utilize the advertisement, for
example, in purchasing and ordering a commodity introduced by the advertisement.
Accordingly, since the utilization rate of the advertisement by the readers is raised, the
25 effect for allowing the contributors of articles to more positively insert advertisements
7
by actively utilizing the present system can be expected.
[0017] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, the
advertisement information sharing server is characterized by recording the
advertisement usability of each of the users, and based upon the advertisement
usability, it determines the display method of the advertisement in an article. Since th5 e
degree of interest and the degree of utilization of the advertisement are different
depending on each of the users, by carrying out an advertisement display suitable for
each user, the effect of further enhancing the advertisement utilization by the users can
be expected. For example, to a user who is highly interested in advertisements, a
10 related advertisement and an advertisement added article are additionally presented,
while to a user who is not so interested therein, the advertisement is displayed with a
privilege portion being emphasized; thus, it becomes possible to further encourage the
utilization of the advertisement.
[0018] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, the
15 advertisement information sharing server is characterized by including a privilege
delivery means that delivers a privilege added by the addition means to the user at a
desired timing so as to be utilized. By making the added privilege usable by the user at
a desired timing, the advertiser becomes to utilize the advertisement and its privilege
more strategically.
20 [0019] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, the
advertisement information is characterized by including positional information of a
store and a recommendation means which selects an advertisement information or an
advertisement added article relating to stores located on the periphery at a desired
point on a map specified by the user terminal, and recommends the contribution of the
25 advertisement added article or the browsing thereof.
8
By encouraging the contribution of the advertisement added article and
browsing thereof by using the positional information, it becomes possible to
encourage the user who comes close to a store to contribute an article, to browse the
site and utilize the advertisement. For example, to a user who wants to have a meal,
by presenting advertisement added articles of neighboring restaurants, both of th5 e
effects of browsing the article and utilization of the advertisement can be expected.
Moreover, after the meal, the contribution of the advertisement added article including
reviews of the restaurant can be expected. In addition to the positional information,
user information, such as profiles, and contribution and browsing recommendations
10 based upon time and periods may be given.
[0020] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, the addition
means is characterized by adding a contribution privilege to the privilege information
of the contributor who has used the script publishing function. By contributing an
article with an advertisement added thereto, a privilege is added to the contributor so
15 that the contribution of the article with the advertisement added thereto can be
progressively carried out.
[0021] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, the addition
means is characterized by adding a browsing privilege to the privilege information of
the reader who has browsed the advertisement added article. Since a privilege can be
20 added to the reader who has browsed the article with the advertisement added thereto,
it is possible to accelerate the browsing of the advertisement. Therefore, the user
becomes to positively browse the advertisement.
[0022] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, the
advertisement information sharing server is characterized by forming an advertisement
25 for the user himself or herself so as to be published. Since the user himself or herself is
9
allowed to form an advertisement and to publish the advertisement, commodities can
be sold or the like by the user himself or herself.
[0023] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, the
advertisement information sharing server is characterized by including an article
information analysis means for analyzing article information inputted from the use5 r
terminal so as to acquire target specifying information indicating an advertisement
target described in the article. By analyzing the article information to specify the
advertisement target, it becomes possible to effectively provide information demanded
by the user, in the case when an article is displayed based upon the user’s retrieval or
10 the like.
[0024] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, the article
information analysis means is characterized by including a warning means that gives a
warning to a contributor when an inputted article information includes a contribution
non-recommendation subject such as personal information or the like. In this manner,
15 by mechanically giving a warning by the analysis, an effect for preventing information
from flowing out without the intention of the user can be expected. Moreover, it
becomes possible to prevent a malicious contribution to an advertisement store and to
allow the user to provide high-quality articles.
[0025] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, the
20 advertisement information sharing server is characterized by including an automatic
addition means which automatically adds an advertisement to a recorded article by
using the target specifying information and records the resulting data as an
advertisement added article. In this manner, by automatically adding an advertisement
of a sponsor enterprise that has not been incorporated at the time of the contribution of
25 an article, not only an article having a commodity relating to the advertisement, but
10
also an article relating to many commodities having no advertisements can be
contributed so that the activation of the entire information sharing system can be
expected. Accordingly, an effect for enhancing the advertisement contribution and
browsing as well as the advertisement utilization can be expected.
[0026] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, th5 e
advertisement information sharing server is characterized by including an
advertisement presentation means for selecting advertisement information to be added
to article information inputted from a user terminal by using the object specifying
information and presenting the resulting information to the contributor in a manner so
10 as to be selectable. Thus, the user is allowed to easily draw an advertisement suitable
for the article and makes it possible to activate the contribution of the advertisement
added article.
[0027] In accordance with a preferred mode of the present invention, the
advertisement information sharing server is characterized by including an
15 advertisement collation means for carrying out a collation process on a relationship
between the inputted article information and advertisement information added to the
article information by using the target specifying information. By inspecting a
relationship between the inputted article contents and an advertisement added thereto,
it becomes possible to encourage a contribution of an article that is suitable for the
20 contents of the advertisement, and consequently to provide an advertisement added
article having higher quality contents including reviews and explanations about a
commodity to the user.
[0028] The present invention provides an advertisement information sharing server
that records browsing history information having advertisement specifying
25 information for specifying contributor information of an advertisement added article
11
that is published to users having relevant information indicating connections between
the contributor and mutual users, and browsed by the users and an advertisement
added to the advertisement added article, and is provided with a manuscript
publication means which adds the advertisement information relating to the
advertisement target to the article information containing the contents relating to th5 e
advertisement target inputted from the contributor terminal and records the resulting
information as an advertisement added article, a history collation means for carrying
out a collating process with the browsing history information of the user, by utilizing
the advertisement specifying information inputted in association with the user
10 information; and an addition means in which when the authentication is confirmed by
the history collation means, an advertisement utilization privilege is added to the
privilege information of the user and the contributor described in the browsing history
information, and in these means, the advertisement specifying information is
characterized by being associated with the user information in a corresponding store
15 presented based upon the advertisement information of the target advertisement added
article, and inputted in association with the user information from the user terminal or
a store terminal installed in the corresponding store.
[0029] The present invention provides an advertisement information sharing program
that allows a computer to carry out a step of: recording browsing history information
20 having advertisement specifying information that is published to users having relevant
information indicating connections between a contributor and mutual users, and
specifies contributor information of the advertisement added article browsed by the
users and the advertisement added to the advertisement added article; a step of adding
the advertisement information relating to the advertisement target to the article
25 information containing the contents relating to the advertisement target inputted from
the contributor terminal and of recording the information as the advertisement added
12
article; a step of carrying out a collating process with the browsing history information
of the user, by utilizing the advertisement specifying information inputted in
association with the user information; and a step in which when the authentication is
confirmed by the history collation means, an advertisement utilization privilege is
added to the privilege information of the user and the contributor described in th5 e
browsing history information, and in these steps, the advertisement specifying
information is associated with the user information in a corresponding store presented
based upon the advertisement information of the target advertisement added article,
and inputted in association with the user information from the user terminal or a store
10 terminal installed in the corresponding store.
Ef fect of the Invention
[0030] In accordance wi th the present invent ion, by al lowing anybody to
easi ly cont ribute an advert isement added art icle so as to execute an
advert isement presentat ion that draws at tent ion of the readers of the
15 art icle, i t is possible to provide an advert isement informat ion sharing
system that can fur ther encourage cont ribut ion of an advert isement
added art icle by the contributor and browsing and ut i l izat ion of the
advert isement by the readers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
20 [0031] FIG. 1 shows a structural example of an informat ion sharing
system in accordance wi th embodiment 1 of the present invent ion.
FIG. 2 is a funct ional block diagram relat ing to the structural
example of the informat ion sharing system in accordance wi th
embodiment 1 of the present invent ion.
13
FIG. 3 shows a hardware structural example of an informat ion
sharing server in accordance wi th embodiment 1 of the present invent ion.
FIG. 4 shows a st ructural example of a user data base in
accordance wi th embodiment 1 of the present invent ion.
FIG. 5 shows a st ructural example of an art icle informat ion dat5 a
base in accordance wi th embodiment 1 of the present invent ion.
FIG. 6 shows a structural example of an advert isement
informat ion data base in accordance wi th embodiment 1 of the present
invent ion.
10 FIG. 7 shows a structural example of a browsing history
informat ion data base in accordance wi th embodiment 1 of the present
invent ion.
FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of an art icle contribut ion in accordance
wi th embodiment 1 of the present invent ion.
15 FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a contribut ion privi lege addi t ion in
accordance wi th embodiment 2 of the present invent ion.
FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of an advert isement ut i l izat ion
privi lege addi t ion in accordance wi th embodiment 3 of the present
invent ion.
20 FIG. 11 shows a flowchart relat ing to a display method of an
advert isement in accordance wi th embodiment 4 of the present invent ion.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0032]Referring to FIGS. 1 to 11, the following description will explain
embodiments of the present invention.
25
14
Embodiment 1
The present invention relates to an information sharing system that provides a
function for contributing an article and a function for browsing the contributed article
to each of the users. Thus, the browsable article is an article of another user having a
relevant factor between the user and the corresponding user, or an article retrieved b5 y
the user. The relevant factor refers to a link for use in forming the network, and
represents a connection between users that is capable of being desirably determined by
the connection in the actual world and a relationship between users that might be
determined by the user desirably. Moreover, the present invention also relates to an
10 advertisement information sharing system that adds an advertisement to an article to
be contributed and contributes the article as an advertisement added article.
[0033] The outline of the entire system in the present embodiment will be explained.
First, referring to FIGS. 1 to 7, the entire configuration corresponding to all the
embodiments will be explained, and thereafter, the explanation of each of the
15 embodiments will be explained in detail.
FIG. 1 shows an advertisement information sharing system in accordance
with embodiment 1 of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 represents an
advertisement information sharing server, reference numeral 2 represents a storage
unit, reference numeral 3 represents a user terminal, and reference numeral 4
20 represents a store terminal. The storage unit 2 may be installed as an integral unit
together with the advertisement information sharing server 1.
[0034] As shown in FIG. 2, the advertisement information sharing server 1 is a server
device that can be accessed from a plurality of user terminals 3 through the Internet
and provide an advertisement information shared service, and as shown in FIG. 2, it is
25 provided with a user authentication unit 10, a browsing unit 11, a collation unit 12, a
15
contribution unit 13, an advertisement addition unit 14, an analysis unit 15, a privilege
control unit 16 and an output unit 17.
[0035] From the user terminal 3, functions supplied by the browsing unit 11, the
collation unit 12, the contribution unit 13 and the advertisement addition unit 14 are
utilized, and the log-in process is carried out by the user authentication unit 10 so as t5 o
utilize those functions. The authentication job by the user authentication unit 10 is
not necessarily required to be carried out, and those functions may be made usable by
giving limitations, that is, for example, no receiving action except for a contribution of
an article to be described later and a privilege in the coupon medium is accepted.
10 Moreover, the same operations as those of the user terminal 3 may be carried from the
store terminal 4.
[0036] FIG. 3 shows a hardware configuration of the advertisement information
sharing server 1. The information sharing server 1 is provided with a CPU 100, a
memory 101, a communication device 102 for use in communication through a
15 network, an input/output device 103 for use in displaying the server operation and
result, and a storage device 104. The storage device 104 has an advertisement
information sharing program recorded therein so that the main functions of the
advertisement information sharing system are thus provided.
[0037] The user authentication unit 10 allows each of the users to log-in by using a
20 log-in ID/log-in password that is a character string recorded in the user information
table 20a and only informed to the user, or a number inherent to the terminal, and
supplies services and web pages that are operable within the preliminarily determined
user authority. The authentication job by the user authentication unit 10 is not
necessarily required to be carried out, and those services may be made usable by
25 giving limitations, that is, for example, no receiving action except for a contribution of
16
an article to be described later and a privilege in the coupon medium is accepted.
[0038] Upon receipt of a browsing request inputted from the user terminal 3, the
browsing unit 11 outputs the corresponding article/advertisement added article
recorded in the article data base 21 to the user terminal 3 that is the input source so as
to be browsed. The user terminal 3 is allowed to browse the outputte5 d
article/advertisement added article on the web browser. The user who has given the
browsing request may be confirmed as to whether or not he or she has the browsing
authority, and only when the user has the authority, the output may be carried out.
[0039] The collation unit 12 is a section in which the user utilizes an advertisement
10 and is subjected to an authentication at the time of obtaining its privilege. User
information and advertisement specifying information inputted to the collation unit 12
from the user terminal 3, the store terminal 4 or the like are collated with browsing
history information recorded in the browsing data base 23, and by using the
combination inputted thereto, it is determined whether or not the user is authenticated
15 for using the privilege. The advertisement specifying information in the present
embodiment uses an advertisement ID capable of uniquely specifying the target
advertisement, as will be described later. Since the advertisement ID is associated
with many other pieces of information and is difficult to be altered, the advertisement
specifying information may be prepared separately from the advertisement ID. By
20 preparing the advertisement specifying information separately so as to be altered, it is
possible to desirably improve the effect for preventing an unfair advertisement
utilization.
[0040] The advertisement specifying information is issued to the user at a timing
preliminarily determined by the advertiser, such as a timing when the user visits an
25 actual store or when the user purchased a commodity in the actual store, or a timing
17
when the user has reserved a commodity on the Internet site. The timing is desirably
published to the user preliminarily. Moreover, as the method for issuing, methods in
which a clerk in the store manually inputs through the user terminal 3, or presents the
corresponding barcode so as to be readable by the user terminal 3, or carries out a
delivery by using a non-contact IC or a high frequency signal are proposed. O5 f
course, another method other than these may be used.
[0041]
The collation unit 12, which has received user information and advertisement
specifying information, acquires the user’s browsing history information by using the
10 user information, and in the case when a record corresponding to the advertisement
specifying information is stored therein, the collation is authenticated. By
determining an advertisement insertion cost by the advertisement information sharing
system as a piece-rate system, while charging and adding the advertisement insertion
costs at the time of a collation, an advertisement utilization, a distribution of privilege
15 to be described later, or the like, the effects and costs of the insertion can be desirably
presented clearly to the advertiser.
[0042]
The contribution unit 13 adds postscript information relating to contribution,
such as an article ID, contribution time or the like to the inputted article information,
20 and records the resulting information in the article data base 21 as an article and/or an
advertisement added article. The article information indicates character information,
such as a title of an article and a text thereof, and an added matter, such as images,
moving images and sound source. The publication limit and the browsing authority
may be given thereto so as to prevent specific users from browsing the
25 article/advertisement added article.
[0043]
18
The advertisement addition unit 14 carries out the addition of an
advertisement to the article information contributed to the contribution unit 13 or the
article recorded in the article data base 21. The contributor can desirably add
advertisement information to the article so as to be recorded as an advertisement added
article5 .
A function may be prepared in which based upon the positional information
of the user terminal 3 and profile information, such as hometown and life history of
the user, the user is recommended to contribute an advertisement added article relating
to facilities and commodities that are considered to have been utilized by the user.
10 Moreover, another function may be prepared in which from the inputted article
information, an advertisement suitable for the article information is presented.
[0044]
Moreover, functions for acquiring the positional information of the user
terminal 3 and for recommending the browsing and contribution of an advertisement
15 added article relating to stores and facilities on the periphery of the user terminal may
be prepared. By using this arrangement, it becomes possible to encourage the user to
use the peripheral stores and to carry out browsing and contribution of advertisements.
The advertisement stores presented in this case may be calculated based upon user’s
information, such as user’s tastes, profiles or the like, as well as time and period. By
20 using this arrangement, it is possible to obtain an effect for avoiding the presentation
of an unnecessary advertisement to the target user.
[0045]
In the case when a user who contributes an advertisement added article is a
store user capable of logging in from the store server 4, to the privilege (utilization
25 privilege and browsing privilege) of the advertisement added to the contribution, the
coupon of the store itself may be added. With this arrangement, not among users but
19
among stores, contributions of advertisement added articles are carried out so that an
effect for accelerating the contributions of advertisement added articles can be
expected.
[0046]
The analysis unit 15 analyses article information, and provides variou5 s
functions to the user based upon the results of analysis. For example, such functions
include to present a commodity advertisement suitable for the article information
inputted by a user to the user so as to reduce jobs for finding out advertisements
suitable for the article information, or with respect to an article about a certain
10 commodity which has no sponsor at the time of its contribution so that no added
advertisement is available, after the commodity starts to have a partnership with a
sponsor, to automatically add the advertisement to the article. Moreover, by
analyzing article information, provision may be made so that a warning against an
inappropriate article information is given, or such an article is excluded.
15 [0047]
The privilege control unit 16 carries out control so as to add a privilege to the
user information and distribute the added privilege to the user so as to be usable. The
privilege more specifically refers to points, coupons or the like to be utilized in a point
service. Actions relating to the privilege addition include actions at the time of
20 browsing of, or contributing to privilege utilization or advertisement added article, and
its timing is desirably determined by the system administrator or the advertiser. The
timing of the privilege addition by the advertisement utilization refers to a time when
the user visits a store or a time when the user purchases the subject commodity, and
can be controlled by a distribution timing of advertisement specifying information
25 required for carrying out the collation.
[0048]
20
In the case when a privilege is added up to the user, this fact may be
immediately distributed to the user so as to be usable, or in a desired timing after the
addition, this fact may be distributed to the user so as to be usable. Moreover, the
usable period of time may be determined by the advertiser so that a more strategic
advertisement insertion can be obtained. The addition of the same privilege to th5 e
user may be limited to once, or once a day, or the like.
[0049]
The output unit 17 carries out an output relating to a browsing request given
to the browser unit 11, and also outputs collation results with respect to the collation
10 unit 12, a presentation of an advertisement to be added to article information by the
analysis unit 15, and addition and distribution information or the like of privilege by
the privilege control unit 16 or the like to the user terminal 3 and the store terminal.
To the store terminal 4, the browsing history and statistical information or the like of
an advertisement can be supplied.
15 [0050]
The storage unit 2 is provided with a user data base 20 having user
information 20a and store information 20b, an article data base 21, an article data base
21, an advertisement data base 22 and a browsing data base 23. The data recorded in
the storage unit 2 are exemplary only in the present embodiment, and it is not intended
20 to be limited by the data contents and recording places. These data may be recorded
in the advertisement information sharing server 1, or may be recorded in a separated
manner.
[0051]
As shown in FIG. 4, the user data base 20 is provided with the user
25 information 20a in which profile information such as a user ID and a user name of
each of the users, log-in information such as a log-in ID/password or the like, privilege
21
information, relevance information with the other users, etc. are recorded, and store
information 20b in which profile information relating to a store ID that is a user ID of
the store whose advertisement is inserted, and the name and address of each of stores,
as well as log-in information or the like, are recorded. These pieces of information
are used upon logging in the service by using the user authentication unit 10 or upo5 n
managing the contribution and the browsing history, etc. so that an individual web
page and service can be supplied to each of the users.
[0052]
As shown in FIG. 5, the article data base 21 records an article contributed by
10 the user, an article ID that is capable of uniquely determining an advertisement added
article, the contributor ID thereof, the time and date of the contribution, and the
advertisement ID attached to the advertisement added article, etc. in association with
one another. Upon receiving a browsing request to the browser unit 11 from a user
terminal 3, the corresponding article information is outputted by the output unit 17 so
15 as to be browsed on the above-mentioned user terminal 3.
[0053]
The advertisement data base 22 records advertisement information including
a table relating to advertisements on which, as shown in FIG. 6(a), an advertisement
ID corresponding to advertisement specifying information in the present embodiment,
20 a user ID of an advertiser who has published an advertisement, information of an
advertisement image, commodity identifying information for use in drawing an
advertisement through a retrieving process, etc. are recorded, and a table relating to
privilege on which, as shown in FIG. 6(b), a privilege ID and a corresponding
advertisement ID, a distribution period for the privilege, and utilization conditions of
25 the advertisement, etc. are recorded. Upon presenting the advertisement information
added by the advertisement addition unit 14 to the user terminal 3, or upon giving a
22
browsing request relating to an article with an advertisement added thereto by the
browsing unit 11, the advertisement information is outputted by the output unit 16 so
as to allow the user terminal 3 to brows. In the present embodiment, the
advertisement ID is used as the advertisement specifying information; however, the
advertisement specifying information may be prepared in a separated manner. B5 y
preparing the advertisement specifying information separately, it becomes possible to
easily alter the advertisement specifying information, and consequently to obtain an
effect for preventing unfair advertisement utilization.
[0054]
10 As shown in FIG. 7, the browsing data base 23 has an article ID of an article
browsed by the user, a user ID of the contributor thereof, an advertisement ID
corresponding to advertisement specifying information of an advertisement added
thereto, and browsing information having information or the like relating to the
receiving history of privileges recorded thereon for each of the users. The
15 above-mentioned browsing history information is collated upon utilizing the collation
means by the collation unit 14. The contents of the history may be outputted so as to
allow each of the users to confirm the browsing history.
[0055]
The configuration of information and table described in these data bases is
20 one example in the present embodiment, and may be managed in association with
another table.
[0056]
The user terminal 3 is connected to the advertisement information sharing
server 1 through the network, and a browsing request and a contribution request, as
25 well as a collation request or the like are inputted by the user, and the processing result
by the advertisement information sharing server 1 is outputted. The user terminal 3
23
is constituted by a portable terminal, a computer, etc.
[0057]
The store terminal 4 is connected to the advertisement information sharing
server 1 through the network. The collation by using the collation unit 14 may be
designed so as to be carried out from a store terminal provided in an actual store or th5 e
like. Moreover, in the same manner as in the user terminal 3, the contribution of an
article and the browsing process may be carried out by using an account of his or her
own. Furthermore, in the case when a store user contributes an advertisement added
article, an advertisement of himself or herself may be added together therewith, or an
10 advertisement utilization privilege (coupon or the like) of his or her own may be
simultaneously calculated and added.
[0058]
Next, referring to FIG. 8, the following description will explain the
contribution of an article in the advertisement information sharing system in the
15 present embodiment.
[0059]
The user first logs in the advertisement information sharing server 1 by using
the user terminal 3, and based upon his or her authority, obtains an output of an
operable home page (hereinafter, referred to as his or her own page)(S1). This his or
20 her own page allows the user to carry out jobs in the general information shared
service, such as to brows at least articles about which the user has the authority to
brows, to contribute an article and to manage or the like relevance information with
the other users.
[0060]
25 By using a contribution form on his or her own page, the user inputs article
information, such as a title of an article to be desirably contributed and a text of the
24
article (S2). In this case, attached subjects such as photographs and moving pictures
as well as sound sources may also be inputted as the article information. Moreover,
in this case, it is desirably designed to make corrections on the past article and to add
attaching subjects at any time from his or her own page.
[00615 ]
In this case, the advertisement information sharing server 1 allows the user
corresponding to the contributor to determine whether or not an advertisement should
be inserted to the article (S3). In the case when no advertisement is inserted (NO in
S3), the inputted article information is recorded as an article having no advertisement
10 in the article data base (S7). In the case when an advertisement is inserted (YES in
S3), the sequence proceeds to S4.
[0062]
Upon inserting an advertisement, among pieces of advertisement information
recorded in the advertisement data base 22, advertisement information that is suitably
15 added to the article information is presented to the user by the advertisement
presentation means provided by the advertisement addition unit 14 and the analysis
unit 15 (S4). The advertisement information that is presented at this time is selected
based upon commodity specifying information corresponding to a keyword obtained
from the inputted article information, combined data of article information in the past
20 advertisement added article and the corresponding advertisement, or the like. In this
case, some candidates are presented to the user, and among them, an advertisement
that is coincident therewith may be selected by the user. Moreover, even when there
are advertisements relating to the same subject, different privilege contents and
acquiring conditions may be selected.
25 [0063]
In the case when advertisement information that is made coincident with the
25
contents of the article (YES in S4) is drawn and presented by the advertisement
presentation means, the resulting information is selected and added to the article
information (S6). In the case when no advertisement whose contents are coincident
with the article contents is drawn, the advertisement information to be added may be
retrieved by using commodity specifying information inputted by the contributor (S5)5 .
If the advertisement information has been drawn (YES in S5), the advertisement
information is added to the article information (S6). Even in this process, when the
advertisement information that is made coincident with the article contents is not
drawn or when the advertisement addition is cancelled (NO in S5), the article is
10 recorded in the article data base as a normal article without the addition of an
advertisement (S7), and the contribution job of the article is terminated.
[0064]
After addition of advertisement information to the article information in S6,
the resulting information is recorded in the article data base 21 as an advertisement
15 added article (S7).
[0065]
In accordance with the present embodiment, the user is allowed to freely
carry out a contribution of an advertisement added article easily. Thus, without the
necessity of opening of an individual home page, learning as to how to insert an
20 affiliate advertisement, individual contracts or the like with an advertising company or
the like that have been required in the past, it becomes possible to easily carry out the
advertisement publication easily. For this reason, the advertisement publication by
individual persons can be generally carried out and the effect for accelerating the
advertisement publication can be expected.
25 [0066]
Since the user is allowed to simultaneously view the contribution made by an
26
individual person and the advertisement, it is possible to allow the user to review the
advertised commodity and also to provide an information sharing system that mainly
carries out information exchange to the user.
[0067]
Moreover, by installing an advertisement presentation means fo5 r
automatically selecting an advertisement suitable for an article, the load of the user
required for selecting an advertisement can be reduced and the user is allowed to
easily contribute an advertisement added article. The advertisement presentation
means is not necessarily required to be installed. However, in the case when no
10 advertisement presentation means is installed, since the contributor needs to carry out
jobs for selecting a target advertisement among a large number of advertisements, this
case is not so preferable.
[0068]

15 Referring to FIG. 9, the following description will explain an acquiring
process of a contribution privilege of an advertisement in accordance with the present
embodiment. Additionally, in embodiment 2, those constituent elements that are the
same as those of the aforementioned embodiment are indicated by the same reference
numerals, and the description thereof is simplified.
20 [0069]
The embodiment 2 relates to a job on the advertisement information sharing
server 1 after the contribution of an article in embodiment 1. In S11, it is determined
whether or not an advertisement is added to the article. In the case of the article
recorded in the article data base 21 with an advertisement added thereto (YES in S11),
25 the user (contributor) who has given the contribution is allowed to have an added
privilege to the privilege information by the privilege control unit 16 (S12). In this
27
case, the privilege refers to a point in a point service system, a coupon or the like
relating to commodities provided by the advertiser.
[0070]
In the case of an article recorded in the article data base 21 with no
advertisement added thereto (NO in S8), advertisement information suitable for th5 e
article is drawn by the analysis unit 15, and added thereto (S13). Thus, even in the
case when no advertisement suitable for the article information is present at the time
of the contribution of the article, upon registering an advertisement suitable for the
article information, the advertisement is added to an article suitable for the
10 advertisement. The drawing process of the advertisement by the analysis unit 15 is
carried out by using the article information of the article and the commodity
specifying information relating to the advertisement.
[0071]
In the case when an advertisement suitable for the article is newly added
15 thereto (YES in S13), the article with the advertisement added thereto is allowed to
form an advertisement added article and recorded in the data base (S14). When no
advertisement suitable for the article is added (NO in S13), the sequence is terminated
without the addition of any advertisement.
[0072]
20 To the contributor of the article with an advertisement newly added thereto
and recorded in S14, a contribution privilege of the advertisement is added (S12).
The user with the privilege additionally given is allowed to utilize the privilege during
a utilization available period determined by the advertiser (S15).
[0073]
25 The utilization available period of the privilege may be started immediately
after the addition of the privilege, or may be made available after a lapse of a fixed
28
period of time. These are desirably determined preliminarily, and may be made
confirmable by the contributor upon addition of an advertisement.
[0074]
In accordance with the present embodiment, since an advertisement is
additionally attached to a contributed article, the user is allowed to obtain a privilege5 .
Since the privilege can be obtained by a contribution, the user can expect to have an
effect for positively publishing an advertisement added article and a higher
propagation of the advertisement contents. To the addition point of the contribution
privilege relating to the same advertisement, the limitation of the number of times may
10 be determined.
[0075]

Referring to FIG. 10, the following description will explain an acquiring
method for a utilization privilege of an advertisement in the present embodiment.
15 Additionally, in embodiment 2, those constituent elements that are basically the same
as those of embodiment 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals, and the
description thereof will be simplified.
[0076]
First, the user logs in the advertisement information sharing server 1 by using
20 the user terminal 3 of himself or herself, and obtains an output of his or her own page
(S21). This log-in process is not necessarily required, and the collation may be
executed without the log-in process. Moreover, advertisement specifying
information for use in carrying out the collation is inputted to a collation form (S22).
This form allows the user to carry out the collation (hereinafter, referred to as a
25 collation utilizing person) to input the user information (hereinafter, referred to as
collation utilizing person information) to the advertisement information sharing server
29
1 in combination with the advertisement specifying information.
[0077]
The advertisement specifying information to be inputted in this case refers to
information for allowing the user to specify an object advertisement, which can be
obtained at a predetermined timing. For example, after purchasing a commodity i5 n
an actual store described in the advertisement information, the information is given to
the user, or issued when the user has pre-ordered a commodity inserted in the
advertisement information through a Web site.
[0078]
10 In the present embodiment, the input of information for use in collation is
carried out by the user terminal 3; however, the input of the collation user information
and advertisement specifying information may be carried out by a store terminal 4
prepared in an actual store or the like. As the input method for the advertisement
specifying information, in addition to the input of the user who is the collation user
15 himself or herself or the code input to the terminal by a store clerk of the
advertisement store, a reading operation by barcodes using an image capturing unit of
the user terminal 3, a method for use in a non-contact IC, a method for utilizing a
high-frequency signal using a sound collecting unit or the like may also be used.
[0079]
20 The advertisement information sharing server 1, which has received the
collation user information and the advertisement specifying information, draws and
obtains the browsing history information of its collation user from the browsing data
base 23 (S33). In the browsing history information, at least the contributor
information and advertisement specifying information relating to the advertisement
25 added article that have been browsed by the user are described.
[0080]
30
By using the collation unit 12, advertisement specifying information inputted
to the user terminal 3 is collated with advertisement specifying information described
in the browsing history information acquired in step S13. In the case when these
pieces of information are the same, the authentication can be obtained (YES in S24).
If no authentication can be obtained (NO in S24), the advertisement specifyin5 g
information is re-inputted in S22. The result of the collation is outputted to the user
terminal 3 of the collation user by the output unit 17.
[0081]
In the case when the authentication is obtained, the privilege control unit 16
10 adds an advertisement utilization privilege to the privilege information of the collation
utilization person and the contributor of the advertisement added article whose
advertisement has been utilized (S25).
[0082]
The privilege control unit 16, which records and controls the user’s privilege
15 information, is designed such that by the end of a predetermined period, the privilege
that has been added and increased to the corresponding user is distributed in a manner
so as to be used by the corresponding user (S26). For example, during a campaign
period, points are counted and added by the privilege utilization, and at the time of the
termination of the campaign, privileges obtained by the user during the campaign
20 period can be distributed in a manner so as to be used. The usable period or the like
of the points may be freely determined by the advertiser. For example, immediately
after the addition of the privilege, the utilization thereof may be started, or the
utilization thereof may be limited to a fixed period of time, or may be started after the
end of a termination of a fixed period.
25 [0083]
The present embodiment is designed such that even those users who have not
31
received privileges by the utilization of advertisements can receive such privileges.
Therefore, the advertisement utilization by even those readers of articles who have
been passive in the utilization can be more activated. Since benefits to the
contributors are more enhanced by activating the advertisement utilization of the
readers, the effect for more positively contributing advertisement added articles can b5 e
expected. As described above, an advertisement contribution and utilization cycle
that are beneficial to all the three parties, that is, the user of advertisements, the
contributor and the advertiser thereof, can be formed.
[0084]
10 Moreover, in the information sharing service, those users having mutual
relational factors tend to have some relationships such as hobbies, ages, areas, life
environments, etc., in the actual life as well as in the tastes in many cases.
Depending on deviations of user’s characteristics for each of such groups, by adding
tastes of users for browsing the advertisement, the presentation of the advertisement is
15 given more directly. Thus, the effect of increasing the utilization rate of the
advertisement can be expected.
[0085]

Next, referring to FIG. 11, the following description will explain a modified
20 example of an article display method depending on the advertisement utilization in the
present embodiment. Additionally, in embodiment 4, those constituent elements that
are the same as those of the other embodiments are indicated by the same reference
numerals, and the description thereof is simplified.
[0086]
25 The user who has logged in the advertisement information sharing server 1
carries out an output request of a selected article onto the advertisement information
32
sharing server 1 (S31). The advertisement information sharing server 1 obtains the
advertisement utilization information of the user relating to the browsing request from
the user information 20a (S32).
[0087]
The user’s advertisement utilization information, which includes informatio5 n
relating to browsing and utilization of advertisements by the user, is such information
as to be used for classifying individual users depending on advertisement utilization
degrees. Moreover, based upon the classification, the display method of
advertisements in an advertisement added article to be displayed on each of the users
10 is altered. In the present embodiment, as the advertisement utilization information,
an accessing rate to the advertisement is utilized. The accessing rate to the
advertisement is defined as a rate obtained by dividing the number of accesses to the
advertisement by the number of browsing sessions of the advertisement added article.
The accessing rate used in this case is one example for use in classifying the
15 advertisement utilization information, and of course, the classification may be carried
out by using another method other than this.
[0088]
In the case when the accessing rate to the advertisement is 50% or more (YES
in step S33), the user’s interest with the advertisement is considered to be high to a
20 certain degree. Therefore, the advertisement is placed on the upper side of the article
(S34), and displayed so as to soon become conspicuous to the user’s eyes. Thereafter,
the sequence proceeds to S36.
[0089]
In the case when the probability of opening the advertisement is less than
25 50% (NO in step S33), the interest in the advertisement is considered to be not so high.
Therefore, the portion relating to the advertisement utilization privilege to be
33
displayed on the article is displayed with its area made larger (S35) so as to make the
privilege contents conspicuous to the user’s eyes. Thereafter, the sequence proceeds
to step S38 where the output of the advertisement added article is carried out onto the
user’s terminal 3 relating to the output request of the user.
[00905 ]
In the case when the accessing rate to the advert isement is 80% or
more (YES in S36), the interest in the advert isement is considered to be
very high. Therefore, another related advert isement is added to the
advert isement added art icle that has been requested for i ts output , and
10 displayed thereon (S37). Thereafter, the sequence proceeds to step S38
where the output of the advert isement added art icle including the added
advert isement is car ried out onto the user terminal 3 relat ing to the
output request of the user.
[0091]
15 In the case when the accessing rate to the advert isement is f rom
50% or more to 80% or less (NO in S36), an advert isement added art icle
wi th an advert isement disposed on the upper side of the art icle is
output ted to the user terminal 3 of the user who has carried out the
output request (S28).
20 [0092]
In accordance wi th the present embodiment , advert isements that
have been presented to users in a uniform mode up to now may be al tered
and displayed depending on each of the users so that an effect for
accelerat ing the user ’s advert isement ut i l izat ion can be expected.
25 [0093]
For the user who does not ut i l ize advert isements posi t ively, the
34
user’s interest in advert isements is raised by emphasizing the privi lege,
and for the user who posi t ively ut i l izes advert isements, by present ing
other related advert isements addi t ional ly, an effect for accelerat ing the
ut i l izat ion of advert isements by the users can be expected. Moreover,
by recording the user’s commodi ty taste, the resul t ing taste may b5 e
ut i l ized for the display method of advert isements.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
[0094]
It becomes possible to operate an informat ion sharing system that
10 al lows cont ribut ion and browsing of advert isement informat ion to be
posi t ively car ried out wi th high usabi l i ty of the advert isement .
DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0095]
1 advert isement informat ion sharing server
15 10 user authent icat ion uni t
11 browsing uni t
12 col lat ion uni t
13 contribut ion uni t
14 advert isement addi t ion uni t
20 15 analysis uni t
16 privi lege control uni t
17 output uni t
2 data base
20 user data base
25 20a user informat ion table
20b store informat ion table
35
21 art icle data base
22 advert isement data base
23 browser data base
3 user terminal
4 store termina5 l
100 CPU
101 memory
102 communicat ion device
103 input /output device
10 104 storage device
15
20
25
36
We Claim:
1. An advert isement informat ion sharing system comprising:
a cont ributor terminal for output t ing an art icle wi th an
advert isement added thereto;
a user terminal for output t ing user informat ion; an5 d
an advert isement informat ion sharing server const i tuted so as to
be communicable wi th the terminals thereof,
wherein the advert isement informat ion sharing server
records browsing history informat ion having contributor informat ion of
10 an advert isement added art icle that is publ ished to users having relevant
informat ion indicat ing connect ions between the contributor and a user,
and browsed by the user and advert isement speci fying informat ion for
specifying an advert isement added to the advert isement added art icle;
wherein the advert isement informat ion sharing server comprises a
15 manuscript publ icat ion means which adds the advert isement informat ion
relat ing to the advert isement target to the art icle informat ion containing
the contents relat ing to the advert isement target input ted from the
contributor terminal so as to record the resulting information as an advertisement
added article; a history collation means for carrying out a collating process with the
20 browsing history information of the user, by utilizing the advertisement specifying
information inputted in association with the user information; and an addition means
in which when the authentication is confirmed by the history collation means, an
advertisement utilization privilege is added to the privilege information of the user and
the contributor described in the browsing history information, and
25 wherein the advertisement specifying information is made associated with the
user information in a corresponding store presented based upon the advertisement
37
information of the target advertisement added article, and outputted to the
advertisement information sharing server in association with the user information from
the user terminal or a store terminal installed in the corresponding store.
2. The advert isement informat ion sharing system according to clai5 m
1, wherein the advertisement information sharing server records advertisement
usability of each of the users, and based upon the advertisement usability, determines
the display method of the advertisement in an article.
10 3. The advertisement information sharing system according to claim 1 or claim
2, wherein the advertisement information sharing server comprises a privilege delivery
means that delivers a privilege added by the addition means to the user at a desired
timing so as to be utilized.
15 4. The advertisement information sharing system according to any one of claims
1 to 3, wherein the advertisement information comprises positional information of a
store and a recommendation means which selects advertisement information or an
advertisement added article relating to stores located on the periphery at a desired
point on a map specified by the user terminal, and recommends the contribution of the
20 advertisement added article or the browsing thereof.
5. The advertisement information sharing system according to any one of claims
1 to 4, wherein the addition means adds a contribution privilege to the privilege
information of the contributor who has used the manuscript publication means.
25
6. The advertisement information sharing system according to any one of claims
38
1 to 5, wherein the addition means adds a browsing privilege to the privilege
information of the reader who has browsed the advertisement added article.
7. The advertisement information sharing system according to any one of claims
1 to 6, wherein the advertisement information sharing sever allows the user himself o5 r
herself to form an advertisement and to publish the advertisement.
8. The advertisement information sharing system according to any one of claims
1 to 7, wherein the advertisement information sharing server further comprises:
10 article information analysis means for analyzing article information inputted
from the user terminal so as to acquire target specifying information indicating an
advertisement target described in the article.
9. The advertisement information sharing system according to claim 8, wherein
15 the article information analysis means further comprises:
warning means that gives a warning to a contributor when inputted article
information includes a contribution non-recommendation subject such as personal
information or the like.
20 10. The advertisement information sharing system according to claim 8 or 9,
wherein the article information sharing server further comprises:
automatic addition means which automatically adds an advertisement to the
recorded article by using the target specifying information and records the resulting
data as an advertisement added article.
25
11. The advertisement information sharing system according to claim 8 or 9,
39
wherein the advertisement information sharing server further comprises:
advertisement presentation means which selects advertisement information to
be added to article information inputted from a user terminal by using the target
specifying information, and presents the resulting information to the contributor in a
manner so as to be selectable5 .
12. The advertisement information sharing system according to any one of claims
8 to 11, wherein the advertisement information sharing server further comprises:
advertisement collation means for carrying out a collation process on a
10 relationship between the inputted article information and advertisement information
added to the article information by using the target specifying information.
13. An advertisement information sharing server recording browsing history
informat ion having contributor informat ion of an advert isement added
15 art icle that is publ ished to users having relevant informat ion indicat ing
connect ions between the contributor and a user, and browsed by the user
and advert isement specifying informat ion for speci fying an
advert isement added to the advert isement added art icle;
comprising:
20 a manuscript publ icat ion means which adds the advert isement
informat ion relat ing to the advert isement target to the art icle
informat ion containing the contents relat ing to the advert isement target
input ted from the contributor terminal so as to record the resulting information
as an advertisement added article;
25 a history collation means for carrying out a collating process with the
browsing history information of the user, by utilizing the advertisement specifying
40
information inputted in association with the user information; and
an addition means in which when the authentication is confirmed by the
history collation means, an advertisement utilization privilege is added to the privilege
information of the user and the contributor described in the browsing history
information5 ,
wherein the advertisement specifying information is associated with the user
information in a corresponding store presented based upon the advertisement
information of the target advertisement added article, and inputted in association with
the user information from the user terminal or a store terminal installed in the
10 corresponding store.
14. An advertisement information sharing program for allowing a computer to
carry out a step of:
recording browsing history information having advertisement specifying
15 information that is published to users having relevant information indicating
connections between a contributor and a user, and specifies contributor information of
the advertisement added article browsed by the users and the advertisement added to
the advertisement added article;
a step of adding the advertisement information relating to the advertisement
20 target to the article information containing the contents relating to the advertisement
target inputted from the contributor terminal and of recording the information as the
advertisement added article;
a step of carrying out a collating process with the browsing history
information of the user, by utilizing the advertisement specifying information inputted
25 in association with the user information; and
a step in which when the authentication is confirmed by the history collation
41
means, an advertisement utilization privilege is added to the privilege information of
the user and the contributor described in the browsing history information,
wherein the advertisement specifying information is associated with the user
information in a corresponding store presented based upon the advertisement
information of the target advertisement added article, and inputted in association wit5 h
the user information from the user terminal or a store terminal installed in the
corresponding store.