Advertisement space selection device

Abstract

To provide an advertisement space selection device that can achieve high cost-effectiveness when selecting multiple advertising slots.MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM: An advertisement space selection device according to an embodiment includes a display information generation unit that generates display information including advertisement slot information indicating advertisement slots indicating the dates and times when advertisements can be placed, whether an advertisement slot has been selected, and a reach number calculated as the number of receiving devices that can be reached by an advertisement when it is placed in the advertisement slot on the basis of whether an advertisement slot has been selected, and a total reach number calculated as the total number of actual receiving devices that can be reached by an advertisement placed in all selected advertisement slots among the advertisement slots.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 16

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The embodiment relates to an advertisement space selection device. [Background technology]

[0002] Generally, when a user places an advertisement on a media such as a television advertisement, they select an advertisement slot taking into consideration cost-effectiveness. In many cases, multiple advertisement slots are selected. In this case, the combination of advertisement slots is considered so that the advertisement reaches as many people (as many receiving devices) as possible within the limited budget, in other words, so that the total reach is maximized. Here, receiving devices refer to devices that can receive advertisements and deliver them to viewers, such as televisions, radios, and information devices.

[0003] The reach of an advertisement refers to the number of viewers that the advertisement actually reaches through receiving devices, and the reach refers to the number of receiving devices (≒ number of viewers). The reach of an advertisement slot generally correlates with the viewer ratings of the program that corresponds to that slot. In other words, if you select an advertisement slot that corresponds to a program with a high viewer rating, the reach will be larger.

[0004] However, when selecting multiple advertising slots, there may be overlapping viewership for the programs corresponding to each slot. For example, when selecting multiple variety shows, there is a high possibility that viewers with similar interests will watch them together. In this case, from the perspective of delivering advertisements to as many people as possible, the efficiency will decrease due to the overlapping viewership. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2020-182069 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] As described above, when advertising in media across multiple ad slots, simply combining ad slots with high reach poses a problem in that if there is a large overlap of viewers, etc., the total reach does not increase and it is difficult to improve cost-effectiveness. The advertising space selection device of the embodiment has been made to solve this problem, and aims to provide an advertising space selection device that can achieve high cost-effectiveness when selecting multiple advertising spaces. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The advertising space selection device of the embodiment includes a display information generation unit that generates display information including advertising space information indicating, in association with each other, advertising spaces indicating the dates and times when an advertisement can be submitted, whether or not an advertising space has been selected, and a reach number calculated as the number of receiving devices that can be reached by an advertisement when submitted to the advertising space based on whether or not an advertising space has been selected, and a total reach number calculated as the total number of actual receiving devices that can be reached by an advertisement submitted to all selected advertising spaces among the advertising spaces. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating advertising space, cost, reach, and reach per unit cost. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating overlapping reaches between a plurality of advertising spaces. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating overlapping reaches between a plurality of advertising spaces. [Figure 4] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a method for calculating a reach of the advertising space selection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 5] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a method for calculating a reach of the advertising space selection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] 1 is a block diagram showing functional components of an advertising space selection system according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of viewing information in the advertising space selection system according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of space information in the advertising space selection system according to the embodiment. [Figure 9] 1 is a block diagram showing functional elements of an advertisement space selection device according to an embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of space contact information in the advertising space selection system according to the embodiment. [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the advertisement space selection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 12] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a method for calculating space contact information of the advertisement space selection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 13] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a method for calculating space contact information of the advertisement space selection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 14] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a method for calculating space contact information of the advertisement space selection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 15] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a method for calculating space contact information of the advertisement space selection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen of the advertisement space selection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen of the advertisement space selection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 18] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen of the advertisement space selection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 19] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen of the advertisement space selection device according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] (Advertising slots and reach) An advertisement placement slot is a time slot specified by the date and time when the advertisement can be placed. The placement slot is associated with a program to be broadcast, etc. In other words, advertisers decide which placement slot to place their advertisement in based on the program's viewer ratings, etc.

[0010] Figure 1 is a diagram explaining advertising slots, costs, reach, and reach per unit cost. As shown in Figure 1, advertising slots (candidate slots) can be linked to the cost required to advertise in the slot, the number of receiving devices that can be reached when the advertisement is advertised in the slot (reach), and the number of receiving devices that can be reached per unit cost (reach / cost). That is, in the example described below, the number of receiving devices that receive the advertisement is used to represent the number of viewers, etc., to whom the advertisement will be delivered.

[0011] In the example shown in Figure 1, placing an advertisement in advertisement slot A will cost 500,000 yen, and as a result, the advertisement is expected to reach 3,000 receiving devices, with an estimated reach of 60 devices per 10,000 yen. Similarly, placing an advertisement in advertisement slot B will cost 1,000,000 yen, and as a result, the advertisement is expected to reach 4,000 receiving devices, with an estimated reach of 40 devices per 10,000 yen. Placing an advertisement in advertisement slot C will cost 400,000 yen, and as a result, the advertisement is expected to reach 2,000 receiving devices, with an estimated reach of 50 devices per 10,000 yen.

[0012] Figures 2 and 3 show the number of receiving devices reached by the advertising slots shown in Figure 1 as the area of ​​a circle. Figure 2 shows the number of reaches corresponding to advertising slots A and B, and Figure 3 shows the number of reaches corresponding to advertising slots A and C.

[0013] As shown in Figure 2, for advertising slots A and B, some of the receiving devices reached by the advertisements overlap due to the overlap of viewers for the programs that correspond to each slot. In other words, if advertisements are placed in advertising slots A and B, the total number of receiving devices reached by the advertisements is 7,000 (= 3,000 + 4,000). However, because there is an overlap of 2,500 receiving devices that receive advertising slots A and B, the actual number of devices reached by the advertisements is 4,500 (= 3,000 + 4,000 - 2,500). If advertisements are placed in advertising slots A and B, the total cost is 1.5 million yen (= 50 + 100), and it is expected that they will reach 30 receiving devices per 10,000 yen (= 4,500 / 150).

[0014] On the other hand, as shown in Figure 3, the viewers of the programs corresponding to advertising slots A and C do not overlap, and the receiving devices reached by each advertisement do not overlap. In other words, if advertisements are placed in advertising slots A and C, the total number of receiving devices reached by the advertisements is 5,000 (= 3,000 + 2,000), and the actual number is also the same. If advertisements are placed in advertising slots A and C, the total cost is 900,000 yen (= 50 + 40), and it is expected that 55.6 receiving devices (= 5,000 / 90) will be reached per 10,000 yen.

[0015] That is, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, even if the total number of receiving devices reached by the advertisement is large, as in the combination of advertisement slots A and B, the total number of actual receiving devices reached by the advertisement (total reach) may be smaller than that of advertisement slots A and C, which have a smaller total number of receiving devices. This shows that the cost-effectiveness of selecting multiple advertisement slots cannot be determined simply by calculating the sum of the reach for each advertisement slot.

[0016] In this way, when selecting multiple advertising slots to place advertisements, the cost-effectiveness fluctuates depending on the combination of advertising slots. The advertising slot selection device of the embodiment supports the selection of advertising slots taking this into consideration. When there is overlap in the number of viewers reached by advertising slots, the advertising slot selection device of the embodiment performs processing to subtract the overlapping number of viewers from the total number of reaches.

[0017] For example, consider a case where multiple advertising slots are selected in the example shown in Fig. 1. Of advertising slots A to C, advertising slot A is the most cost-effective and efficient slot. The user can select advertising slot A as a candidate slot.

[0018] In such a case, the advertising space selection device according to the embodiment excludes from the reach target the receiving devices that are reached by the advertisement of the selected advertising space A. As a result, the reach number of the selected advertising space A becomes zero, as shown in FIG.

[0019] Here, for advertisement slot B, which overlaps with advertisement slot A in terms of receiving devices, the advertisement slot selection device of the embodiment excludes the number of receiving devices that overlap with advertisement slot A from the receiving devices that can be reached. As a result, as shown in Fig. 4, the reach number of advertisement slot B decreases from 4,000 to 1,500, and the reach number per unit cost decreases from 40 to 15.

[0020] On the other hand, the receiving devices reached by the advertisement in advertisement slot C do not overlap with the receiving devices reached by the advertisement in advertisement slot B. Therefore, the advertisement slot selection device of the embodiment leaves the reach number of advertisement slot C as it is.

[0021] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram outlining this process. As shown in FIG. 5, when advertising slot A is selected (confirmed), the reach of advertising slot B is removed by the amount that overlaps with the reach of advertising slot A, and the reach of advertising slot C is maintained unchanged. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the next candidate slots to be selected are advertising slot B, which has a reach of 15 units and a reach of 1,500 units per 10,000 yen, and advertising slot C, which has a reach of 50 units and a reach of 2,000 units per 10,000 yen. In the example shown in FIG. 4, it can be seen that selecting advertising slot C is more cost-effective than selecting advertising slot B. In other words, it is possible to provide the user with information to help them make a decision on which advertising slot to select from a cost-effectiveness perspective.

[0022] (Advertising space selection system according to an embodiment) The configuration of the advertising space selection system according to the embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing functional elements of the advertising space selection system according to the embodiment.

[0023] 6, the advertisement space selection system 1 of the embodiment includes an advertisement space selection device 10, a device information acquisition device 20, a device information database (DB) 30, a viewing information database (DB) 40, and a space information database (DB) 50. The advertisement space selection device 10 may be configured to be connectable to an operation terminal 11.

[0024] The advertising space selection device 10 is a functional element capable of presenting a cost-effective combination when selecting multiple advertising spaces. The advertising space selection device 10 can present a cost-effective combination of advertising spaces based on space information that associates advertising spaces with program information, device information that can identify devices that can receive programs indicated by the program information, and viewing information that associates devices with programs that the devices actually received from the program information.

[0025] The device information acquisition device 20 is a functional element that acquires device information and viewing information from a program receiver 21 serving as a receiving device. The program receiver 21 is, for example, a television receiver, a video device, or a network device, and is a functional element that can receive programs and advertisements via broadcasting, distribution, etc. The program receiver 21 is connected to the device information acquisition device 20 via a network, etc. In other words, the device information acquisition device 20 is configured to be able to acquire, from the program receiver 21, viewing information indicating a program that the program receiver 21 has received at the instruction of a viewer, and identification information of the program receiver 21. The provision of viewing information by the program receiver 21 may be achieved by appropriately concluding a contract or the like regarding the provision of information between the operator of the device information acquisition device 20 and the viewer of the program receiver 21.

[0026] The device information DB 30 is a functional element that stores, as device information, the identification information of the program receiver 21 that is the information provider, acquired from the device information acquisition device 20. In addition to the identification information of the program receiver 21, the device information DB 30 may also collect, as device information, information about the viewer of the program receiver 21 (for example, the viewing area, attributes such as the viewer's age and gender, etc.). In other words, the device information DB 30 stores, through the device information of the program receiver 21, information about the recipients (viewers) of programs and advertisements that the program receiver 21 actually received (viewed). The device information can be used when extracting advertising slots.

[0027] The device information may include target categories as information about viewers of the program receiver 21. The target categories are categories that categorize the attributes of viewers who are the target of advertising, such as "women in their 20s," "women in their 30s," "men in their 20s," and "men in their 30s."

[0028] The viewing information DB 40 is a functional element that stores viewing information that identifies programs received by the program receiver 21 from the device information acquisition device 20, i.e., programs viewed by viewers of the program receiver 21. The viewing information DB 40 can store device information of the program receiver 21, information about programs that were actually viewed, and the actual time (time slot) when the program information was viewed, in association with each other. In other words, based on the device information stored in the device information DB 30 and the viewing information stored in the viewing information DB 40, it is possible to know which programs were viewed by the program receiver 21 as a receiving device and for how long.

[0029] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of viewing information in the advertising space selection system of the embodiment. The viewing information shown in Fig. 7 is a list in which the identification information of the device that viewed (received), the broadcast station, the viewing start time, and the viewing end time are associated with each other. The example shown in Fig. 7 indicates that, for example, device A viewed (received) a program from broadcast station A from 5:01 to 5:05 on April 1, 2024.

[0030] The slot information DB 50 is a functional element that associates advertising slots with program information of programs corresponding to the advertising slots and stores the information as slot information. That is, the slot information DB 50 converts program information into units of advertising slots.

[0031] 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of slot information in the advertising slot selection system of the embodiment. The slot information illustrated in FIG. 8 lists candidate slots for advertisement placement, broadcasting stations, program start times, program end times, and costs in association with each other. The example illustrated in FIG. 8 indicates that, for example, candidate slot A is scheduled for April 1, 2024, from 5:00 to 5:05, with an advertising placement cost of 500,000 yen for broadcasting station A.

[0032] According to the advertisement space selection system 1 of this embodiment, the device information acquisition device 20 acquires device information and viewing information from the program receiver 21, and stores them in the device information DB 30 and viewing information DB 40, respectively. The advertisement space selection device 10 acquires device information and viewing information from the device information DB 30 and viewing information DB 40, and further acquires advertisement space information separately provided from the space information DB 50, generates information useful for selecting a combination of advertisement spaces, and provides it to the user via the operation terminal 11 or the like.

[0033] (Advertising space selection device according to an embodiment) Next, the functional configuration of the advertisement space selection device according to the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing functional elements of the advertisement space selection device 10 according to the embodiment.

[0034] 9, the advertising space selection device 10 of the embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 100, a storage unit 110, a space contact information generation unit 120, a reach calculation unit 130, a selected space management unit 140, a display information generation unit 150, an input unit 160, and a display unit 170. The advertising space selection device 10 can be realized by a computer device including a calculation unit, a main storage device, etc.

[0035] The information acquiring unit 100 is a functional element that acquires device information, viewing information, and slot information from the device information DB 30, viewing information DB 40, and slot information DB 50, respectively. The information acquiring unit 100 has an interface that can be connected to the device information DB 30, viewing information DB 40, and slot information DB 50. The information acquiring unit 100 may be connected to the device information DB 30, viewing information DB 40, and slot information DB 50 via a network.

[0036] The storage unit 110 is a functional element that stores the acquired device information, viewing information, and slot information. The storage unit 110 can be realized by, for example, a non-volatile memory, a hard disk drive, a semiconductor drive, etc. The storage unit 110 may also store calculation results of other functional elements, display information, etc.

[0037] The slot contact information generation unit 120 is a functional element that generates slot contact information based on device information, viewing information, and slot information. The slot contact information is information that associates, for each advertising slot, the device that actually received the program of the program information corresponding to the advertising slot. The contact slot information can be obtained by counting the number of devices that viewed for each advertising slot, i.e., the number of viewers.

[0038] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of slot contact information in the advertising slot selection system of the embodiment. The slot contact information shown in FIG. 10 lists candidate slots for advertising slots in association with the identification information of devices that have viewed (received) the programs corresponding to the candidate slots. The example shown in FIG. 10 indicates that device a, device b, and device c are receiving (viewing) the program in candidate slot A, device a, device b, device d, and device e are receiving the program in candidate slot B, and device d, device g, and device h are receiving the program in candidate slot C. The slot contact information may include the target segment of the advertisement in addition to the identification of the receiving device. That is, it may include information indicating the target segment of the advertisement, such as "device aβ" in addition to "device a."

[0039] The reach calculation unit 130 is a functional element that calculates the total reach based on the reach for each advertising slot when an advertising slot is selected. The reach calculation unit 130 may have a function to recalculate whenever conditions change. The reach can be calculated using slot contact information. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the reach for candidate slot A is 3 (device a, device b, device c), the reach for candidate slot B is 4 (device a, device b, device d, device e), and the reach for candidate slot C is 3 (device d, device g, device h). In other words, the reach calculation unit 130 can obtain the total number of devices received for each candidate slot. If the slot contact information includes a target category, the reach can be calculated not only by device but also by target category.

[0040] The selection slot management unit 140 is a functional element that manages the advertising slots selected by the user. The selection slot management unit 140 can temporarily store the advertising slots selected by the user to assist the reach calculation unit 130 in calculating the total reach number.

[0041] The display information generation unit 150 is a functional element that generates display information including advertisement slot information and the total reach number, which is the sum of the actual number of people that can be reached when an advertisement is placed in a selected advertisement slot. The display information generation unit 150 may generate text-based display information by applying information to a template stored in advance in the storage unit 110, or may be equipped with a drawing engine to generate graphical display information.

[0042] The input unit 160 is an input interface capable of receiving instructions and information input from a user. Examples of the input unit 160 include input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse. The display unit 170 is an output interface capable of providing display information to a user. Examples of the display unit 170 include a display device such as a liquid crystal display device. The input 160 and the display unit 170 may be configured as an operation terminal 11 independent of the advertising space selection device 10, or may be configured integrally with the advertising space selection device 10.

[0043] (Operation of the embodiment) Next, the operation of the advertisement space selection device 10 of the embodiment will be described. Fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the advertisement space selection device according to the embodiment. Figs. 12 to 15 are diagrams illustrating a calculation method of space contact information of the advertisement space selection device of the embodiment. Figs. 16 to 19 are diagrams illustrating examples of operation screens of the advertisement space selection device of the embodiment.

[0044] The information acquisition unit 100 acquires device information, viewing information, and slot information from the device information DB 30, viewing information DB 40, and slot information DB 50, and stores them in the storage unit 110 (S100).

[0045] The box contact information generating unit 120 generates box contact information based on the device information, viewing information, and box information (S105).

[0046] The slot contact information generation unit 120 compares the program information included in the slot information with the broadcast station, viewing start time, and viewing end information included in the viewing information. If the comparison results in, for example, the broadcast station being the same and the time slots of the program start and end times included in the slot information overlapping for a predetermined period (time) or more with the time slots of the actual viewing start and end times included in the viewing information, it is determined that the receiving device has contacted the candidate slot (advertising slot) indicated by the slot information (the advertisement has reached the receiving device together with the program). For example, if the program receiver 21 as the receiving device has received one-third or more of the period from the start to end time of the candidate slot, it can be determined that it has contacted the candidate slot (the advertisement has reached the receiving device).

[0047] The slot contact information generation unit 120 extracts devices that contact the candidate slots for all candidate slots included in the slot information and generates slot contact information. That is, for all candidate slots, it generates information such as that shown in FIG. 10, which associates the identification information of the devices that contact the candidate slots. Note that, since the device information includes the identification information of the program receiver 21, the slot contact information generation unit 120 must process a large amount of calculation. Therefore, approximate calculation may be introduced to increase speed and reduce costs.

[0048] Next, the reach calculation unit 130 calculates the reach number for each candidate frame included in the frame information based on the frame contact information (S110). Fig. 12 shows how the reach number is calculated.

[0049] In the slot contact information shown in FIG. 12, it is assumed that device a, device b, and device c are associated with candidate slot A, device a, device b, device d, and device e are associated with candidate slot B, and device d, device g, and device h are associated with candidate slot C. The reach calculation unit 130 counts the number of devices associated with each candidate slot. That is, candidate slot A is associated with device a, device b, and device c, and the reach number is 3. Similarly, candidate slot B is associated with device a, device b, device d, and device e, and the reach number is 4. Candidate slot C is associated with device d, device g, and device h, and the reach number is 3.

[0050] The reach calculation unit 130 may calculate the reach rate based on the number of reaches calculated for each candidate slot. The reach rate may be calculated as a percentage of the number of devices that actually made contact with the number of devices that could have made contact. In other words, the reach rate is data that normalizes the number of reaches. Note that the reach calculation unit 130 may be configured to calculate the number of reaches and the reach rate only for candidate slots extracted based on predetermined conditions, rather than for all candidate slots. This can speed up the calculation.

[0051] The display information generation unit 150 generates display information to be displayed on the display unit 170 (S115). The display information includes candidate slots identified by date and time among the slot information, and the number of reaches or the reach rate for each candidate slot, in association with each other.

[0052] Fig. 16 is an example of an operation screen of the advertising space selection device of the embodiment, showing a state in which display information 200 is displayed on the display unit 170. In the example shown in Fig. 16, the display information 200 includes extraction information 210 that extracts candidate spaces to be displayed, advertising space information 220 that can be selected by the input unit 160, selection information 230 that displays information on the selected advertising space, and a reset button 240 that resets the display.

[0053] The extraction information 210 displays the extraction conditions received by the input unit 160 to identify the advertising slot to be displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 16, the extraction information 210 includes "Kanto" as the region of the advertising slot, "2024 / 02 / 19 (Mon)" as the week to be displayed, "all targets" as the target, multiple values ​​as the channel (CH), "0" as the branch number, and "one-third or more of the program (viewed)" as the criterion for viewing judgment (determination of whether the candidate slot overlaps). Of these, the target and viewing judgment are information as calculation conditions for the reach calculation unit 130, and the display can be changed according to the reach calculation. In other words, the reach calculation unit 130 can calculate the reach number, reach rate, etc. based on the target and the criterion for viewing judgment.

[0054] The placement slot information 220 includes information about placement slots (candidate slots) that are extracted based on the conditions set forth in the extraction information 210 and that can be selected by the user via the input unit 160. In the example shown in FIG. 16, the placement slot information 220 includes target broadcasting stations (TV-A to TV-E) and candidate slots 224, which are displayed in tiles and can be identified for each broadcasting station by date 223 and time 222. In the example shown in FIG. 16, the candidate slots 224 are initially displayed in a heat map format, in which the reach number or reach rate corresponding to each candidate slot is represented by color. For example, a higher reach number is represented by red, and a lower reach number is represented by blue, with the color changing continuously according to the reach number. In other words, the candidate slots 224 in the placement slot information 220 are configured to visually indicate the magnitude of the reach number. The heat map format is not limited to color; the magnitude of the reach number may be indicated by the density of black and white. The placement slot information 220 may also be configured to display only the information identified by the extraction information 210.

[0055] The selection information 230 includes an individual reach 231, a common reach 232, a number of programs 233, a total reach 234, a total reach rate 235, an average frequency 236, and the like, for the candidate slot 224 selected by the user via the input unit 160. These indicators can be calculated by the reach calculation unit 130 or the selection slot management unit 140.

[0056] The individual reach 231 is a display frame capable of displaying the program name and reach number corresponding to the selected candidate slot 224. The common reach 232 is a display frame capable of displaying the overlapping reach number when multiple candidate slots 224 are selected. The number of programs 233 is a display frame showing the total number of programs corresponding to the selected candidate slot 224. The total reach number 234 is a display frame showing the total reach number of the selected candidate slot 224. The total reach number 234 can be data excluding the overlapping reach number when multiple candidate slots 224 are selected. The total reach rate 235 is a display frame showing the total reach rate of the selected candidate slot 224. The total reach rate 235 can be data excluding the overlapping reach number when multiple candidate slots 224 are selected. The average frequency 236 is a display frame showing the average number of exposures to the advertisement per device that was exposed to the advertisement. That is, the average frequency 236 is the total number of advertisements (slots) that devices have come into contact with divided by the total number of devices.

[0057] The reset button 240 is a display box for canceling the selection of a selected candidate box, and is linked to the input unit 160. In other words, when the reset button 240 is clicked with a mouse or the like, all of the selected contents are canceled.

[0058] The input unit 160 receives an input of an advertising space from a user (S120). Fig. 17 is an example of an operation screen of the advertising space selection device of the embodiment, showing the display information 201 and the mouse pointer 250 displayed on the display unit 170.

[0059] 17, for example, when the input unit 160 receives a selection input for a candidate slot (the position of the mouse pointer 250) from 5:00 to 7:30 on Monday, February 19th at broadcasting station TV-A, the selection slot management unit 140 records the selected candidate slot 224, and the display information generation unit 150 highlights the selected candidate slot 224 (S125). The display information generation unit 150 displays the program name and the reach rate of the slot in the individual reach 231 for the recorded candidate slot 224 (224a in the figure).

[0060] The reach calculation unit 130 calculates the reach number and reach rate (130, 135) for all candidate slots 224. Fig. 13 shows the calculation state of the reach calculation unit 130 when candidate slot A is selected in S120.

[0061] In the slot contact information shown in FIG. 13, when slot candidate A is selected, devices a, b, and c that received the advertisement for slot candidate A are excluded. As a result, devices a and b that received the advertisement for candidate slot B are both excluded from candidate slot B. Candidate slot C is not excluded because there are no receiving devices that overlap with candidate slot A. When the reach calculation unit 130 calculates the reach based on the slot contact information after the exclusion process, the reach number for candidate slot A is zero, the reach number for candidate slot B is corrected from 4 to 2, and the reach number for candidate slot C remains 3. In this way, by selecting a candidate slot, the reach number and reach rate corresponding to each of all slot candidates 224 are recalculated. The recalculation results update the parameters of the display information 200.

[0062] In this case, since this is the first selection, there is no common reach number. The reach calculation unit 130 does not calculate the common reach number, and the display shows zero (S140). Note that the reach calculation unit 130 may further calculate the average frequency 236.

[0063] If the user selects an additional candidate slot in the input unit 160 (Yes in S145), the input unit 160 accepts input of an advertising slot from the user (S120). Fig. 18 is an example of an operation screen of the advertising slot selection device of the embodiment, showing the display information 202 and the mouse pointer 250 displayed on the display unit 170. Fig. 18 is an example of the display information 202 in a state where the user has selected two candidate slots.

[0064] 18, for example, when the input unit 160 receives a selection input for a candidate slot (the position of the mouse pointer 250) from 5:30 to 9:00 on Monday, February 19th at broadcasting station TV-C, the selection slot management unit 140 records the selected candidate slot 224, and the display information generation unit 150 highlights the selected candidate slot 224 (S125). The display information generation unit 150 displays the program name and the reach rate of the slot in the individual reach 231 for the recorded candidate slot 224 (224b in the figure).

[0065] The reach calculation unit 130 calculates the reach number and reach rate for all candidate slots 224 (130, 135). FIG. 14 shows the calculation state of the reach calculation unit 130 when candidate slot B is selected in addition to candidate slot A in S120. In the slot contact information shown in FIG. 14, when candidate slot B is further selected in addition to candidate slot A, devices a, b, and c that received the advertisement for candidate slot A and devices d and e that received the advertisement for candidate slot B are excluded from the slot contact information. As a result, devices d and e that received the advertisement for candidate slot B are further excluded from candidate slot B. Device d, which overlaps with candidate slot B, is excluded from candidate slot C. When the reach calculation unit 130 calculates the reach based on the slot contact information after the exclusion process, the reach number of candidate slot A is updated to zero, the reach number of candidate slot B is updated from 2 to zero, and the reach number of candidate slot C is updated from 3 to 2. In this way, by additionally selecting a candidate slot, the reach number and reach rate corresponding to each of all slot candidates 224 are recalculated. The recalculation results update the parameters of display information 200. As a result, the reach number calculation result from the second selection will be a smaller value than the reach number calculation result from the first selection.

[0066] The display information generation unit 150 updates the heat map display of all candidate slots 224 based on the recalculation results of the reach calculation unit 130. Furthermore, the total reach number 234 and the total reach rate 235 are updated.

[0067] In this way, when multiple candidate slots are selected, the reach number of the subsequently selected candidate slot is updated, making it possible to calculate a more accurate total reach number.

[0068] Here, since multiple slot candidates have been selected, the reach calculation unit 130 can calculate the common reach number (S140). That is, it is possible to calculate the reach number (=2) corresponding to device a and device b, which have been excluded from candidate slot A and candidate slot B in Fig. 14. In this case, the common reach number is a reach number that does not change even if either candidate slot A or candidate slot B is excluded from the selection, and therefore serves as information that can be used as a reference for the user's selection of slot candidates.

[0069] FIG. 19 is an example of a state in which the user has further selected a candidate slot. In the example of display information 203 shown in FIG. 19, five candidate slots have been selected. In the example shown in FIG. 19, the number of common reaches 225c between the five candidate slots is displayed in a heat map format as the common reach 232. That is, the color display changes depending on the size of the number of common reaches. This display can be used as a consideration for eliminating combinations with a large number of common reaches. This is because a large number of common reaches means that the total number of reaches will not change significantly even if one of the candidate slots is excluded from selection. This can be used as a consideration for maximizing the total number of reaches within a certain budget.

[0070] When the user cancels the selection from the multiple selected candidate slots through the input unit 160 (No in S145, Yes in S150), the input unit 160 accepts the cancellation of the advertising slot from the user (S120). As shown in Fig. 19, the display information 203 displayed on the display unit 170 further includes a selection button 260.

[0071] The selection button 260 is a function that cooperates with the input unit 160. When the user selects a candidate slot 224 through the input unit 160, the selection button 260 is displayed at a position corresponding to the program of the selected candidate slot. In the example shown in FIG. 19, the selection button is in the form of a check mark. The user can cancel the check mark by operating the mouse as the input unit 160. In other words, the selected candidate slot can be cancelled. As a result of the cancellation, the display of the selected candidate slot is updated (S125).

[0072] As mentioned above, Figure 14 shows the calculation process of the reach calculation unit 130 when candidate slot B is selected in addition to candidate slot A in S120, and Figure 15 shows the calculation process of the slot contact information and reach number when candidate slot A is excluded from the state in which candidate slots A and B are selected.

[0073] 14, when the user selects candidate slots A and B, devices a, b, and c corresponding to candidate slot A and devices a, b, d, and e corresponding to candidate slot B are excluded from the reach number. In other words, since devices a to e are excluded, devices g and h of candidate slot C remain, and the reach number of candidate slot C becomes 2.

[0074] Here, as shown in FIG. 15, it is assumed that candidate A is excluded from the selection state of candidate slots A and B. In this case, devices a, b, d, and e corresponding to the remaining candidate slot B are excluded from the reach number. That is, device c in candidate slot A and devices g and h in candidate slot C remain. In this state, the reach calculation unit 130 calculates the reach number, reach rate, common reach number, etc. (S130, 135). As a result, as shown in FIG. 15, the reach number of candidate slot A is updated to 1, and the reach number of candidate slot C is updated to 2.

[0075] The devices corresponding to candidate slot B are device a, device b, device d, and device e, with a reach of 5. In this state (when only candidate slot B is selected), as shown in Figure 15, the reach of candidate slot A is 1 and the reach of candidate slot C is 2, so it can be seen that selecting candidate slots B and C will result in a higher total reach than selecting candidate slots B and A (the former is 7, the latter is 1).

[0076] If no candidate slots are added or removed (No in S145, No in S150), the process ends. The process may end without any input at the user's discretion, or may end after a predetermined number of inputs have been made. Alternatively, a budget may be set in advance, and the process may end when the total cost reaches the set budget.

[0077] The display information 200-203 may be configured to display the difference between the set amount and the total cost, so that both the number of reaches and the cost can be provided as information for making a decision. In this case, the process may end as described above when the estimated total cost reaches the set budget, or a warning message may be displayed on the display information.

[0078] In this way, according to the advertising space selection device of the embodiment, by enabling the selection and cancellation of advertising spaces, it is possible to easily identify a combination with a high total reach.

[0079] (Other embodiments) The display information 203 shown in FIG. 19 includes an additional reach rate 226a and a common reach rate 226b as a breakdown of the reach rate for each candidate slot. The additional reach rate 226a is the rate at which an increase in the number of reaches can be expected for that candidate slot alone, and the common reach rate 226b is the rate at which viewers (devices) overlap with other candidate slots. The total reach number 234 is calculated excluding overlapping viewers, but in the example shown in FIG. 19, it is possible to display the overlapping common reach rate 226b for each candidate slot. The additional reach rate 226a and the common reach rate 226b can be calculated by the reach calculation unit 130.

[0080] According to this embodiment, it is possible to identify programs that do not contribute to an increase in the total reach, which can be helpful in considering candidate programs for exclusion.

[0081] Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment, reach calculation is realized by generating slot contact information based on viewing information accumulated in viewing information DB 40, but this is not limited to this. A learning calculation unit may be further provided to predict future viewing information based on past viewing information, and future slot contact information may be generated based on this. In this case, the reach number and reach rate calculated by reach calculation unit 130 are parameters indicating future predicted values, rather than parameters based on past performance.

[0082] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0083] 1...advertising space selection system, 10...advertising space selection device, 11...operation terminal, 20...device information acquisition device, 21...program receiver, 30...device information DB, 40...viewing information DB, 50...slot information DB100...information acquisition unit, 110...storage unit, 120...slot contact information generation unit, 130...reach calculation unit, 140...selected slot management unit, 150...display information generation unit, 160...input unit, 170...display unit, 200...display information, 210...extraction information, 220...advertising space information, 222...time, 223...date, 224...candidate slot, 230...selection information, 231...individual reach, 232...common reach, 233...number of programs, 234...total reach number, 235...total reach rate, 236...average frequency, 240...reset button, 250...mouse pointer, 260...selection button

Claims

1. Ad placement slot information indicating a date and time when an advertisement can be placed, whether or not the advertisement placement slot has been selected, and a reach number calculated based on whether or not the advertisement placement slot has been selected and indicating the number of receiving devices that the advertisement can reach when the advertisement is placed in the advertisement placement slot, in association with each other; a total reach calculated as the total number of actual receiving devices that can be reached by the advertisements placed in all selected placement slots among the placement slots; and An advertising space selection device comprising a display information generation unit that generates display information including:

2. an information acquisition unit that acquires slot information that associates the advertising slot with corresponding program information, device information that can identify the receiving device, and program information of programs that the receiving device actually received from the program information and viewing information that associates the receiving device; a slot contact information generating unit that generates slot contact information that associates the advertisement slot with the receiving device that actually received the program of the program information corresponding to the advertisement slot, based on the device information, the viewing information, and the slot information; an input unit for receiving a selection of the advertising slot; a reach calculation unit that calculates the reach number and the total reach number based on the selection of the advertising slot and the slot contact information received by the input unit; The advertisement space selection device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

3. The advertising space selection device according to claim 2, characterized in that the reach calculation unit calculates the total reach number by subtracting the number of receiving devices that overlap between the selected advertising spaces from the sum of the reach numbers corresponding to each of the selected advertising spaces.

4. The advertising space selection device according to claim 2, characterized in that, when there are receiving devices that overlap between the selected advertising spaces, the reach calculation unit subtracts the number of the overlapping electronic devices from the reach number of the advertising space information.

5. 2. The advertisement space selection device according to claim 1, wherein the display information includes cost information indicating a total cost required when the advertisement is placed in the advertisement space.

6. 2. The advertising space selection device according to claim 1, wherein the display information is displayed in a heat map format in which the reach number for the advertising space information is represented by a shade of color.

7. 2. The advertising space selection device according to claim 1, wherein the advertising space can be specified by at least one of a broadcasting station and a broadcasting period.

8. 2. The advertisement space selection device according to claim 1, wherein the display information further includes an average frequency indicating an average number of times each of the receiving devices that has come into contact with the advertisement has come into contact with the advertisement.

9. 3. The advertisement space selection device according to claim 2, wherein the reach calculation unit further calculates an average frequency indicating an average number of times each of the receiving devices that has come into contact with the advertisement has come into contact with the advertisement.

Images