Distribution information providing server

Abstract

To perform, when a printer fails to print distribution information based on a bid, appropriate processing for a bidder of the distribution information.SOLUTION: An advertisement providing server 100, which receives advertisements managed by an advertisement management server 500 and distributes them to a printer 200, transmits a bidding request for an advertisement to the advertisement management server 500 in S5, determines which advertisement is to be a successful bid from among the advertisements received from the advertisement management server 500 in response to the bidding request in S8, transmits a hold notice to a successful bidder to the advertisement management server 500 in S10, distributes the successful bidder's advertisement to the printer 200 in S30, waits for a printing success / failure notice indicating the progress of advertisement processing in the printer 200 in S40, and determines in S55, S95, S100, S110, and S117 whether or not a predetermined condition corresponding to the completion of printing of the successful bidder's advertisement is met. If it is determined that the predetermined condition is not met, the advertisement providing server transmits a successful bid cancellation notice to retract the successful bid to the advertisement management server 500 in S120.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a distribution information providing server that distributes distribution information to a destination printer for printing. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, a system is known in which a print job distribution server transmits a print job to an image forming device specified in a distribution request received from a terminal device, and when it is determined that printing is completed, charges the user of the terminal device for the distribution fee. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5962695 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] For example, it is conceivable to invite bids for distribution information such as advertisements, and among the bids, the distribution information that satisfies the conditions is awarded and distributed to a printer for printing. However, the system described in the above Patent Document 1 does not particularly consider what kind of processing should be done for the bidder of the distribution information if the printer fails to print the above-mentioned successful distribution information.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a distribution information providing server that can take appropriate action for a bidder of distribution information when a printer fails to print the distribution information based on a bid. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a distribution information providing server including a controller, which receives distribution information managed by a distribution information management server and distributes the distribution information to a printer, the controller executing a request process for sending a bid request for distribution information to the distribution information management server, a decision process for deciding specific distribution information to be a successful bid among the distribution information received from the distribution information management server in response to the bid request, a notification process for sending a distribution decision notification for the specific distribution information to the distribution information management server, a distribution process for distributing the specific distribution information to the printer, a standby process for waiting for progress information indicating progress of processing of the specific distribution information in the printer, a determination process for determining whether a processing result in the standby process satisfies a predetermined condition corresponding to completion of printing of the specific distribution information, and an information transmission process for transmitting bid withdrawal information to the distribution information management server to withdraw the successful bid for the specific distribution information when it is determined in the determination process that the processing result does not satisfy the predetermined condition.

[0007] In the present invention, bidding is conducted for distribution information to a printer, and distribution to the printer and printing are performed according to the bidding results. In a request process executed by a controller, a bid request is made to a distribution information management server, and in a determination process, specific distribution information that is a successful bid is determined from the distribution information received from the distribution information management server. In a notification process, a distribution decision notification for the specific distribution information is sent to the distribution information management server, and in a distribution process, the specific distribution information is distributed to the printer. In a standby process executed by a controller, progress information indicating the progress of processing of the specific distribution information in the printer is waited for, and in a determination process, it is determined whether or not the processing result in the standby process satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0008] If it is determined that the predetermined conditions are not satisfied, successful bid withdrawal information is transmitted to the distribution information management server in the information transmission process, and the successful bid is withdrawn. According to the present invention, if the delivery of the specific distribution information to the printer fails or if the printing of the specific distribution information by the printer fails, it is determined that the predetermined conditions are not met, and the successful bid for the specific distribution information can be revoked. In particular, it is possible to avoid charging the delivery fee even if the delivery or printing of the specific distribution information fails. As a result, appropriate processing can be performed for the bidder of the specific distribution information. The advertiser who is the bidder can appropriately manage the budget by avoiding processing delays such as delivery fees caused by the advertisement not being printed or being printed later than expected for some reason. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, when a printer fails to print distribution information based on a bid, appropriate processing can be performed for the bidder of the distribution information. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of an information distribution system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] 11 is a sequence flow illustrating an example of a flow of a process executed by cooperation between an advertisement providing server, an advertisement management server, a terminal device, and a printer. [Diagram 3] 11 is a sequence flow illustrating an example of a flow of a process executed by cooperation between an advertisement providing server, an advertisement management server, a terminal device, and a printer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to an information distribution system in which advertising information is distributed from a server to a printer and printed.

[0012] <Overall configuration of information distribution system> FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of an information delivery system 1 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the information delivery system 1 includes an advertisement providing server (SSP: Supply Side Platform) 100, a printer 200, a terminal device 300, a user management server (DMP: Data Management Platform) 400, and an advertisement management server (DSP: Demand Side Plartform) 500. The servers 100, 400, 500, the printer 200, and the terminal device 300 each include a communication unit and can communicate with each other via a network NT. The network NT includes at least one of the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), and a WAN (Wide Area Network). The communication unit may include multiple types of communication circuits for connecting to the network NT. In this case, a device connected to the network NT may communicate with multiple other devices using different communication circuits. In this embodiment, the multiple types of communication circuits are collectively referred to as a communication unit.

[0013] <Terminal device> The terminal device 300 is, for example, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone owned by a user, and in this example, is connected to the network NT via wireless communication. The terminal device 300 may be any appropriate terminal other than the printer 200, and may be, for example, a tablet PC, a notebook PC, a desktop PC, or the like, other than a smartphone. Alternatively, the terminal device 300 may be a portable terminal or a stationary terminal provided for song selection, menu selection, product viewing, and the like in karaoke boxes and various stores. The terminal device 300 has a display unit, a control unit, an operation unit, a storage unit, a communication unit, and the like, which are not shown. Various programs are stored in the storage unit. The control unit 310 executes various programs stored in the storage unit. The various programs include programs that execute the processes shown in the flow charts of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 described later. The user can input various instructions to the terminal device 300 by operating the operation unit.

[0014] <User management server> The user management server 400 manages information about users via the terminal device 300. The user management server 400 includes a control unit, a storage unit, a communication unit, and the like, all of which are not shown.

[0015] <Advertisement server> The advertisement providing server 100 is a server installed and managed by, for example, a manufacturer of the printer 200. The advertisement providing server 100 receives an advertisement image from the advertisement management server 500 at a predetermined timing. The advertisement providing server 100 delivers the acquired advertisement image to the printer 200 and causes it to print. The advertisement providing server 100 is an example of a distribution providing server, and the advertisement image is an example of distribution information.

[0016] In detail, the advertisement providing server 100 has a control unit 110, a storage unit 115, a communication unit 140, etc. The control unit 110 is an example of a controller. The control unit 110, the storage unit 115, the communication unit 140, etc. are connected via a bus 105 so as to be able to transmit and receive information. The storage unit 115 is composed of, for example, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, a HDD, etc. The storage unit 115 stores various programs 120 and various data 130. The various programs 120 include an information distribution program that executes the control contents of the advertisement providing server 100 shown by the flows in Figs. 2 and 3 described below, and the various data 130 includes a printer ID of the printer 200, a user ID, an advertisement image, etc.

[0017] The control unit 110 is a device that performs data processing, and is, for example, a processor such as a CPU. The control unit 110 executes various programs stored in the storage unit 115. The control unit 110 performs various processes including data communication with the printer 200, the terminal device 300, the user management server 400, and the advertisement management server 500 connected to the network NT. The communication unit 140 includes hardware such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) for connecting to Ethernet, is connected to the network NT, and communicates with the printer 200, the terminal device 300, the user management server 400, and the advertisement management server 500.

[0018] <Advertisement management server> The advertisement management server 500 transmits an advertisement image to be printed by the printer 200 to the advertisement providing server 100. The advertisement management server 500 has a control unit, a storage unit, a communication unit, etc., not shown, and in this example, receives a bid request from the advertisement providing server 100 via the communication unit. The network NT is connected to terminal devices or servers of multiple advertisers, not shown, and the control unit of the advertisement management server 500 executes an auction corresponding to the bid request for advertisement images submitted by those advertisers, and acquires suitable advertisement images by bidding for the auction. When a successful bid that meets the predetermined conditions of the auction is made, the control unit of the advertisement management server 500 acquires the corresponding advertisement image from the terminal device, etc., of the advertiser who is the successful bidder. The acquired advertisement image is transmitted from the advertisement management server 500 to the advertisement providing server 100 via the communication unit, and is further transmitted from the advertisement providing server 100, which receives the advertisement image, to the printer 200 for printing. The advertisement providing server 100 may acquire the advertisement image from the advertisement management server 500, or the advertisement management server 500 may further acquire an advertisement image from another external server and transmit it to the advertisement providing server 100. The advertisement management server 500 is an example of a distribution management server.

[0019] Each of the above-mentioned servers 100, 400, and 500 may be composed of one single "server", or may be composed of multiple servers. Alternatively, at least two of the functions of the servers 100, 400, and 500 may be provided in one single "server".

[0020] <Printer> The printer 200 is assigned the printer ID described above. The printer 200 includes a control unit 210, a storage unit 215, a display unit 240, an operation unit 250, a communication unit 260, and a printing unit 270. The control unit 210, the storage unit 215, the display unit 240, the operation unit 250, the communication unit 260, and the printing unit 270 are connected via a bus 205 so as to be able to transmit and receive information.

[0021] The storage unit 215 is composed of, for example, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, a HDD, etc. The storage unit 215 stores various programs 220 and various data 230. The various programs 220 include, for example, a program for executing the control content of the printer 200 according to the flow shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 described later. The various data 230 includes the above-mentioned printer ID and an advertisement image received from the advertisement providing server 100, acquired from a terminal device of a successful bidder among the advertisers, and transmitted from the advertisement providing server 100. At least a part of the above-mentioned various data may be stored in the storage unit 115 of the advertisement providing server 100. Alternatively, at least a part of the original data may be stored in one of the storage unit 215 of the printer 200 and the storage unit 115 of the advertisement providing server 100, and copy data of the original data may be stored in the other one of them.

[0022] The control unit 210 is a device that performs data processing, and is, for example, a processor such as a CPU. The control unit 210 executes various programs stored in the storage unit 215. The display unit 240 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and can display various information. The operation unit 250 is, for example, a keyboard, a button, or the like, and accepts input operations by a user. The user can input various instructions to the printer 200 by operating the operation unit 250. The communication unit 260 is connected to the network NT, and can communicate with the advertisement providing server 100, the advertisement management server 500, the user management server 400, and the terminal device 300. The printing unit 270 includes a print engine, and forms and prints an image on the printing paper, for example, by an inkjet method, while taking out the printing paper from a paper tray and transporting it by a transport mechanism (not shown).

[0023] The cartridge holder 280 is configured to be able to house the cartridge 285. The cartridge 285 is configured with cartridges of a plurality of ink colors, such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The cartridge holder 280 is provided with an ink amount sensor (not shown) capable of detecting the remaining amount or consumed amount of each of the cartridges of the plurality of ink colors by a known method.

[0024] The printing unit 270 performs printing processing while consuming ink from the cartridge 285. The reader / writer 290 is provided in the cartridge holder 280. The reader / writer 290 reads and writes cartridge information from an IC chip provided in the cartridge 285 housed in the cartridge holder 280. For example, the reader / writer 290 detects the type, etc., of the cartridge 285 housed in the cartridge holder 280 by reading the cartridge information from the IC chip. Note that the amount of ink used or remaining in the cartridge 285 may be detected by the above reading by the reader / writer 290.

[0025] <Features of the embodiment> As described above, in this embodiment, an auction is held for an advertisement to solicit bids, and if a successful bid that satisfies the conditions is made among the bids, the successful advertisement image is delivered to the printer 200 and the advertisement is printed. At that time, the printer 200 may fail to print the successful advertisement for some reason. A feature of this embodiment is that if the advertisement printing fails, the successful bid is revoked to avoid any disadvantage to the successful bidder. Details of this process will be described below with reference to Figs. 2 and 3. Figs. 2 and 3 are sequence flows showing control executed by the cooperation of the advertisement providing server 100, the advertisement management server 500, the printer 200, and the terminal device 300.

[0026] 2, first, in S5, a minimum bid price for inviting bids for an advertisement image is determined. This minimum bid price is, for example, uniquely determined in advance and stored in storage unit 115. In S5, the minimum bid price is determined based on the contents stored in storage unit 115, and a bid request including this minimum bid price is transmitted to advertisement management server 500. The process executed in S5 is an example of a request process.

[0027] In response to the transmitted bid request, the advertisement management server 500 executes an auction for suitable advertisements and solicits bids. At that time, the bid request requests advertisement images that satisfy certain conditions, including a bid price equal to or higher than the minimum bid price.

[0028] At S7, the bidding results of the auction held in response to the bid request sent at S5 are received from the advertisement management server 500. If there is a bid that satisfies the predetermined condition requested in the bid request, the received content includes the advertisement image by that bidder. If there is no bid that satisfies the predetermined condition requested in the bid request, the received content includes a message to that effect.

[0029] In S8, it is determined whether or not there is a bid that satisfies the winning condition based on the content received in S7, and the bid that satisfies the winning condition is determined as the advertisement that will be the winning bid. The winning condition may be, for example, the highest bid price. Alternatively, the winning condition may be that a predetermined condition requested in the bid request is satisfied. The determined advertisement is an example of specific distribution information, and the process executed in S8 is an example of a determination process.

[0030] In S10, a "hold notice" is sent to the advertisement management server 500 to notify the advertiser who submitted a bid that satisfies the successful bid conditions, i.e., the successful bidder, that the bid contents have been accepted and will be stored without being deleted. This hold notice is sent to the terminal device of the successful bidder by the advertisement management server 500 upon receiving it. The hold notice is an example of a delivery decision notice, and the process executed in S10 is an example of a notification process. Note that if there are multiple bids that satisfy the successful bid conditions, multiple hold notices may be sent.

[0031] In S15, a "loss notice" is sent to the advertisement management server 500 to inform the advertisers who submitted bids that do not satisfy the winning conditions, i.e., non-successful bidders, that their bids will not be accepted because there is another successful bidder. This loss notice is sent by the advertisement management server 500 to the terminal device or the like of the non-successful bidder. Note that if there are multiple bids that do not satisfy the winning conditions, multiple loss notices may be sent.

[0032] In S17, an advertising image request is sent to the advertising management server 500 to request an advertising image of the successful bidder to whom the hold notice was sent in S10. If there are multiple successful bidders, multiple advertising images may be requested. In response to the advertising image request, in S20, the advertising management server 500 sends an advertising image of the successful bidder, which is received and acquired by the advertisement providing server 100. The acquired advertising image is stored in, for example, the memory unit 115.

[0033] In S25, a deadline is set as one of the criteria for determining whether printing is successful or unsuccessful in the printer 200. The process executed in S25 is an example of a setting process. In this embodiment, three types of deadlines are set. The first deadline is a first predetermined deadline for the advertisement providing server 100 to bill the advertisement management server 500 for the delivery fee. That is, when the advertisement image delivered to the printer 200 is printed, the successful bidder is billed for the fee as a remuneration for the advertisement printing (see S140 described later). In this embodiment, in S25, the first predetermined deadline can be set as a time limit until the printing by the printer 200 is successful and the fee is billed. One example of the first predetermined deadline is within 10 minutes from the start of the clock count in S27 described later. The first predetermined deadline may be stored in the storage unit 115 in advance, or may be set in response to an instruction from the advertisement management server 500. The other deadlines are the second and third predetermined deadlines by which the printing of the advertisement should be completed. That is, in cases where the value of the advertisement will drop significantly if the printing is not completed within a certain time range, such as a fresh food sales advertisement, the advertiser may make strict time requests. In this embodiment, in response to this, the second and third predetermined deadlines can be set as the time limit for the completion of the advertisement printing in the printer 200 in S25. The use of the second and third predetermined deadlines in the processing will be described later. An example of the setting of the second predetermined deadline is, for example, setting based on the remaining time, such as within 24 hours from the start of the clock count in S27 described later, or setting based on the end time, such as by 10:00 a.m. The second and third predetermined deadlines may be stored in the storage unit 115 in advance, or may be set in response to an instruction from the advertisement management server 500. Also, they may be added to the advertisement image transmitted from the advertisement management server 500 in S20. Also, the second and third predetermined deadlines may be the same date and time, or the third predetermined deadline may be a date and time later than the second predetermined deadline. In S25, all of the first, second and third predetermined deadlines may be set, or only one or two of them may be set.

[0034] In S27, a time count is started until the deadline set in S25 is reached.

[0035] In S30, a delivery image in which the advertisement image of the successful bidder is arranged, that is, a delivery image in which information including the advertisement image received from the advertisement management server 500 in S20 is arranged, is created. Note that instead of the advertisement providing server 100 creating the delivery image, the advertisement management server 500 may create the delivery image, and the advertisement providing server 100 may acquire the delivery image. Also, instead of creating the delivery image in S30, print data for printing the delivery image may be created in various page description languages. A print instruction including the created delivery image is delivered to the printer 200. Note that this print instruction may include a command to stop the print process in the printer 200 when a print cancel instruction is input in S60, S97, S115, etc. described later, or when a printer error occurs in S75 described later. The process executed in S30 is an example of a delivery process.

[0036] In S35, the print instruction transmitted in S30 is received by the printer 200 and stored in the storage unit 215. Then, printing of the delivery image included in the print instruction is started. In S30, the advertisement providing server 100 may transmit the delivery image to the printer 200 via another relay device. Also, instead of transmitting the delivery image to the printer 200, a page description language for printing the delivery image or a link destination of the delivery image may be transmitted to the printer 200. When the link destination of the delivery image is transmitted, the printer 200 accesses the link destination, acquires the delivery image, and executes printing.

[0037] After S35, in S40, a waiting process for waiting for a print progress notification, which will be described later, is started in the advertisement providing server 100. The print progress notification is an example of progress information.

[0038] 3, in S45, the printer 200 determines whether printing of the delivery image including the advertisement image started in S35 above has been completed. If printing has been completed, a Yes determination is made and the process moves to S50, where the content of the print progress notification sent in S90 described below is set to "printing successful." Thereafter, in S90, the print progress notification indicating "printing successful" is sent from the printer 200 and received by the advertisement providing server 100.

[0039] In the advertisement providing server 100, after the standby process is started in S40, it is determined in S55 whether or not the time elapsed since S27 reaches the first predetermined time limit set in S25 while the above-mentioned print progress notification is not received and a timeout occurs. For example, if the first predetermined time limit arrives before the print progress notification transmitted in S90 is received because the printing is not yet completed, etc., S55 is determined as Yes, and a print cancellation instruction is transmitted from the advertisement providing server 100 in S60 and received by the printer 200. After S60, the process proceeds to S120 described later. In the printer 200 that has received the print cancellation instruction, S62 is determined as Yes, the delivered image transmitted in S30 is deleted from the storage unit 215, and the print process is stopped. Then, the process of the flow in FIG. 3 in the printer 200 ends.

[0040] If the first predetermined time limit has not arrived in the advertisement providing server 100, S55 is judged as No, and the process proceeds to S95. In S95, it is judged whether or not the time elapsed since S27 reaches the second predetermined time limit set in S25 while the above-mentioned print progress notification is not received, resulting in a timeout. For example, if the second predetermined time limit arrives before the print progress notification transmitted in S90 is received because printing is not yet completed, etc., S95 is judged as Yes, and a print cancellation instruction is transmitted from the advertisement providing server 100 in S97 and received by the printer 200. After S97, the process proceeds to S120 described below. Furthermore, if the user performs a print cancel operation on the terminal device 300 before printing is completed as described above, a corresponding print cancel instruction is transmitted from the terminal device 300 in S65 and received by the printer 200.

[0041] In the printer 200, when a print cancel instruction is received in S97 or S65 as described above, S70 following S62 is judged as Yes, and the process proceeds to S80 described below. In S80 to which the process proceeds after S70 is judged as Yes, the delivered image transmitted in S30 is deleted from the storage unit 215, and the print process is stopped. Then, the content of the print progress notification is set to "print failed." Note that in this case, reason information is added to the print progress notification, such as the reason for the print failure, that is, for example, whether it was due to the second processing deadline or a cancellation process by the user. If a print cancel instruction has not been received, S70 is judged as No, and processing proceeds to S75. In S75, it is judged whether or not a printer error has occurred. A printer error is a state in which some kind of malfunction has occurred that makes it difficult to start or continue printing, such as a state in which the printing paper is jammed, ink consumables are depleted, or an offline state in which the communication unit 260 of the printer 200 is not connected to the network NT. If no printer error has occurred, S75 is judged as No, processing returns to S45, and printing continues until S45 is judged as Yes when printing is completed.

[0042] In S85, to which the flow proceeds when S75 is judged to be Yes, the content of the print progress notification is set to “printing incomplete.” In this case, the print progress notification includes additional information about the printer error that caused the print incomplete, such as whether the print paper is jammed.

[0043] Then, in S90, a print progress notification indicating the progress of the process in the printer 200, such as “printing successful”, “printing failed”, or “printing incomplete”, is sent from the printer 200 and received by the advertisement providing server 100.

[0044] On the other hand, in the advertisement providing server 100, if the second processing deadline has not arrived in S95, a No decision is made and the process proceeds to S100. In S100, the print progress notification sent from the printer 200 in S90 described above is received, and it is decided whether or not the time elapsed since S27 at the time of reception reaches the third predetermined deadline set in S25 and a timeout has occurred. If the third predetermined deadline has arrived, a Yes decision is made in S100 and the process proceeds to S120 described below. If the third predetermined deadline has not arrived, a No decision is made in S100 and the process proceeds to S110.

[0045] In S110, it is determined whether the print progress notification received from the printer 200 in S90 above was a notification indicating "printing incomplete". If the print progress notification was a notification indicating "printing successful" or "printing failure", the result is determined as No, and the process proceeds to S117, which will be described later. If the print progress notification was a notification indicating "printing incomplete", the result is determined as Yes, and in S115, a print cancellation instruction is sent from the advertisement providing server 100 and received by the printer 200. After S115, the process proceeds to S120, which will be described later. If the printer 200 received a print cancellation instruction from the advertisement providing server 100 in S115, the delivered image sent in S30 is deleted from the storage unit 215, and the print process is canceled. Then, the process of the flow in FIG. 3 in the printer 200 ends.

[0046] In S117, it is determined whether the print progress notification received from printer 200 in S90 above was a notification indicating "print failure." If the print progress notification indicates "print failure," S117 is determined as Yes, and the process proceeds to S120, which will be described later. If the print progress notification indicates "print success," the process proceeds to S140.

[0047] In addition, the processes executed in the advertisement providing server 100 at S55, S95, S100, S110, and S117 described above are examples of judgment processes, and each condition judged in each of these procedures is an example of a predetermined condition corresponding to the completion of printing of specific distribution information.

[0048] In S140, the advertisement providing server 100 transmits a billing notice to the advertisement management server 500 to bill the advertiser who provided the advertisement image included in the delivery image transmitted in S30, the advertiser being the successful bidder, for a fee corresponding to the advertisement printing. The process executed in S140 is an example of a billing process.

[0049] In S145, the advertisement management server 500 that has received the billing notice transmits the billing notice to the terminal device or the like of the successful bidder.

[0050] In S150, the advertising server 100 links the delivery image sent to the printer 200 in S30 with the printer ID of the corresponding printer 200, the user ID of the corresponding user, current time information, and the bidding conditions when the advertising image included in the delivery image was sold, stores them in the memory unit 115 as a success history, and terminates the process.

[0051] In S120 following S60, S97, S100, S115, and S117, the advertisement providing server 100 transmits a successful bid cancellation notice to retract the successful bid determined in S8, and the successful bid cancellation notice is received by the advertisement management server 500. The successful bid cancellation notice is an example of successful bid withdrawal information, and the process executed by the advertisement providing server 100 in S120 is an example of information transmission process. The advertisement management server 500 notifies the advertiser who is the successful bidder for the corresponding advertisement of the successful bid cancellation.

[0052] In S130, the advertisement providing server 100 associates the delivered image for which the successful bid was cancelled in S120 with history information such as the successful bid conditions when the advertising image included in the delivered image was successful, the failure reason information described above, and the failure confirmation date and time, stores the information as failure history in the storage unit 115, and ends the process. The process executed in S130 is an example of a history output process.

[0053] <Effects of the embodiment> As described above, in this embodiment, bidding is conducted for advertisements to be printed by the printer 200, and advertisements are delivered to the printer 200 and printed according to the bidding results. In S5, a bidding request is made to the advertisement management server 500, and in S8, the successful advertisement is determined from the advertisements received from the advertisement management server 500. In S10, a hold notice for the successful bidder's advertisement is sent to the advertisement management server 500, and in S30, the successful bidder's advertisement is delivered to the printer 200. In S40, a print progress notice indicating the progress of advertisement processing in the printer 200 is awaited, and in S55, S95, S100, S110, and S117, it is determined whether or not the waiting started in S40 satisfies a predetermined condition. If it is determined in any of S55, S95, S100, S110, and S117 that the predetermined conditions are not met, a successful bid cancellation notice is sent to the advertisement management server 500 in S120, and the successful bid is withdrawn.

[0054] According to this embodiment, if the delivery of the advertisement to the printer 200 fails (S55, S95: Yes), if the printing of the advertisement by the printer 200 is too slow (S100: Yes), or if the printing is not successful (S110, S117: No), it is determined that the above-mentioned predetermined conditions are not met, and the successful bidder can be revoked for the advertisement (S120). In particular, it is possible to avoid charging the delivery fee even if the successful bidder's delivery or printing of the advertisement has failed (S117: Yes). As a result, appropriate processing can be performed for the successful bidder. The advertiser who is the successful bidder can avoid processing delays for delivery fees and the like due to the advertisement not being printed or being printed later than expected for some reason, and can appropriately manage the budget.

[0055] Furthermore, particularly in this embodiment, if it is determined in S55, S95, S100, S110, and S117 that the predetermined conditions are met, then in S140 the advertisement delivery fee is transmitted to the advertisement management server 500. According to this embodiment, if the delivery and printing of the advertisement of the successful bidder is successful, the delivery fee can be reliably charged as usual.

[0056] In this embodiment, a time limit is imposed on the billing of the delivery fee, and a first predetermined time limit for billing the delivery fee is set in advance in S25. If the print progress notification is not received within the first predetermined time limit after the start of the waiting process in S40, a Yes determination is made in S55, and the successful bid is finally revoked in S120, and a print cancellation instruction is sent to the printer 200 in S60. According to this embodiment, if the successful bidder is unable to complete printing of the successful bidder's advertisement within a certain time frame, the successful bid is automatically revoked and printing is cancelled, thereby protecting the successful bidder.

[0057] In particular, in this embodiment, a time limit is imposed on printing of the successful bidder's advertisement, and a second predetermined time limit for completing printing is preset in S25. If a print progress notification is not received within the second predetermined time limit after the start of the waiting process in S40, a Yes determination is made in S95, and the successful bid is ultimately revoked in S120, and a print cancellation instruction is sent to printer 200 in S97. According to this embodiment, if the print progress notification is not received within a certain time range, the successful bidder is automatically revoked and printing is stopped, thereby protecting the successful bidder. This is particularly effective in cases where there are strict time constraints from the advertiser, such as in the case of fresh food advertisements.

[0058] In this embodiment, a time limit is imposed on the printing of the successful bidder's advertisement, and a third predetermined time limit for completing the printing is preset in S25. If the printing is completed but the third predetermined time limit has passed, a Yes determination is made in S100, and the successful bid is ultimately revoked in S120. According to this embodiment, if the successful bidder is unable to complete printing of his advertisement within a certain time frame, the successful bid is automatically revoked and printing is halted, thereby protecting the successful bidder. This is particularly effective in cases where the value of the advertisement will drop significantly if it is not printed within a certain time frame.

[0059] Furthermore, particularly in this embodiment, if the received print progress notification indicates that printing is incomplete, a Yes judgment is made in S110, the successful bid is ultimately revoked in S120, and a print cancellation instruction is sent to printer 200 in S115. According to this embodiment, if the successful bidder is unable to print his / her advertisement, the successful bid is automatically revoked and an instruction to cancel printing is issued, thereby making it possible to protect the successful bidder.

[0060] In particular, in this embodiment, if the user cancels the printing, a cancel instruction is sent from the terminal device 300 to the printer 200 in S65, a Yes determination is made in S70, and a printing progress notification indicating that the printing has failed is sent in S90. In response to this, the successful bid is revoked in S120. According to this embodiment, the user can cancel printing of an advertisement that has already been delivered to the printer 200 at any time, so that the successful bidder can be protected reliably.

[0061] Furthermore, particularly in this embodiment, after the successful bid is withdrawn in S120, an additional record is made in the failure history in S130, making it possible to tally up multiple cases in which the successful bid was withdrawn because the aforementioned specified conditions were not met and to process them all at once.

[0062] Particularly in this embodiment, it is possible to impose a time limit on the printing of the successful bidder's advertisement, and in S25, a first predetermined time limit is set within which the delivery costs of the advertisement that has been printed should be charged. Only if the printing is completed correctly within the first predetermined time limit is a notice of charge for the delivery costs of the successful bidder's advertisement sent (S140). According to this embodiment, the advertiser who is the successful bidder can quickly find out that the advertisement was not printed within the predetermined time limit, making it easier for the advertiser to manage his or her budget.

[0063] Furthermore, particularly in this embodiment, if a print progress notification indicating printing completion is received after the third specified deadline has passed after the standby process is started in S40, a Yes judgment is made in S100, and a billing notification for delivery costs is not sent in S140. According to this embodiment, it is guaranteed that no delivery fee will be charged if the advertisement is not printed within the third predetermined time period, making it even easier for the advertiser to manage their budget.

[0064] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and technical concept of the present invention. Below, such modifications will be described in order. The same reference numerals will be used to designate parts equivalent to those in the above-described embodiment, and the description will be omitted or simplified as appropriate.

[0065] (1) When printing cannot be canceled by user operation In the above embodiment, when printing is cancelled by a user operation on the terminal device 300, S70 is judged as Yes, and the successful bid can be finally revoked in S120, but this is not limited to the above. That is, even if a user instructs the printer 200 to cancel printing, the printer 200 may be sent an instruction to control the printer 200 so that the printer 200 executes advertisement printing after the user instructs the printer 200 to cancel the printing. One example of such an instruction may be to add an instruction to cancel the cancellation instruction to the printing instruction sent from the advertisement providing server 100 in S30.

[0066] According to this modified example, the user cannot arbitrarily cancel printing of an advertisement once it has been delivered to the printer 200, thereby making it possible to make the flow of delivery and printing of the successful bidder advertisement smooth and stable.

[0067] (2) When the first specified deadline is set to be variable The control unit 110 of the advertisement providing server 100 acquires speed element information related to the processing speed of the advertisement by the printer 200, such as the print speed based on the specifications and print settings of the printer 200, and the download time of the advertisement image. Based on the speed element information, the control unit 110 executes a prediction process for predicting the printing completion time of the successful bidder advertisement determined in S8. Then, in S25, the first predetermined deadline is set based on the printing completion time predicted in the prediction process.

[0068] In this modified example, the first predetermined deadline is dynamically and variably set according to the print completion timing predicted in the prediction process. According to this modified example, an appropriate first predetermined deadline can be set that matches, for example, the printing performance of the printer 200 or the attributes of the successful bidder advertisement, thereby enabling more efficient processing for the advertiser who is the bidder.

[0069] (3)Other For example, in the above S60, S97, and S115, instead of transmitting a print cancel instruction from the advertisement providing server 100, the print instruction of S30 may be transmitted again to the printer 200 a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined period of time. Alternatively, the print instruction may be transmitted repeatedly to the printer 200 until the advertisement providing server 100 receives a print progress notification indicating successful printing.

[0070] In the above, as an example, the advertisement providing server 100 transmits a successful bid cancellation notice as successful bid withdrawal information to the advertisement management server 500 in S120 without invoicing the advertisement management server 500 in S140, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, for example, after the above-mentioned invoice for expenses has been made and the payment for the expenses has been made by the external server, an instruction to refund the expenses may be transmitted from the advertisement management server 500 to the advertisement management server 500 as successful bid withdrawal information. Alternatively, instead of this refund instruction, a compensation instruction to reduce other invoice amounts to be collected from the external server may be transmitted from the advertisement providing server 100 to the advertisement management server 500 as successful bid withdrawal information. Alternatively, if the above-mentioned invoice for expenses has been made and the payment for the expenses has not yet been made by the external server, an instruction to stop the payment may be transmitted from the advertisement providing server 100 to the advertisement management server 500 as successful bid withdrawal information. In either case, the transmission process performed by the advertisement providing server 100 to the advertisement management server 500 is an example of information transmission process. In the above, the above-mentioned process of transmitting the successful bid withdrawal information has been described as being performed in real time each time a successful advertisement is determined in S8 of Fig. 2, but this is not limited to the above. In other words, the successful bid withdrawal information may be transmitted by tallying and consolidating the information at a certain predetermined time period, such as once at the beginning of each month.

[0071] Although the advertisement providing server 100 has been described above as a single device, the advertisement providing server 100 may function as a result of a plurality of devices operating in cooperation with one another.

[0072] In addition, in the above, the sequence flows shown in Figures 2 and 3 do not limit the present invention to the procedures shown in the above flows, and steps may be added or deleted, or the order of steps may be changed, etc., within the scope of the spirit and technical concept of the invention.

[0073] In addition to the above, the methods according to the above embodiments and their modifications may be used in appropriate combination.

[0074] Although not specifically illustrated, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0075] 1 Information distribution system 100 Advertisement server (example of distribution server) 110 Control unit (an example of a controller) 115 Memory unit (an example of memory) 140 Communication unit (an example of a communication interface) 200 Printers 500 Advertisement management server (an example of a distribution management server)

Claims

1. A distribution information providing server including a controller, which receives distribution information managed by a distribution information management server and distributes the information to a printer, The controller: A request process for transmitting a bid request for distribution information to the distribution information management server; a determination process for determining specific distribution information that will be a successful bid from among the distribution information received from the distribution information management server in response to the bid request; a notification process of transmitting a distribution decision notification for the specific distribution information to the distribution information management server; a distribution process for distributing the specific distribution information to the printer; a standby process for waiting for progress information indicating a progress of the processing of the specific distribution information in the printer; a determination process for determining whether or not a processing result of the waiting process satisfies a predetermined condition corresponding to completion of printing of the specific distribution information; an information transmission process for transmitting, to the distribution information management server, successful bid withdrawal information for withdrawing the successful bid for the specific distribution information when the determination process determines that the processing result does not satisfy the predetermined condition; A distribution information providing server that executes the above.

2. The controller:

2. The distribution information providing server according to claim 1, further comprising: a billing process for billing said distribution information management server for a distribution fee of said specific distribution information when said determination process determines that said processing result satisfies said predetermined condition.

3. A first predetermined time limit is set for claiming the delivery fee of the specific delivery information, The controller: In the standby process, if the progress information is not received by the first predetermined time limit, In the determination process, it is determined that the predetermined condition is not satisfied, In the information transmission process, the successful bid withdrawal information is transmitted to the distribution information management server; moreover, 2. The distribution information providing server according to claim 1, further comprising an instruction transmission process for transmitting an instruction to stop printing the specific distribution information to the printer.

4. a second predetermined time limit is set for the printer to complete printing of the specific distribution information; The controller: If the progress information is not received within the second predetermined time period, In the determination process, it is determined that the predetermined condition is not satisfied, In the information transmission process, the successful bid withdrawal information is transmitted to the distribution information management server; moreover, 2. The distribution information providing server according to claim 1, further comprising an instruction transmission process for transmitting an instruction to stop printing the specific distribution information to the printer.

5. a third predetermined time limit is set for the printer to complete printing of the specific distribution information; The controller: If the timing when the progress information indicating the completion of printing is received has passed the third predetermined time limit, the determination process determines that the predetermined condition is not satisfied, 2. The distribution information providing server according to claim 1, wherein said information transmission process transmits said successful bid withdrawal information to said distribution information management server.

6. The controller: When the progress information indicating that printing is not completed is received, In the determination process, it is determined that the predetermined condition is not satisfied, In the information transmission process, the successful bid withdrawal information is transmitted to the distribution information management server; moreover, 2. The distribution information providing server according to claim 1, further comprising an instruction transmission process for transmitting an instruction to stop printing the specific distribution information to the printer.

7. The controller, in the distribution process, 2. The distribution information providing server according to claim 1, further comprising: a printer control command for controlling said printer to execute printing of said specific distribution information even when a user's command to cancel printing is received.

8. The controller: When the progress information indicating that the printing of the specific distribution information has been canceled by the user is received, In the determination process, it is determined that the predetermined condition is not satisfied, In the information transmission process, the successful bid withdrawal information is transmitted to the distribution information management server; moreover, 7. The distribution information providing server according to claim 6, further comprising an instruction transmission process for transmitting an instruction to stop printing the specific distribution information to the printer.

9. The controller further comprises:

9. The distribution information providing server according to claim 1, further comprising a history output process for outputting history information that is determined in said determination process as not satisfying said predetermined condition.

10. A distribution information providing server including a controller, which receives distribution information managed by a distribution information management server and distributes the information to a printer, The controller: A request process for transmitting a bid request for distribution information to the distribution information management server; a determination process for determining specific distribution information that will be a successful bid from among the distribution information received from the distribution information management server in response to the bid request; a notification process of transmitting a distribution decision notification for the specific distribution information to the distribution information management server; A setting process for setting a predetermined deadline for charging the delivery fee of the specific delivery information that has been printed; a distribution process for distributing the specific distribution information to the printer; a standby process for waiting for progress information indicating a progress of the processing of the specific distribution information in the printer; a billing process for transmitting a delivery fee of the specific delivery information to the delivery information management server when the progress information indicating completion of printing is received by the predetermined time limit in the waiting process; A distribution information providing server that executes the above.

11. The controller:

11. The distribution information providing server according to claim 10, wherein in the waiting process, if the progress information indicating the printing completion is received after the predetermined time limit, the distribution fee is not transmitted.

12. The controller further comprises: A prediction process for predicting a printing completion time of the specific distribution information based on speed element information related to a processing speed of the specific distribution information by the printer. Run 12. The distribution information providing server according to claim 11, wherein in the setting process, the predetermined time limit is set based on the print completion time predicted in the prediction process.

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