Program, information processing method, and terminal

Abstract

To provide a program, an information processing method and a terminal for presenting a retrieval result to a user in connection with display of a chat room.SOLUTION: In a communication system, a program to be executed by a terminal for displaying a chat room including a first user of a first terminal 20A executes displaying a chat room in a display part 24 of the terminal, displaying image information with a retrieval condition set in the chat room on the basis of an input to the chat room by the user of the terminal, and performing control for transmitting a retrieval result retrieved on the basis of the retrieval condition set in the image information to the first terminal 20A by a communication part 22 of the terminal, and control for displaying the retrieval result in the chat room by a control part 21 of the terminal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1-1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a program, an information processing method, a terminal, etc.

Background Art

[0002] There is a service (for example, a messaging service) for content exchange between accounts. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for distributing advertisements using an official account.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

[0004] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a program executed by a terminal that displays a chat room including a first user of a first terminal causes the terminal to display the chat room on a display unit of the terminal, display image information with search conditions set in the chat room based on an input to the chat room by a user of the terminal, perform control to transmit a search result retrieved based on the search conditions set in the image information to the first terminal by a communication unit of the terminal, and perform control to display the search result in the chat room by a control unit of the terminal. According to a second aspect of the present invention, an information processing method of a terminal that displays a chat room including a first user of a first terminal includes displaying the chat room on a display unit of the terminal, displaying image information with search conditions set in the chat room based on an input to the chat room by a user of the terminal, performing control to transmit a search result retrieved based on the search conditions set in the image information to the first terminal by a communication unit of the terminal, and performing control to display the search result in the chat room by a control unit of the terminal. According to a third aspect of the present invention, a terminal that displays a chat room including a first user of a first terminal includes a display unit that displays the chat room, and a control unit that performs control to display, in the chat room, image information for which search conditions are set based on an input to the chat room by a user of the terminal. The control unit performs control to transmit, to the first terminal by a communication unit of the terminal, a search result retrieved based on the search conditions set for the image information, and control to display the search result in the chat room. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a terminal that displays a chat room including a first user of a first terminal includes a processor that reads a program stored in a memory and executes processing based on the program. The processor executes displaying the chat room on a display unit of the terminal, displaying, in the chat room, image information for which search conditions are set based on an input to the chat room by a user of the terminal, performing control to transmit, to the first terminal by a communication unit of the terminal, a search result retrieved based on the search conditions set for the image information, and control to display the search result in the chat room.

Brief Description of the Drawings

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0006] <Compliance with Legal Matters> It should be noted that the disclosure described in this specification is based on compliance with the legal matters of the country where the disclosure is to be implemented, such as communication secrecy.

[0007] <Embodiment> In this specification, there are places where it is described as "by way of example and not limitation" for the sake of clarity. It should be noted that not only the relevant places, but also the entire content of the embodiments described below is not limited to the description content.

[0008] Embodiments for implementing the program and the like according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0009] First, the system can be configured to have a plurality of devices, by way of example and not limitation. The plurality of devices may be a combination of the same type of devices, a combination of different types of devices, or a combination of the same type of devices and different types of devices. Note that the system can also be considered, by way of example and not limitation, as something in which a plurality of devices cooperate to perform some processing.

[0010] Also, the system related to the client (client device) and the server can be considered, by way of example and not limitation, as at least any one of the following. (1) Terminal & Server (2) Server (3) Terminal

[0011] (1) is, by way of example and not limitation, a system including at least one terminal and at least one server. An example of this is a client-server system.

[0012] The server is configured by the following devices by way of example and not limitation, and may be a single device or a combination of multiple devices.

[0013] Specifically, the server is configured by having at least one processor (by way of example and not limitation, such as a CPU: Central Processing Unit, GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, APU: Accelerated Processing Unit, DSP: Digital Signal Processor (by way of example and not limitation, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array), etc.), a computer device (processor + memory), a control device, an arithmetic device, a processing device, etc., and may be configured with multiple of the same type of any one device (by way of example and not limitation, CPU + CPU, homogeneous multi-core processor, etc.) or with multiple different types of any one device (by way of example and not limitation, CPU + DSP, heterogeneous multi-core processor, etc.), or may be a combination of multiple devices (by way of example and not limitation, processor + computer device, processor + arithmetic device, a combination of multiple devices made heterogeneous, etc.). Note that the processor may be a virtual processor.

[0014] Also, when the server executes some processing, if it is configured by a single device, the processing described in the embodiments is executed by the single device. Also, when it is configured with multiple devices, it may be configured such that one device executes some processing and the other device executes the other processing. By way of example and not limitation, when it is configured with a processor and an arithmetic device, it may be configured such that the processor executes the first processing and the arithmetic device executes the second processing. Also, when configured with multiple devices, each device may be physically located at separate positions.

[0015] Further, the functions of the server may be provided, not by way of limitation but by way of example, in the form of PaaS, IaaS, or SaaS in cloud computing.

[0016] Further, the control unit of the system can be at least one of the control unit of the terminal and the control unit of the server. That is, not by way of limitation but by way of example, any one of (1A) only the control unit of the terminal, (1B) only the control unit of the server, and (1C) both the control unit of the terminal and the control unit of the server can be the control unit of the system.

[0017] Further, the control and processing (hereinafter collectively referred to as "control, etc.") performed by the control unit of the system may be performed (1A) only by the control unit of the terminal, (1B) only by the control unit of the server, or (1C) by both the control unit of the terminal and the control unit of the server. Further, in (1C), not by way of limitation but by way of example, some of the control, etc. performed by the system by the control unit may be performed by the control unit of the terminal, and the remaining control, etc. may be performed by the control unit of the server. In this case, the allocation (assignment) of the control, etc. may be equal, or may be assigned at different ratios instead of being equal.

[0018] In addition, in the case of the communication unit of the server, when the server is constituted by a single device, it may be the communication unit itself provided in the single device. When the server is constituted by having a plurality of devices, the communication unit of the server may be configured to include the respective communication units provided in each device. Not by way of limitation but by way of example, when the server includes a first device and a second device, the first device has a first communication unit, and the second device has a second communication unit, the communication unit of the server may be a concept including the first communication unit and the second communication unit.

[0019] (2) can be, by way of example and not limitation, a system (hereinafter referred to as a "server system") composed of a plurality of servers. In this case, the configuration of each server can be similarly applied to the above-described configuration.

[0020] For the control and the like performed by the server system, among the plurality of servers, (2A) it may be performed only by one server, (2B) it may be performed only by another server, or (2C) it may be performed by one server and another server. Also, in (2C), by way of example and not limitation, for some of the control and the like performed by the server system, one server may perform it, and the remaining control and the like may be performed by another server. In this case, the allocation (assignment) of the control and the like may be equal, or may be assigned at different ratios instead of being equal.

[0021] (3) can be, by way of example and not limitation, a system composed of a plurality of terminals. This system can be, by way of example and not limitation, the following system. · A system (distributed system) in which the functions of a server are provided to terminals. This can be realized, by way of example and not limitation, using blockchain technology. · A system in which terminals communicate wirelessly with each other. This can be realized, by way of example and not limitation, by communicating in a P2P (peer-to-peer) manner using short-range wireless communication technologies such as Bluetooth.

[0022] Note that the above is not limited to the control unit, and the same applies to each functional unit such as an input / output unit, a communication unit, a storage unit, and a clock unit that can be components of the system.

[0023] In the following embodiments, by way of example and not limitation, a system including a terminal and a server (by way of example and not limitation, a client-server system) will be exemplified. Note that it is also possible to apply the server system of the above (2) as the server.

[0024] Alternatively, instead of a system including a terminal and a server, it is also possible to apply a system that does not include a server, for example, the system of (3) above, without limitation. The embodiments in this case can be configured based on the above-described blockchain technology or the like. Specifically, for example, without limitation, the data stored and managed in the server described in the following embodiments is stored (kept) on the blockchain. Then, when the terminal generates a transaction to the blockchain and the transaction is approved on the blockchain, the data stored on the blockchain can be updated.

[0025] Note that even when expressed as a terminal, this is not limited to the meaning of a terminal as a client device in a client-server. That is, the terminal may also include the concept of a device that is not in a client-server.

[0026] In addition, in this specification, the expression "by the communication I / F" is used as appropriate. This may, for example, without limitation, indicate that a device transmits and receives various information and data via the communication I / F (via the communication unit) based on the control of a control unit (such as a processor).

[0027] Regarding the terms described as "related to" or "associated with" in this specification, for example, without limitation, in the case of "B related to A" or "B associated with A", it may mean "B" having some relationship with "A". Specific examples of this will be described later.

[0028] In addition, in this specification, when a device performs processing on two or more objects, such as "transmitting A and B" or "receiving A and B", it may include both performing "A" and "B" at the same timing (hereinafter referred to as "simultaneously") and performing "A" and "B" at different timings (hereinafter referred to as "non-simultaneously"). By way of example and not limitation, when transmitting the first information and the second information, both concepts including transmitting the first information and the second information in synchronization and transmitting the first information and the second information with a timing shift may be included. Note that considering the lag (time lag), "simultaneously" may include "substantially simultaneously".

[0029] Note that even when saying that "A" and "B" are performed with a timing shift, this only needs to be something that performs processing on "A" and "B", and their purposes do not necessarily have to be the same. By way of example and not limitation, when transmitting the first information and the second information as described above, it is only necessary to transmit the first information and the second information, and in addition to the case of transmitting the first information and the second information for the same purpose, cases of transmitting the first information and the second information for different purposes may also be included.

[0030] In the following embodiments, as an example of a service for a user to conduct a chat (hereinafter referred to as the "chat service"), a messaging service is exemplified. Also, an application for realizing the chat service is referred to as a "chat application", and an application for realizing the messaging service is referred to as a "messaging application". In the chat application, by way of example and not limitation, it can be made possible for a user to chat in a chat room.

[0031] Note that the messaging service: MS (including the instant messaging service: IMS) can also be considered as one form of the social networking service: SNS. Therefore, it may or may not be necessary to distinguish between the messaging service and the social networking service. That is, the messaging service may be included in the social networking service.

[0032] In the following embodiments, as an example of a messaging service, an Instant Messaging Service (IMS) that transmits and receives content in the form of simple messages between a plurality of devices (by way of example and not limitation, terminals) via a server will be exemplified. In an instant messaging application, by way of example and not limitation, a user can be enabled to talk in a chat room.

[0033] A chat room (by way of example and not limitation, a talk room) can be a UI (User Interface) or GUI (Graphical User Interface) through which each user can view the content transmitted and received between the terminals of a plurality of users.

[0034] In addition, the talk room can include a one-on-one user talk room (hereinafter referred to as a "one-on-one talk room"), a group talk room including a plurality of users (hereinafter referred to as a "group talk room"), a talk room with a user of an official account (hereinafter referred to as an "OA talk room"), and the like.

[0035] An official account is an account of a business operator user rather than a general user. The user of this official account can also, by way of example and not limitation, use a terminal similar to that of a general user to transmit and receive content (messages) to and from other devices via a server.

[0036] In this specification, the content may be information transmitted from a transmission source to a transmission destination. Also, the content may be one or more contents.

[0037] The content may include, by way of example and not limitation, text content in text form, image content in image form (including at least one of a still image and a moving image), audio content in audio form (including voice), and the like. In addition to the above, operation content such as buttons and icons provided for user operations, and link content such as link information (including, by way of example and not limitation, URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers), etc.) may also be included.

[0038] The text may include, by way of example and not limitation, at least any one of characters of various countries represented by character codes, extended characters, device-dependent characters, numbers, symbols, figures, and signs. Note that the text may not include at least any one of the above characters, extended characters, device-dependent characters, numbers, symbols, figures, and signs, and may include other text.

[0039] The image may include, by way of example and not limitation, at least any one of information of various images such as icons, buttons, stamps, emojis, and banner images.

[0040] <System Configuration> FIG. 1-1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of the communication system 1 in the present embodiment. In the communication system 1, by way of example and not limitation, the server 10 and a plurality of terminals 20 (terminal 20A, terminal 20B, terminal 20C,...) are connected via the network 30.

[0041] The server 10 has a function of providing a chat service (chat application) including a messaging service (messaging application) to official users and terminals 20 owned by users via the network 30. The server 10 can also be expressed as a messaging server, a messaging service server, a messaging application management server, etc.

[0042] In the present embodiment, a messaging service provider (operator) is used as a user of the server 10.

[0043] Note that, unlike the present embodiment, an operator of a payment service (payment application) that enables electronic payment using electronic money (electronic currency) or the like may become a user of the server 10 and operate a messaging service. The payment service operator may provide a messaging service as one function of the payment application, or may not do so.

[0044] Note that the number of servers 10 and the number of terminals 20 connected to the network 30 are not limited.

[0045] The terminal 20 (terminal 20A, terminal 20B, terminal 20C, ···) may be any information processing terminal that can realize the functions described in each embodiment. The terminal 20 includes, by way of example and not limitation, a smartphone, a mobile phone (feature phone), a computer (by way of example and not limitation, a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, etc.), a media computer platform (by way of example and not limitation, a cable, a satellite set-top box, a digital video recorder), a handheld computer device (by way of example and not limitation, a PDA (personal digital assistant), an email client, etc.), a wearable terminal (a glasses-type device, a watch-type device, etc.), a VR (Virtual Reality) terminal, a smart speaker (a voice recognition device), or other types of computers, or a communication platform. Also, the terminal 20 may be expressed as an information processing terminal.

[0046] The configurations of the terminal 20A, terminal 20B, and terminal 20C can be the same, by way of example and not limitation. Also, if necessary, the terminal used by the user X may be expressed as the terminal 20X, and the user information in a predetermined service associated with the user X or the terminal 20X may or may not be expressed as the user information X. Note that user information is information of a user associated with an account used by the user in a predetermined service. User information includes, by way of example and not limitation, information associated with the user such as the name of the user, the icon image of the user, the age of the user, the gender of the user, the address of the user, the hobbies and interests of the user, the identifier of the user, etc., which are input by the user or given by a predetermined service, and any one or a combination of these may or may not be included.

[0047] The network 30 plays a role of connecting one or more terminals 20 and one or more servers 10. That is, the network 30 means a communication network that provides a connection path so that data can be transmitted and received after the above various devices are connected.

[0048] One or more portions of the network 30 may or may not be a wired network or a wireless network. The network 30 includes, by way of example and not limitation, an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a cellular telephone network, ISDN (integrated service digital networks), a wireless LAN, LTE (long term evolution), CDMA (code division multiple access), Bluetooth (registered trademark), satellite communication, etc., or any combination of two or more thereof. The network 30 can include one or more networks 30.

[0049] Server 10 (an example of a server, an information processing device, or an information management device, not limited thereto) has a function of providing a predetermined service (a messaging service in this embodiment) to terminal 20. Server 10 may be any device as long as it is an information processing device capable of realizing the functions described in each embodiment. Server 10 includes, by way of example and not limitation, a server device, a computer (by way of example and not limitation, a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, etc.), a media computer platform (by way of example and not limitation, a cable, a satellite set-top box, a digital video recorder), a handheld computer device (by way of example and not limitation, a PDA, an email client, etc.), or other types of computers or communication platforms. Also, server 10 may be referred to as an information processing device. When there is no need to distinguish between server 10 and terminal 20, server 10 and terminal 20 may each be referred to as an information processing device or not, as the case may be.

[0050] [Hardware (HW) Configuration of Each Device] The HW configuration of each device included in communication system 1 will be described.

[0051] (1) HW Configuration of the Terminal FIG. 1-1 shows an example of the HW configuration of terminal 20. Terminal 20 includes a control unit 21 (CPU: central processing unit), a storage unit 28, a communication I / F 22 (interface), an input / output unit 23, a clock unit 29A, and a position calculation information detection unit 29B. Each component of the HW of terminal 20 is interconnected via a bus B, by way of example and not limitation. Note that it is not essential to include all components as the HW configuration of terminal 20. By way of example and not limitation, terminal 20 may be configured to remove individual components or a plurality of components, or not, as the case may be.

[0052] The communication I / F 22 transmits and receives various data via the network 30. The communication may be performed either by wire or wirelessly, and any communication protocol may be used as long as mutual communication can be executed. The communication I / F 22 has a function of executing communication with various devices such as the server 10 via the network 30. The communication I / F 22 transmits various data to various devices such as the server 10 according to an instruction from the control unit 21. Further, the communication I / F 22 receives various data transmitted from various devices such as the server 10 and transmits them to the control unit 21. Further, the communication I / F 22 may sometimes be simply expressed as a communication unit. Further, when the communication I / F 22 is composed of physically structured circuits, it may sometimes be expressed as a communication circuit.

[0053] The input / output unit 23 includes devices for inputting various operations to the terminal 20, devices for outputting processing results processed by the terminal 20, and the like. The input / output unit 23 may have an integrated input unit and output unit, may be separated into an input unit and an output unit, or may not be so.

[0054] The input unit is realized by any one or a combination of all types of devices that can receive an input from a user and transmit information related to the input to the control unit 21. The input unit includes, by way of example and not limitation, hardware keys such as a touch panel, a touch display, a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, a camera (operation input via moving images), and a microphone (operation input by voice).

[0055] The output unit is realized by any one or a combination of all types of devices that can output the processing result processed by the control unit 21. The output unit includes, by way of example and not limitation, a touch panel, a touch display, a speaker (voice output), a lens (3D (three dimensions) output or hologram output by way of example and not limitation), a printer, and the like.

[0056] Merely by way of example, the input / output unit 23 includes, by way of example and not limitation, a display unit 24, a sound input unit 25, a sound output unit 26, and an imaging unit 27.

[0057] The display unit 24 can be realized by any one or a combination of all types of devices capable of displaying according to the display data written in the frame buffer. The display unit 24 includes, by way of example and not limitation, a touch panel, a touch display, a monitor (by way of example and not limitation, a liquid crystal display or an OELD (organic electroluminescence display)), a head-mounted display (HDM: Head Mounted Display), projection mapping, a hologram, a device capable of displaying image, text information, etc. in the air (it may or may not be a vacuum). Note that these display units 24 may or may not be capable of displaying display data in 3D.

[0058] The sound input unit 25 is used for input of sound data (including voice data. The same applies hereinafter). The sound input unit 25 includes a microphone and the like. The sound output unit 26 is used for output of sound data. The sound output unit 26 includes a speaker and the like. The imaging unit 27 is used for acquisition of image data (including still image data and moving image data. The same applies hereinafter). The imaging unit 27 includes a camera and the like.

[0059] When the input / output unit 23 is a touch panel, the input / output unit 23 and the display unit 24 may be arranged to face each other with substantially the same size and shape.

[0060] The clock unit 29A is the built-in clock of the terminal 20 and outputs time information (timekeeping information). The clock unit 29A is configured to have, by way of example and not limitation, a clock using a crystal oscillator. The clock unit 29A can also be expressed as, by way of example and not limitation, a timekeeping unit or a time information detection unit.

[0061] Note that the clock unit 29A may or may not have a clock applying the NITZ (Network Identity and Time Zone) standard or the like.

[0062] The position calculation information detection unit 29B is a functional unit that detects (measures) information (hereinafter referred to as "position calculation information") necessary for the control unit 21 to calculate (measure) the position of its own terminal 20. The position calculation information detection unit 29B can also be expressed as a position calculation sensor unit by way of example, not limitation.

[0063] The position calculation information detection unit 29B includes, by way of example, not limitation, a satellite positioning sensor (satellite positioning unit), which is a sensor or unit for calculating the position of the terminal 20 using a satellite positioning system such as GPS (Global Positioning System), an inertial measurement sensor (inertial measurement unit (IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit))), which is a sensor or unit for calculating the position of the terminal 20 using an inertial navigation system, a UWB positioning sensor (UWB positioning unit), which is a sensor or unit for calculating the position of the terminal 20 using UWB (Ultra Wide Band), etc.

[0064] The satellite positioning unit includes, by way of example, not limitation, an RF receiving circuit that converts an RF (Radio Frequency) signal including a positioning satellite signal transmitted from a positioning satellite received by an antenna (not shown) into a digital signal, and a baseband processing circuit that performs correlation operation processing, etc. on the digital signal output from the RF receiving circuit to capture the positioning satellite signal and outputs information such as satellite orbit data and time data extracted from the positioning satellite signal as position calculation information.

[0065] The inertial measurement unit has an inertial sensor that is a sensor for detecting information necessary for calculating the position of the terminal 20 by inertial navigation calculation. The inertial sensor includes, by way of example, not limitation, a three-axis acceleration sensor and a three-axis gyro sensor, and outputs the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor and the angular velocity detected by the gyro sensor as position calculation information.

[0066] The UWB positioning unit includes, by way of example and not limitation, an ultra-wideband RF receiving circuit that converts an ultra-wideband RF signal including a positioning ultra-wideband pulse signal transmitted from a positioning beacon received by an antenna (not shown) into a digital signal, and a relative position calculation processing circuit that calculates the relative position between the terminal 20 and the positioning beacon based on the digital signal output from the ultra-wideband RF receiving circuit, and the like. Incidentally, by way of example and not limitation, the UWB positioning unit may or may not function as the positioning beacon for the terminal 20 by transmitting an ultra-wideband RF signal including a positioning ultra-wideband pulse signal from an antenna (not shown).

[0067] The control unit 21, by way of example and not limitation, calculates the position of its own terminal 20 at regular timings or specific timings based on the position calculation information detected by the position calculation information detection unit 29B. The position of the terminal is referred to as the "terminal position", and the calculated terminal position is referred to as the "calculated terminal position". The control unit 21 may or may not store the calculated terminal position in the storage unit 28 as calculated terminal position history data in association with the date and time when the calculated terminal position was calculated.

[0068] The control unit 21 has a physically structured circuit for executing functions realized by codes or instructions included in a program, and is realized, by way of example and not limitation, by a data processing device built into hardware. Therefore, the control unit 21 may or may not be expressed as a control circuit.

[0069] The control unit 21 includes, by way of example and not limitation, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a processor core, a multiprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0070] The storage unit 28 has a function of storing various programs and various data required for the operation of the terminal 20. The storage unit 28 includes various storage media such as, but not limited to, an HDD (hard disk drive), an SSD (solid state drive), a flash memory, a RAM (random access memory), and a ROM (read only memory) as examples. Also, the storage unit 28 may or may not be expressed as a memory.

[0071] The terminal 20 stores the program P in the storage unit 28 and, by executing this program P, the control unit 21 executes processes as each part included in the control unit 21. That is, the program P stored in the storage unit 28 causes the terminal 20 to realize each function executed by the control unit 21. Also, this program P may or may not be expressed as a program module.

[0072] (2) HW Configuration of the Server FIG. 1-1 shows an example of the HW configuration of the server 10. The server 10 includes a control unit 11 (CPU), a storage unit 15, a communication I / F 14 (interface), an input / output unit 12, and a clock unit 19. Each component of the HW of the server 10 is interconnected via a bus B as an example, not a limitation. Note that it is not essential for the HW of the server 10 to include all components as the configuration of the HW of the server 10. As an example, not a limitation, the HW of the server 10 may or may not be configured to remove individual components or a plurality of components.

[0073] The control unit 11 has a circuit physically structured to execute functions realized by codes or instructions included in a program, and is realized by, for example but not limited to, a data processing device built into the hardware.

[0074] The control unit 11 is typically a central processing unit (CPU), and may alternatively be a microprocessor, a processor core, a multiprocessor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or not. In the present disclosure, the control unit 11 is not limited thereto.

[0075] The storage unit 15 has a function of storing various programs and various data required for the operation of the server 10. The storage unit 15 is realized by various storage media such as an HDD, an SSD, and a flash memory. However, in the present disclosure, the storage unit 15 is not limited thereto. Also, the storage unit 15 may or may not be expressed as a memory.

[0076] The communication I / F 14 transmits and receives various data via the network 30. The communication may be performed either wired or wirelessly, and any communication protocol may be used as long as mutual communication can be executed. The communication I / F 14 has a function of performing communication with various devices such as the terminal 20 via the network 30. The communication I / F 14 transmits various data to various devices such as the terminal 20 according to an instruction from the control unit 11. Also, the communication I / F 14 receives various data transmitted from various devices such as the terminal 20 and transmits them to the control unit 11. Also, the communication I / F 14 may sometimes be simply expressed as a communication unit. Also, when the communication I / F 14 is composed of a physically structured circuit, it may sometimes be expressed as a communication circuit.

[0077] The input / output unit 12 includes devices for inputting various operations to the server 10, devices for outputting processing results processed by the server 10, and the like. The input / output unit 12 may or may not have the input unit and the output unit integrated, may or may not be separated into the input unit and the output unit, or may be otherwise.

[0078] The input unit is implemented by any one or a combination of all types of devices that can receive input from a user and transmit information related to the input to the control unit 11. Typically, the input unit is implemented by hardware keys represented by a keyboard or the like, and pointing devices such as a mouse. Note that the input unit may or may not include, by way of example and not limitation, a touch panel, a camera (operation input via a moving image), a microphone (operation input by voice).

[0079] The output unit is implemented by any one or a combination of all types of devices that can output the processing result processed by the control unit 11. By way of example and not limitation, the output unit includes a touch panel, a touch display, a speaker (sound output), a lens (3D (three dimensions) output and hologram output by way of example and not limitation), a printer, and the like.

[0080] Although it is merely an example, the input / output unit 12 includes, by way of example and not limitation, the display unit 13.

[0081] The display unit 13 is implemented by a display or the like. Typically, the display is implemented by a monitor (a liquid crystal display or an OELD (organic electroluminescence display) by way of example and not limitation). Note that the display may or may not be a head-mounted display (HDM) or the like. Note that these displays may or may not be able to display display data in 3D. In the present disclosure, the display is not limited thereto.

[0082] The clock unit 19 is a built-in clock of the server 10 and outputs time information (timing information). By way of example and not limitation, the clock unit 19 is configured to include an RTC (Real Time Clock) as a hardware clock, a system clock, and the like. By way of example and not limitation, the clock unit 19 can also be expressed as a timing unit or a time information detection unit.

[0083] (3) Others Server 10 stores program P in storage unit 15, and by executing this program P, control unit 11 executes the processes as each part included in control unit 11. That is, program P stored in storage unit 15 causes server 10 to realize each function that control unit 11 executes. This program P may or may not be expressed as a program module. The same applies to other devices.

[0084] In each embodiment of the present disclosure, it will be described as being realized by the CPU of terminal 20 and / or server 10 executing program P.

[0085] Note that control unit 21 of terminal 20 and / or control unit 11 of server 10 may or may not be realized by not only a CPU having a control circuit but also a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, LSI (Large Scale Integration)), etc., or a dedicated circuit. Also, these circuits may be realized by one or a plurality of integrated circuits, and it may or may not be the case that a plurality of processes shown in each embodiment are realized by one integrated circuit. Also, LSI may sometimes be referred to as VLSI, super LSI, ultra LSI, etc. depending on the difference in integration degree. Therefore, control unit 21 may or may not be expressed as a control circuit.

[0086] Also, the program P (by way of example and not limitation, a software program, a computer program, or a program module) of each embodiment of the present disclosure may or may not be provided in a state stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium can store the program P in a "non-transitory tangible medium". Also, the program P may or may not be for realizing a part of the functions of each embodiment of the present disclosure. Further, it may or may not be a so-called difference file (difference program) that can realize the functions of each embodiment of the present disclosure in combination with the program P already recorded in the storage medium.

[0087] Also, in the case of a system program (a program executed by the system), the system is as described above. And the system program described above is a program executable throughout the system, and this program may, by way of example and not limitation, be composed of the programs of the individual devices constituting the system, and the programs stored in the individual devices constituting the system may be different from each other. That is, it is not necessary for them to be common programs in the individual devices constituting the system. By way of example and not limitation, when the system is composed of a terminal and a server, if the system program is P1, the system program P1 is composed of the program P2 stored in the terminal and the program P3 stored in the server, and P2 and P3 are for executing the system program and may be different programs. By way of example and not limitation, the program P2 stored in the terminal is a program that executes a first process and transmits the result of the first process to the server, and the program P3 stored in the server may be a program that performs a second process on the received result of the first process and transmits the result of the second process to the terminal.

[0088] The storage medium can include one or more semiconductor-based, or other integrated circuits (ICs) (by way of example and not limitation, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid hard drives (HHDs), optical disks, optical disk drives (ODDs), magneto-optical disks, magneto-optical drives, floppy disks, floppy disk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid state drives (SSDs), RAM drives, secure digital cards, or drives, any other suitable storage medium, or any suitable combination of two or more of these. The storage medium can be, where appropriate, volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile. Note that the storage medium is not limited to these examples, and any device or medium can be used as long as it can store program P. Also, the storage medium may or may not be expressed as memory.

[0089] Server 10 and / or terminal 20 can realize the functions of the multiple functional units shown in each embodiment by reading program P stored in the storage medium and executing the read program P.

[0090] Also, program P of the present disclosure may or may not be provided to server 10 and / or terminal 20 via any transmission medium capable of transmitting the program (such as a communication network or broadcast wave). Server 10 and / or terminal 20 realize the functions of the multiple functional units shown in each embodiment by executing program P downloaded via, by way of example and not limitation, the Internet or the like.

[0091] Also, each embodiment of the present disclosure can also be realized in the form of a data signal in which program P is embodied by electronic transmission. At least a part of the processing in server 10 and / or terminal 20 may or may not be realized by cloud computing constituted by one or more computers. It is also possible, or not, to configure at least part or all of the processing in the terminal 20 to be performed by the server 10. In this case, it is also possible, or not, to configure at least part or all of the processing of each functional unit of the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 to be performed by the server 10. It is also possible, or not, to configure at least part or all of the processing in the server 10 to be performed by the terminal 20. In this case, it is also possible, or not, to configure at least part or all of the processing of each functional unit of the control unit 11 of the server 10 to be performed by the terminal 20.

[0092] Unless otherwise explicitly stated, the determination configuration in the embodiments of the present disclosure is not essential, and a predetermined process may or may not be operated when the determination condition is satisfied, or a predetermined process may or may not be performed when the determination condition is not satisfied.

[0093] Note that the program of the present disclosure is implemented using, by way of example and not limitation, script languages such as ActionScript and JavaScript (registered trademark), compiler languages such as Objective-C and Java (registered trademark), and markup languages such as HTML5.

[0094] <First Embodiment> The first embodiment, by way of example and not limitation, is an embodiment in which the terminal 20 displays a talk room (an example of a chat room, not limited) in a messaging application. Then, based on the input to the talk room by the user of the own terminal 20, stamp content (an example of image information, not limited) with search conditions set is displayed in the talk room, and search results retrieved based on the search conditions set for the stamp content are transmitted to the terminal 20 of the user of the talk partner included in the talk room and displayed in the talk room displayed on the own terminal 20.

[0095] Among users who are chatting in a talk room of a messaging application, there may be cases where, by way of example and not limitation, various events such as meals or drinking parties are desired. And there may be cases where information regarding an event is searched for. In this embodiment, search conditions are set in stamp content in advance, and upon transmission of the stamp content in which the search conditions are set, it becomes possible to present search results to the user.

[0096] The content described in the first embodiment is applicable to any of the other embodiments and other modification examples. Also, for components identical to the components already described, the same reference numerals are given and repeated description is omitted.

[0097] The search results can be displayed based on, by way of example and not limitation, at least any one of the following data. (1) Data in the database of an external server (hereinafter, referred to as "external data" for convenience). (2) Data in the database of server 10 (hereinafter, referred to as "internal data" for convenience).

[0098] Note that hereinafter, it is assumed that internal data is stored in the database of server 10, but by way of example and not limitation, internal data may be stored in a database of a server different from server 10 and managed by a messaging service provider.

[0099] [Functional Configuration of Each Device] (1) Server FIG. 1-2 is a diagram showing an example of functions realized by control unit 11 of server 10 in this embodiment. Control unit 11 includes, by way of example and not limitation, an application management processing unit 111 as a functional unit for executing messaging application management processing according to an application management processing program 151 stored in storage unit 15.

[0100] FIG. 1-3 is a diagram showing an example of information and the like stored in the storage unit 15 of the server 10 in the present embodiment. Stored in the storage unit 15, by way of example and not limitation, are an application management processing program 151 executed as messaging application management processing, account registration data 153, a search engine database 155, a search condition setting stamp management database 157, and an account management database 159.

[0101] The account registration data 153 is registration data regarding the accounts of the messaging application, and an example of its data configuration is shown in FIG. 1-4. Stored in the account registration data 153, by way of example and not limitation, are a user name, an application ID, and other registration information associated with each other.

[0102] The user name is the name of the account of the terminal 20 that uses the application, and, by way of example and not limitation, the name registered by the user of the terminal 20 when using the application is stored.

[0103] The application ID is information used to identify the account of the application, or the account itself. This application ID is preferably a unique value for each account, and, by way of example and not limitation, a unique value (a specific value) is set for each account by the server 10 and stored. The application ID is information associated with the terminal 20 or the user of the terminal 20, and is an example of information regarding the terminal or information regarding the user of the terminal.

[0104] The other registration information may include, by way of example and not limitation, identification information for identifying the terminal 20, the telephone number of the terminal 20 (terminal telephone number), the email address (terminal email address), and various types of information such as authentication information such as passwords (login passwords, authentication passwords, etc.) used for various authentications in the application.

[0105] The identification information for identifying the terminal 20 can be, by way of example and not limitation, a terminal ID (by way of example and not limitation, an IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity)). Also, the identification information for identifying the user of the terminal 20 can be, by way of example and not limitation, an application ID or an official application ID. Note that instead of the application ID, it may or may not be a "user ID".

[0106] Also, for an application that can register only one account per terminal 20, by way of example and not limitation, it can be "identification information for identifying the terminal 20 = identification information for identifying the user of the terminal 20 = application ID".

[0107] Also, by way of example and not limitation, it may or may not be possible to assign a plurality of terminal IDs to one application ID.

[0108] Also, instead of the application ID, it is also possible to apply a method of managing an account with information such as a terminal phone number. In this case, instead of storing the application ID in the account registration data 153, information such as the terminal phone number can be stored in the account registration data 153.

[0109] The search engine database 155 is a database of a search engine managed by a messaging service provider (server 10).

[0110] The messaging service provider can, by way of example and not limitation, search for and collect various types of information on the web by a robot-type search engine. Specifically, by way of example and not limitation, various external data can be collected through a crawling process using a crawler (bot). Hereinafter, for the sake of convenience, the information (content) of the external data will be referred to as "external information".

[0111] The server 10, by way of example and not limitation, can analyze the acquired external information, convert it into searchable data, and register (index) it in the search engine database 155. By doing so, the server 10 can perform a search process.

[0112] In the search engine database 155, by way of example and not limitation, external information, link information of external data (hereinafter referred to as "external link information"), etc. can be stored in association with a data ID which is identification information for uniquely identifying data.

[0113] The link information can be, by way of example and not limitation, "URI". In this case, the external link information can be information for accessing an external server different from the server 10, specifically, information for accessing the external server to obtain data in the database of the external server, by way of example and not limitation. Various devices can access the external server based on the external link information and display an external page including the target external information.

[0114] Note that the link information (by way of example and not limitation, URI) may or may not be described according to a description scheme specified by the messaging service provider.

[0115] In addition, when the link information is specified while the messaging application is running on the terminal 20 on which the messaging application has been installed, the external page can be displayed by, by way of example and not limitation, the browser of the messaging application (hereinafter referred to as the "in-app browser (internal browser)").

[0116] In contrast, it is also possible to display the external page by an external browser (hereinafter referred to as the "external browser") that is not the in-app browser.

[0117] In addition to or instead of the external data, it is also possible to cause the search engine database 155 to store the above-described (2) internal data based on at least any one of the following information, by way of example and not limitation. (2-1) Internal original information (2-2) External organized information (2-3) Composite information

[0118] (2-1) The internal original information can be, by way of example and not limitation, information for search independently generated by the messaging service provider. It is also conceivable that the messaging service provider constructs its own search system. It is possible to generate information for search without necessarily acquiring external information, and there may be a case where there is no external information that can be referred to in the first place.

[0119] In this case, the search engine database 155 can store, by way of example and not limitation, the internal original information, the link information of the internal data based on the internal original information, etc. in association with the data ID.

[0120] (2-2) The external organized information can be information obtained as a result of organizing external information. There may be a case where the messaging service provider wants to organize external information and use it for search. The organization of information can, by way of example and not limitation, be to adjust the original information (content) without altering it. By way of example and not limitation, this can include editing the content, deleting some of the content, extracting the essential parts of the content, summarizing the content, and so on. Note that the organization of external information may also be referred to as the organization of external data.

[0121] In this case, the search engine database 155 can, by way of example and not limitation, store, in association with the data ID, external organization information, link information of internal data based on the external organization information, and so on.

[0122] Note that it is not necessarily essential to organize external information, and it may be possible to divert (use as is) the external information or not use it at all.

[0123] (2-3) Composite information can be information generated based on external information and internal original information. There may be cases where a messaging service provider wishes to use internal original information for searching while referring to external information.

[0124] In this case, the search engine database 155 can, by way of example and not limitation, store, in association with the data ID, composite information, link information of internal data based on the composite information, and so on.

[0125] The search condition setting stamp management database 157 is a database for managing search condition setting stamps. By way of example and not limitation, search condition setting stamp data, which will be described later and is transmitted to the terminal 20 based on a download request from the terminal 20, can be stored, and for each search condition setting stamp, various types of information such as stamp ID, stamp content, search conditions, stamp thumbnail, stamp category, search category, etc. are stored in association. Details of this information will be described in the part on the data configuration of the terminal 20.

[0126] Note that, by way of example and not limitation, the server 10 may also generate content having a relationship with the search conditions (hereinafter referred to as "search condition content"), such as content for notifying the user of the search conditions or making the search conditions recognizable to the user, in association with the stamp ID, and store the content in the search condition setting stamp management database 157.

[0127] By way of example and not limitation, the server 10 generates search condition content based on the search conditions of the search condition setting stamp. Then, the generated search condition content is stored in the search condition setting stamp management database 157 in association with the stamp ID. Note that specific examples of the search condition content will be described later.

[0128] The account management database 159 is a database of management data related to the accounts stored in the account registration data 153. By way of example and not limitation, for each account (application ID), friend registration data related to the accounts registered as friends, group registration data related to the accounts registered in a group, content transmission / reception history data related to the transmission and reception of content, etc. are stored.

[0129] (2) Terminal FIG. 1-5 is a diagram showing an example of functions realized by the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 in the present embodiment. The control unit 21 includes, by way of example and not limitation, an application processing unit 211 as a functional unit for executing messaging application processing according to the application processing program 281 stored in the storage unit 28.

[0130] FIG. 1-6 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the storage unit 28 of the terminal 20 in the present embodiment. The memory unit 28 stores, by way of example and not limitation, an application processing program 281 executed as messaging application processing, the application ID 283 of its own terminal 20 or the user of its own terminal 20, and a search condition setting stamp database 287.

[0131] Note that the application ID 283 may or may not be able to store a plurality of application IDs.

[0132] The search condition setting stamp database 287 is a database related to the search condition setting stamp, and a data configuration example of the search condition setting stamp database 287A, which is an example thereof, is shown in FIG. 1-7.

[0133] A stamp, by way of example and not limitation, is a type of content used in a messaging application, and can be used to convey the user's feelings, which are difficult to express in words, to the other user by means of an illustration or the like.

[0134] Hereinafter, a stamp as content used for display or transmission / reception in a messaging application is referred to as "stamp content". In the method of the present disclosure, different from a normal stamp (stamp content), a search condition can be set in advance in the stamp content or can be set based on user input.

[0135] In the present embodiment, the search condition, by way of example and not limitation, can be a condition for the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 or the control unit 11 of the server 10 to perform a search.

[0136] "The search condition is set in the stamp content" can, by way of example and not limitation, represent at least any one of the following. (A1) Only search terms, keywords, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as "search words") are set in the stamp content. (A2) A category for search (hereinafter referred to as "search category") is set in the stamp content, and the corresponding search word is also set in the stamp content.

[0137] The search category can be, by way of example and not limitation, a conceptual classification in search, such as genre, location, time, number of people, situation, etc. By way of example and not limitation, the search category "location" can be a category that includes prefectures, municipalities, countries, etc.

[0138] (A2) By way of example and not limitation, it can be assumed that there is a search word corresponding to the search category set in advance together with the search category. By way of example and not limitation, those in which the search category is "location" and "Tokyo", which is one of the prefectures, is set in advance as the search word corresponding to this search category "location" can be included in this.

[0139] That is, the search conditions can be, by way of example and not limitation, conditions determined based on search words, search categories, etc. Note that the following stamp categories may be included as elements for determining the search conditions. Also, the search word input by the user to set the search conditions may be referred to as a "search query".

[0140] In this embodiment, in the search condition setting stamp database 287A, search condition setting stamp data is stored as data for each search condition setting stamp. In each search condition setting stamp data, by way of example and not limitation, a stamp category and one or more stamp-specific data regarding the stamp to which this stamp category is commonly applied are stored.

[0141] The stamp category is the category of this stamp. By way of example and not limitation, conceptual classifications of stamps corresponding to the purpose for which the user uses the stamp, the use of the stamp, etc., such as "Meals (Stores)", "Recipes", "Videos", "Shopping", "Games", etc., are memorized.

[0142] In the data for each stamp, by way of example and not limitation, a stamp ID, stamp content, a stamp thumbnail, and search conditions are memorized.

[0143] The stamp ID is an ID for identifying this search condition setting stamp. By way of example and not limitation, a unique ID set by server 10 is memorized.

[0144] The stamp content is the data of the stamp content described above. Data such as illustrations of stamps composed of characters, images (including those in which characters are part of the image), etc. are included therein. In the following description, the "search condition setting stamp" may be used synonymously with the "stamp content".

[0145] The stamp thumbnail is data of a thumbnail of the stamp content (hereinafter referred to as the "stamp thumbnail"). The stamp thumbnail is an example of a reduced image of image information and is used, by way of example and not limitation, to allow the user to select the stamp content to be transmitted, such as by displaying a list of stamp thumbnails.

[0146] The search condition is a search condition set for this stamp content. In this embodiment, the search condition includes, by way of example and not limitation, the search word described above, which is set in advance.

[0147] By way of example rather than limitation, the search condition setting stamp data on the frontmost side in FIGS. 1-7 is data regarding the search condition setting stamp with stamp ID "ST001", and as the search condition, "Western food", which is a word indicating the food genre among the stamp category "Meal", is set.

[0148] Hereinafter, by way of example rather than limitation, the stamp category "Meal" is used as a stamp category used for the purpose of searching for stores where meals are taken, and an example of the case where the store where meals are taken is searched by the server 10 is shown. Note that in this data example, "Store" or "Meal & Store" etc. may be stored in the stamp category. Also, in this data example, "Western food & Store" etc. may be stored in the search condition.

[0149] Also, in the search condition setting stamp data in this example, considering the convenience of the user, by storing the "stamp category" in each search condition setting stamp data, the user can select stamps for each stamp category, but it is not essential to store the stamp category, and it may not be stored. The same applies hereinafter.

[0150] The search condition setting stamp data can be stored in the search condition setting stamp database 287A of the storage unit 28 of the terminal 20, for example, by being downloaded from the server 10.

[0151] In this embodiment, the terminal 20 acquires the search condition setting stamp data including the data of the stamp content with the search condition set, for example, by downloading it from the server 10. That is, the search condition is set for the image information before the stamp content (by way of example rather than limitation, an example of image information) is received by the terminal.

[0152] Note that the "search condition is set for the image information before the image information is received by the terminal" can be a concept including the following, by way of example rather than limitation. (a) The search conditions are not set based on user input (b) On the premise of (a), the basic conditions are not set based on user input, but the specific conditions can be set based on user input (c) Separately from (b), the search conditions are set arbitrarily without being based on user input

[0153] (b) includes, by way of example and not limitation, that for search categories such as "location" and "genre", the basic conditions are not set based on user input (by way of example and not limitation, set by the server 10 etc.), but the specific conditions corresponding to the search category "location" (by way of example and not limitation, Tokyo) and the specific conditions corresponding to the search category "genre" (by way of example and not limitation, Western food) can be set based on user input, etc. Details thereof will be described later in the second embodiment.

[0154] (c) can include that the search conditions are set arbitrarily by the server 10 etc., including the above basic conditions and specific conditions, etc.

[0155] In this embodiment, the terminal 20 may obtain search condition setting stamp data including search condition content from the server 10 and store it in the search condition setting stamp database 287A of the storage unit 28 of the terminal 20.

[0156] Also, the terminal 20 may or may not perform a process of generating search condition content based on the search conditions included in the search condition setting stamp data obtained from the server 10 and the template data of the search condition content, by way of example and not limitation, where the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 generates the search condition content without obtaining the search condition content from the server 10.

[0157] Also, without the terminal 20 obtaining the stamp thumbnail from the server 10, by way of example rather than limitation, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 may or may not perform a process of generating a stamp thumbnail based on the stamp content included in the search condition setting stamp data obtained from the server 10.

[0158] Here, in the messaging application, it is possible that a normal stamp for which no search condition is set may be downloaded from the server 10. Although illustration is omitted, data regarding this normal stamp can, by way of example rather than limitation, be stored in a normal stamp database that stores normal stamps in the storage unit 28 of the terminal 20.

[0159] Note that, in contrast, the search condition setting stamps and the normal stamps may be stored in the same database. In this case, by way of example rather than limitation, each stamp data can store a stamp type. By way of example rather than limitation, the search condition setting stamp can be stored in association with the stamp type "search condition setting", and the normal stamp can be stored in association with the stamp type "normal". Also, the search condition setting stamps and the normal stamps may be distinguished by a stamp ID. In this case, the range for assigning a numerical value or the like as the stamp ID can be made different between the search condition setting stamps and the normal stamps.

[0160] Hereinafter, the user who is the sender of the stamp content will be referred to as the "sender user", and the user who is the recipient of the stamp content will be referred to as the "recipient user" for explanation.

[0161] <Display screen> Hereinafter, by way of example rather than limitation, the terminal 20 will be exemplified as a smartphone having a display unit 24 with a vertically long display for the display screen.

[0162] In a smartphone, as an example and not by way of limitation, a touch panel that functions as an input unit is disposed opposite to its display, thereby constituting a touch screen. When elements such as icons, buttons, items, or input areas are displayed on the display, if a user operates a region of the touch panel that is opposite to the region where the element is displayed, a program associated with the element or a subroutine of the program can be executed.

[0163] Hereinafter, a tap (tap operation) is, as an example and not by way of limitation, an operation in which a user lightly touches the display unit 24 (touch screen) in which the touch panel is integrally formed with a finger or the tip of a pen and then releases the touch.

[0164] It should be noted that the transition of the display screen described below is only an example of the transition of the display screen for realizing the method of the present disclosure and is not limited thereto. Regarding the transition of the display screen illustrated below, the display of some display screens may be omitted or another display screen may be added.

[0165] FIGS. 1-8 and 1-9 are diagrams showing an example of the transition of the screen displayed on the display unit 24A of the terminal 20A in this embodiment. Here, the case of displaying and transmitting stamp contents for which search conditions have been set will be described.

[0166] On the screen where the talk room is displayed, at the center of the uppermost part of the screen, the characters "Messaging App" are displayed as the name of the messaging application. Also, on the upper right of the uppermost part of the screen, the icon image and the user name (user A.A in this example) of the user of this terminal 20A in the messaging application are displayed.

[0167] On the left screen of FIGS. 1-8, below the area where the name of the messaging application and the like at the top of the screen are displayed, by way of example and not limitation, as a type of area indicating which page (in this example, the talk room) within the messaging application is currently being displayed, a talk room name display area CLR including the name of the talk room (hereinafter referred to as the "talk room name") is provided. The talk room name display area CLR can also be said to be an area indicating the page (in this example, the talk room) within the messaging application where the user is currently located.

[0168] In this example, in the talk room name display area CLR, by way of example and not limitation, a character (in this example, "B.B") indicating that it is a talk room for user A.A to talk with user B.B is displayed.

[0169] Also, below that, a talk area TR for user A.A and user B.B to talk in an interactive form is configured. On the left side of the screen, the content (message) of the other user B.B is displayed, and on the right side of the screen, the content (message) of the user A.A himself is displayed.

[0170] In this example, as the content with user A.A as the sender, text content including the text "Don't we go for dinner tomorrow?" is displayed in a speech bubble on the right side of the screen.

[0171] Below the talk area TR, an area for the user to select or input the content to be sent is configured, and below that, an area for displaying information related to the search condition setting stamp is configured.

[0172] Specifically, a stamp category display area SCR in which one or more stamp categories are displayed and the user can select the stamp category is provided. In this example, an icon image indicating the stamp category is displayed. Below that, there is also provided a stamp thumbnail display area STR in which one or more stamp thumbnails are displayed in a selectable manner for the user corresponding to the stamp content included in the stamp category selected by the user from among the stamp categories in the stamp category display area SCR.

[0173] The stamp thumbnails displayed in the stamp thumbnail display area STR include, by way of example and not limitation, the stamp thumbnails available to the user (user A.A) of the terminal 20A. In this example, by way of example and not limitation, based on the fact that the stamp category of "Meal" represented by the icon image of a spoon & fork has been selected by the user, as stamp thumbnails corresponding to the stamp content included in this stamp category, by way of example and not limitation, a stamp thumbnail corresponding to the stamp content of an illustration of sushi, a stamp thumbnail corresponding to the stamp content of an illustration of hamburger, and a stamp thumbnail corresponding to the stamp content of an illustration of dumplings are displayed.

[0174] In this example, these stamp thumbnails are, by way of example and not limitation, stamp thumbnails corresponding to stamp content for which search conditions are set in advance. By way of example and not limitation, for the stamp content of an illustration of sushi, "Japanese cuisine" is set as a search condition, for the stamp content of an illustration of hamburger, "Western cuisine" is set as a search condition, and for the stamp content of an illustration of dumplings, "Chinese cuisine" is set as a search condition.

[0175] In the left screen of Fig. 1-8, by way of example and not limitation, among a plurality of stamp thumbnails, a state where the stamp thumbnail corresponding to the stamp content of an illustration of hamburger is tapped is shown. As a result, by way of example and not limitation, the screen shown on the right of Fig. 1-8 is displayed.

[0176] On the right screen of FIGS. 1-8, as an example and not by way of limitation, a preview display area PVR including a preview image of stamp content corresponding to the tapped stamp thumbnail is provided so as to overlap the talk area TR. In this example, as an example and not by way of limitation, based on the fact that a stamp thumbnail corresponding to the stamp content of an illustration of a hamburger has been tapped by user A.A, a preview image of the stamp content of the illustration of a hamburger is displayed in the preview display area PVR.

[0177] On the right screen of FIGS. 1-8, as an example and not by way of limitation, when the preview is tapped, as an example and not by way of limitation, the screen shown on the left of FIGS. 1-9 is displayed. Specifically, the displays of the preview display area PVR, the stamp category display area SCR, and the stamp thumbnail display area STR are erased, and the talk area TR is widely displayed. And on the right side of the talk area TR facing the screen, the stamp content SCT10 of the illustration of a hamburger as a message from user A.A is displayed.

[0178] Also, based on a transmission request for the stamp content SCT10 being made from the terminal 20 to the server 10, a search process is performed by the server 10, and the search result is transmitted to the terminal 20A. As a result, as an example and not by way of limitation, the screen shown on the right of FIGS. 1-9 is displayed. On this screen, in the talk area TR, below the stamp content SCT10 of the illustration of a hamburger which is the latest content, as an example and not by way of limitation, information indicating that a search has been performed based on search conditions by the server 10 (as an example and not by way of limitation, the characters "Recommended stores are here") is displayed, and below that, a list of search results is displayed.

[0179] In this example, the list of search results is displayed in a carousel format in the left-right direction of the talk room, and is configured to be scrolled horizontally based on a swipe operation by the user or automatically, as an example and not by way of limitation.

[0180] In this example, a search is performed based on the search condition "Western food", and as an example rather than a limitation, the search results of Western food restaurants are displayed in the talk room. Specifically, a list of search results of multiple Western food restaurants without location limitation, such as Western food restaurant A located in Tokyo and Western food restaurant B located in Kanagawa Prefecture, is shown.

[0181] Also, in this example, each search result is a composite search result including a banner image related to the store with a link, the location of the store, the genre, the budget, a reservation button for making a reservation at the store, etc.

[0182] As an example rather than a limitation, when the banner image related to the store is tapped, the homepage of this store is displayed on the display unit 24 based on the corresponding link information. Also, when the reservation button is tapped, the reservation page of this store is displayed on the display unit 24 based on the corresponding link information.

[0183] FIG. 1-10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 24B of the terminal 20B in the above example. On the upper right of the top of the screen, an icon image and the user name (user B.B in this example) in the messaging application of the user of this terminal 20B are displayed.

[0184] In the talk room name display area CLR, as an example rather than a limitation, a character (in this example, "A.A") indicating that it is a talk room for user B.B to talk with user A.A is displayed.

[0185] Also, below that, a talk area TR for user B.B and user A.A to talk in an interactive form is configured. On the left side of the screen, the content (message) of the other user A.A is displayed, and on the right side of the screen, the content (message) of the user B.B himself / herself is displayed.

[0186] In the screens of FIGS. 1 - 10, by way of example rather than limitation, the state after the stamp content SCT10 of the illustration of the hamburger described above is transmitted from terminal 20A to terminal 20B is shown. In the chat room of terminal 20B, information similar to the information displayed in the chat room of terminal 20A described in the right screen of FIG. 1 - 9 is displayed.

[0187] <Process> FIG. 1 - 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by each device in this embodiment. In this figure, from left to right in order, an example of the processing executed by the control unit 21 of terminal 20A of user A.A, the processing executed by the control unit 11 of server 10, and the processing executed by the control unit 21 of terminal 20A of user B.B is shown.

[0188] Prior to this processing, it is assumed that user B.B has been registered as a friend by user A.A in advance, and it is assumed that user A.A communicates with user B.B. Also, in this processing, the case where user A.A is the source user and user B.B is the destination user is exemplified.

[0189] Note that in the terminal 20 of the destination user, at the timing of receiving the stamp content, the messaging application does not necessarily have to be started. However, in the processing described below, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, it is assumed that the messaging application is started in the terminal 20 of the destination user.

[0190] Also, the processing described below is merely an example of the processing for realizing the method of the present disclosure and is not limited thereto. Another step may be added to the processing described below, or some steps may be omitted (deleted) from the processing described below.

[0191] First, based on an input (which is, by way of example and not limitation, a user operation; the same applies hereinafter) for selecting a talk room for the input / output unit 23 of the terminal 20A, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A causes the talk room with user B.B to be displayed on the display unit 24 (A110).

[0192] Thereafter, based on an input to the input / output unit 23 of the terminal 20A, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A refers to the search condition setting stamp database 287A stored in the storage unit 28 and causes stamp thumbnails to be displayed in a list on the display unit 24, and then determines whether a stamp thumbnail has been selected by user A.A (A115).

[0193] If it is determined that a selection has been made (A115: YES), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A performs preview processing (A120). Specifically, a preview image of the stamp content corresponding to the selected stamp thumbnail is displayed on the display unit 24.

[0194] Note that the preview image may represent an image of the stamp content displayed in the preview display area, or may represent the entire preview display area as an image.

[0195] Thereafter, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A determines whether to transmit the selected stamp content to the destination user (A125). Specifically, by way of example and not limitation, it determines whether an operation on the preview image has been detected.

[0196] If it is determined to transmit (A125: YES), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A causes the corresponding stamp content to be displayed in the talk room on the display unit 24 of its own terminal 20A (A130).

[0197] Next, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A transmits stamp transmission request information including the stamp ID associated with the stamp content to the server 10 via the communication I / F 22 (A135).

[0198] The control unit 11 determines whether or not stamp transmission request information has been received (S110). If it is determined that the information has been received (S110: YES), the stamp content associated with the stamp ID included in the received stamp transmission request information is transmitted to the terminal 20 of the destination user (terminal 20B in this example) by the communication I / F 14 (S120).

[0199] After that, the control unit 11 performs a search process (S130). Specifically, with reference to the search condition setting stamp management database 157 in the storage unit 15, the search conditions associated with the stamp ID included in the received stamp transmission request information are acquired. Then, with reference to the search engine database 155 in the storage unit 15, a search based on the acquired search conditions is performed. In this case, the control unit 11 may perform the search including the stamp category in the search conditions.

[0200] Note that the order of the steps of S120 and S130 may be reversed.

[0201] Next, the control unit 11 transmits the search result list information including the search results retrieved in the search process to the terminal 20A and the terminal 20B respectively by the communication I / F 14 (S140). In this case, the control unit 11 can, by way of example and not limitation, transmit while associating the data ID, the link information, and the retrieved information for each search result.

[0202] When receiving the search result list information from the server 10 by the communication I / F 22, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A causes the received search result list information to be displayed in the above-mentioned chat room (A140).

[0203] After that, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A determines whether a search result has been selected from the displayed search result list information (A145). If it is determined that a selection has been made (A145: YES), then, by way of example rather than limitation, based on the link information associated with the selected search result, the control unit accesses an external server or the server 10 and causes the display unit 24 to display a page (external page or internal page) including information corresponding to the selected search result.

[0204] Next, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A determines whether to close the currently displayed talk room (A190). If it is determined not to close the talk room (A190: NO), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A returns the process to A115. On the other hand, if it is determined to close the talk room (A190: YES), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A performs control to make the currently displayed talk room non-displayed and then ends the process.

[0205] The control unit 21 of the terminal 20B determines whether it has received stamp content from the server 10 via the communication I / F 22 (B120). If it is determined that reception has occurred (B120: YES), the received stamp content is displayed in the talk room where user A.A of the display unit 24 is the conversation partner (B130).

[0206] Also, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B causes the search result list information received from the server 10 via the communication I / F 22 to be displayed in the above talk room (B140).

[0207] After that, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B determines whether a search result has been selected from the displayed search result list information (B145). If it is determined that a selection has been made (B145: YES), then, in the same manner as A150, by way of example rather than limitation, based on the link information associated with the selected search result, the control unit accesses an external server or the server 10 and causes the display unit 24 to display a page (external page or internal page) including information corresponding to the selected search result (B150).

[0208] Next, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B determines whether to end the process (B190). If it is determined to continue the process (B190: NO), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B returns the process to B120. On the other hand, if it is determined to end the process (B190: YES), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B ends the process.

[0209] In the above process, conceptually, based on the stamp content being transmitted from the terminal 20 of the source user to the terminal 20 of the destination user, the search result is displayed on the terminal 20 of the destination user. Therefore, the transmitted stamp content may be considered as information for displaying the search result. Also, the stamp transmission request information transmitted from the terminal 20 of the source user to the server 10 may be considered as information for displaying the search result. Also, since the search is performed based on the search conditions set in the stamp content and the search result is displayed on the terminal 20 of the destination user, it may be considered that the search result is transmitted from the terminal 20 of the source user to the terminal 20 of the destination user.

[0210] Also, in A130, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A may or may not display the corresponding search condition content in the talk room together with the stamp content. In this case, as described above, the search condition content can be acquired from the server 10 in advance and stored in the storage unit 28, or the search condition content can be generated by the terminal 20 and stored in the storage unit 28, and then read out and displayed in the talk room.

[0211] Also, in S120, the control unit 11 of the server 10 may or may not transmit the corresponding search condition content to the terminal 20B together with the stamp content. Also, in this case, in B130, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B may or may not display the corresponding search condition content in the talk room together with the stamp content.

[0212] <Effects of the First Embodiment> In this embodiment, the terminal 20 of the source user that displays a chat room (an example of a chat room, not limited) including the destination user (an example of the first user, not limited) displays the chat room on the display unit 24. Also, based on the input to the chat room by the user of its own terminal 20, the terminal 20 of the source user displays stamp content (an example of image information with search conditions set, not limited) in the chat room. Then, the terminal 20 of the source user performs control to transmit, by the communication I / F 22, the search results retrieved based on the search conditions set for the stamp content to the terminal 20 (an example of the first terminal, not limited) of the destination user (the first user) included in the chat room, and control to display the search results retrieved based on the search conditions set for the stamp content in the chat room, by the control unit 21. As an example of the effects of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, based on the image information with search conditions set, the first user can be made to confirm the search results retrieved based on the search conditions, and the user of the terminal can also be made able to confirm them.

[0213] Also, in this case, the search conditions are set in advance. That is, the search conditions can be set for the stamp content before the stamp content is received by the terminal 20 through download or the like. As an example of the effects of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, the image information with the search conditions already set can be received by the terminal.

[0214] Also, in this embodiment, the terminal 20 displays a stamp thumbnail (an example of a reduced image of image information, not limited) on the display unit 24. Then, based on the input to the stamp thumbnail, the terminal 20 performs control to transmit, by the communication I / F 22, the corresponding stamp content to the terminal 20 of the destination user included in the chat room, and control to display the corresponding stamp content in the chat room, by the control unit 21. As an example of the effects of the embodiments obtained by such a configuration, after allowing the user of the terminal to view the reduced image of the image information, based on the input by the user of the terminal for the reduced image, the image information can be transmitted to the first terminal and confirmed by the first user, and at the same time, the user of the terminal can also confirm it.

[0215] Further, this embodiment shows a configuration in which the terminal 20 of the transmitting user displays, on the display unit 24, a preview image (not limited to, but an example of a preview image related to the reduced image) of the corresponding stamp content based on the input for the stamp thumbnail. As an example of the effects of the embodiments obtained by such a configuration, based on the input by the user of the terminal for the reduced image, by displaying a preview image related to the reduced image on the display unit, the user of the terminal can confirm the reduced image for which the input was made, or the image information corresponding to the reduced image.

[0216] <First Modification Example (1)> In the above embodiment, the search results retrieved by the server 10 are displayed in the chat room, but it is not limited to this. As an example rather than a limitation, the search results may be displayed on a search result display screen displayed by any of the following methods. (A) Method of displaying a search result display screen by an external browser (B) Method of displaying a search result display screen by an in-app browser

[0217] In the method of (A), as an example rather than a limitation, a search result display screen can be displayed by an external browser (browser of a web application) that operates with a messaging application as a platform. Specifically, based on receiving the search results, the terminal 20 can start an external browser that can refer to various types of information including the account information of the messaging application and display the search result display screen. In this case, by way of example and not limitation, the search result display screen can be displayed so as to overlap at least a part of the talk room (overlay).

[0218] The size (or height) of the search result display screen can be arbitrarily set. If the search result display screen is full size, the search result display screen can be displayed so as to completely overlap the talk room. In this case, since the talk room is completely covered by the search result display screen, the talk room becomes invisible. On the other hand, if the search result display screen is set to a size smaller than full size, the search result display screen can be displayed so as to overlap a part of the talk room. In this case, a part of the talk room area is covered, but the uncovered area remains visible.

[0219] In the method of (B), by way of example and not limitation, based on receiving the search results, the terminal 20 can start the in-app browser of the messaging application to display the search result display screen. In this case, by way of example and not limitation, (B-1) A method of moving (transitioning) from the talk room screen to display the search result display screen (B-2) A method of displaying the search result display screen in parallel with the talk room screen Either of these methods can be applied.

[0220] Also, in the method of (B-2), by way of example and not limitation, (B-2a) A method of displaying the search result display screen so as to overlap at least a part of the talk room in the same way as the method of (A) (overlay) (B-2b) A method of splitting the screen into two and allocating and displaying one for the talk room and the other for search (split) Either of these methods can be applied.

[0221] Regarding the method (A), the same method as (B-2b) split may or may not be applied.

[0222] <First Modification Example (2)> In the above embodiment, it is assumed that one search condition is set for one stamp content, but it is not limited thereto. By way of example, a plurality of search conditions may be set for one stamp content. In this case, a plurality of search conditions may be stored in the search condition setting stamp data in the search condition setting stamp database 287A of FIGS. 1-7.

[0223] Note that the number of search conditions to be set can be arbitrarily set, and data of stamp contents with different numbers of search conditions set, such as stamp contents with one search condition set, stamp contents with two search conditions set, and stamp contents with three search conditions set, may be stored in the search condition setting stamp database 287.

[0224] Also, for one search condition, a plurality of search condition setting stamps having the search condition as a common search condition may be configured.

[0225] FIG. 1-12 is a diagram showing a data configuration example of a search condition setting stamp database 287B which is an example of the search condition setting stamp database 287 in this modification example. In each search condition setting stamp data, by way of example, a stamp category, a search category, and a plurality of stamp-specific data are stored.

[0226] In this example, the search category under the stamp category can be a search condition (hereinafter referred to as "common search condition") commonly applied to the stamps of each stamp-specific data. In this example, as the common search condition, a search category "genre" and a corresponding search word "Western food" are stored.

[0227] Stamp-specific data is data related to search condition setting stamps to which common search conditions are applied. In each piece of data, by way of example and not limitation, a stamp ID, stamp content, stamp thumbnail, and search category are stored.

[0228] In this example, in each piece of stamp-specific data, as an individual search condition, the search category is set to "location", and different prefectures are stored as corresponding search words. By way of example and not limitation, the stamp-specific data on the frontmost side in FIGS. 1-12 is the stamp with the stamp ID "ST011", and as an individual search condition, the search category "location" and the corresponding search word "Hokkaido" are stored. Since common search conditions are applied, in the search condition setting stamp with the stamp ID "ST011", a search can be performed using the words "Western food Hokkaido".

[0229] <Second Embodiment> Unlike the first embodiment, in the second embodiment, the terminal 20 sets search conditions for the stamp content based on user input. And, taking the transmission of the stamp content with the search conditions thus set as an opportunity, it is an embodiment that enables presenting search results to the user. That is, it is an embodiment that enables the user of the terminal 20 to set search conditions by themselves.

[0230] The content described in the second embodiment is applicable to any of the other embodiments and other modification examples. Also, for components identical to the components already described, the same reference numerals are given, and repeated description is omitted.

[0231] In setting the search conditions in this embodiment, patterns such as setting a search word based on user input for stamp content for which no search category is set, and setting a corresponding search word based on user input for stamp content for which a search category is set can be included.

[0232] In this embodiment, as an input method for setting search conditions by the user, (1) Direct input method (2) Selection input method Two types are exemplified.

[0233] (1) Direct input method In this method, by way of example rather than limitation, among the search conditions stored in each search condition setting stamp data of the search condition setting stamp database 287A in FIGS. 1-7, at least some of the search conditions are set to not set (unset) by default. That is, the terminal 20 can download data related to stamps with at least some search conditions not set from the server 10. Then, information directly input to the terminal 20 by the sending user using a keyboard or the like can be stored in the storage unit 28 as the set search conditions.

[0234] <Display screen> FIGS. 2-1 and 2-2 are diagrams showing an example of the screen transition displayed on the display unit 24A of the terminal 20A when the (1) direct input method is applied.

[0235] On the left screen of FIG. 2-1, after a stamp thumbnail corresponding to stamp content including an illustration of a cat and the characters "Let's go eat rice!" among a plurality of stamp thumbnails corresponding to stamp content where the user can set arbitrary search conditions is tapped, a preview of the stamp content corresponding to this stamp thumbnail is shown in the preview display area PVR.

[0236] Note that, unlike the first embodiment, in this example, in order to enable the user to set arbitrary search conditions, the search condition setting stamp is a general-purpose illustration stamp.

[0237] In the stamp thumbnail display area STR, by way of example rather than limitation, stamp thumbnails available to the user (user A.A) of the terminal 20A are listed. In this example, by way of illustration and not limitation, there are displayed a plurality of stamp thumbnails including a stamp thumbnail corresponding to stamp content including an illustration of a cat and the characters "Let's have rice!", a stamp thumbnail corresponding to stamp content including an illustration of a cat and the characters "Please give me rice.", and a stamp thumbnail corresponding to stamp content including an illustration of a cat and the characters "I'm hungry...".

[0238] In this example, these stamp thumbnails are stamp thumbnails corresponding to stamp content for which a user can set arbitrary search conditions. By way of illustration and not limitation, for these stamp contents, search conditions are set by inputting a search word.

[0239] By way of illustration and not limitation, based on the fact that a user A.A tapped a stamp thumbnail corresponding to stamp content including an illustration of a cat and the characters "Let's have rice!", in the preview display area PVR, a preview of the stamp content corresponding to the stamp content including an illustration of a cat and the characters "Let's have rice!" is being displayed.

[0240] Also, in this example, by way of illustration and not limitation, in the upper left part of the preview display area PVR, as an example of information for setting search conditions for setting search conditions, a search condition setting icon IC20 represented by an icon of a magnifying glass is being displayed.

[0241] In the left screen of FIG. 2-1, by way of illustration and not limitation, a state where the search condition setting icon IC20 has been tapped is shown. As a result, by way of illustration and not limitation, the search condition setting screen shown on the right of FIG. 2-1 is displayed.

[0242] On this search condition setting screen, by way of illustration and not limitation, in the central part of the screen, a preview similar to the preview of the stamp content displayed in the preview display area PVR is being displayed.

[0243] Below it, as an example rather than a limitation, a search word input area SWR for inputting a search word as a search condition for stamp contents corresponding to this preview is configured. In this example, based on the input of "Western food", the characters "Western food" are displayed.

[0244] Below it, a save button BT20 for saving the search word input in the search word input area SWR is displayed.

[0245] Also, in this embodiment, when the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 displays the search condition setting screen, it performs a process of reducing the visibility of information not related to the search condition setting screen among the screens related to the messaging application, and can display information not related to the search condition setting screen (as an example rather than a limitation, such as conversation content, etc.) in a manner that makes it difficult for the user to recognize. As an example rather than a limitation, for information not related to the search condition setting screen among the screens related to the messaging application, mosaic processing, hatching processing, etc. can be performed to reduce the visibility.

[0246] In the right screen of FIG. 2-1, as an example rather than a limitation, the state where the save button BT20 is tapped is shown. As a result, as an example rather than a limitation, the screen shown on the left of FIG. 2-2 is displayed.

[0247] On this screen, in the preview display area PVR, a preview image of stamp contents including an illustration of a cat and the characters "Let's go for rice!" similar to the screen shown on the left of FIG. 2-1 is displayed.

[0248] In the search condition setting screen, based on the fact that the save button BT20 is tapped with a search word input in the search word input area SWR by the user, the search condition is associated with the stamp contents corresponding to the preview.

[0249] On the left screen of Fig. 2-2, as an example rather than a limitation, a preview image of stamp content including an illustration of a cat and the text "Let's go for rice!" is shown in a tapped state. As a result, as an example rather than a limitation, the screen shown on the right of Fig. 2-2 is displayed.

[0250] On this screen, as an example rather than a limitation, on the right side of the talk area TR facing the screen, stamp content SCT20 including an illustration of a cat and the text "Let's go for rice!" is displayed as the message of user A.A.

[0251] Also, below it, as an example rather than a limitation, search condition content CCT20 indicating the search conditions set for this stamp content SCT20 is displayed. In this example, the search condition content CCT20 includes, as an example rather than a limitation, the text "Search for stores!" and the text "Search word: Western food".

[0252] Also, below it, search results are displayed in a list together with the text content "Recommended stores are here" with the server 10 as the sender. The search results displayed in this example are the same as the search results shown on the right screen of Fig. 1-9.

[0253] <Process> Figs. 2-3 and 2-4 are flowcharts showing an example of the processing flow executed by each device in this embodiment. The way to view the figures is as described above.

[0254] After A120, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A determines whether search conditions have been input when it is selected that the user A.A inputs search conditions (A210). Specifically, as an example rather than a limitation, an icon or the like for inputting search conditions is operated, and it is determined whether search conditions have been input by direct input using a keyboard or the like.

[0255] If it is determined that search conditions have been input (A210: YES), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A performs search condition setting processing (A220). Specifically, by way of example and not limitation, the input search conditions are stored as set search conditions in the search condition setting stamp data in which the stamp ID is stored. Note that it is also possible to set the search conditions to "not set".

[0256] On the other hand, if it is determined that no search conditions have been input (A210: NO), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A proceeds to process A125.

[0257] In A135, by way of example and not limitation, for the selected search condition setting stamp, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A transmits stamp transmission request information including the stamp ID and the set search conditions to the server 10 via the communication I / F 22.

[0258] In the search process of S130, the control unit 11 of the server 10 refers to the search condition setting stamp management database 157 of the storage unit 15 to determine the set search conditions included in the received stamp transmission request information. Then, using the search engine database 155 of the storage unit 15, a search is performed based on the determined set search conditions.

[0259] Note that when the set search conditions are "not set", the control unit 11 can skip the steps of S130 and S140. In this case, the stamp content transmitted to the terminal 20 of the destination user in step S120 is stamp content for which no search conditions are set, that is, normal stamp content. Also, in this case, in the terminal 20 of the source user, the steps of A140 to A150 are skipped, and in the terminal 20 of the destination user, the steps of B140 to B150 are skipped.

[0260] Also, after A130, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A may or may not display the corresponding search condition content in the talk room. In this case, it is possible to obtain search condition content based on the set search conditions from the server 10, or to generate search condition content based on the set search conditions and the template data of the search condition content on the terminal 20 side and display it in the talk room.

[0261] Also, in S120, the control unit 11 of the server 10 may or may not transmit the corresponding search condition content to the terminal 20B together with the stamp content. Also, in this case, in B130, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B may or may not display the corresponding search condition content in the talk room together with the stamp content.

[0262] (2) Selection input method FIG. 2-5 is a diagram showing a data configuration example of a search condition setting stamp database 287C, which is an example of the search condition setting stamp database 287 stored in the storage unit 28 of the terminal 20 in this embodiment. In this search condition setting stamp database 287C, each search condition setting stamp data stores, by way of example and not limitation, a stamp category, a search category, search category selection candidates, and stamp-specific data.

[0263] The search category stores a conceptual classification for performing a search using the stamp of this stamp category. In this example, as the search categories, the two items of "location" and "genre" described above are stored. The search category is an example of a category set in the search conditions.

[0264] The search category selection candidates store one or more pieces of information that are candidates for selection by the user for each category included in this search category.

[0265] In this example, a plurality of pieces of information that are candidates for selection by the user are stored corresponding to each of the two items of "location" and "genre" described above. As an example, not by way of limitation, prefectures are stored as selection candidates in "Location". As an example, not by way of limitation, meal genres such as "Japanese cuisine", "Western cuisine", and "Chinese cuisine" are stored as selection candidates in "Genre".

[0266] Stamp-specific data is data related to a plurality of search condition setting stamps to which the above stamp categories and search categories are applied. As an example, not by way of limitation, a stamp ID, stamp content, and set search conditions are stored.

[0267] For each search category, information selected by the user from among the search category selection candidates is stored in the set search conditions. In this example, "Tokyo" is selected and stored for the search category "Location", and "Western cuisine" is selected and stored for the conditions of the search category "Genre".

[0268] Note that in this data, in consideration of user convenience, each search condition setting stamp data stores a "stamp category", enabling selection of stamps for each stamp category. However, storing the stamp category is not essential, and it may not be stored.

[0269] <Display screen> FIG. 2-6 and FIG. 2-7 are diagrams showing an example of screen transitions on the display unit 24A of the terminal 20A when the aforementioned (2) selection input method is applied.

[0270] The left screen in FIG. 2-6 shows a state in which the search condition setting icon IC20 in the upper left of the preview display area PVR is tapped on the same screen as the screen shown on the left in FIG. 2-1. In the center of the screen, a preview similar to the preview of the stamp content displayed in the preview display area PVR is displayed. Also, below it, as an example, not by way of limitation, a search condition selection area for selecting search conditions for the stamp content corresponding to this preview is configured.

[0271] Specifically, as selection fields for setting search conditions, there are displayed a selection field SJR for "genre" in which a user can select an arbitrary genre from among the search categories (such as Japanese cuisine, Western cuisine, Chinese cuisine, etc.) in a drum roll manner, and a selection field SPR for "location" in which a user can select an arbitrary location from among the locations (prefectures where the store is located, etc.) in the search categories in a drum roll manner.

[0272] In the left screen of FIGS. 2-6, as an example rather than a limitation, a state where the selection field SJR for the search category "genre" has been tapped is shown. As a result, as an example rather than a limitation, the screen shown on the right in FIGS. 2-6 is displayed. On this screen, genre candidates are displayed in a drum roll manner, and a state where "Western cuisine" has been tapped by the user is shown.

[0273] Also, thereafter, when the selection field SPR for the search category "location" is tapped, the screen shown on the right in FIGS. 2-6 is displayed. On this screen, location candidates are displayed in a drum roll manner, and a state where "Tokyo Metropolis" has been tapped by the user is shown.

[0274] Thereafter, the screen shown on the left in FIGS. 2-7 is displayed. On this screen, "Western cuisine" is input in the search category "genre", and "Tokyo Metropolis" is input in the search category "location". When the save button BT20 is tapped in this state, as an example rather than a limitation, the screen shown in the center of FIGS. 2-7 is displayed.

[0275] In the center screen of FIGS. 2-7, as an example rather than a limitation, a state where a preview image of stamp content including an illustration of a cat and the characters "Let's go for rice!" in the preview display area PVR has been tapped is shown. As a result, as an example rather than a limitation, the screen shown on the right in FIGS. 2-7 is displayed.

[0276] On this screen, by way of example and not limitation, on the right side of the talk area TR facing the screen, stamp content SCT20 including an illustration of a cat and the text "Let's go for rice!" as the message of user A.A is displayed.

[0277] Also, below that, by way of example and not limitation, search condition content CCT22 showing the search conditions set for this stamp content SCT20 is displayed. In this example, the search condition content includes, by way of example and not limitation, the text "Search for stores!", the text "Genre: Western food", and the text "Location: Tokyo".

[0278] Also, below that, search results are displayed in a list together with the text content "Recommended stores are here" with the server 10 as the sender. In this example, since the search is performed with the search category "Genre" set to "Western food" and the search category "Location" set to "Tokyo", search results related to a plurality of Western food stores located in Tokyo, such as Western food store A and Western food store X, are displayed in a list.

[0279] FIG. 2-8 is a diagram showing an example of the screen displayed on the display unit 24B of the terminal 20B in the above example. On this screen, by way of example and not limitation, the state after the stamp content SCT20 including the illustration of the cat and the text "Let's go for rice!" described above is sent from the terminal 20A to the terminal 20B is shown. In this talk room of the terminal 20B, information similar to the information displayed in the talk room of the terminal 20A described in the right screen of FIG. 2-7 is displayed.

[0280] <Processing> The processing will be described again with reference to FIGS. 2-3 and 2-4 described above. After A120, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A determines whether a search condition has been input by the user, which is selected (A210). Specifically, by way of example and not limitation, it is determined whether information has been selected from among the search category selection candidates for the search category associated with the search condition setting stamp when an icon or the like for inputting the search condition is operated.

[0281] If it is determined that a search condition has been input (A210: YES), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A performs a search condition setting process (A220). Specifically, by way of example and not limitation, the search category selection candidate selected as described above is stored in the column of the corresponding search category of the set search condition in the stamp-by-stamp data of the stamp ID. As described above, it is also possible to set a part of the search category to "not set", and in this case, the corresponding search category of the set search condition can be set to "not set".

[0282] On the other hand, if it is determined that a search condition has not been input (A210: NO), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A proceeds to A125.

[0283] In A135, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A transmits, by way of example and not limitation, stamp transmission request information including the stamp ID of the selected search condition setting stamp and the set search condition to the server 10 via the communication I / F 22.

[0284] In the search process of S130, the control unit 11 of the server 10 refers to the search condition setting stamp management database 157 of the storage unit 15 and determines whether the search category associated with the stamp of the stamp ID included in the received stamp transmission request information corresponds to the search category of the set search condition included in the received stamp transmission request information. If it is determined that they correspond, the search engine database 155 of the storage unit 15 is referred to and a search is performed based on the set search condition. Then, the control unit 11 proceeds to S140.

[0285] In addition, when the set search condition is "not set" for some search categories, the control unit 11 can perform a search using the set search conditions corresponding to the other search categories as the search conditions.

[0286] Also, when the set search condition is "not set" for all search categories, the control unit 11 can skip the steps of S130 and S140. In this case, the stamp content transmitted to the terminal 20 of the destination user in the step of S120 is stamp content for which no search condition is set, that is, normal stamp content. Also, in this case, in the terminal 20 of the source user, the steps of A140 to A150 are skipped, and in the terminal 20 of the destination user, the steps of B140 to B150 are skipped.

[0287] Also, after A130, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A may or may not display the corresponding search condition content in the talk room. In this case, it is possible to obtain search condition content based on the set search condition from the server 10, or to generate search condition content based on the set search condition and the template data of the search condition content on the terminal 20 side and display it in the talk room.

[0288] Also, in S120, the control unit 11 of the server 10 may or may not transmit the corresponding search condition content to the terminal 20B together with the stamp content. Also, in this case, in B130, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B may or may not display the corresponding search condition content in the talk room together with the stamp content.

[0289] <Effects of the Second Embodiment> This embodiment shows a configuration in which the search condition set for the stamp content (not limited, an example of image information) is input by the user of the terminal 20. As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, since the user of the terminal can set search conditions, convenience can be improved.

[0290] Also, in this case, for the search conditions, a plurality of search categories (not limited, but an example of a category) are set, and conditions can be input by the user of the terminal 20 for each of the plurality of search categories. As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, the user of the terminal can input search conditions according to the category, and convenience can be improved.

[0291] <Second Modification Example (1)> Unlike the example shown in the above embodiment, some search conditions are set in the stamp content in advance, but other search conditions are not set in the stamp content, and these un-set search conditions may be set based on user input.

[0292] Not limited but as an example, in the data example of FIGS. 1-12, the search word "Western food" corresponding to the search category "genre" is set in advance, but the search word corresponding to the search category "location" in the data for each stamp is "not set" by default. And the search word (not limited but as an example, prefecture) corresponding to this search category "location" can be set based on user input.

[0293] Not limited but as an example, when transmitting the stamp content of the illustration of a hamburger with "Western food" set as the search condition shown in FIGS. 1-8, the transmitting user can input the prefecture as the location to be searched for Western food restaurants. Note that for the input method of the search conditions, either of the aforementioned (1) direct input method and (2) selection input method can be applied.

[0294] <Second Modification Example (2)> In the above embodiment, in addition to setting search conditions for stamp content based on user input, the terminal 20 may also be enabled to set a message such as text content to be transmitted together with the stamp content based on user input.

[0295] <Display screen> Here, the case of transmitting the stamp content of the hamburger illustration described in the second modification example (1) will be described with reference to an example of a display screen.

[0296] FIG. 2-9 and FIG. 2-10 are diagrams showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 24 of the terminal 20A in this modification example. On the left side of FIG. 2-9, similar to the screen on the right side of FIG. 1-8, a preview image of the stamp content of the hamburger illustration with the search condition (search category) "Western food" set is displayed in the preview display area PVR. And, by way of example and not limitation, to the right of the search condition setting icon IC20 in the upper left part of the preview display area PVR, a text setting icon IC30 for inputting and setting the text to be transmitted as text content together with this stamp content is displayed. When the text setting icon IC30 is tapped, by way of example and not limitation, the text setting screen shown on the right side of FIG. 2-9 is displayed.

[0297] In this text setting screen, by way of example and not limitation, a preview image similar to the preview image of the stamp content displayed in the preview display area PVR is displayed in the central part of the screen. Also, below that, by way of example and not limitation, a text input area TXR for inputting the text to be transmitted together with the stamp content corresponding to this preview image is configured. In this example, based on the input of "Let's go for dinner tomorrow" by the user, the text "Let's go for dinner tomorrow" is displayed. Also, below that, a save button BT20 for saving and setting the text input in the text input area TXR is displayed.

[0298] When the save button BT20 is tapped, the input text is saved and set, and the process returns to the left screen in Fig. 2-9. Then, based on the preview image of the stamp content being tapped, as an example rather than a limitation, the screen shown in Fig. 2-10 is displayed.

[0299] Fig. 2-10 shows display examples of two patterns (Pattern 1 and Pattern 2). In the display example of Pattern 1 on the left in Fig. 2-10, based on the set text "Let's go for dinner tomorrow", as content with user A.A as the sender, the text content shown as "Let's go for dinner tomorrow" and the stamp content SCT10 of an illustration of a hamburger are displayed separately. That is, the display example of Pattern 1 is an example of separately displaying the content corresponding to the set text and the stamp content in the chat room.

[0300] On the other hand, in the display example of Pattern 2 on the right in Fig. 2-10, based on the set text "Let's go for dinner tomorrow", as content with user A.A as the sender, the stamp content SCT22 in which the text "Let's go for dinner tomorrow" is illustrated on the stamp content of an illustration of a hamburger is displayed. That is, the display example of Pattern 2 is an example of displaying the set text as part of the stamp content in the chat room.

[0301] When realizing the display example of Pattern 2, as an example rather than a limitation, based on the set text, the terminal 20 or the server 10 can be made to generate stamp content that includes the text as part of the illustration. When this is realized on the terminal 20, as an example rather than a limitation, material data of illustrations such as hiragana, katakana, Chinese characters, alphabets, and numbers are acquired from the server 10 in association with the stamp and stored in the storage unit 28, and the stamp content can be generated using the data of the stamp content and the material data of the illustration. Also, when implemented on the server 10, by way of example and not limitation, it is possible to receive the set text from the terminal 20, generate stamp content on the server 10 side in the same manner as described above, and then transmit it to the terminal 20.

[0302] Also, when the text is not input / set as described above, the text may not be displayed / transmitted, and only the stamp content may be displayed / transmitted.

[0303] Note that stamp content may be generated by omitting some characters of the set text. Specifically, in the above example, stamp content including the text "Let's go for a meal" with the characters "Tomorrow" omitted from the set text "Let's go for a meal tomorrow" may be generated. Also, stamp content may be generated by changing at least some of the character types of the set text. Specifically, in the above example, stamp content including the text "Let's go for a Gohan tomorrow" with the character type of "meal" in the set text "Let's go for a meal tomorrow" changed may be generated.

[0304] Also, in the display example of FIG. 2-9, although the text setting icon IC30 is displayed separately from the search condition setting icon IC20, it is not limited to this. By way of example and not limitation, when the search condition setting icon IC20 is tapped, the search condition setting screen may be displayed, and the text setting icon IC30 may be displayed on this search condition setting screen. Also, information for inputting / setting search conditions and information for inputting / setting text may be displayed on the search condition setting screen, and on this search condition setting screen, input / setting of search conditions and input / setting of text may be performed.

[0305] <Second Variant Example (3)> In the above embodiment, the search condition setting stamp and the normal stamp may not be distinguished. In this case, by way of example rather than limitation, a single stamp database can be configured in the server 10 and the terminal 20. Then, as described above, when at least some of the search conditions are set to "with setting" based on the input by the user, the terminal 20 or the server 10 processes the stamp as a "search condition setting stamp". On the other hand, when all of the search conditions are set to "without setting" based on the input by the user, the terminal 20 or the server 10 can process the stamp as a "normal stamp".

[0306] <Example 3> In Example 3, in the above-described example, the information to be searched in the search process (which can also be said to be the search result) is determined based on the search conditions set in the stamp content (by way of example rather than limitation, an example of image information) and the information input by the terminal 20 of the destination user (by way of example rather than limitation, an example of the first information).

[0307] The content described in Example 3 is applicable to any of the other examples and any of the other modified examples. Also, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same components as those already described, and the repeated description thereof is omitted.

[0308] <Data configuration> Regarding the search condition setting stamp database 287 stored in the storage unit 28 of the terminal 20, by way of example rather than limitation, it can be the same as the search condition setting stamp database 287C shown in FIGS. 2-5.

[0309] FIG. 3-1 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the search condition setting stamp management database 157 stored in the storage unit 15 of the server 10 in this embodiment. In the search condition setting stamp management database 157, by way of example rather than limitation, a plurality of search condition setting stamp management data are stored.

[0310] In each search condition setting stamp management data, by way of example rather than limitation, a stamp category, a search category, question data, and stamp-specific management data are stored. The stamp category and the search category can be the same as those in the search condition setting stamp database 287C stored in the storage unit 28 of the terminal 20.

[0311] The question data is data related to a question that is sent to the terminal 20 (the first terminal) of the user (the first user) who is the destination of the search condition setting stamp and requests an answer from this user. By way of example rather than limitation, a question ID and a question content are stored in association.

[0312] The question ID is an ID for uniquely identifying a question. The question content is the content of the question associated with this question ID. The question content can be, by way of example rather than limitation, created based at least on the stamp category, and more specifically, can be a question having a relationship with the stamp category.

[0313] In the data on the frontmost side in FIG. 3-1, the stamp category is "meal". Therefore, a plurality of questions related to "meal" are prepared in the question data. By way of example rather than limitation, the following types of questions can be included therein. (a) Questions regarding the store where meals are taken (b) Questions regarding the genre of meals (c) Questions regarding the cost of meals

[0314] In consideration of the effort of answering, the question can be, by way of example rather than limitation, a question that allows for a selective answer. By way of example rather than limitation, it can be a question that allows for a two-choice answer such as "YES / NO", "Good / Bad", "Like / Dislike". Also, in consideration of ease of understanding, the question can be, by way of example rather than limitation, a question in which the user's wish is reflected when a positive option is selected.

[0315] More specifically, as examples of the type (a) questions, but not limited to these, questions such as "A restaurant with a view of the night view?", "A fashionable restaurant?", "A popular restaurant?", "A family restaurant?", "A trendy café?", "A lively izakaya where you can have a great time?" can be prepared. Also, as examples of the type (b) questions, but not limited to these, questions such as "In the mood for Japanese cuisine?", "In the mood for Western cuisine?", "In the mood for Chinese cuisine?", "In the mood for junk food?", "In the mood for something sweet?" can be prepared. Also, as examples of the type (c) questions, but not limited to these, questions such as "In a luxurious mood?", "Is an ordinary price okay for the cost?", "In the mood to go somewhere inexpensive?" can be prepared.

[0316] Having the user give answers (responses) to such questions can also be considered as asking the user for their intention, that is, having them vote, when conducting a search.

[0317] The stamp-by-stamp management data stores, as examples but not limited to these, a stamp ID, stamp content, a stamp thumbnail, and search category selection candidates. These can be made the same as those in the search condition setting stamp database 287C stored in the storage unit 28 of the terminal 20.

[0318] <Display screen> Figures 3-2 to 3-4 are diagrams showing an example of the screen transition of the display unit 24 of the terminal 20B in this embodiment. Continuing from the previous embodiment, the case where the source user is user A.A and the destination user is user B.B is exemplified.

[0319] The left screen in Figure 3-2 is a diagram showing an example of the talk room screen displayed on the display unit 24 of the terminal 20B, showing a state where the stamp content SCT20 with user A.A as the source and the search condition content CCT30 are displayed.

[0320] The search condition content CCT30 shows that for the search category "Genre", "Unset" is set, and for the search category "Location", "Tokyo" is set. That is, in this example, based on the input by user A.A, "Unset" is set as the search category "Genre" and "Tokyo" is set as the search category "Location, and then the stamp content SCT20 is shown to have been sent to user B.B.

[0321] In addition to the search conditions, the search condition content CCT30 is provided with a participation button BT30 including the character "Participate" for participating in the search for a store where meals are taken by answering questions. When this participation button BT30 is tapped, as an example rather than a limitation, the question-and-answer page on the right in Fig. 3-2 is displayed.

[0322] On this question-and-answer page, there are displayed a Good button BT31 and a Bad button BT32 for answering questions with a binary choice of "Good! / Bad.." together with the text "Restaurant Matching Search" and the text starting with "Five questions will be presented next". Also, at the bottom of the page, there is displayed an answer start button BT33 including the character "START" for starting the answer to the question. When the answer start button BT33 is tapped, as an example rather than a limitation, the question-and-answer page on the left in Fig. 3-3 is displayed.

[0323] On the question-and-answer page on the left in Fig. 3-3, as an example rather than a limitation, there are displayed a question "Q1 Restaurant with a view of the night view?" and a Good button BT31 and a Bad button BT32. This question, as an example rather than a limitation, is a question intended to ask the user whether they want to have a meal at a restaurant with a certain mood. In this example, it shows the state where the Good button BT31 has been tapped, and thereby moves to the next question, and the question-and-answer page in the center of Fig. 3-3 is displayed.

[0324] On the central question-and-answer page of FIG. 3-3, for example but not limited to, the GoodBT31 button and the Bad button BT32 are displayed together with the question "Q2 In the mood for Western food?". This question, for example but not limited to, is a question intended to ask the user whether they want to go eat Western food. In this example, the state where the Good button BT31 is tapped is shown, and as a result, it moves to the next question and the question-and-answer page on the right of FIG. 3-3 is displayed.

[0325] On the question-and-answer page on the right of FIG. 3-3, for example but not limited to, the Good button BT31 and the Bad button BT32 are displayed together with the question "Q3 In the mood to taste the spiciness of spices?". This question, for example but not limited to, is a question intended to ask the user whether they want to go eat Chinese food. In this example, the state where the Bad button BT32 is tapped is shown, and as a result, it moves to the next question.

[0326] Note that on each of the above question pages, a return button BT34 containing the text "Return to previous question" to return to the previous question page when the answer needs to be changed is displayed.

[0327] When the answers to the five questions are completed in this way, for example but not limited to, the left page of FIG. 3-4 is displayed. This page displays text starting with "The questions are now over" and an illustration indicating searching for a store (a combination of an illustration of a store and an illustration of a magnifying glass). Also, at the bottom of the page, a close button BT35 containing the text "Close" to close the page and return to the talk room is displayed.

[0328] When the close button BT35 is tapped, for example but not limited to, the screen of the talk room on the right of FIG. 3-4 is displayed. Below the search condition content CCT30, the search results sent from the server 10 are listed. In this example, search results of a plurality of Western restaurants located in Tokyo, such as Western restaurant Y and Western restaurant X, are displayed. Different from the previous embodiment, the displayed search results are the search results in which the answers of user B.B to the questions are reflected in addition to the search conditions.

[0329] FIG. 3-5 is a diagram showing an example of a talk room screen displayed on the display unit 24 of the terminal 20A of user A.A, who is the transmitting user in the above example, and shows the state after receiving the search results from the server 10. On this talk room screen, search condition content CCT32 that does not include the participation button BT30 is displayed below the stamp content SCT20. In this embodiment, user A.A, who is the transmitting user, is set not to answer the question, and the participation button BT30 is not provided in the search condition content CCT32.

[0330] Below the search condition content CCT32, a band including the text "B.B has answered", indicating that user B.B has answered the question, is displayed. Also, below that, a list of search results received from the server 10 is displayed. This search result is the same as the search result displayed on the talk room screen of the terminal 20B on the right in FIG. 3-4.

[0331] <Process> FIG. 3-6 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing flow executed by each device in this embodiment, and shows a part corresponding to FIG. 2-3. The way of looking at the figure is as described above.

[0332] In A135, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A transmits stamp transmission request information including the stamp ID of the selected search condition setting stamp and the set search condition to the server 10 via the communication I / F 22, by way of example and not limitation.

[0333] If it is determined in S110 that stamp transmission request information has been received (S110: YES), the control unit 11 of the server 10 performs question determination processing (S315). Specifically, by way of example and not limitation, with reference to the search condition setting stamp management database 157A in the storage unit 15, it is determined whether the search category associated with the stamp of the stamp ID included in the received stamp transmission request information corresponds to the setting search condition included in the received stamp transmission request information. If it is determined that they correspond, then with reference to the search condition setting stamp management database 157A, based on the stamp category of the search condition setting stamp of that stamp ID and the setting search condition included in the received stamp transmission request information, a first set number (by way of example and not limitation, "5") of questions are selected.

[0334] More specifically, among the search condition setting stamp management data stored in the search condition setting stamp management database 157A corresponding to the stamp category, question contents relevant to the setting search condition are specified. In this case, the question contents may be specified based on the setting search conditions corresponding to all search categories, or may be specified based on the setting search conditions corresponding to some search categories.

[0335] By way of example and not limitation, when the search categories include "location" and "genre", if "Tokyo" is specified as the "location", question contents having a relationship with Tokyo may be specified. Since there are relatively many fashionable and delicious stores in Tokyo, by way of example and not limitation, questions such as "Restaurant with a view of the night view?" and "Fashionable restaurant?" described above can be specified. Also, by way of example and not limitation, when "Western food" is specified as the "genre", question contents having a relationship with Western food may be specified. Also, in this case, question contents having a relationship with Tokyo may not be specified, and only question contents having a relationship with Western food may be specified. By way of example and not limitation, questions such as "In the mood for hamburger?" and "In the mood for pasta?" may be specified.

[0336] Note that, as described above, it is also possible to set the search conditions to "no setting". In this case, it is possible to select a larger number of questions related to the search category set to "no setting" compared to the number of questions related to other search categories. By way of example and not limitation, when the "genre" is set to "no setting", it is possible to select a larger number of questions related to the genre. By way of example and not limitation, when the first set number is "5", select "3" to "4" questions as questions related to the genre. By way of example and not limitation, it is possible to select questions such as "In the mood for Japanese cuisine?", "In the mood for Western cuisine?", "In the mood for Chinese cuisine?", "In the mood for junk food?" etc. in larger numbers compared to the number of questions related to other search categories.

[0337] Thereafter, the control unit 11 generates, by way of example and not limitation, search condition content for the terminal 20 of the source user based on the set search conditions and the template data of the search condition content, and transmits the generated search condition content to the terminal 20A via the communication I / F 14 (S320). In this embodiment, by way of example and not limitation, the source user, user A.A, can be prevented from answering the questions. In this case, the control unit 11 can transmit the search condition content including the search conditions to the terminal 20A together with the content ID.

[0338] Also, the control unit 11 generates, by way of example and not limitation, search condition content for the terminal 20 of the destination user based on the set search conditions and the template data of the search condition content, and transmits the generated search condition content and the stamp content to the terminal 20B via the communication I / F 14 (S330). In this embodiment, the destination user, User B.B, is made to answer the question. For this purpose, the control unit 11 generates, as an example rather than a limitation, search condition content including a search condition and information for answering the question (as an example rather than a limitation, an object such as the aforementioned participation button BT30), and then can transmit it to the terminal 20B together with the content ID.

[0339] After the step of A135, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A causes the search condition content received from the server 10 by the communication I / F 22 to be displayed in the talk room of the display unit 24 of its own terminal 20A (A330). In this case, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A can cause the search condition content to be displayed in the talk room as content with User A.A as the source.

[0340] The control unit 21 of the terminal 20B determines whether it has received the stamp content and the search condition content from the server 10 by the communication I / F 22 (B320). If it determines that it has received them (B320: YES), it causes the received stamp content and the search condition content to be displayed in the talk room of the display unit 24 of its own terminal 20B (B330). In this case, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B can cause the stamp content and the search condition content to be displayed in the talk room as content with User A.A as the source.

[0341] Thereafter, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B determines whether to answer the question (B340). Specifically, as an example rather than a limitation, it determines whether an operation on the information for answering the question (as an example rather than a limitation, an object such as the aforementioned participation button BT30) included in the search condition content displayed in B130 has been detected.

[0342] If it is determined to answer the question (B340: YES), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B performs question answering processing (B350). Specifically, the question answering request information including the content ID received together with the search condition content is transmitted to the server 10 by the communication I / F 22. In response to this, the control unit 11 transmits page information regarding a page for answering the question determined in S315 (hereinafter referred to as the "question answering page") to the terminal 20B by the communication I / F 14. In response to this, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B displays the question answering page on the display unit 24. Then, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B answers the question based on the user's input to the input / output unit 23.

[0343] Also, in this case, the control unit 11 performs question answering aggregation processing (S350). In this processing, since only user B.B answers the question, the answer to the question is stored in the storage unit 15 in association with the application ID of user B.B.

[0344] Thereafter, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the search execution condition is satisfied (S360). The search execution condition in this processing can be set with conditions such as, by way of example and not limitation, receiving an answer to the question from the terminal 20B.

[0345] Note that an option to skip without answering the question may be provided. Also, in this case, even if answers to all questions are not received, the control unit 11 may or may not determine that the search execution condition is satisfied when answers to a set number or more of questions are received.

[0346] The control unit 11 waits until the search execution condition is satisfied (S360: NO). If it is determined that the search execution condition is satisfied (S360: YES), the control unit 11 performs a search process (S130). Specifically, by way of example and not limitation, the search can be performed using the search word included in the set search condition and the search word related to the content of the question for which an affirmative answer was given among the answers stored in the storage unit 15. Then, the control unit 11 proceeds to the process in S140.

[0347] Note that in the above process, it is assumed that the server 10 generates the search condition content to be displayed in the talk room at step A330 by the terminal 20 of the source user (terminal 20A in the above example), but it is not limited to this. The control unit 21 of the terminal 20 of the source user may generate the search condition content based on, by way of example and not limitation, the set search condition and the template data of the search condition content. In this case, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A can display the generated search condition content in the talk room at step A130 or later.

[0348] <Effect of the Third Embodiment> This embodiment shows a configuration in which the search result is determined based on the search condition associated with the stamp content (by way of example and not limitation, an example of image information) and the first information input to the terminal 20 (by way of example and not limitation, an example of the first terminal) of the destination user (by way of example and not limitation, an example of the first user). As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, it is possible to present the user with a search result that reflects the intention of the first user.

[0349] Also, in this case, the first information can include information on the answer to the question displayed on the terminal 20 of the destination user based on the search condition. As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, it is possible to present the user with an appropriate search result that reflects the intention of the first user based on the answer of the first user to the question for the first user.

[0350] <Third Modification Example (1)> In the above embodiment, the source user (in the above example, "User A.A") did not answer the question, but the present invention is not limited to this. The source user may also answer the question. That is, the search results may or may not be determined based on the search conditions set for the stamp content, the information input to the terminal 20 of the source user (not limited, an example of the user of the terminal), and the first information input to the terminal 20 (not limited, an example of the first terminal) of the destination user (in the above example, "User B.B").

[0351] In this case, in step S320 of the process shown in FIGS. 3-6, the control unit 11 of the server 10 can transmit search condition content similar to the search condition content transmitted to the terminal 20B in step S330 to the terminal 20A via the communication I / F 14.

[0352] Note that the destination user may or may not be asked questions, and only the source user may or may not answer the questions.

[0353] This modification example shows a configuration in which the search results are determined based on the search conditions set for the stamp content and the information (not limited, an example of the third information) input by the source user (not limited, an example of the user of the terminal) to his / her own terminal 20 (not limited, an example of the terminal), and are displayed in the chat room. As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, it is possible to determine and present search results that reflect not only the intention of the user of the first terminal but also the intention of the user of the terminal.

[0354] <Third Modification Example (2)> In the above embodiment, the location where the question is displayed is not limited to the question and answer page. By way of example rather than limitation, the question sent from server 10 may be displayed in the chat room. Also, the question may be displayed in the chat room, but the answer may be given outside the chat room. In this case, by way of example rather than limitation, terminal 20 displays the question sent from server 10 in the chat room and also displays information (such as link information, by way of example rather than limitation) for accessing the answer page sent from server 10 in the chat room. Then, based on the fact that this information has been tapped, terminal 20 can access the answer page.

[0355] Also, in the same manner as the method described in the first modification example where terminal 20 (A) Method of displaying a search result display screen by an external browser (B) Method of displaying a search result display screen by an in-app browser a question screen, an answer screen, etc. may be displayed on display unit 24.

[0356] <Fourth Embodiment> The fourth embodiment is an embodiment in which search results and the like are displayed in the group chat room of a messaging application including a plurality of users.

[0357] The content described in the fourth embodiment is applicable to any of the other embodiments and other modification examples. Also, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those already described, and repeated description is omitted.

[0358] Hereinafter, based on the fact that a search condition setting stamp or the like has been sent with the terminal 20 of one group of users as the transmission source, in the display unit 24 of the terminal 20 of the destination group of users (by way of example rather than limitation, the chat room displayed on the display unit 24 of the terminal 20 of the destination group of users), it will be described that the search condition setting stamp or the like and the search results are displayed.

[0359] Note that, by way of example and not limitation, a group includes two or more users. For convenience, the number of users in the group (the total number of users included in the group) is denoted as "N". Also, for convenience, the group user who is the source of the search condition setting stamp or the like is referred to as the "source group user", and the group user who is the destination is referred to as the "destination group user". Also, for each instance, one group user becomes the source group user, and the other group users become the destination group users, and the number of destination group users is denoted as "N-1".

[0360] <Display screen> The display screen in this embodiment is, by way of example and not limitation, in the display screens described in the first to third embodiments, the display screen of the terminal 20A of user A.A is used as the display screen of the source group user, the terminal 20B of user B.B is used as the destination group user, and the display screens of the terminals 20 of the other destination group users are configured in the same manner as the display screen of the terminal 20B, so that it can be extended to a group. For this reason, the basic screen diagram is omitted and illustrated and described in a modified example.

[0361] <Processing> The processing in this embodiment is, by way of example and not limitation, in the processing described in FIGS. 1-11, FIGS. 2-3 to FIGS. 2-4, FIGS. 3-6, etc., by way of example and not limitation, the user A.A of the terminal 20A is used as the source group user, and the other group users including the user B.B of the terminal 20B are used as the destination group users, so that the contents of the first to third embodiments can be similarly applied to the group. Here, by way of example and not limitation, the processing in the case of applying the contents of the third embodiment to the group is exemplified.

[0362] FIG. 4-1 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by each device in this embodiment. In this figure, an example of the processing executed by the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A of user A.A, the processing executed by the control unit 11 of the server 10, and the processing executed by the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A of user B.B is shown in order from the left side, and the part corresponding to FIGS. 3-6 is illustrated.

[0363] Note that in this processing, the source group user is set as user A.A of the terminal 20A, and the destination group user is set as a user included in the same group as user A.A. Here, user B.B of the terminal 20B is taken as one of the destination group users, and only the processing of the terminal 20B is illustrated, but the processing executed by the terminals 20 of other destination group users can be the same as that of the terminal 20B.

[0364] First, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A displays the group talk room on the display unit 24 (A410). Hereinafter, the talk room in this processing means the group talk room.

[0365] In S330, the control unit 11 of the server 10 transmits, as an example rather than a limitation, the stamp content and the above-described search condition content to the terminals 20 of the respective destination group users via the communication I / F 14.

[0366] In the question answer aggregation process of S350, the control unit 11 stores the answers to the questions of all the destination group users in association with the application IDs of the respective users. Also, as an example rather than a limitation, questions with many affirmative answers (as an example rather than a limitation, questions with affirmative answers equal to or more than the set number) are specified and stored in the storage unit 15.

[0367] In S360, the control unit 11 determines whether the search execution condition is satisfied. The search execution condition in this processing can be set with conditions such as, as an example rather than a limitation, receiving answers to questions from all the destination group users.

[0368] In the search process of S140, the control unit 11 performs a search based on, by way of example and not limitation, the set search conditions and the answers to the questions. Specifically, by way of example and not limitation, the search can be performed using the search words included in the set search conditions and the search words related to the content of the questions with many positive answers identified in S350. As a result, the possibility of obtaining search results that reflect not only the set search conditions but also the intentions of multiple users (vote results) is increased.

[0369] The control unit 21 of the terminal 20 of the destination group user displays the group talk room on the display unit 24 in the same manner as the terminal 20A. By way of example and not limitation, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B displays the group talk room on the display unit 24. Then, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 of the destination group user proceeds with the process to B320 by way of example and not limitation.

[0370] <Effects of the Fourth Embodiment> In this embodiment, the talk room (by way of example and not limitation, an example of a chat room) includes the source group user (by way of example and not limitation, an example of a user of a terminal), the first destination group user (by way of example and not limitation, an example of the first user of the first terminal), and the second destination group user (by way of example and not limitation, an example of the second user of the second terminal) as group users. And the search results are determined based on the search conditions set for the stamp content, the first information input to the terminal 20 of the first destination group user (by way of example and not limitation, an example of the first terminal), and the second information input to the terminal 20 of the second destination group user (by way of example and not limitation, an example of the second terminal). As an example of the effects of the modified example obtained by such a configuration, it is possible to determine and present search results that reflect the intentions of a plurality of users (the first user, the second user) different from the users of the terminals included in the chat room.

[0371] <Fourth Modified Example (1)> As the search execution conditions determined in step S360 of FIG. 4-1, not by way of limitation but by way of example, the following conditions (a) may or may not be applied. However, in this example, it is assumed that an option to skip without answering the question is provided. (a) That questions have been answered by all destination group users for a second set number or more Note that the number of questions is the "first set number", and not by way of limitation but by way of example, it can be "second set number < first set number".

[0372] Also, the condition in (a) above may or may not include any of the following. (a-1) That all destination group users have answered all questions (a-2) Even if there are destination group users who have not answered all questions, that they have answered a second set number or more of questions

[0373] <Fourth Modification Example (2)> Also, as the search execution conditions determined in step S360 of FIG. 4-1, not by way of limitation but by way of example, the following conditions (b) may or may not be applied. However, in this example, it is assumed that an option to skip without answering the question is provided. (b) That the number of destination group users who have answered a second set number or more of questions among the destination group users has reached a third set number Note that not by way of limitation but by way of example, it can be "third set number < N-1". In this case, even if at least one of the "N-1" destination group users does not answer the question, the search execution conditions may be satisfied.

[0374] In this modification example, the talk room (not limited to, for example, a chat room), the source group user (not limited to, for example, a user of a terminal), the first destination group user (not limited to, for example, the first user of the first terminal), and the second destination group user (not limited to, for example, the second user of the second terminal) are included as group users. And the search result is determined based on the input by the source group user and the search conditions set for the stamp content without the second information being input by the terminal 20 (not limited to, for example, the second terminal) of the second destination group user, and the first information input to the terminal 20 (not limited to, for example, the first terminal) of the first destination group user, and is displayed in the talk room. As an example of the effect of the modification example obtained by such a configuration, it is possible to determine and present a search result that reflects the intentions of some of the plurality of users (the first user, the second user) different from the users of the terminals included in the chat room. Also, since the search result can be determined without requiring information to be input by the terminals of all users different from the users of the terminals included in the chat room, the search result can be presented quickly.

[0375] <Fourth Modification Example (3)> Also, in the above-described embodiment, not limited to but by way of example, the source group user may or may not be able to select and specify the destination group user who answers the question from among the destination group users.

[0376] Not limited to but by way of example, as described above, when an event is carried out in a group, there may be group users who do not participate in or cannot participate in the event. And it can be considered not to require an answer to the question for such group users.

[0377] <Display Screen> FIG. 4-2 and FIG. 4-3 are diagrams showing an example of the screen transition displayed on the display unit 24A of the terminal 20A in this modification example.

[0378] On the left screen of FIG. 4-2, at the upper right of the screen where the group talk room is displayed, the icon image and user name (user A.A in this example) of the user of this terminal 20A in the messaging application are displayed.

[0379] In the talk room name display area CLR, by way of example rather than limitation, a character (in this example, the group name "Seminar Mates (4)") indicating that it is a group talk room for user A.A to talk with other group users (in this example, user B.B, user C.C, user D.D) is displayed. Note that the number in () shown to the right of the group name represents the number "N" of users constituting this group.

[0380] In this example, text content proposing that everyone go out for a meal tomorrow has been sent from user A.A to other group users, but a state is shown where text content indicating that user C.C cannot participate has been sent from user C.C to other group users.

[0381] Under this premise, a stamp thumbnail has been selected by user A.A, and a preview image of the stamp content corresponding to the selected stamp thumbnail is displayed in the preview display area. Also, in the upper left of the preview display area PVR, to the right of the aforementioned search condition setting icon IC20, a user selection icon IC40 is displayed.

[0382] On the left screen of FIG. 4-2, by way of example rather than limitation, a state where the search condition setting icon IC20 has been tapped is shown. As a result, by way of example rather than limitation, the search condition setting screen shown on the right of FIG. 4-2 is displayed.

[0383] On this screen, in the selection field SJR for the search category "Genre", "Unset" is selected, and in the selection field SPR for the search category "Location", "Tokyo" is selected and shown as being input. When the save button BT20 is tapped in this state, as an example rather than a limitation, the screen shown on the left in Figure 4-3 is displayed.

[0384] On this screen, as an example rather than a limitation, the state where the user selection icon IC40 has been tapped is shown. As a result, as an example rather than a limitation, the member selection screen shown on the right in Figure 4-3 is displayed.

[0385] On this screen, as an example rather than a limitation, a destination user selection area SUR is configured for selecting the destination users of the search results corresponding to the stamp content for which the search conditions are set.

[0386] Specifically, as a selection field for allowing the user to select a destination user, a selection field is displayed in which the user can select any member from the group users (User B.B, User C.C, User D.D) in a checkbox manner.

[0387] In this example, as an example rather than a limitation, the state where the save button BT20 has been tapped with the checkboxes for User B.B and User D.D checked is shown. As a result, as an example rather than a limitation, User B.B and User D.D are set as the destination users of the search results corresponding to this stamp content. This is because a message indicating that User C.C cannot participate in the meal has been sent to the group, with the intention of excluding User C.C from the targets for which User A.A requests answers to questions.

[0388] Figure 4-4 is a diagram showing an example of the group talk room screen displayed on the display units 24 of terminals 20B, 20C, and 20D in this modified example. The screen shown on the left in Figure 4-4 is a diagram showing an example of the screen displayed on the display unit 24B of terminal 20B in the above example. On the upper right of the screen, the icon image and the user name (user B.B in this example) of the user of this terminal 20B in the messaging application are displayed.

[0389] In the chat room name display area CLR, as an example rather than a limitation, the character indicating that it is a group chat room for user B.B to chat with group users (user A.A, user C.C, user D.D) (in this example, the group name "Seminar Friends (4)") is displayed.

[0390] Also, below that, a chat area TR for user B.B and the group users to chat in an interactive format is configured. On the left side of the screen, the messages of the group users who are the counterparts are displayed, and on the right side of the screen, the messages of user B.B himself are displayed.

[0391] This screen shows the state where the stamp content with the search conditions set has been sent from user A.A.

[0392] As an example rather than a limitation, on the left side of the chat area TR facing the screen, the stamp content SCT20 including an illustration of a cat and the character "Let's go for rice!" as the message of user A.A is displayed.

[0393] Also, below that, as an example rather than a limitation, the search condition content CCT40 indicating the search conditions set for this stamp content is displayed. In this example, as an example rather than a limitation, as the search condition content, the characters "Search for a store!", "Genre: None set", and "Location: Tokyo" are displayed.

[0394] The screen shown in the center of FIG. 4-4 is a diagram showing an example of the screen displayed on the display unit 24C of the terminal 20C in the above example. On the upper right of the screen, the icon image and the user name (in this example, user C.C) in the messaging application of the user of this terminal 20C are displayed.

[0395] In the chat room name display area CLR, by way of example and not limitation, there is a character (in this example, the group name "Seminar Mates (4)") indicating that it is a group chat room for user C.C to chat with group users (user A.A, user B.B, user D.D).

[0396] Also, below that, a chat area TR for user C.C and the group users to chat in an interactive format is configured. On the left side of the screen, the messages of the group users who are the other party are displayed, and on the right side of the screen, the messages of user C.C himself are displayed.

[0397] This screen shows the state in which stamp content with search conditions set has been sent from user A.A. By way of example and not limitation, on the left side of the chat area TR facing the screen, stamp content SCT20 including an illustration of a cat and the text "Let's go eat rice!" is displayed as the message of user A.A.

[0398] However, unlike terminal 20B and terminal 20D, search condition content CCT40 is not displayed in the group chat room displayed on the display unit 24 of terminal 20C. This is because, based on the fact that user C.C has been excluded from the targets to answer questions, the search condition content CCT40 has not been sent from the server 10 to the terminal 20C.

[0399] The screen shown on the right of Figure 4-4 is a diagram showing an example of the screen displayed on the display unit 24D of terminal 20D in the above example. On the upper right of the screen, the icon image and the user name (in this example, user D.D) in the messaging application of the user of this terminal 20D are displayed.

[0400] In the chat room name display area CLR, by way of example and not limitation, there is displayed a character (in this example, the group name "Seminar Mates (4)") indicating that it is a group chat room for user D.D to chat with group users (user A.A, user B.B, user C.C).

[0401] Also, below that, a talk area TR for user D.D and the group users to talk in an interactive manner is configured. On the left side facing the screen, messages from the group users who are the other party are displayed, and on the right side facing the screen, messages from user D.D himself / herself are displayed.

[0402] This screen shows the state where stamp content with search conditions set has been sent from user A.A.

[0403] By way of example and not limitation, in the left side facing the screen of the talk area TR, stamp content SCT20 including an illustration of a cat and the character "Let's go eat rice!" is displayed as a message from user A.A.

[0404] Also, below that, by way of example and not limitation, search condition content CCT40 indicating the search conditions set for this stamp content is displayed. In this example, by way of example and not limitation, as the search condition content, the characters "Search for a store!", the characters "Genre: None set", and the characters "Location: Tokyo" are displayed.

[0405] <Process> In the process in this modified example, by way of example and not limitation, in the process of FIG. 4-1, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A performs a question-and-answer user selection setting process after A220. Specifically, based on the input to the input / output unit 23, it accepts the selection (designation) of the destination group users who will answer the questions. Then, it temporarily stores the application IDs of the selected destination group users (hereinafter referred to as "question answering selection group users") in the storage unit 28.

[0406] Note that not all of the question answering selection group users will answer the questions, and it is possible that the search execution conditions are satisfied even if not all of the question answering selection group users answer the questions. For this reason, the group users who actually answer the questions are referred to as "question answerers".

[0407] In step A135, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A, by way of example and not limitation, includes the application IDs of the question answering selection group users temporarily stored in the storage unit 28 in the stamp transmission request information and transmits it to the server 10 via the communication I / F 22.

[0408] In S330, the control unit 11 of the server 10, by way of example and not limitation, identifies the question answering selection group users based on the application IDs included in the stamp transmission request information received from the terminal 20A. Then, the control unit 11, by way of example and not limitation, transmits stamp content and search condition content including information for enabling access to the question answering page to the terminal 20 of the question answering selection group users via the communication I / F 14. In contrast, the control unit 11, by way of example and not limitation, transmits only the stamp content to the terminal 20 of the destination group users other than the question answering selection group users via the communication I / F 14. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the destination group users who are not selected from being able to answer the questions.

[0409] In contrast, the control unit 11 may transmit, to the terminals 20 of the destination group users other than the question-and-answer selection group users, search condition content that does not include stamp content and information for answering the question (as an example but not limited to, an object such as the participation button BT30) via the communication I / F 14. Even in this case, it is possible to prevent the destination group users who are not selected from answering the question.

[0410] In this modification example, the talk room (as an example of a chat room but not limited to) includes the source group user (as an example of a user of a terminal but not limited to), the first destination group user (as an example of the first user of the first terminal but not limited to), and the second destination group user (as an example of the second user of the second terminal but not limited to) as group users. And the search result is determined based on the first information input by the destination group user selected by the source group user (as an example of the first user selected by the user of the terminal but not limited to) and the search condition set in the stamp content, and is shown as a configuration to be displayed in the talk room. As an example of the effect of the modification example obtained by such a configuration, it is possible to determine and present a search result that reflects the intention of the first user selected by the user of the terminal among a plurality of users (the first user, the second user) different from the users of the terminals included in the chat room. Also, since it is possible to determine the search result without requiring information to be input by the terminals of all users different from the users of the terminals included in the chat room, the search result can be presented quickly.

[0411] <Fourth Modification Example (4)> In the above embodiment, the source group user (in the above example, "User A.A") does not answer the question. However, similar to the third modification example (1), the source group user may also answer the question. In this case, in the question-and-answer group user selection process, the terminal 20 of the source group user can be set to include the user of its own terminal 20 as a question-and-answer group user based on the input by the user of its own terminal 20.

[0412] Also, similar to the third modification example (1), questions may not be asked to the destination group users, and only the source group users may answer the questions.

[0413] In this modification example, the talk room (not limited to, for example, a chat room) includes the source group user (not limited to, for example, the user of the terminal), the first destination group user (not limited to, for example, the first user of the first terminal), and the second destination group user (not limited to, for example, the second user of the second terminal) as group users. And the search result is determined based on the information input by the source group user, the first information input by the destination group user (not limited to, for example, the first user selected by the user of the terminal) selected by the source group user, and the search conditions set for the stamp content, and is shown to be displayed in the talk room. As an example of the effect of the modification example obtained by such a configuration, not only the first user selected by the user of the terminal among a plurality of users (the first user, the second user) different from the users of the terminals included in the chat room, but also the search result reflecting the intention of the user of the terminal can be determined and presented.

[0414] <Fifth Embodiment> The fifth embodiment is an embodiment regarding a countermeasure when there are users who have not answered a question. As described above, when asking all destination users to answer a question, there may be destination users who do not answer or who take a long time to answer, and it may take a long time for the search execution condition to be satisfied. This is the same when specifying the destination users to answer the question. As described above, since the search process is not executed until the search execution conditions are satisfied, in the above case, there is a possibility that the search results cannot be displayed until an answer from an unanswered user is obtained.

[0415] The content described in the fifth embodiment is applicable to any of the other embodiments and any of the other modified examples. Also, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those already shown, and the repeated description thereof is omitted.

[0416] In this embodiment, a limit is set on the time for inputting information for determining search results, such as inputting an answer from the destination user to a question from the source user. Also, in this embodiment, an example of the group described in the fourth embodiment will be given for explanation.

[0417] <Display screen> FIG. 5-1 is a diagram showing an example of screen transition displayed on the display unit 24 of the terminal 20A in this embodiment. This example is, as in the fourth embodiment, an example in which user A.A proposes going out for a meal with group users.

[0418] In the left screen of FIG. 5-1, as an example rather than a limitation, at the upper left of the preview display area PVR, to the right of the search condition setting icon IC20, a time limit setting icon IC50 for setting a time limit is displayed. When this time limit setting icon IC50 is tapped, as an example rather than a limitation, the central screen of FIG. 5-1 is displayed.

[0419] Specifically, the text "Please set the time limit for answering the question" is displayed in the center of the screen, and below it, a time limit input area TSR for displaying the time limit input by a keyboard or the like is provided. In this example, a state where "6 hours (6:00:00)" is input as the time limit by user A.A is shown. When the save button is tapped in this state, the time limit is set.

[0420] Subsequently, based on the operation of user A.A sending stamp content, as an example rather than a limitation, the group talk room screen on the right in FIG. 5-1 is displayed. On this group talk room screen, at the lower part of the search condition content CCT50 displayed in the talk area TR, the set time limit is displayed in a countdown format.

[0421] FIG. 5-2 is a diagram showing an example of the group talk room screen displayed on the display unit 24 of the terminal 20B of user B.B, who is one of the destination group users, in the above example. On the left group talk room screen in FIG. 5-2, in the talk area TR, as the content from user A.A as the sender, stamp content SCT20 and search condition content CCT52 are displayed. Also, in this example, below the participation button BT30 in the search condition content CCT52, the time limit set based on the input by user A.A is displayed in a countdown format.

[0422] Subsequently, the state where the time limit has elapsed and the count reaches "0:00:00" is shown in the center of FIG. 5-2. In this state, when the participation button included in the search condition content is tapped by user B.B, as an example rather than a limitation, the screen on the right in FIG. 5-2 is displayed. On this screen, due to the elapse of the time limit, an error screen including a message indicating that answers to questions cannot be made is displayed.

[0423] <Process> In this embodiment, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 of the source group user performs a time limit setting process of setting a time limit for answering questions based on the input of the source group user to their own terminal 20, as an example rather than a limitation, in the step of A220 in FIGS. 3-6 and 4-1, or before and after that. Specifically, the time limit input via the input / output unit 23 is temporarily stored in the storage unit 28 as time limit setting information. In this case, a time limit may be set as a type of search condition setting in the search condition setting process of step A220, or a time limit may be set separately from the search condition setting in the search condition setting process of step A220.

[0424] Also, as an example and not by way of limitation, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 of the source group user causes, as an example and not by way of limitation, in step A330 of FIGS. 3-6 and 4-1, a time limit based on the time limit setting information temporarily stored in the storage unit 28 to be displayed in association with stamp content or search condition content. The time limit can be displayed, as an example and not by way of limitation, in a countdown format based on the timekeeping information by the clock unit 29A of the terminal 20A. Also, in this case, the time limit can be displayed, as an example and not by way of limitation, at any position among within the search condition content, beside the search condition content, or beside the stamp content.

[0425] Also, as an example and not by way of limitation, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 of the source group user includes, as an example and not by way of limitation, in step A135 of FIGS. 3-6 and 4-1, the time limit setting information temporarily stored in the storage unit 28 in the stamp transmission request information and transmits it to the server 10.

[0426] As an example and not by way of limitation, in step S330 of FIGS. 3-6 and 4-1, the control unit 11 of the server 10 transmits the stamp content, the search condition content, and the time limit setting information to the terminal 20 of the destination group user via the communication I / F 14. Note that in this case, search condition content configured to display the time limit therein may be transmitted to the terminal 20 of the destination group user.

[0427] The control unit 21 of the terminal 20 of the destination group user, by way of example and not limitation, causes a limited time based on the received limited time setting information to be displayed in association with the received stamp content or the received search condition content in the steps of B330 in FIGS. 3-6 and FIG. 4-1, by way of example and not limitation. The limited time can be displayed in a countdown format, by way of example and not limitation, based on the timekeeping information by the clock unit 29A of the terminal 20 of each destination group user.

[0428] Note that in the question-and-answer process of B350, the terminal 20 of the destination group user transmits question-and-answer request information including the content ID of the search condition content to the server 10 via the communication I / F 22.

[0429] In this case, the control unit 11 of the server 10 determines whether or not the limited time has elapsed. If it is determined that the limited time has not yet elapsed, the information of the question-and-answer page is transmitted to the terminal 20 of the destination group user. On the other hand, if it is determined that the limited time has elapsed, the control unit 11 of the server 10 transmits error information indicating that an answer to the question cannot be made because the limited time has elapsed to the terminal 20 of the destination group user. By doing so, it is possible to prevent an answer to the question from being made after the limited time has elapsed.

[0430] Further, when the limited time has elapsed, the control unit 11 of the server 10 can proceed to the step of S360 and determine that the search execution condition is satisfied.

[0431] Note that in the above example, the terminal 20 sets the limited time when transmitting the stamp content. However, the limited time may not be set when transmitting the stamp content, and the limited time may be set after transmitting the stamp content. In this case, by way of example rather than limitation, in the search condition content generated by the terminal 20 of the source user, or in the search condition content generated by the server 10 and transmitted to the terminal 20 of the source user, a lead wire for setting a time limit may be provided so that the time limit can be set from this lead wire.

[0432] This embodiment shows a configuration in which the terminal 20 of the source group user displays time limit information regarding the time limit for performing an input such as an answer to a question (an example of information for determining a search result rather than a limitation) in the chat room. As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, the user of the terminal can be made to confirm the time limit for inputting information for determining a search result by displaying it in the chat room.

[0433] Further, this embodiment shows a configuration in which the terminal 20 of the source group user performs a setting regarding the time limit for performing an answer to a question (an example of information for determining a search result rather than a limitation) based on an input to its own terminal 20 by the control unit 21. As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, the time limit for inputting information for determining a search result can be appropriately set based on an input to the terminal.

[0434] <Fifth Modification Example (1)> In the above embodiment, the time limit set on the terminal 20 of the source user may be changeable later.

[0435] Specifically, by way of example rather than limitation, between the steps of A330 and A140 in FIGS. 3-6 and FIG. 4-1, the terminal 20 of the source group user determines whether an input for changing the set time limit has been made to its own terminal 20. And if it is determined that an input has been made, a time limit change process is performed. Specifically, the time limit input via the input / output unit 23 is temporarily stored in the storage unit 28 as time limit change information.

[0436] The change of the time limit can be made based on the user who set the time limit (i.e., the source user) tapping the display of the time limit shown in the search condition content as shown on the right side of FIG. 5-1 as an example rather than a limitation, or the display of the time limit shown beside the search condition content or beside the stamp content. Specifically, the terminal 20 of the source user performs a display for changing the time limit based on the fact that the display of the time limit has been tapped. Then, when the user makes an operation to change the time limit and an operation to save it, the time limit is changed.

[0437] Note that, similar to the setting of the time limit, it may be possible to change the time limit from the lead wire for setting the time limit provided in the search condition content generated by the terminal 20 of the source user or the search condition content generated by the server 10 and transmitted to the terminal 20 of the source user.

[0438] After that, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 of the source group user transmits, as an example rather than a limitation, the time limit change information temporarily stored in the storage unit 28 to the server 10 via the communication I / F 22. In response to this, the control unit 11 of the server 10 stores the time limit change information in the storage unit 15. Also, the control unit 11 of the server 10 transmits the time limit change information to the terminal 20 of the destination group user via the communication I / F 14.

[0439] The control unit 21 of the terminal 20 of the destination group user updates the display of the time limit based on the time limit change information received from the server 10.

[0440] This modification example shows a configuration in which the terminal 20 of the source group user performs control to change the above time limit by the control unit 21 based on the input by the user of its own terminal 20. As an example of the effect of the modification example obtained by such a configuration, it is possible to simply and appropriately change the time limit for inputting information for determining search results based on the input by the user of the terminal.

[0441] <Fifth Modification Example (2)> <In the above embodiment, in consideration of the possibility that it may become impossible to display search results until an answer from an unanswered user to a question is obtained, a time limit for an answer to the question was set, but the present invention is not limited thereto.> <As an example rather than a limitation, the transmitting source group user makes an input for performing at least one of changing, adding, and deleting the transmitting destination group users who answer the question via the input / output unit 23 to his / her own terminal 20. Then, the terminal 20 may cause the control unit 21 to perform control regarding at least one of changing, adding, and deleting the transmitting destination group users who answer the question based on the input.>

[0442] <More specifically, after the stamp content or the like is transmitted to the terminals 20 of the transmitting destination group users, the transmitting source group user may make an input for performing at least one of changing, adding, and deleting the transmitting destination group users who answer the question via the input / output unit 23 to his / her own terminal 20.>

[0443] <In this case, as an example rather than a limitation, between the steps of A330 and A140 in FIGS. 3-6 and FIGS. 4-1, the terminal 20 of the transmitting source group user determines whether an input regarding at least one of changing, adding, and deleting the transmitting destination group users who answer the question has been made to his / her own terminal 20. If it is determined that an input has been made, the control unit 21 performs control corresponding to the input that has been made.>

[0444] <As an example rather than a limitation, when there are unanswered transmitting destination group users even after a certain amount of time has passed, the transmitting source group user can perform an input to delete the transmitting destination group users from the question-answering selection group users and delete them.> In this case, the terminal 20 of the source group user transmits, via the communication I / F 22, the respondent deletion request information including the application ID of the destination group user designated to be deleted to the server 10. In response to this, the server 10 can delete the destination group user with the application ID included in the received respondent deletion request information from the question-and-answer selection group users, and then determine whether the search execution conditions are met in step S360.

[0445] In this modified example, a talk room (not limited to, for example, a chat room) includes, as group users, a source group user (not limited to, for example, a user of a terminal), a first destination group user (not limited to, for example, a first user of a first terminal), and a second destination group user (not limited to, for example, a second user of a second terminal). Then, based on the input by the source group user, the terminal 20 of the source group user performs, by the control unit 21, control regarding at least one of change, addition, and deletion of the destination group user who inputs an answer (not limited to, for example, information for determining a search result) to a question from the source group user. As an example of the effect of the modified example obtained by such a configuration, at least one of change, addition, and deletion of users who input information for determining a search result can be performed based on the input by the user of the terminal, targeting a plurality of users (first user, second user) different from the users of the terminals included in the chat room. Therefore, the convenience of the users can be improved.

[0446] <Fifth Modified Example (3)> Also, even when there are unanswered group users and the source group user who requested an answer to the question makes an input to their own terminal 20 without setting a time limit, the source group user may be able to view the answers of the destination group users who have already answered.

[0447] In this case, by way of example rather than limitation, between the steps of A330 and A140 in FIGS. 3-6 and 4-1, the terminal 20 of the source group user determines whether an input for viewing an answer has been made with respect to its own terminal 20. If it is determined that such an input has been made, the terminal 20 of the source group user transmits answer viewing request information to the server 10 via the communication I / F 22.

[0448] In response to this, the server 10, by way of example rather than limitation, determines the source group users for whom answers have been aggregated in the question and answer aggregation process of step S350 in FIGS. 3-6 and 4-1, and transmits the answer results of those source group users to the terminal 20 of the source group user via the communication I / F 14. Then, the terminal 20 of the source group user displays the received answer results on the display unit 24.

[0449] By doing so, the source group user can grasp, before receiving the search results, what the other members hope for based on the answer results of the answered destination group users.

[0450] <Sixth Embodiment> The sixth embodiment is an embodiment that enables notifying the user that search conditions have been set for the stamp content for which search conditions have been set.

[0451] The content described in the sixth embodiment is applicable to any of the other embodiments and any of the other modified examples. Also, for components identical to the previously described components, the same reference numerals are given and repeated description is omitted.

[0452] <Display Screen> FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of screen transition of the display unit 24A of the terminal 20A when notifying the user that search conditions have been set for the stamp content for which search conditions have been set.

[0453] In the left screen of FIG. 6, a state is shown in which a plurality of stamp thumbnails corresponding to stamp contents are displayed in the stamp thumbnail display area STR. In this example, even if the search category is associated with the stamp, when all search categories are "not set", the search conditions are described as not being set.

[0454] In this example, by way of example and not limitation, for stamp contents for which search conditions are set based on user input, in the upper left part of the area where the stamp thumbnails are displayed in the stamp thumbnail display area STR, by way of example and not limitation, a search condition set mark MK60 represented by an image of a magnifying glass is displayed. That is, information indicating that the search conditions have been set is additionally displayed on the stamp thumbnails corresponding to the stamp contents for which the search conditions are set. On the other hand, the search condition set mark MK60 is not displayed on the stamp thumbnails corresponding to the stamp contents for which the search conditions are not set.

[0455] Note that the search condition set mark MK60 may be regarded as part of the stamp thumbnail or as a separate entity from the stamp thumbnail.

[0456] In the left screen of FIG. 6, by way of example and not limitation, a state is shown in which the uppermost left stamp thumbnail to which the search condition set mark MK60 is added in the stamp thumbnail display area STR is tapped. As a result, by way of example and not limitation, the screen shown in the center of FIG. 6 is displayed.

[0457] In this screen, by way of example and not limitation, a preview image of stamp content including an illustration of a cat and the text "Let's go eat rice!" and a search condition setting icon IC20 are displayed in the preview display area PVR. Note that the search condition setting icon IC20 may be regarded as part of the preview image of the stamp content or as a separate entity from the preview image of the stamp content.

[0458] On the central screen of FIG. 6, as an example rather than a limitation, a state where the search condition setting icon IC20 has been tapped is shown. As a result, as an example rather than a limitation, the screen shown on the right side of FIG. 6 is displayed.

[0459] This screen is a screen for notifying the user of the search conditions already set for this stamp content. In this example, it is shown that “Western food” is set in the selection field SJR for the search category “Genre” and “Tokyo” is set in the selection field SPR for the search category “Location”.

[0460] Also, on the screen on the right side of FIG. 6, an icon similar to the search condition setting icon IC20 on the central screen of FIG. 6 is displayed to the left of the stamp content. This icon can function as a search condition change icon (or search condition reset icon). That is, when this icon is tapped, as an example rather than a limitation, the user can reselect any genre from the selection field SJR for the search category “Genre” in a drum roll manner, and the user can also reselect any location from the selection field SPR for the search category “Location” in a drum roll manner. Also, the above-described save button BT20 is displayed, and when this save button BT20 is tapped, the search conditions can be changed to the reselected search conditions.

[0461] <Processing> In the processing in this embodiment, as an example rather than a limitation, in various processes such as those shown in FIGS. 1-11, 2-3 to 2-4, 3-6, 4-1, etc. described above, when the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A makes a determination in step A115, as an example rather than a limitation, stamp thumbnails are listed and displayed in the stamp thumbnail list area.

[0462] At this time, the control unit 21 causes information indicating that the search conditions have been set (hereinafter referred to as "search condition setting notification information") to be attached to and displayed on the stamp thumbnail corresponding to the stamp content for which the search conditions have been set, by way of example and not limitation.

[0463] The search condition setting notification information can be, by way of example and not limitation, characters indicating that the search conditions have been set, or images such as the magnifying glass icon described above. On the other hand, the control unit 21 causes the stamp thumbnail corresponding to the stamp content for which the search conditions have not been set to be displayed as is.

[0464] Further, based on detecting an input for selecting a stamp thumbnail, in step A120, the control unit 21 causes a preview image including an image of the stamp content corresponding to the selected stamp thumbnail to be displayed in the preview display area.

[0465] As described above, the preview image may be used as the meaning of the image of the stamp content displayed in the preview display area, or the entire preview display area may be regarded as an image and used as the meaning of the preview display area.

[0466] When preview-displaying the stamp content for which the search conditions have been set, the control unit 21 causes the search condition setting notification information to be displayed in the preview display area together with the image of the stamp content. On the other hand, when preview-displaying the stamp content for which the search conditions have not been set, the control unit 21 does not display the search condition setting notification information.

[0467] Further, when the control unit 21 detects an operation on the search condition setting notification information displayed in the preview display area, it causes the set search conditions to be displayed on the display unit 24.

[0468] Furthermore, after the control unit 21 displays the set search conditions on the display unit 24, as an example rather than a limitation, when an operation on the search condition setting notification information is detected, it performs a display for changing the search conditions. If the above-mentioned (1) direct input method is to be applied, a search condition input field can be displayed to allow the user to directly input using a keyboard or the like. If the above-mentioned (2) selection input method is to be applied, search category selection candidates can be displayed to allow the user to select from among them.

[0469] Then, as an example rather than a limitation, the control unit 21 performs a search condition change process based on the above-mentioned save button being tapped. Specifically, it updates the set search conditions with the search conditions input by the user.

[0470] Note that it is only necessary that the display mode of the stamp thumbnail corresponding to the stamp content with the search conditions set is different from the display mode of the stamp thumbnail corresponding to the stamp content without the search conditions set, and it is not essential to display the search condition setting notification information. As an example rather than a limitation, the brightness of the displayed stamp thumbnail may be changed or the like.

[0471] Note that the change of the search conditions is not limited to changing information within the same search category, and may or may not include changing the search category to another search category. Taking a specific example, when the search category is "location" and the set information is "Tokyo", the former can include changing "Tokyo" to another prefecture (such as Chiba Prefecture). Also, when the search category is "genre" and the set information is "Western food", the former can include changing "Western food" to another genre (such as Japanese food).

[0472] In contrast, in the latter case, when the search categories include "location" and "genre", some or all of these are changed to another search category. By way of example and not limitation, this can include changing the search category "location" to search categories such as "movie", "game", "recipe", etc.

[0473] <Effect of the Sixth Embodiment> In this embodiment, the terminal 20 displays a stamp thumbnail (by way of example and not limitation, an example of a reduced image of image information) on the display unit 24. Then, based on an input to the stamp thumbnail, the terminal 20 performs, by the control unit 21, control to transmit the corresponding stamp content to the terminal 20 of the destination user included in the talk room via the communication I / F 22, and control to display the corresponding stamp content in the talk room. In this case, it shows a configuration in which the display mode of the stamp thumbnail (by way of example and not limitation, an example of a first reduced image) of the stamp content for which search conditions are set is different from that of the stamp thumbnail (by way of example and not limitation, an example of a second reduced image) of the stamp content for which search conditions are not set. As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, after allowing the user of the terminal to view a reduced image of the image information, based on an input by the user of the terminal to the reduced image, the image information can be transmitted to the first terminal and confirmed by the first user, and the user of the terminal can also confirm it. Further, the user of the terminal can be made to recognize whether or not the reduced image is of the image information for which search information is set.

[0474] In addition, in this embodiment, the terminal 20 of the source user displays, on the display unit 24, a preview image of the corresponding stamp (not limited to, for example, a first preview image related to the first reduced image) based on an input to the stamp thumbnail of the stamp content for which search conditions are set (not limited to, for example, the first reduced image), and displays, on the display unit 24, a preview image of the corresponding stamp (not limited to, for example, a second preview image related to the second reduced image) based on an input to the stamp thumbnail of the stamp content for which no search conditions are set (not limited to, for example, the second reduced image). As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, the user of the terminal can recognize the first reduced image for which the input has been made, or the image information for which search conditions corresponding to the first reduced image are set, and the user of the terminal can recognize the second reduced image for which the input has been made, or the image information for which no search conditions corresponding to the second reduced image are set.

[0475] Also, in this case, the preview image (not limited to, for example, the first preview image) related to the stamp thumbnail of the stamp content for which search conditions are set (not limited to, for example, the first reduced image) includes the display of search condition setting notification information (not limited to, for example, the first display). Then, based on an input by the user to this display, the terminal 20 of the source user can display, on the display unit 24, the search conditions (not limited to, for example, the first search condition) set for the stamp content related to the above preview screen. As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, based on an input to the first display included in the first preview image, the user of the terminal can confirm the first search condition set for the image information.

[0476] Also, in this case, after the user of the terminal 20 of the source user inputs in response to the display of the search condition setting information, based on the change input by the user of the own terminal 20, the control unit 21 can perform control to change the search condition (not limited, an example of the first search condition) set for the stamp content related to the preview screen to another search condition (not limited, an example of the second search condition). As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, after the input for the first display included in the first preview image, based on the input by the user of the terminal, the first search condition set for the image information can be simply and appropriately changed to the second search condition.

[0477] <Seventh Embodiment> The seventh embodiment is an embodiment related to a use case different from the above-described embodiments. The content described in the seventh embodiment is applicable to any of the other embodiments and other modification examples. Also, for the same components as the components of the existing configuration, the same reference numerals are given, and the repeated description is omitted.

[0478] As use cases of the method of the present disclosure, in addition to performing the search related to the meal and store described above, examples include, but are not limited to, the following. (1) Recipe search (2) Video search (including movie search, program search, voice call, etc.) (3) Game search (4) Shopping search (including store search). (5) News search

[0479] Hereinafter, as an example but not limited to, the cases where (1) recipe search and (2) video search among the above are applied are exemplified.

[0480] (1) In recipe search, at least one of the following can be included in the search category among the search conditions set for stamp content, by way of example rather than limitation: "cooking genre" (Japanese cuisine, Western cuisine, Chinese cuisine, etc.), "budget", "number of people", "situation" (party, Christmas, New Year, celebration, ordinary family, etc.), "ingredients" (meat, fish, vegetables, etc.), "cooking method" (hot pot, stir-fry, stewed dishes, etc.), and so on.

[0481] (2) In video search, at least one of the following can be included in the search category among the search conditions set for stamp content, by way of example rather than limitation: "service" (name of video distribution service, name of video distribution service provider, etc.), "genre" (genre of video, etc.), "length / time of video", and so on.

[0482] (1) Recipe search FIG. 7-1 is a diagram showing an example of search condition setting stamp data stored in the search condition setting stamp database 287 of the storage unit 28 of the terminal 20 in the present embodiment. This search condition setting stamp data is similar to the search condition setting stamp data in the search condition setting stamp database 287C shown in FIG. 2-5, but the content is somewhat different.

[0483] Specifically, "recipe" is stored in the stamp category. In the search category, by way of example rather than limitation, a plurality of categories such as "cooking genre", "number of people", and "budget per person" are stored. In the search category selection candidates, selection candidates corresponding to each of the above search categories are stored.

[0484] In the stamp of the stamp-specific data on the far left side among the stamp-specific data in FIG. 7-1, based on the input by the user, it is shown that "Western cuisine" is set for the search category "cooking genre", "4 people" is set for the search category "number of people", and "2000 yen to 4999 yen" is set for the search category "budget".

[0485] <Display screen> Figs. 7-2 to 7-4 are diagrams showing an example of screen transitions on the display unit 24 of the terminal 20A in this embodiment. In the left screen of Fig. 7-2, the stamp category "Recipe" is selected from the stamp category display area SCR, and as a result, stamp thumbnails corresponding to the stamp contents included in the stamp category "Recipe" are listed in the stamp thumbnail display area STR. Also, in this example, the stamp thumbnail represented by the illustration of "Scale & Measuring Cup" at the upper left of the stamp thumbnail display area STR is tapped by user A.A, and a preview image of the stamp content corresponding to this stamp thumbnail is displayed in the preview display area PVR.

[0486] In this state, when the search condition setting icon IC20 at the upper left of the preview display area PVR is tapped by user A.A, as an example rather than a limitation, the central screen of Fig. 7-2 is displayed. This screen is a screen for the user to set search conditions by the above-described selection input method. Along with the text "Select search conditions", selection bars SJR, SNR, and SBR for selecting conditions corresponding to each of the search categories "Cooking genre", "Number of people", and "Budget per person" are displayed in a drum roll manner.

[0487] The right screen of Fig. 7-2 shows the state where the search conditions have been selected by user A.A through the operation of the above selection bars. In this example, "Western food" is entered in the search category "Cooking genre", "4 people" is entered in the search category "Number of people", and "2000 to 4999 yen" is entered in the search category "Budget per person".

[0488] When the save button BT20 at the bottom of the screen is tapped in this state, the left screen in Fig. 7-3 is displayed. This screen is the same as the screen including the preview image shown on the left in Fig. 7-2. When the preview image is tapped, the right screen in Fig. 7-3 is displayed.

[0489] On this screen, the stamp content SCT70 selected by user A.A is displayed in the talk area TR, and below it, the search condition content CCT70 corresponding to the set search conditions is displayed. Also, below that, a list of search results retrieved by the server 10 based on the set search conditions is displayed. In this example, a plurality of search results related to Western food recipes such as the recipe for "Hamburg" and the recipe for "Butter Chicken Curry" are displayed.

[0490] Each search result is provided with a recipe viewing button BT71 including the characters "View Recipe" together with an image of the dish. When the recipe viewing button BT71 is tapped, an internal page including the details of that recipe (not limited to this example) is displayed. In this example, the recipe viewing button BT71 corresponding to the search result of the "Hamburg" recipe is tapped, and as a result (not limited to this example), the left internal page in Fig. 7-4 is displayed.

[0491] On the left internal page in Fig. 7-4, an image of "Hamburg" and the ingredients and corresponding quantities of "Hamburg" are displayed. Based on the setting of "4 people" as the search category "number of people" on the right screen in Fig. 7-2, in this example, the server 10 calculates the quantities for 4 people, and the recipe for the ingredients (for 4 people) is displayed.

[0492] By way of example rather than limitation, when an image of "hamburger" is tapped, based on the link information, an external page shown on the right side of FIG. 7-4 is displayed as an external page that publishes the recipe of this hamburger. This external page is a web page that publishes the recipe of the above-mentioned "hamburger" on a website named "XYZ Recipe". On this web page, the serving size for "two people" is published as the above-mentioned recipe for "hamburger".

[0493] That is, in this example, the server 10 calculated the serving size for "four people" from the serving size information for "two people" published on the page of "XYZ Recipe", and then provided the information of the internal page shown on the left side of FIG. 7-4 to the terminal 20.

[0494] <Processing> The processing in this embodiment is, by way of example rather than limitation, similarly applicable to the processing shown in FIGS. 2-3 to 2-4, 3-6, 4-1, etc. described above. Hereinafter, processing different from the case of applying these processes will be described.

[0495] FIG. 7-5 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of processing executed by each device in this embodiment, and shows a part corresponding to FIG. 4-1. After S130, the control unit 11 of the server 10 performs search result adjustment processing (S535). Specifically, the information included in the search results retrieved by the search processing is adjusted based on, by way of example rather than limitation, the number of people in the group or the number of people included in the set search conditions.

[0496] More specifically, the control unit 11, by way of example rather than limitation, for each of the search results of the recipes retrieved by the search processing, calculates the serving size when applying the number of people included in the set search conditions based on the serving size information in the original information (by way of example rather than limitation, external information), thereby adjusting the serving size information.

[0497] Such adjustment of information can also be considered a kind of arrangement of the above-mentioned information. Note that adjusting information can be considered not to amount to falsifying the original information.

[0498] Thereafter, the control unit 11 transmits, by way of example and not limitation, list information of search results including the adjusted information (hereinafter referred to as "adjusted information") to the terminal 20 of the source group user and the terminal 20 of the destination group user, respectively, via the communication I / F 14. In this case, the control unit 11 can transmit, by way of example and not limitation, a search result including a data ID, link information of an internal page including the adjusted information, and link information of an external page including the original information to the terminal 20.

[0499] Note that the number of people in a search category may be set to "not set". Also, it is possible not to provide a "number of people" category in the search categories. In these cases, in the search result adjustment process of S535, the control unit 11 of the server 10 can calculate the quantity in the above example based on any of the following numbers of people, by way of example and not limitation. · The number of people "N" in the group · The number of people in the question-and-answer selection group of users + 1 · The number of people who answered the question + 1 However, this is the case where the source group user does not answer the question.

[0500] Note that when the source group user also answers the question, by way of example and not limitation, · The number of people "N" in the group · The number of people in the question-and-answer selection group of users (including the source group user). · The number of people who answered the question can be used.

[0501] (2) Video search FIG. 7-6 is a diagram showing an example of search condition setting stamp data stored in the search condition setting stamp database 287 of the storage unit 28 of the terminal 20 in the present embodiment. This search condition setting stamp data is similar to the search condition setting stamp data in the search condition setting stamp database 287C shown in FIG. 2-5, but the content is partially different.

[0502] Specifically, "video" is stored in the stamp category. In the search category, as an example rather than a limitation, a plurality of categories such as "service" and "genre" are stored. In the search category selection candidates, selection candidates corresponding to each of the above search categories are stored.

[0503] The service can be the name of the video distribution service or the name of the operator of the video distribution service. As an example rather than a limitation, the messaging service provider can cooperate with the operator of the video distribution service. The genre can be the genre of the video.

[0504] In the search category selection candidates, search category selection candidates corresponding to each of the above search categories are stored.

[0505] In the stamp of the stamp-specific data on the frontmost side among the stamp-specific data in FIG. 7-6, based on the input by the user, it is shown that "XXX video distribution service" is set in the search category "service" and "Christmas video" is set in the search category "genre".

[0506] <Display screen> FIG. 7-7 is a diagram showing an example of the screen transition displayed on the display unit 24 of the terminal 20A in this embodiment. The left side of FIG. 7-7 is the group talk room screen described in the fourth embodiment. In this example, it is proposed that user A.A watches a video with all the seminar members, and the state where stamp content is transmitted is shown. In the search condition content CCT80 displayed below the stamp content, along with the text "Let's decide on a movie to watch together!", information indicating that "XXX video distribution service" is set in the search category "Service" and "Christmas" is set in the search category "Genre" is displayed.

[0507] Also, as search results of videos searched by the server 10 under the above search conditions, search results of a plurality of videos related to Christmas, such as "Christmas Movie A" and "Christmas Movie B", are displayed. In this state, as an example rather than a limitation, when the simultaneous viewing button BT72 containing the text "Watch together" included in the search results of "Christmas Movie A" is tapped, as an example rather than a limitation, the central screen of FIG. 7-7 is displayed.

[0508] In this screen, as an example rather than a limitation, a video call is started, and the images of each of the four users, User A.A, User B.B, User C.C, and User D.D, who are group users of seminar classmates, are respectively projected onto four divided areas. In this state, as an example rather than a limitation, when the video playback button BT73 at the lower part of the screen is tapped by User A.A, as an example rather than a limitation, the right screen of FIG. 7-7 is displayed.

[0509] In this screen, the video of "Christmas Movie A" distributed by the "XXX video distribution service" for which simultaneous viewing is desired is projected onto the video area at the upper part of the screen and played. Also, the images of the four group users are displayed in a reduced size in the area below the video area. Also, at the uppermost part of the screen, the text "A.A is playing" indicating that an operation to play the video has been performed by User A.A is displayed.

[0510] Note that in this example, the case where the video viewing button BT72 is tapped by User A.A is shown, but the same behavior also occurs when the video viewing button BT72 is tapped by other group users. In this example, it shows the case where the video playback button BT73 is tapped by user A.A. However, when the video playback button BT73 is tapped by other group users, the same behavior will occur.

[0511] Also, in this example, it shows an example of group video viewing. However, the same applies when two users who are having a one-on-one talk in a talk room view a video simultaneously.

[0512] <Processing> The processing in this embodiment is applicable, by way of example and not limitation, to the processing such as that shown in FIGS. 2-3 to 2-4, FIG. 3-6, FIG. 4-1, etc. Hereinafter, processing different from the cases where these processes are applied will be described.

[0513] FIG. 7-8 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of processing executed by each device in this embodiment, and shows a part corresponding to FIG. 2-4. After A140, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A determines whether an input to request simultaneous viewing of a video has been made for the search result of one video from among the list of video search results (A550).

[0514] If it is determined that such an input has been made (A550), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A transmits simultaneous viewing request information including the data ID of the search result of the selected video to the server 10 via the communication I / F22 (A560).

[0515] When receiving the simultaneous viewing request information via the communication I / F14 (S550: YES), the control unit 11 of the server 10 starts call control (S560). Specifically, by way of example and not limitation, it controls to start a video call between the terminal 20A and the terminal 20B.

[0516] After that, the control unit 11 starts the relay process (S570). Specifically, by way of example and not limitation, it accesses a server of a video distribution service (hereinafter referred to as the "video distribution service server") that distributes a video based on the video information of the data ID included in the received simultaneous viewing request information, and requests the distribution of the corresponding video. Note that illustration of the video distribution service server is omitted.

[0517] In response to the video distribution from the video distribution service server, the control unit 11 relays the video distribution to the terminals 20A and 20B. That is, the server 10 can function as a relay server (proxy server) that relays video distribution.

[0518] After A560, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A displays a relay screen including the video on the display unit 24 (A570). Similarly, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B displays a relay screen including the video on the display unit 24 (B570).

[0519] After A570, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A performs reproduction control of the video based on a user input via the input / output unit 23 (A580). Specifically, based on an input for starting / temporarily pausing / ending the reproduction of the video, it transmits corresponding reproduction request information to the server 10. In response to this, the control unit 11 accesses the distribution server and requests it to start / temporarily pause / end the reproduction of the video. Similarly, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B also performs reproduction control of the video based on a user input via the input / output unit 23 (B580).

[0520] After A580, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20A determines whether to end the simultaneous viewing (A590). If it determines not to end (A590: NO), the process returns to A580. On the other hand, if it determines to end the simultaneous viewing (A590: YES), it makes the relay screen non-displayed and returns to the talk room. Then, the process proceeds to A190. The same applies to the terminal 20B (B590: NO → B580, B590: YES → B190).

[0521] In the above process, the terminal 20A requests simultaneous viewing from the server 10. However, as described above, it may be possible for the terminal 20B to request simultaneous viewing from the server 10. In this case, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20B may perform steps similar to those of steps A550 and A560. That is, any user's terminal 20 may be able to request simultaneous viewing from the server 10.

[0522] Also, the same applies when the above process is applied to the group described above. In this case, by way of example and not limitation, any group user's terminal 20 may be able to request simultaneous viewing from the server 10.

[0523] <Effect of the Seventh Embodiment> This embodiment shows a configuration in which the search result is information related to a recipe, and the search result is adjusted based on search conditions and displayed on the terminal 20. As an example of the effect of the embodiment obtained by such a configuration, it is possible to present an appropriate search result in which information is adjusted based on search conditions.

[0524] Also, in this embodiment, the search result is information related to video information, and the terminal 20 of the sending user displays a moving image on the display unit 24 based on an input by the user of its own terminal 20 (by way of example and not limitation, an example of an input by the user of the terminal) or an input by the receiving user (by way of example and not limitation, an input by the first user). Further, this moving image is displayed on the terminal 20 of the sending user (by way of example and not limitation, an example of the first terminal) based on an input by the user of its own terminal 20 (by way of example and not limitation, an example of an input by the user of the terminal) or an input by the receiving user (by way of example and not limitation, an input by the first user). As an example of the effects of the embodiments obtained by such a configuration, moving images based on moving picture information can be shared between the user's terminal and the first user's terminal based on the input by the user of the terminal or the input by the first user.

[0525] <Seventh Modification Example (1)> In the above embodiments, the information on the serving size of the search category "recipe" is used as the object to be adjusted in the search result adjustment process, but it is not limited thereto. By way of example and not limitation, various information that may vary depending on the number of people can be used as the object to be adjusted in the search result adjustment process.

[0526] To give one example, by way of example and not limitation, when users go out for "meals" together, as described above, the external information about the store stored in the search engine database 155 may include information on the average budget per person when having a meal at that store. In such a case, based on the fact that the number of participants in the meal is specified as a search condition, the server 10 can calculate the average total amount by multiplying the average budget per person by the number of participants, and thus adjust the information on the amount of money.

[0527] <Seventh Modification Example (2)> In the above embodiments, an example of simultaneous viewing of a video while making a video call has been described, but it is not limited thereto. The call control performed by the control unit 11 of the server 10 in S560 of FIGS. 7-8 may be voice call control, so that users can simultaneously view a video while making a voice call. Also, it may be possible to simply view the video simultaneously without making a call.

[0528] Also, when the server 10 transmits the search result list of videos to the terminal 20, only the search results of videos related to services that enable simultaneous viewing may be transmitted to the terminal 20.

[0529] In a registered video distribution service, only users who have registered an account can watch videos. In this case, the messaging service provider obtains information on whether an account has been registered from the operator of the partnered video distribution service. Or obtains information on whether an account has been registered from the user.

[0530] Then, in the search in the one-on-one chat room, the server 10 transmits only the search results of the videos of the video distribution service in which both the source user and the destination user have registered accounts to each terminal 20. Similarly, in the search in the group chat room, the server 10 transmits only the search results of the videos of the video distribution service in which all group users have registered accounts to each terminal 20.

[0531] <Other embodiments> (1) Image information In the above embodiment, a stamp (stamp content) is exemplified as the image information for which the search condition is set, but it is not limited thereto. Any image information may be used, and image information other than a stamp may be applied.

[0532] (2) Subject of search In the above embodiment, the server 10 performs the search process, but it is not limited thereto. As an example rather than a limitation, the terminal 20 may be the main body of the search process by configuring a distributed search engine or configuring a search database in the terminal 20, or it may not be done so. In this case, the user's terminal can perform control by the control unit of the terminal to transmit the search results searched by the control unit of the terminal based on the search conditions set for the image information to the first terminal by the communication unit of the terminal, and control to display the search results in the chat room.

[0533] (3) Search based on stamp content for which no search condition is set Unlike the above-described embodiments, it is also possible to perform a search based on stamp content for which search conditions are not set. In this case, by way of example and not limitation, questions can be posed based on stamp content for which search conditions are not set.

[0534] More specifically, based on the transmission of stamp content for which search conditions are not set by the terminal 20 of the source user, various questions are posed to the destination user (which may include the source user as described above). Then, a search may be performed based on the answers to those questions. That is, the trigger for the search is the transmission of the stamp content, but no search conditions are set for the stamp content, and the search results may be determined based on the answers to the questions (which may also be referred to as the results of the voting).

[0535] (4) Questions In the above-described embodiments, an example of posing a question for which the answer is to be given by a binary choice in a selection format has been described, but it is not limited to this. By way of example and not limitation, questions for which the answer is to be given from three or more options in a selection format may or may not be posed. Also, questions for which the answer is to be given in a descriptive format may or may not be posed instead of in a selection format.

[0536] (5) Notifications and Announcements In the terminal 20 of the destination user who has been requested by the source user to answer a question, by way of example and not limitation, due to a large amount of content being exchanged, etc., there is a possibility that the content for answering the question (by way of example and not limitation, the above-described search condition content) may be buried. That is, there is a possibility that the user may not know from which content the answer to the question should be given.

[0537] Therefore, by way of example and not limitation, after the server 10 transmits the search condition content to the terminal 20, during the period until an answer to the question is given, the terminal 20 may be notified at regular intervals that no answer to the question has been given (a notification indicating no answer). In this case, the terminal 20 can notify the user of the content of the notification by means of a push notification or the like.

[0538] Also, by way of example and not limitation, the announcement function of the messaging application may be used to fixedly display the search condition content for answering the question as an announcement at a predetermined position such as the upper part of the talk room. In this case, when the fixedly displayed announcement is tapped by the user, the content ID of the corresponding search condition content can be acquired by the terminal 20, and the terminal can move to the position of the search condition content, that is, the talk area TR including the search condition content can be displayed on the screen.

[0539] (6) Display related to the stamp category In the above embodiment, the stamp category associated with the search condition setting stamp and the stamp category associated with the normal stamp may be displayed together in the stamp category display area SCR.

[0540] In this case, for the user, there is a possibility that it may not be recognized whether the stamp category displayed in the stamp category display area SCR corresponds to the search condition setting stamp or the normal stamp. Therefore, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 can, by way of example and not limitation, display the display mode of the stamp category corresponding to the search condition setting stamp and the display mode of the stamp category corresponding to the normal stamp differently.

[0541] As a non-limiting example, when icon images indicating stamp categories are displayed in the stamp category display area SCR as in the embodiment described above, the display manner of the icon image indicating the stamp category of a search condition setting stamp can be made different from the display manner of the icon image indicating the stamp category of a normal stamp. As a non-limiting example, the icon image indicating the stamp category of a search condition setting stamp may be displayed with the magnifying glass mark or the like as described above, but the icon image indicating the stamp category of a normal stamp may not be displayed with the magnifying glass mark or the like. Also, as a non-limiting example, the icon image indicating the stamp category of a search condition setting stamp may be displayed with a specific character (such as "search" as in "search" or the "S" as in "Search"), or may be displayed brighter than the icon image indicating the stamp category of a normal stamp (i.e., the brightness may be changed).

[0542] As mentioned above, even if a stamp has search conditions set, if no search conditions are set, the stamp can function as a normal stamp. Therefore, as a non-limiting example, if there is no stamp content with search conditions set in the same stamp category, the stamp category can be treated as a stamp category for normal stamps. In such a case, the same procedure can be followed as above. [Explanation of symbols]

[0543] 1. Communication Systems 10 Server 20 Terminals 30 Network

Claims

[Claim 1] A program executed by a terminal that displays a chat room including a first user of the first terminal, displaying the chat room on a display unit of the terminal; displaying, in the chat room, image information for which a search condition is set based on an input to the chat room by a user of the terminal; The terminal executes control of transmitting search results, which are searched based on the search conditions set in the image information, to the first terminal via a communication unit of the terminal, and control of displaying the search results in the chat room, via a control unit of the terminal.

Images