JP2009087154A - Information distribution device, information distribution system and information distribution method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information distribution device, an information distribution system, and an information distribution method for distributing many contents which are highly effective to a user. <P>SOLUTION: The information distribution server 50 for distributing to a mobile communication terminal, content information to be provided from an information providing site is provided with: a personal history/taste DB21, a personal profile DB 22, a personal schedule DB 23, and a personal current location DB 24 in which the user information of a user who uses the mobile communication terminal is stored; a rule table DB25 in which a recommend rule corresponding to a category to which content information is belonging is stored; and a recommend rule matching part 27 for comparing the user information with the recommend rule, and for judging whether or not the user information and the recommend rule are matched. When it is judged that the user information and the recommend rule are matched, the information distribution server 50 distributes content information of the number of pieces corresponding to the priority of the category about the content information included in the category corresponding to the recommend rule. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information distribution apparatus, an information distribution system, and an information distribution method for distributing content information provided from an information providing site to a communication terminal.

  In recent years, accessing content information provided on the Internet by using a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone has been widely performed. Also, the information provider pushes content information such as news, weather forecasts, entertainment, sports, fortune-telling, recommended events, shop information, etc. to the mobile communication terminal (that is, automatically distributes to the standby screen of the mobile communication terminal) ) Services are also widely available.

In such an information distribution service, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a future selection tendency is analyzed from an access history of information by a user, and the interest and preference of each user are satisfied. “Recommendation technology” that recommends content information and products that are considered to have become popular. “Behavioral targeting technology” is attracting attention as a next-generation recommendation technology. In the behavioral targeting technology, an interest or preference that is not manifested in the user's consciousness is estimated from the access history of the information by the user, and content is distributed to the user based on it. For this reason, regardless of what information the user is accessing, it is possible to distribute content that is classified into categories that are considered to depend on the user's interests and preferences.
JP 2004-94383 A

By the way, when recommending content information to a user who uses a mobile communication terminal, the user often browses the content information displayed on the mobile communication terminal while taking some action. In such a case, even if the content information distributed to the mobile communication terminal is content according to the user's interests and preferences, if the content information is irrelevant to the user's current situation and behavior, or the most recent schedule The effect of the recommended content information is low and may not be highly effective information for the user.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an information distribution apparatus, an information distribution system, and an information distribution method that can distribute a large amount of content that is highly effective for the user. To do.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an information distribution apparatus according to claim 1 is an information distribution apparatus that distributes content information including at least one of content provided from an information providing site or an outline of the content to a communication terminal. User information storage means for storing user information of users who use the communication terminal (for example, personal history / preference DB 21, personal profile DB 22, personal schedule DB 23 and personal current location DB 24 in FIG. 4), and a category to which the content information belongs A rule storage unit (for example, the rule table DB 25 in FIG. 4) that stores a recommendation rule corresponding to the user information, the user information stored in the user information storage unit, and the recommendation rule stored in the rule storage unit are compared. Whether the user information and the recommendation rule match When the determination unit (for example, the recommendation rule matching unit 27 in FIG. 4) and the determination unit determine that the user information and the recommendation rule match, the category corresponding to the recommendation rule is determined. Distribution means (for example, the distribution number setting unit 28, the content acquisition unit 29, and the content transmission unit 31 in FIG. 4) that distributes the number of pieces of content information corresponding to the priority of the category with respect to the content information included. It is characterized by that. Here, “content” refers to information content provided via a network or the like, and is delivered to a communication terminal in one or a combination of still images, moving images, sounds, and texts. The Examples of content include weather information, map information, news information, or advertisement information. Further, the “content outline” is information including, for example, a brief description of the content and a URL (Universal Resource Locator) for accessing an information providing site that provides the content. “User information” is, for example, information related to user preferences, attributes, status, current location, and the like. The “recommendation rule” is a condition for executing a recommendation process (that is, distribution of content information). According to the information distribution apparatus of claim 1, the priority of the category (that is, the content group) to which the content information determined by the determination unit as matching the user's preference, attribute, situation, etc. belongs It is delivered to the communication terminal at a rate according to the. Accordingly, it is possible to distribute a large amount of content information that is highly effective for the user from among a plurality of content information.

  The information distribution apparatus according to claim 2 is the information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distribution unit includes priorities given in advance to the plurality of categories listed as distribution candidates based on a determination result by the determination unit. The content information distribution number for each category is determined based on the total distribution number set in advance for the content information, and the number of content information determined for each category is distributed. With such a configuration, among a plurality of categories listed as distribution candidates, a large amount of content information included in a category with high priority is distributed, and a small amount of content information included in a category with low priority is distributed. . That is, the content information is distributed at a ratio according to the priority of each category. Accordingly, even when the number of content information distributions per time is limited, a large amount of content information that is highly effective for the user can be distributed within the limited number.

  The information distribution device according to claim 3 is the information distribution device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the user information includes information regarding a current location of the communication terminal, and the user information including the information regarding the current location; When the determination unit determines that the recommendation rule matches, the distribution unit distributes the number of pieces of content information according to the priority of the category to which the content information belongs with respect to the content information related to the current location. It is characterized by doing. With such a configuration, content information related to the current location of the user is distributed to the communication terminal at a rate corresponding to the priority of the category. Accordingly, it is possible to distribute a large amount of highly effective content information that matches the current behavior and situation of the user. For example, when the user's current location is Yokohama, a lot of advertisement contents of a shop in Yokohama, advertisement contents of an exhibition held in Yokohama can be distributed.

  The information distribution apparatus according to claim 4 is the information distribution apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the priority of a category to which the content information belongs is adjusted based on a past browsing state of the content information by the user. Adjusting means (for example, the delivery number setting unit 28 and the matching history DB 32 in FIG. 7) is further provided. With such a configuration, the priority is adjusted in accordance with the user's preference, attribute, situation, etc., so that it is possible to distribute more content information highly effective for the user.

  An information distribution system according to claim 5, comprising: a communication terminal; and an information distribution apparatus that distributes content information including at least one of content provided from an information providing site or an outline of the content to the communication terminal. The information distribution device includes user information storage means for storing user information of a user who uses the communication terminal, rule storage means for storing a recommendation rule corresponding to a category to which the content information belongs, and the user A determination unit that compares the user information stored in the information storage unit with the recommendation rule stored in the rule storage unit to determine whether the user information and the recommendation rule match; When it is determined by the determination means that the user information matches the recommendation rule Distribution means for distributing the number of pieces of content information corresponding to the priority of the category for the content information included in the category corresponding to the recommendation rule. Receiving means for receiving content information; and display means for displaying the content information received by the receiving means. With such a configuration, the content information determined to match the user's preference, attribute, situation, etc., is transferred from the information distribution device to the communication terminal at a rate according to the priority of the category to which the content information belongs. be delivered. The content information distributed to the communication terminal is displayed by the display means of the communication terminal. Therefore, the user can receive a large amount of highly effective content information that matches his preference and attributes.

  The information distribution method according to claim 6 is an information distribution method for distributing content information including at least one of content provided from an information providing site or an outline of the content to a communication terminal, and for a user using the communication terminal. Comparing the user information with a recommendation rule corresponding to a category to which the content information belongs, and determining whether the user information and the recommendation rule match; and in the determination step, the user information Distributing the content information corresponding to the priority of the category for the content information included in the category corresponding to the recommendation rule when it is determined that the recommendation rule matches, So that the content information can be viewed on the communication terminal. Characterized in that was. According to such a method, the user can receive a large amount of highly effective content information that matches his preference and attributes.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to distribute a large amount of content that is highly effective for the user.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that, in the description of the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same configuration or the steps for performing the same processing, and duplicate descriptions thereof are omitted.
(1) First embodiment [Overall configuration example of information distribution system]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information distribution system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the information distribution system 100 includes, for example, a mobile communication terminal 10, an information distribution server 50 that distributes content information to a user who uses the mobile communication terminal 10, and the mobile communication terminal 10 and the information distribution server 50. And between the mobile communication terminal 10 and the information providing site 90 are a radio base station 20, a base station control device 30, an exchange 40, and the like. Here, the radio base station 20 is a facility that exchanges radio signals with the mobile communication terminal 10. The base station control device 30 is a device that controls a plurality of radio base stations 20. The exchange 40 is a device that authenticates the connection of the mobile communication terminal 10 to the communication network.

  In addition, a home location register (hereinafter, HLR) 45 is connected to the exchange 40. The HLR 45 is a device that registers a user ID and location information of the mobile communication terminal 10 in association with each other. With such a configuration, the mobile communication terminal 10 and the information distribution server 50 can transmit / receive information to / from each other via a communication network. The user ID is an identification code that is individually assigned to the mobile communication terminal 10 owned by the user, and is expressed by a combination of alphabets and numbers, for example. By using the user ID, one terminal can be identified from among a myriad of mobile communication terminals 10.

  On the other hand, the information providing site 90 is a site that provides content information such as weather information, map information, news information, or shop advertisement information. These pieces of content information are provided in one or a combination of still images, moving images, sounds, texts, and the like. The information providing site 90 is configured by a server or the like connected to a communication network. As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing site 90 is connected to the information distribution server 50, and content information is transmitted from the information providing site 90 to the information distribution server 50.

Here, the content information transmitted to the information distribution server 50 is the content main body including the details such as the weather information, the map information, the news information or the advertisement information of the shop, or the outline of the content. The outline of the content includes a brief description of the content and a URL for accessing an information providing site that provides the content.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the mobile communication terminal 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile communication terminal 10 includes hardware such as a CPU 1, a RAM 2, a ROM 3, an operation unit 4, a wireless communication unit 5, a display 6, and an antenna 7. The operation unit 4 includes, for example, 10 keys and operation buttons arranged on the surface of the housing of the mobile communication terminal 10.

[Configuration example of information distribution server 50]
Next, the information distribution server 50 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described using FIG. 3 and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the information distribution server 50.
As shown in FIG. 3, the information distribution server 50 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12 and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 13, a network card as a data transmission / reception device, and the like. Communication module 14, an auxiliary storage device 15 such as a hard disk, an input device 16 such as a keyboard for inputting information to the information distribution server 50, an output device 17 including a monitor for outputting information, etc. It is comprised as a computer provided with hardware. By operating these components, the functions shown in FIG. 4 of the information distribution server 50 are exhibited.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the information distribution server 50 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the information distribution server 50 includes a personal history / preference database (hereinafter referred to as DB) 21, a personal profile DB 22, a personal schedule DB 23, a personal current location DB 24, a rule table DB 25, and a content table DB 26. A recommendation rule matching unit 27, a distribution number setting unit 28, a content acquisition unit 29, a content acquisition unit 29, and a content transmission unit 31.

  The personal history / preference DB 21 is a DB that holds a user's access history to the information providing site 90, content information, purchase history of articles, and the like in association with a user ID. For example, when a user purchases bread using the mobile communication terminal 10 (see FIG. 1), accesses a bakery sales site, or accesses content information related to a bakery, these The bread purchase history and access history are stored in the personal history / preference DB 21 in association with the user ID. And when performing the recommendation process mentioned later with respect to this user, the information "I like bread" is extracted from the said log | history stored in personal log | history DB21.

  The personal profile DB 22 is a DB that holds user profile information in association with user IDs. For example, when the user inputs that his / her own mobile communication terminal 10 is “living alone” and “the nearest station is Yokohama”, the information is distributed from the mobile communication terminal 10. It is transmitted to the server 50 and stored in the personal profile DB 22 in association with the user ID. And when performing the recommendation process mentioned later with respect to this user, information "living alone" and "home nearest station is Yokohama" are extracted from personal profile DB22.

  The personal schedule DB 23 is a DB that holds information related to a user's schedule in association with a user ID. For example, when the user inputs “going to Italy travel from August 3rd to 15th, 2007” in the schedule column of the mobile communication terminal 10 owned by the user, this information is transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 10 to the information distribution server. 50 and stored in the personal schedule DB 23 in association with the user ID. And when performing the recommendation process mentioned later with respect to this user, the information "I go to Italy travel from August 3rd to 15th, 2007" is extracted from personal schedule DB23.

  The personal current location DB 24 is a DB that holds information on the current location of the mobile communication terminal 10 (hereinafter, current location information). For example, the location information recorded in the HLR 45 (see FIG. 1) is transmitted to the information distribution server 50 as needed, and the transmitted location information is stored in the personal location DB 24 in association with the user ID. Specifically, when the user carrying the mobile communication terminal 10 is in Yokohama, this location information (current location: Yokohama) is recorded in the HLR 45. Then, the location information is transmitted from the HLR 45 to the mobile communication terminal 10 and stored in the personal current location DB 24 in association with the user ID. And when performing the recommendation process mentioned later with respect to this user, information "present location: Yokohama" is extracted from personal present location DB24.

  The location position information is preferably transmitted from the HLR 45 to the information distribution server 50 every time the radio base station 20 (see FIG. 1) that communicates with the mobile communication terminal 10 by radio is switched. By always keeping the current location information in the personal location DB 24 as the latest information, it is possible to more accurately grasp the current location of the user when performing a recommendation process described later, and to transmit content information suitable for the current location. Become.

  When the mobile communication terminal 10 has a GPS (Global Positioning System) function, GPS location information is transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 10 to the information distribution server 50 at regular intervals (or a user's own terminal operation). You may make it do. In this case, position information by GPS is stored in the personal current location DB 24 in association with the user ID. Since position information based on GPS is more accurate than position information based on communication with the radio base station 20, content information with high effectiveness adapted to the user's current location is used when performing recommendation processing described later. It is possible to send.

The rule table DB 25 is a DB that holds one or more recommendation rules to be described later. In addition, the rule table DB 25 may hold information on priorities described later and information on the total number of distributions of content information. The input of the recommendation rule etc. with respect to rule table DB25 is performed by the input device 16 shown, for example in FIG.
The content table DB 26 is a DB that holds content information. The content information stored in the content table DB 26 is at least one of a content main body including details such as weather information, map information, news information, or advertisement information of a shop, or an outline of these contents.

  The recommendation rule matching unit 27 extracts user information such as a user's history, profile, schedule, current value, and the like from the personal history / preference DB 21, personal profile DB 22, personal schedule DB 23, and personal current location DB 24. The function has a function of comparing the recommendation rules stored in the rule table DB 25 to determine whether or not the user information and the recommendation rules match (that is, match).

  When the recommendation rule matching unit 27 determines that the user information matches the recommendation rule, the distribution number setting unit 28 sets a content category corresponding to the matched recommendation rule (hereinafter simply referred to as a category as a distribution candidate). A function for setting (that is, assigning) the number of distributions of content information for each category based on the priorities given in advance for the categories listed as distribution candidates and the total number of distributions set in advance for content information Have

  The content acquisition unit 29 has a function of acquiring, from the content table DB 26, the number of content information set for each category by the distribution number setting unit 28 among the content information of the categories listed as distribution candidates. The content transmission unit 31 has a function of transmitting the content information acquired by the content acquisition unit 29 to the mobile communication terminal 10 via the communication network.

  The information storage function of the personal history / preference DB 21, personal profile DB 22, personal schedule DB 23, personal current location DB 24, rule table DB 25, and content table DB 26 is provided by the auxiliary storage device 15 shown in FIG. 3, for example. The matching function of the recommendation rule matching unit 27 is performed by, for example, the CPU 11, the RAM 12, and the ROM 13 illustrated in FIG. For example, a program for finding content information that matches user information with reference to the user information stored in the personal history / preference DB 21, personal profile DB 22, personal schedule DB 23, and personal current location DB 24 (ie, executing collaborative filtering) Are stored in the RAM 12 and the ROM 13, and this program is executed by arithmetic processing performed by the CPU 11. Further, the distribution number assignment function of the distribution number setting unit 28 is executed by, for example, arithmetic processing performed by the CPU 11. Further, the content information acquisition function of the content acquisition unit 29 is performed by, for example, the CPU 11, RAM 12, and ROM 13, and the transmission function of content information by the content transmission unit 31 is performed by, for example, the communication module 14 illustrated in FIG.

[Recommendation Rules]
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a recommendation rule. As shown in FIG. 5, the recommendation rule includes, for example, information of “rule ID”, “preference discrimination rule”, “timing control rule”, “content category”, “delivery period”, and “priority”. The rule ID is an identification code assigned to each recommendation rule. The preference discrimination rule is a criterion for determining whether or not to execute the recommendation process, and is particularly a criterion regarding the user's preference / interest / attribute. The timing control rule is a criterion for determining whether or not to execute the recommendation process, and in particular, a criterion regarding the delivery timing. The distribution period is a period during which recommendation information can be distributed. The priority is the priority of the content category. For example, the higher the numerical value, the higher the priority. Note that the priority may vary depending on the distribution period of the content information. For example, for “those who plan to go to Italy this summer”, exhibition guides related to Italy tend to be more interested as they get closer to Italy (that is, summer). Therefore, when giving information about exhibitions related to Italy to "those who plan to go to Italy this summer", if the distribution period is spring, lower the priority of the information, and if the distribution period is summer The priority may be increased.

[Information distribution method using information distribution server 50]
Next, an information distribution method using the information distribution server 50 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an information distribution method using the information distribution server 50. Here, it is assumed that the content information is distributed in a push type, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 6, first, the information distribution server 50 acquires a user ID for identifying the mobile communication terminal 10 and information related to a scheduled date and time for distributing content information to the mobile communication terminal 10. (Step S1). Next, for the mobile communication terminal 10 corresponding to this user ID, various user information is extracted from the corresponding DB (step S2). That is, user information related to personal preferences and history is extracted from the personal history / preference DB 21, user information related to personal profiles is extracted from the personal profile DB 22, and user information related to personal schedules (location, date and time) is extracted from the personal schedule DB 23. The user information regarding the personal current location is extracted from the personal current location DB 24. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the information “I like bread” is extracted from the personal history / preference DB 21, and the information “Living alone” and “Home nearest station is Yokohama” are extracted from the personal profile DB 22. It is assumed that the information “going to Italy from August 3 to 15, 2007” is extracted from the personal schedule DB 23 and the information “current location: Yokohama” is extracted from the personal current location DB 24.

  Next, the recommendation rule matching unit 27 compares the user information extracted as described above with the recommendation rule shown in FIG. 5 and determines whether or not there is a match. Specifically, first, a preference discrimination rule and user information are matched (step S3), and it is determined whether or not the matching is successful (step S4). Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the preference determination rule corresponding to the rule ID: MAP0001 is “a person who lives alone and likes bread”. The preference determination rule corresponding to the rule ID: MAP0002 is “a person who is planning to go to Italy this summer”. Since these preference determination rules match the user information extracted from the personal history / preference DB 21, the personal profile DB 22, and the personal schedule DB 23, the recommendation rule matching unit 27 determines the matching success (Yes) in step S4. .

  In step S4, if any one of the plurality of recommendation rules stored in the rule table DB 25 matches the user information, it is determined that the matching is successful (Yes). If the recommendation rule matching unit 27 determines that the matching is unsuccessful (No) in step S4 or step S7 described later, the flowchart shown in FIG. In this case, for example, the number of pieces of content information not based on the priority is distributed to the mobile communication terminal 10.

  Next, the recommendation rule matching unit 27 reads the timing control rule mapped together with the matched preference determination rule (step S5). That is, the timing control rule corresponding to the rule ID that has been successfully matched with the preference determination rule is read. Then, the timing control rule and the user information are matched (step S6), and it is determined whether or not the matching is successful (step S7). Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the timing control rule corresponding to the rule ID: MAP0001 is “when getting off the nearest station at home on the way home of the company”. Further, the timing control rule corresponding to the rule ID: MAP0002 is “when getting off the train at Yokohama Station”. Since these timing control rules match the user information extracted from the personal profile DB 22 and the personal current location DB 24, the recommendation rule matching unit 27 determines that the matching is successful (Yes) in step S7. In step S7, if any one of the plurality of recommendation rules stored in the rule table DB 25 matches the user information, it is determined that the matching is successful (Yes).

  Next, the number-of-delivery setting unit 28 sets the content categories “bakers doing until late” and “exhibitions related to Italy” corresponding to the rule IDs successfully matched in steps S4 and S7, for example, MAP0001 and MAP0002. Is identified as a distribution candidate for the user ID: U0001 (step S8). In addition, the delivery number setting unit 28 acquires information on the priority given in advance to the specified content category from, for example, the rule table DB 25 (step S9).

  Then, the distribution number setting unit 28 assigns the number of content information distributions for each content category based on the priority of the content category specified as the distribution candidate and the total number of distributions set in advance for the content information (step S10). ). For example, when the number of distributions of content information to the mobile communication terminal 10 is 20 per time and the scheduled distribution date is July 7, 2007, as shown in FIG. The priority of “the bakery” is 0.6, and the priority of the content category “Guide to exhibitions related to Italy” is 0.4. Accordingly, in this step S9, the number of distributions of the content information included in the “bakers who are doing until late” is set to 12 (= 20 × {0.6 ÷ (0.6 + 0.4)}). The number of distributions of content information included in “Guide to exhibitions related to Italy” is determined to be 8 (= 20 × {0.4 ÷ (0.6 + 0.4)}).

  Next, the content acquisition unit 29 acquires the number of pieces of content information determined for each content category from the content table DB 26 (step S11). If the content information stored in the content table DB 26 is a content body including details about a bakery or an exhibition, the content acquisition unit 29 uses the content body including the details as content information. get. Further, when the content information stored in the content table DB 26 is an outline regarding the content, the content acquisition unit 29 acquires the outline of the content as content information.

  Next, the content transmission unit 31 transmits the content information acquired by the content acquisition unit 29 to the mobile communication terminal 10 (step 12). As a result, 12 pieces of content information related to “bakers who are doing until late” and 8 pieces of content information related to “Guide to exhibitions related to Italy” are distributed to the mobile communication terminal 10, respectively. When the distributed content information is a content body including details, the user can immediately see the detailed information on the display 6 of the mobile communication terminal 10. Further, when the distributed content information is an outline of the content, the interested content information is selected from the content information, and the details are obtained by accessing the information providing site 90 that provides the selected information. The included content body can be downloaded.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the content category determined by the recommendation rule matching unit 27 as matching the user's preference, attribute, situation, etc. is listed as a delivery candidate. Of the contents listed as candidates for distribution, a large amount of content information included in the content category with high priority is distributed to the mobile communication terminal 10, and content information included in the content category with low priority is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal 10. Less delivered. That is, content information is distributed at a ratio according to the priority of each content category. Therefore, even when the number of distributions of content information per time is limited to 20 cases, for example, a large amount of content information highly effective for the user can be distributed within the limited number.

  Further, the user information to be compared with the recommendation rule includes the current location of the mobile communication terminal 10 (that is, the current location of the user who owns the terminal 10). Accordingly, it is possible to distribute a large amount of highly effective content information that matches the current behavior and situation of the user. For example, when the user's current location is Yokohama, a lot of advertisement contents of a shop in Yokohama, advertisement contents of an exhibition held in Yokohama can be distributed.

(2) Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, the information distribution server distributes content information at a ratio corresponding to the priority of the content category. However, in the present invention, the information distribution server uses the priority. May be adjusted based on the past successful matching history. In the second embodiment, this point will be described.

[Configuration Example of Information Distribution Server 60]
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the information distribution server 60 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the information distribution server 60 includes a personal history / preference database DB, a personal profile DB 22, a personal schedule DB 23, a personal current location DB 24, a rule table DB 25, a recommended rule matching unit 27, and the number of distributions. A setting unit 28, a content table DB 26, a content acquisition unit 29, and a content acquisition unit 29 are provided, and a matching history DB 32 is provided. Among these, the matching history DB 32 is a DB that holds past matching success histories by recommendation rule matching in association with user IDs. For example, as shown in FIG. 9 and a matching history table as shown in FIG. A simple browsing status table.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the matching history table. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the matching history table includes, for example, information on “user ID”, “rule ID”, “delivery date”, “browsing date”, “browsing status ID”, and “priority”. Among these, the delivery date and time is the date and time when the information delivery server 60 successfully matched in the past and delivered the content information. The browsing date is the date when the user browsed the content information distributed to the mobile communication terminal 10. When the content information distributed to the mobile communication terminal 10 is made in a state where it can be browsed by the user operating the operation unit 4 (see FIG. 2), a signal signifying that the mobile communication terminal 10 has browsed to the information distribution server 60 Is sent. The date and time when the information distribution server 60 receives this signal is held as the browsing date and time. The browsing status ID is an encoding of a user's reaction (that is, user action) to the distributed content information. The user action corresponding to this browsing status ID will be described with reference to FIG. The user ID, rule ID, and priority are as described in the first embodiment. Further, with respect to the priority in FIG. 8, the default value is an initial setting value, which means that adjustment based on the browsing status has not been made.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a browsing status table. As shown in FIG. 9, the browsing status table includes, for example, each information of “browsing status ID”, “user action”, and “evaluation point”. As shown in FIG. 9, the browsing status ID indicates a user action, and an evaluation point is set based on the content of the user action. As for the user action on the content information distributed to the mobile communication terminal 10, the higher the evaluation point is set as the user's interest is estimated to be higher. This evaluation point is used when adjusting the priority.

  The user actions described in FIG. 9 will be described in detail. The user action when the browsing status ID is S0001 is “do nothing”, and the user particularly reacts to the content information distributed to the mobile communication terminal 10. It means no. The user action when the browsing status ID is S0002 is “display detailed information”, and the user operates the operation unit 4 with respect to the content information distributed to the mobile communication terminal 10 to display the display 6 (FIG. 2). This means that the details of the content information are displayed in (Ref.). The user action when the browsing status ID is S0003 is “After S0002, browser activation for accessing the store information site”, and the user operates the operation unit 4 for the content information distributed to the mobile communication terminal 10. Means that they tried to access the store information site. Further, the user action when the browsing status ID is S0004 is “Map display after S0003”, and after the user accesses the store information site, the display unit 6 includes the store and its surroundings by operating the operation unit 4. Is displayed. Further, the user action when the browsing status ID is S0005 is “call after S0003,” meaning that the user has operated the operation unit 4 to call the store after accessing the store information site. . Further, when the browsing status ID is S0006, the user action is “transition to favorite registration screen after S0003”. After the user accesses the store information site, the operation unit 4 is operated to display the favorite registration screen on the display 6. It means that it was displayed. The user action when the browsing status ID is S0007 is “Registered as a favorite after S0003”, which means that the store information site is registered in the mobile communication terminal 10 as a favorite. This registration work is performed by the user operating the operation unit 4 of the mobile communication terminal 10.

[Information Distribution Method Using Information Distribution Server 60]
Subsequently, an information distribution process (that is, an information distribution method) executed in the information distribution system 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an information distribution method using the information distribution server 60. In FIG. 10, steps S1 to S9 and steps S10 to S12 have the same processing contents as steps S1 to S12 of FIG. 6 described in the first embodiment, and thus redundant description is omitted. .

  In FIG. 10, after specifying a content category as a distribution candidate (step S <b> 8), the distribution number setting unit 28 acquires information related to the matching history from the matching history DB 32. Here, the information regarding the matching history is, for example, the matching history table shown in FIG. 8 and the browsing status table shown in FIG. Then, the distribution number setting unit 28 determines whether or not there is a matching success history in the past for the content category specified as the distribution candidate (step S′1).

  For example, for the mobile communication terminal 10 with the user ID U0001, the matching history corresponding to “user ID: U0001, rule ID: MAP0001” when the rule ID of the recommendation rule successfully matched this time is MAP0001 and MAP0002. And a matching history corresponding to “user ID: U0001, rule ID is MAP0002” is searched from the matching history table shown in FIG. If a matching history is found, the process proceeds to step S′2, and if a matching history is not found, the process proceeds to step S10. Here, as shown in FIG. 8, since there are two corresponding matching histories, the process proceeds to step S′2.

  Next, the distribution number setting unit 28 matches the browsing status ID recorded in the matching history with respect to the content category that is the current distribution candidate and the existence of the matching history has been clarified, as shown in FIG. Get from. And the evaluation point corresponding to acquired browsing condition ID is acquired from the browsing condition table shown in FIG. For example, if the browsing status ID is S0001 in the matching history table, the evaluation point 0 is acquired. Further, when the browsing status ID is S0004 in the matching history table, the evaluation point 4 is acquired.

Next, the priorities of the content categories that are current distribution candidates and whose matching history has been clarified are adjusted based on the acquired evaluation points. The priority after adjustment is calculated by, for example, the following equation [1].
Priority = 1.1 ^P ... [1], P: Evaluation point However, when the evaluation point is 0, the user action is “do nothing”. Accordingly, at this time, the default value is used as it is without reflecting the matching history in the priority. When the evaluation point P is 4, the priority is 1.1 ⁴ ≈1.4. Therefore, in FIG. 5, the priority of the content category “bakery who is doing until late” corresponding to the rule ID: MAP0001 is 0.6 (default value), and the content category corresponding to the rule ID: MAP0002 “this year” The priority of those who plan to go to Italy in the summer is 1.4 (adjusted value) instead of 0.4.

  Note that the values of the base (that is, 1.1) and the index (that is, the evaluation points) in the formula [1] are merely examples, and these values may be arbitrarily set on the information distribution server 60 side. In addition, in FIG. 9, when a plurality of matching histories corresponding to “user ID: U0001, rule ID MAP0002” are found, for example, as the P value to be input in the expression [1], for example, the highest among the plurality of histories A large evaluation point value may be selected, or the latest evaluation point value may be selected. By such selection, it is possible to adjust the priority to an appropriate value.

  The subsequent steps are the same as the processes described in the first embodiment. That is, the distribution number setting unit 28 assigns the number of content information distributions for each content category based on the priority of the content category specified as the distribution candidate and the total number of distributions preset for the content information (step S10). ). The number of distributions of content information included in the content category “bakers who are doing until late” is, for example, 6 (= 20 × {0.6 ÷ (0.6 + 1.4)}). The number of distributions of the content information included in “the person who plans to go to Italy” is determined as 14 cases (= 20 × {1.4 ÷ (0.6 + 1.4)}), for example.

As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and among the plurality of categories, the priority of the category that matches the user's preference, attribute, situation, etc. Therefore, it is possible to distribute more content information highly effective for the user.
In the first and second embodiments described above, it is assumed that the information distribution server 50 distributes content information in a push type, for example. However, the information distribution method of the present invention is not limited to the push type. For example, it may be a pull type in which information is distributed by requesting content information from the mobile communication terminal 10. In the case of the pull type, in each step S1 of FIGS. 6 and 10, a user ID and a signal requesting distribution of content information are transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 10 to the information distribution server 50, and this signal is received. Thus, the information distribution server 50 starts the information distribution process.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information distribution system 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a mobile communication terminal 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of an information distribution server 50. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of an information distribution server 50. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a recommendation rule. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an information distribution method using the information distribution server 50. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of an information distribution server 60. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a matching history table. It is a figure which shows an example of a browsing condition table. 5 is a flowchart showing an information distribution method using the information distribution server 60.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... CPU, 2 ... RAM, 3 ... ROM, 4 ... Operation part, 5 ... Wireless communication part, 6 ... Display, 7 ... Antenna, 10 ... Mobile communication terminal, 11 ... CPU, 12 ... RAM, 13 ... ROM, 14 ... Communication module, 15 ... Auxiliary storage device, 16 ... Input device, 17 ... Output device, 20 ... Wireless base station, 21 ... Personal history / preference DB, 22 ... Personal profile, 23 ... Personal schedule DB, 24 ... Personal current location DB , 25 ... rule table DB, 26 ... content table, 30 ... base station control device, 32 ... matching history DB, 40 ... exchange, 45 ... HLR, 50 ... information distribution server (first embodiment), 60 ... information distribution server (2nd Embodiment), 90 ... Information provision site

Claims (6)

An information distribution device for distributing content information including at least one of content provided from an information providing site or an outline of the content to a communication terminal,
User information storage means for storing user information of a user who uses the communication terminal;
Rule storage means for storing a recommendation rule corresponding to the category to which the content information belongs;
A determination unit that compares the user information stored in the user information storage unit with the recommendation rule stored in the rule storage unit to determine whether the user information and the recommendation rule match; ,
When the determination unit determines that the user information matches the recommendation rule, the content information included in the category corresponding to the recommendation rule includes the number of content information corresponding to the priority of the category. An information distribution apparatus comprising: distribution means for distributing.   The distribution means, based on the priority given in advance for the plurality of categories listed as distribution candidates based on the determination result by the determination means, and the total number of distributions preset for content information, 2. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of content information distribution for each category is determined, and the number of content information determined for each category is distributed. The user information includes information on the current location of the communication terminal, and when the determination unit determines that the user information including the information on the current location matches the recommendation rule,
3. The information according to claim 1, wherein the distribution unit distributes the number of pieces of content information corresponding to the priority of the category to which the content information belongs for the content information related to the current location. Distribution device.   4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an adjusting unit configured to adjust a priority of a category to which the content information belongs based on a past browsing state of the content information by the user. Information distribution device. An information distribution system comprising: a communication terminal; and an information distribution device that distributes content information including at least one of content provided from an information providing site or an outline of the content to the communication terminal,
The information distribution apparatus includes:
User information storage means for storing user information of a user who uses the communication terminal;
Rule storage means for storing a recommendation rule corresponding to the category to which the content information belongs;
A determination unit that compares the user information stored in the user information storage unit with the recommendation rule stored in the rule storage unit to determine whether the user information and the recommendation rule match; ,
When the determination unit determines that the user information matches the recommendation rule, the content information included in the category corresponding to the recommendation rule includes the number of content information corresponding to the priority of the category. A delivery means for delivering,
The communication terminal is
Receiving means for receiving the content information from the information distribution device;
Display means for displaying the content information received by the receiving means. An information distribution method for distributing content information including at least one of content provided from an information providing site or an outline of the content to a communication terminal,
Comparing user information of a user who uses the communication terminal with a recommendation rule corresponding to a category to which the content information belongs, and determining whether or not the user information and the recommendation rule match;
In the determination step, when it is determined that the user information matches the recommendation rule, the number of content information corresponding to the priority of the category for the content information included in the category corresponding to the recommendation rule Delivering
An information distribution method characterized in that the distributed content information is browsed by the communication terminal.

Images