Server and method

Abstract

To determine a preferable image as an advertisement image when printing the advertisement image.SOLUTION: The server includes a first acquisition unit configured to acquire price information indicating an advertisement price of each of a plurality of candidate images that are candidates for the advertisement image, the advertisement price being a price for printing the candidate image as the advertisement image, a second acquisition unit configured to acquire color material information related to an amount of color material used for printing the candidate image, an image determination unit configured to determine one or more advertisement images from the plurality of candidate images using the price information and the color material information, and a print processing unit configured to execute a process for causing a printer to print a print image including the determined advertisement image.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to techniques for printing advertising images. [Background technology]

[0002] In the system described in Patent Document 1, a server combines main print data and advertising data to generate combined print data and transmits it to an image forming device. The image forming device prints using the combined print data and notifies the server of the number of prints. The server calculates and manages cost reduction points according to the number of prints. When the cost reduction points reach a predetermined number, a marking agent is sent to the user of the image forming device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Special publication No. 2003-178236 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the above-mentioned technology does not provide sufficient ingenuity in determining the advertising image to be printed, and there is a possibility that a desirable image will not be determined as the advertising image.

[0005] This specification discloses a new technique that can determine a preferred image as an advertising image when printing an advertising image. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The techniques disclosed in this specification can be implemented in the following application examples.

[0007] [Application Example 1] A server comprising: a first acquisition unit that acquires price information indicating the advertising price of each of a plurality of candidate images that are candidates for advertising images, the advertising price being consideration for printing the candidate images as the advertising images; a second acquisition unit that acquires color material information regarding the amount of color material used to print the candidate images; an image determination unit that uses the price information and the color material information to determine one or more of the advertising images from the plurality of candidate images; and a print processing unit that executes processing to have a printer print a print image including the determined advertising image.

[0008] According to the above configuration, an advertising image is selected from a plurality of candidate images using price information indicating the advertising price and color material information regarding the amount of color material used to print the candidate image. As a result, the advertising image can be selected taking into consideration the amount of color material used for printing. Therefore, when printing an advertising image, a preferred image can be selected as the advertising image.

[0009] The technology disclosed in this specification can be realized in various forms, such as a method for printing advertising images on a printer, a system for printing advertising images, a computer program for realizing the functions of these servers, methods, and systems, and a recording medium on which the computer program is recorded. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a system 1000. [Figure 2] 1 is an illustration of a printer and server database. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a first sequence diagram showing the operation of the advertisement printing process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a second sequence diagram showing the operation of the advertisement printing process in the first embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 3 is a third sequence diagram showing the operation of the advertisement printing process in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart of a successful bid process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] 10 is a table showing an example of bid prices and revised bid prices. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of an advertisement printing process according to a second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an ink amount recording table TB. [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart of a successful bid process according to the second embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of an advertisement printing process according to a third embodiment. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart of a successful bid process according to the third embodiment. [Figure 14] 10 is a table for explaining the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] A. First Example A-1. Configuration of System 1000 Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a system 1000. Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the printer and server databases. Fig. 2 shows an excerpt of some of the information related to the embodiment from the information stored in various databases described below.

[0012] The system 1000 includes a management server 100, a remote printing server 200, an advertisement distribution server 300, bidding servers 400A-400C, and a printer 500. These devices 100, 200, 300, 400A-400C, and 500 are all connected to the Internet IT and are capable of communicating via the Internet IT.

[0013] Printer 500 is a device that prints by consuming ink as a consumable item, and is used for utilizing a service (e.g., an advertising distribution service) for which a user has a contract. Printer 500 includes a CPU 510 as a controller for printer 500, a volatile storage device 520 such as DRAM, and a non-volatile storage device 530 such as a hard disk or flash memory. Printer 500 also includes a display unit 540 such as a liquid crystal display for displaying images, an operation unit 550 such as buttons or a touch panel for acquiring user operations, a printing mechanism 570, and a communication interface (IF) 580.

[0014] The communication IF 580 is an interface for connecting to the Internet IT, for example, a wired interface conforming to Ethernet (registered trademark) or a wireless interface conforming to the Wi-Fi standard.

[0015] The CPU 510 is a computing device (processor) that processes data. The volatile storage device 520 provides a buffer area for temporarily storing various intermediate data generated when the CPU 510 performs processing. The non-volatile storage device 530 stores a computer program PGp for controlling the printer 500 and a database DBp in which various information, described below, is recorded.

[0016] In this embodiment, the computer program PGp is ​​provided by being stored in advance in the nonvolatile storage device 530 at the time of manufacturing the printer 500. Alternatively, the computer program PGp may be provided, for example, in a form downloaded from a server connected via the Internet IT, or in a form recorded on a USB memory stick, a DVD-ROM, or the like.

[0017] The CPU 510 executes the computer program PGp to perform various processes for controlling the printer 500. For example, the CPU 510 controls the printing mechanism 570 to perform a printing process that causes the printing mechanism 570 to print an image. The CPU 510 also communicates with the management server 100 and the remote printing server 200 to perform processes related to the advertisement printing process, which will be described later.

[0018] The printing mechanism 570 is an inkjet printing mechanism. The printing mechanism 570 is equipped with a print head formed with nozzles for ejecting ink. The printing mechanism 570 prints on a printing substrate such as paper by ejecting multiple types of ink, for example, cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) ink from the nozzles under the control of the CPU 510. In this embodiment, ink cartridges CI, MI, YI, and KI containing ink of each color, C, M, Y, and K, are detachably attached to the printing mechanism 570. Alternatively, the printing mechanism 570 may be an electrophotographic printing mechanism that prints images using toner contained in a toner cartridge as a coloring material.

[0019] As can be seen from the above explanation, the printer 500 is a color printer that can print using an achromatic ink (K ink) and two or more chromatic inks (CMY inks) as color materials.

[0020] 2A shows an overview of the database DBp of the printer 500. The database DBp stores various information indicating setting information and status information (status) related to the printer 500.

[0021] Database DBp stores information indicating the remaining amount of ink. Specifically, database DBp stores information indicating the remaining amount of each of the CMYK inks. Each time printing is performed, CPU 510 calculates the amount of ink consumed and detects the amount of remaining ink using a remaining ink sensor, thereby updating the information indicating the remaining amount of ink.

[0022] The management server 100, the remote printing server 200, and the advertisement distribution server 300 are, for example, computers, such as cloud servers, operated by a business operator that operates multiple types of services described below (for example, a business operator that manufactures and sells the printer 500).

[0023] The management server 100 is a server that manages users and printers (e.g., printer 500) used for multiple types of services. The multiple types of services are services provided using printers, and include an advertisement distribution service and a remote printing service.

[0024] The advertisement distribution service is a service provided by the advertisement distribution server 300 and the bidding servers 400A-400C. The advertisement distribution service is a service that distributes advertisements to users of the printer 500 by causing the printer 500 to print an image including one or more advertisement images at a predetermined distribution timing, in this embodiment, once a day at a fixed time.

[0025] In the narrow sense, advertising can mean informing people about a product or service for the purpose of promotion. However, in this specification, advertising is not limited to promotional purposes and refers generally to anything that an advertiser pays an advertising fee to inform people (in this example, printer users). An advertising image refers to an image showing the information to be advertised. Therefore, in this specification, advertising images are not limited to images showing information for the purpose of promoting a product or service provided by the advertiser, but also include images showing various information provided by the advertiser (for example, weather information, traffic information, or the advertiser's own work).

[0026] The remote printing service is a service provided by the remote printing server 200. The remote printing service is a service in which a user sends an image file stored on a server or a mobile terminal to the remote printing server 200, and causes a printer (e.g., printer 500) to print the image via the remote printing server 200. A user of the remote printing service is assumed to be, for example, a printer user, but in this embodiment, the advertisement distribution server 300 uses the remote printing service to cause the printer to print an advertisement image.

[0027] The multiple types of services managed by management server 100 may further include various other services. For example, in this embodiment, the multiple types of services managed include an ink management service provided by a server (not shown). The ink management service manages the remaining amount of ink in the managed printers and delivers ink cartridges or ink bottles to users according to ink consumption.

[0028] The management server 100 includes a CPU 110 as a controller of the management server 100, a volatile storage device 120 such as a DRAM, a non-volatile storage device 130 such as a hard disk or flash memory, and a communication IF 180. The communication IF 180 is, for example, a wired interface that complies with Ethernet (registered trademark).

[0029] The CPU 110 is a computing device (processor) that processes data. The volatile storage device 120 provides a buffer area for temporarily storing various intermediate data generated when the CPU 110 performs processing. The non-volatile storage device 130 stores a computer program PGm and a database DBm.

[0030] The computer program PGm is provided, for example, in the form of being uploaded by a service provider. The CPU 110 of the management server 100 executes the computer program PGm to perform various processes (described later) related to multiple types of services to be managed.

[0031] 2(B) shows an overview of the database DBm of the management server 100. The database DBm stores user IDs that identify users who use multiple types of services that are managed.

[0032] The database DBm further stores affiliated user IDs and device IDs in association with the user IDs. The affiliated user ID is a user ID assigned by a portal site used by the user (e.g., a site operated by a service provider such as Yahoo (registered trademark), Google (registered trademark), or Microsoft (registered trademark). The device ID is an ID that identifies a printer (e.g., printer 500) used when using multiple types of managed services. For example, when a user uses one of the multiple types of services for the first time, the user accesses the management server 100 using his or her own terminal device (not shown) and applies for use. The user ID is generated by the management server 100 at the time of the application for use and assigned to the user. The affiliated service ID and device ID are recorded in the database DBm of the management server 100, for example, based on input by the user at the time of the application for use.

[0033] The database DBm further stores contracted service information and bonus point information in association with the user ID. The contracted service information is information indicating the type of service to which the user has contracted. The bonus point information is information indicating the bonus points granted to the user. Bonus points are used instead of money, for example, when paying for the usage fees of paid services used by the user or for purchasing printer consumables (e.g., ink and toner).

[0034] The remote printing server 200 includes a CPU 210, a volatile storage device 220, a non-volatile storage device 230, and a communication IF 280, similar to those of the management server 100. The non-volatile storage device 230 stores a computer program PGr and a database DBr.

[0035] The computer program PGr is provided, for example, in the form of being uploaded by a business operator that operates a remote printing service. The CPU 210 of the remote printing server 200 executes the computer program PGr to perform processing for realizing the remote printing service. For example, the CPU 210 generates a print job for printing an image using image data transmitted from a device that uses the remote printing service (a user's terminal device or the advertisement distribution server 300). The CPU 210 transmits the generated print job to a printer, causing the printer to execute printing.

[0036] FIG. 2C shows an overview of the database DBr of the remote print server 200. The database DBr stores at least device information (e.g., device ID and device token) required to send a print job to a destination device. In this embodiment, the user of the printer 500 has a contract to use an advertisement distribution service. The advertisement distribution service uses a remote printing service to print advertisement images. For this reason, when the user signs a contract for the advertisement distribution service, the device information of the printer 500 is stored in the database DBr.

[0037] The advertisement delivery server 300 includes a CPU 310, a volatile storage device 320, a nonvolatile storage device 330, and a communication IF 380, similar to those of the management server 100. The nonvolatile storage device 330 stores a computer program PGa and a database DBa.

[0038] The computer program PGa is provided, for example, in the form of being uploaded by a business operator that operates an advertisement distribution service. The CPU 310 of the advertisement distribution server 300 executes the computer program PGa to function as a distribution control unit DC and an advertisement space sales unit AS.

[0039] The advertising space sales unit AS mainly communicates with the bidding servers 400A-400B, executes an auction process from the standpoint of selling advertising space, and determines the successful bidder for the advertising space. The advertising image of the successful bidder is determined as the advertising image to be printed. The distribution control unit DC executes processes other than the auction process executed by the advertising space sales unit AS among the processes for realizing the advertising distribution service, such as processes involving communication with the printer 500, the remote printing server 200, and the management server 100.

[0040] 2(D) shows an overview of the database DBa of the advertisement delivery server 300. The database DBa stores various information required for the delivery control unit DC and the advertisement space sales unit AS to realize the advertisement delivery service.

[0041] The database DBa records the IDs of users who are registered in the management server 100 and who have signed a contract to use the advertisement distribution service.

[0042] The database DBa further stores affiliated user IDs and device information in association with the user IDs. The affiliated user ID is a user ID assigned by the portal site used by the user, as described above. The affiliated user ID is used when the advertising space sales department AS executes the auction process, as will be described later. The device information is information about the printer that should print the advertising image (for example, a device ID or a device token).

[0043] The database DBa also stores distribution setting information in association with the user ID and device information. The distribution setting information is various setting information related to the advertisement distribution service, and includes, for example, information indicating the distribution time and information indicating the print settings to be used when printing the advertisement image.

[0044] In a second embodiment described later, the database DBa also stores an ink amount recording table TB, which will be described in the second embodiment.

[0045] When a user uses the advertisement distribution service, the user accesses the management server 100 using, for example, a terminal device (not shown) and applies for use of the advertisement distribution service. In response to the application, a contract process for the advertisement distribution service is executed between the terminal device and the management server 100. After the contract process, the CPU 310 of the advertisement distribution server 300 acquires the user ID and the various pieces of information associated with the user ID from the management server 100 and records them in the database DBa. In this embodiment, the user of the printer 500 has signed a contract to use the advertisement distribution service. For this purpose, the database DBa stores the above-mentioned affiliated user ID, device information, and distribution setting information associated with the user ID of the printer 500.

[0046] The bidding server 400A includes a CPU 410, a volatile storage device 420, a non-volatile storage device 430, and a communication IF 480, similar to those of the management server 100. The non-volatile storage device 430 stores a computer program PGb and a database DBb. In this embodiment, the bidding server 400A is operated by an operator that operates a portal site that issues affiliated user IDs.

[0047] The computer program PGb is provided, for example, in the form of being uploaded by the business operator that operates the bid server 400A. The CPU 410 of the bid server 400A executes the computer program PGb to function as a bid control unit BC and a consumer information management unit CM.

[0048] The bidding control unit BC communicates with the advertisement distribution server 300 and executes the auction process from the perspective of a bidder who is seeking to purchase an advertisement space. That is, the bidding control unit BC mainly executes the process for winning a bid for the advertisement space based on a request from an advertiser. The consumer information management unit CM manages consumer information (described later) that is recorded in association with an affiliated user ID.

[0049] FIG. 2(E) shows an overview of database DBb of bidding server 400A. Database DBb stores advertising images submitted by advertisers, advertising information, and the affiliated user IDs and consumer information described above. Advertising image data has a known data format, such as JPEG or PNG. Advertising images are either monochrome advertising images printed using one color of ink (usually black ink) or color advertising images printed using multiple colors of ink (for example, four colors of ink: CMYK).

[0050] The advertising information is, for example, information related to an advertising image. The advertising information includes, for example, type information indicating the type of the advertising image (monochrome or color), target information indicating the target (customer) to whom the advertising image should be delivered, and maximum price information indicating the maximum price that the advertiser is willing to pay when the advertising image is printed. The advertising information is provided, for example, by the advertiser when the advertising image is submitted.

[0051] Consumer information is information about the consumption behavior of a user who has an associated affiliated user ID. The consumer information is generated based on history information such as search history on a portal site, advertisement reference history, and browsing and purchasing history on a website. The consumer information may include, for example, information about the user's areas of interest, product information, and user attributes (e.g., age group, gender, purchasing power).

[0052] The bid servers 400B and 400C have the same configuration as the bid server 400A described above.

[0053] A-2. Operation of System 1000 Next, the operation of the system 1000 will be described. The system 1000 executes an advertisement printing process that causes a printer (e.g., printer 500) of a user who has subscribed to the advertisement distribution service to print an advertisement image. FIGS. 3 to 5 are sequence diagrams showing the operation of the advertisement printing process of the first embodiment. The advertisement printing process is started by the distribution control unit DC of the advertisement distribution server 300 when a predetermined start condition is satisfied. The predetermined start condition is, for example, when a predetermined time has come.

[0054] In S6, the distribution control unit DC of the advertisement distribution server 300 requests the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the advertisement image from the advertisement space sales unit AS. Upon receiving the request for the URL of the advertisement image, the advertisement space sales unit AS sets advertisement solicitation conditions in S8. The solicitation conditions include, for example, the layout pattern of the advertisement image in the print image and the minimum bid price. In this embodiment, the solicitation conditions are set to predetermined conditions.

[0055] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of arrangement patterns. In this embodiment, advertisements are solicited using two types of arrangement patterns (first pattern and second pattern). FIGS. 6(A) and (B) show examples of advertisement templates. In this embodiment, in one advertisement printing process, the printer 500 prints an image that fits on one sheet of paper of a predetermined size (e.g., A4). Advertisement templates PTa and PTb are templates for creating a print image that fits on one sheet of paper. Advertisement template PTa in FIG. 6(A) is used when the first pattern is adopted. Advertisement template PTb in FIG. 6(B) is used when the second pattern is adopted.

[0056] In the first pattern, one ad space AFa is placed per sheet of paper. The ad space AFa is slightly smaller than the size of the paper. In the second pattern, eight ad spaces AFb are placed per sheet of paper. The eight ad spaces AFb are the same size. The size of the ad space AFb in the second pattern is approximately 1 / 8 the size of the ad space AFa in the first pattern. As will be described later, one of the first and second patterns is ultimately adopted, and therefore the first and second patterns can be said to be candidate patterns that are candidates for the arrangement pattern.

[0057] The minimum bid price is a predetermined price determined according to the size of the ad space. For example, the minimum bid price for the second pattern ad space AFb is 1 / 8 of the minimum bid price for the second pattern ad space AFa.

[0058] In S10, the advertising space sales unit AS transmits a bid request to the bidding servers 400A-400C. Similar processing is performed between the advertising delivery server 300 (advertising space sales unit AS) and each of the bidding servers 400A-400C. For this reason, in FIGS. 3 and 4, the bidding servers 400A-400C are not distinguished from each other, and processing is described as being between the advertising delivery server 300 and the bidding server 400. Note that communication between the advertising space sales unit AS of the advertising delivery server 300 and the bidding control unit BC of the bidding server 400 is performed in accordance with a protocol called OpenRTB. RTB is an abbreviation for "Real Time Bidding."

[0059] The bid request includes slot information, minimum bid price information, and affiliated user ID. The slot information is, for example, the size (number of pixels in the vertical or horizontal direction) of the advertising slots AFa and AFb determined in S8. The minimum bid price information is information indicating the minimum bid price determined in S8. The affiliated user ID is an affiliated user ID associated with the user ID of the user of the printer 500.

[0060] When the bidding server 400 receives the bid request, the bidding control unit BC of the bidding server 400 acquires the bid request. In S12, the bidding control unit BC requests consumer information from the consumer information management unit CM. When requesting the consumer information, the bid control unit BC passes the affiliated user ID included in the bid request, i.e., the affiliated user ID of the user of the printer 500, to the consumer information management unit CM.

[0061] When the consumer information management unit CM receives the request for consumer information, in S14 it obtains the consumer information associated with the affiliated user ID of the user of the printer 500 from the database DBb and passes it to the bidding control unit BC.

[0062] When the bidding control unit BC receives the consumer information, in S16 it determines the advertising space to be bid on in response to the bid request, the bid price, and the advertising image to be printed using the advertising space if the advertising space is successful through the bid. The advertising space to be bid on is selected from the advertising spaces AFa and AFb described above. The bid price is determined to be a price equal to or higher than the minimum bid price included in the bid request. The advertising image to be printed and the bid price are determined from multiple advertising images that have been submitted and stored in database DBa. The advertising image and bid price are determined taking into consideration the minimum bid price, the advertising information described above (target information, upper limit price information, type information), the consumer information acquired in S14, the printing history of each advertising image, etc.

[0063] After determining the advertising space, bid price, and advertising image for the bid, the bid control unit BC transmits a bid notification to the advertisement delivery server 300 in S18. The bid notification is transmitted as a response to the bid request received in S10. The bid notification includes a bid ID, bid space information indicating the advertising space for which the bid is being made, the bid price, and an advertising image URL. The advertising image URL is a URL indicating the location of an advertising image to be printed using the advertising space if the bid for the advertising space is successful. Note that the bid control unit BC may determine the advertising space, advertising image, and bid price for each of multiple bids in S16, and transmit multiple bid notifications to the advertisement delivery server 300.

[0064] The advertisement delivery server 300 transmits bid requests to the plurality of bidding servers 400A-400C in S10, and may receive one or more bid notifications from each of the plurality of bidding servers 400-400C in S18. In this embodiment, the advertisement delivery server 300 receives more bid notifications than the number of advertisement slots.

[0065] In S20, the advertising space sales department AS executes a successful bid process. The successful bid process is a process for determining a successful bidder and a successful bid price. The successful bidder is an advertiser who acquires the right to purchase advertising space. The successful bid price is the amount that the successful bidder must pay when purchasing advertising space.

[0066] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the bidding process in the first embodiment. In S210, the advertising space sales unit AS acquires advertising images corresponding to each notified bid. Here, the advertising images corresponding to the bids are images whose locations are indicated by the advertising image URLs included in the bid notifications. The advertising space sales unit AS transmits advertising image requests (e.g., HTTP requests) addressed to the advertising image URLs included in each bid. In this embodiment, the advertising image URLs point to advertising image data stored in the database DBb of the bidding server 400, so the advertising image requests are transmitted to the bidding server 400. When the bidding server 400 receives the advertising image request, the bidding control unit BC of the bidding server 400 acquires the advertising image request. The bidding control unit BC transmits the advertising image data specified by the advertising image URL to the advertising distribution server 300 as a response to the advertising image request. As a result, the advertising space sales unit AS acquires the advertising images.

[0067] If the number of notified bids is L (L is an integer greater than or equal to 1), L advertising images are acquired. At this stage, it has not been decided that these L advertising images will be printed as advertising images. The advertising images to be actually printed are determined from among the L advertising images. In this way, the L advertising images acquired at this stage are candidates for advertising images to be printed, and are therefore also referred to as candidate images. Furthermore, the bid price included in the notified bid notification is the consideration for printing the candidate image as an advertising image, and is also referred to as the advertising price of the candidate image. Here, the advertising price may be the amount that the distribution company receives as the consideration when the candidate image is printed as an advertising image. Alternatively, the advertising price may be the amount that the advertising client pays as the consideration when the candidate image is printed as an advertising image. Here, the advertising client refers to the advertiser or a company (e.g., a bidding company) that bids on the advertisement and makes payments to the distribution company on behalf of the advertiser. The amount that the distribution company receives as compensation and the amount that the advertising client pays as compensation may be the same or different, depending on, for example, whether or not there is an intermediary margin and how taxes are handled.

[0068] In S215, the ad space sales unit AS analyzes each candidate image acquired in S210 and calculates an estimated amount of ink to be used for printing each candidate image. For example, the ad space sales unit AS performs a rasterization process on the candidate image data (e.g., image data in JPEG format) to convert it into RGB image data. The ad space sales unit AS performs a color conversion process and a halftone process on the RGB image data to generate dot data indicating whether or not a print dot is formed for each pixel. The color conversion process uses a lookup table to convert the value of each pixel in the RGB image data from a color value in the RGB color system to a color value in the CMYK color system, which uses ink colors as components. The halftone process is performed using a known method such as dithering or error diffusion. The ad space sales unit AS uses the dot data to count the number of print dots to be formed for printing the candidate image for each ink color. The ad space sales unit AS calculates the amount of ink to be used for printing the candidate image by converting the total count value for each ink color into an ink amount.

[0069] Various known methods may be used to analyze the candidate image and calculate the amount of ink to be used for printing. For example, a table recording a predetermined correspondence between color values ​​in the RGB color system and the amount of ink of each color per pixel required to print the color represented by the color value may be stored in advance in the non-volatile storage device 330. The advertising space sales unit AS refers to the table to identify the amount of ink of each color for each pixel of the candidate image. The advertising space sales unit AS may calculate the amount of ink to be used for printing the candidate image by summing the amount of ink of each color for all pixels.

[0070] In S220, the ad space sales unit AS converts the amount of ink used to print each candidate image into a cost. For example, the cost of ink per unit amount of ink is determined in advance based on the actual cost of ink and stored in the non-volatile storage device 330. The ad space sales unit AS multiplies the amount of ink calculated in S215 by the cost of ink per unit amount of ink. This calculates the cost of ink required to print each candidate image. Hereinafter, the cost of ink required to print a specific candidate image is also referred to as the required ink cost for the specific candidate image.

[0071] In S225, the advertising space sales department AS modifies the bid price of each bid by subtracting the ink cost of the candidate image corresponding to each bid from the bid price of each bid. The modified bid price is also called the modified bid price.

[0072] FIG. 8 is a table showing an example of bid prices and revised bid prices. The table in FIG. 8(A) shows the bid price, required ink cost, and revised bid price (in units of yen, for example) for each of six bids (bids with bid IDs 0-5) submitted for one advertising space AFa (FIG. 6(A)) of the first pattern. As described above, the revised bid price is a value obtained by subtracting the required ink cost from the bid price. As shown in FIG. 8, the revised bid price may also be a negative value.

[0073] The table in Figure 8(B) shows the bid price, required ink cost, and revised bid price for each of the 10 bids (bids with bid IDs 11-20) placed for the eight advertising spaces AFb of the second pattern (Figure 6(B)).

[0074] In S230, the advertising space sales unit AS determines an advertising image to be printed when the advertising image layout pattern is the first pattern of FIG. 6A based on the revised bid price (FIG. 8A). Specifically, the advertising space sales unit AS selects the bid with the highest revised bid price from among multiple bids for the advertising space AFa of the first pattern. In the example of FIG. 8A, the bid with bid ID "1" is selected from six bids. The advertising space sales unit AS determines the candidate image corresponding to the selected bid as the advertising image to be printed when the layout pattern is the first pattern.

[0075] In S235, the advertising space sales unit AS determines the advertising image to be printed when the advertising image placement pattern is the second pattern of FIG. 6(B) based on the revised bid price (FIG. 8(B)). Specifically, the advertising space sales unit AS selects eight bids from among the multiple bids for the advertising space AFb of the second pattern in descending order of revised bid price. In the example of FIG. 8(B), eight bids are selected from the ten bids, excluding the two bids with bid IDs "14" and "17". The advertising space sales unit AS determines eight candidate images corresponding to the selected eight bids as the advertising images to be printed when the second pattern is met.

[0076] In S240, the advertising space sales unit AS determines whether the total bid price of the second pattern is higher than the total bid price of the first pattern. The total bid price is the sum of the revised bid prices of the bids corresponding to the advertising images to be printed. The advertising space sales unit AS calculates and compares the total bid price of the second pattern with the total bid price of the first pattern. In the example of FIG. 8(A), the total bid price of the first pattern is 10 yen. In the example of FIG. 8(B), the total bid price of the second pattern is 12 yen. For this reason, in the example of FIG. 8, it is determined that the total bid price of the second pattern is higher than the total bid price of the first pattern.

[0077] If the total bid price for the second pattern is higher than the total bid price for the first pattern (S240: YES), the advertising space sales department AS determines the layout pattern of the advertising space to be the second pattern in S245. As a result, the advertising image to be printed is determined to be the advertising image determined in S235. The successful bidder is then determined to be the bidder who made the bid corresponding to that advertising image. The successful bid price is determined to be the bid price of the bid corresponding to that advertising image.

[0078] If the total bid price of the second pattern is lower than the total bid price of the first pattern (S240: NO), the advertising space sales unit AS determines the first pattern as the layout pattern of the advertising space in S250. As a result, the advertising image to be printed is determined to be the advertising image determined in S230. The successful bidder is then determined to be the bidder who placed the bid corresponding to that advertising image. The successful bid price is determined to be the bid price of the bid corresponding to that advertising image.

[0079] In S22 after the successful bid process in S20 of Fig. 3, the advertising space sales unit AS transmits a successful bid result notice corresponding to each of the multiple bid notices received in S18. The successful bid result notice is transmitted to the bidding server 400 (one of the bidding servers 400A-400C) that transmitted the bid notice. The successful bid result notice includes a bid ID and successful bid result information. The successful bid result information includes information indicating whether the bid was successful or not, and if the bid was successful, further includes information indicating the successful bid price.

[0080] When the bidding server 400 receives the bidding result notification, the bidding control unit BC of the bidding server 400 acquires the bidding result notification. If the bidding control unit BC acquires the bidding result notification indicating that the bid was unsuccessful, the processing executed between the advertisement delivery server 300 and the bidding server 400 is terminated. If the bidding control unit BC acquires the bidding result notification indicating that the bid was successful, the processing from S26 onwards in Fig. 4 is executed.

[0081] In S26, the advertisement space sales unit AS of the advertisement delivery server 300 passes the advertisement image URL included in the bid notification acquired in S18 of FIG. 3 to the delivery control unit DC.

[0082] In S28, the distribution control unit DC transmits an advertising image request (e.g., an HTTP request) addressed to the received advertising image URL. Since the advertising image URL points to the advertising image data stored in the database DBb of the bid server 400, the advertising image request is transmitted to the bid server 400.

[0083] When the bidding server 400 receives the advertising image request, the bidding control unit BC of the bidding server 400 acquires the advertising image request. In S29, the bidding control unit BC transmits data of the advertising image specified by the advertising image URL to the advertisement delivery server 300 as a response to the advertising image request. In this embodiment, when the first pattern is adopted, S28 and S40 are executed for one advertisement space AFa, so the advertisement delivery server 300 receives data of one advertisement image corresponding to one advertisement space AFa. When the second pattern is adopted, S28 and S29 are executed for eight advertisement spaces AFb, so the advertisement delivery server 300 receives data of eight advertisement images corresponding to the eight advertisement spaces AFb.

[0084] When the advertisement delivery server 300 receives the advertisement image data, the delivery control unit DC of the advertisement delivery server 300 acquires the advertisement image data. The delivery control unit DC generates one print image PI using the acquired advertisement image at S30. FIG. 6(C) shows a print image PIa generated using the advertisement template PTa of FIG. 6(A). When the first pattern is adopted, the delivery control unit DC generates the print image PIa by, for example, placing one advertisement image AIa in the advertisement frame AFa arranged in the advertisement template PTa. When the second pattern is adopted, the delivery control unit DC generates the print image PI by, for example, placing an advertisement image in each of the eight advertisement frames AFb arranged in the advertisement template PTb (not shown). The data of the print image PI has a known data format, for example, JPEG format, PNG format, or the like.

[0085] In S34, the distribution control unit DC sends a print instruction to the remote print server 200. The print instruction includes, for example, data of the print image PI, information indicating print settings for printing the print image PI, and a device token. The device token is authentication information for remote printing associated with the printer 500.

[0086] When the remote print server 200 receives the print instruction, in S36, the remote print server 200 and the printer 500 execute the remote print process. For example, the CPU 210 of the remote print server 200 generates a print job for printing the print image PI according to the print settings. The CPU 210 identifies the printer 500 to which the print job is to be sent based on the device token. The CPU 110 sends the generated print job to the printer 500.

[0087] In this embodiment, the printer 500 establishes a constant connection with a relay server (not shown) while the printer 500 is powered on. The constant connection is a connection that complies with a protocol such as MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) or XMPP (eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol). In this embodiment, communication between the remote print server 200 and the printer 500 is performed via the relay server.

[0088] When the CPU 510 of the printer 500 receives the print job, it uses the print job to print the print image PI on paper. When the CPU 510 completes printing of the print image PI, it sends a print completion notification to the remote print server 200 via the relay server.

[0089] When the remote printing process in S36 is completed, in S38, the CPU 210 of the remote printing server 200 transmits a print completion notification indicating that printing of the print image PI has been completed to the advertisement delivery server 300. When the advertisement delivery server 300 receives the print completion notification, the delivery control unit DC of the advertisement delivery server 300 acquires the print completion notification. In S40, the delivery control unit DC passes the print completion notification to the advertisement space sales unit AS.

[0090] When the advertising space sales unit AS receives the printing completion notification, in S42, an advertising fee settlement process is executed between the advertising space sales unit AS and the bidding server 400. The advertising fee settlement process is, for example, a process in which the advertiser of the advertising image pays the advertising fee to the business operator operating the advertising distribution server 300. The advertising fee settlement process is executed using a known so-called online settlement method. The amount of the advertising fee is, for example, the successful bid price. Note that, instead of the advertising fee settlement process, in S42, the advertising space sales unit AS may simply send a notification to the bidding server 400 that the advertising fee claim has been finalized. In this case, the actual settlement process may be executed, for example, once per predetermined period, at a predetermined timing (for example, once a month at the beginning of the month).

[0091] When the advertising fee settlement process is completed, the advertising space sales unit AS passes a settlement completion notice to the distribution control unit DC in S44.

[0092] 5, the distribution control unit DC transmits an advertisement printing performance notification to the management server 100. The advertisement printing performance notification includes information indicating the user ID of the user of the printer 500 that printed the print image PI including the advertisement image, and the successful bid prices of one or more advertisement spaces corresponding to one or more advertisement images included in the print image PI.

[0093] When the management server 100 receives the advertisement printing performance notification, the CPU 110 of the management server 100 calculates, in S50, the bonus points to be returned to the user of the printer 500. Specifically, the CPU 110 calculates the bonus points to be returned as the amount obtained by multiplying the total successful bid prices of one or more advertisement spaces by a predetermined return rate (for example, several percent to several tens of percent).

[0094] In S52, the CPU 110 executes a point granting process. Specifically, the CPU 110 adds the value of the bonus points calculated in S50 to the value of the bonus points associated with the user ID indicating the user of the printer 500 in the bonus point information stored in the database DBm. Once the point granting process is executed, the advertisement printing process ends.

[0095] According to the first embodiment described above, the advertisement delivery server 300 acquires bid price information indicating the bid price for each of a plurality of candidate images that are candidates for the advertisement image (S18 in FIG. 3). The bid price is the amount (advertising price) to be obtained from the advertiser when the candidate image is printed as the advertisement image. The advertisement delivery server 300 acquires ink information indicating the amount of ink to be used in printing the candidate image (215 in FIG. 7). The advertisement delivery server 300 determines one or more advertisement images from the plurality of candidate images using the bid price information and the ink information (S220-250 in FIG. 7). The advertisement delivery server 300 executes processing (S30 and S34 in FIG. 4) to cause the printer 500 to print a print image PI including the determined advertisement image. As a result, an advertisement image is determined from the plurality of candidate images using information indicating the advertisement price and the ink information indicating the amount of ink to be used in printing the candidate image. As a result, the advertisement image can be determined taking the amount of ink to be used for printing into consideration. Therefore, when printing an advertisement image, a preferable image can be determined as the advertisement image.

[0096] When an advertisement is distributed by printing an advertisement image, ink is used to print the advertisement image. The amount of ink used for printing varies greatly between, for example, an image with a large solid area (e.g., an image with a dark background) and an image with a small solid area (e.g., an image with a white background). For this reason, the amount of ink used, and therefore the ink cost required for printing, can vary greatly for each advertisement image.

[0097] For example, if a distributor that distributes advertisements bears the cost of ink, the profit of the distributor that distributes advertisements will be reduced by at least the cost of ink. For this reason, for example, if the cost of ink required for printing is excessively high, the distributor may not be able to make a sufficient profit even if the advertising price paid by the advertiser is high. Conversely, if the cost of ink required for printing is sufficiently low, the distributor may be able to ensure a profit even if the advertising price paid by the advertiser is low.

[0098] In cases where the user of the printer 500 bears the cost of ink, if the user is unable to receive appropriate bonus points in proportion to the user's burden, the user may not continue using the advertising distribution service. For example, if the cost of ink required to print advertising images is excessively high, the user's burden may become excessively high. In this case, if the advertising price paid by the advertiser is low, it may not be possible to receive sufficient bonus points to cover the user's burden. Conversely, if the cost of ink required for printing is sufficiently low, the user's burden will also be low, and it may not be a problem if the user receives fewer bonus points due to the low advertising price paid by the advertiser.

[0099] Furthermore, although details will be explained in the second embodiment, depending on the amount of ink required to print the advertising image, the remaining amount of ink after printing may vary excessively, which may cause inconvenience to the user of the printer 500.

[0100] In this embodiment, the advertising image can be determined taking into consideration the amount of ink used for printing. Therefore, when printing the advertising image, a desirable image can be determined as the advertising image from the viewpoint of the profitability of the advertising distribution service provider and the burden on the user of the printer 500.

[0101] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the advertisement delivery server 300 acquires ink information (information indicating the amount of ink) generated by analyzing a plurality of candidate images (S215 in FIG. 7). As a result, since ink information generated by analyzing the candidate images is acquired, information indicating the amount of ink used to print the candidate images with high accuracy can be acquired. Therefore, the amount of ink used for printing can be more appropriately taken into consideration, and a more preferable image can be determined as the advertisement image.

[0102] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the advertisement delivery server 300 acquires data of multiple candidate images from the bid server 400 (S210 in FIG. 7), analyzes the multiple candidate images by itself, and calculates the amount of ink to be used to print the candidate images (S215 in FIG. 7). As a result, the advertisement delivery server 300 can acquire ink information indicating the amount of ink by itself, without the need to ask the advertiser or the operator of the bid server 400 to prepare the ink information, for example.

[0103] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the advertisement delivery server 300 calculates revised bid prices for each of the plurality of candidate images by using the ink information to revise the bid prices for each of the plurality of candidate images (S220 and S225 in FIG. 7, and FIG. 8). Then, the advertisement delivery server 300 determines an advertisement image to be printed from among the plurality of candidate images based on the revised bid prices (S230 and S235 in FIG. 7). More specifically, the advertisement delivery server 300 determines a candidate image with a higher revised bid price as the advertisement image, preferentially over a candidate image with a lower revised bid price (FIGS. 8A and 8B). That is, the advertisement delivery server 300 determines a first candidate image, among the plurality of candidate images, that corresponds to a first revised price (for example, the revised bid price for bid ID "1" in FIG. 8A) as the advertisement image, and does not determine a second candidate image, among the plurality of candidate images, that corresponds to a second revised price that is lower than the first revised price (for example, the revised bid price for bid ID "2," "3," etc. in FIG. 8A) as the advertisement image. In this way, by using the ink information to correct the bid price and calculate the corrected bid price, a preferable image can be appropriately determined as the advertisement image.

[0104] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the advertisement delivery server 300 calculates the revised bid price by subtracting the required ink cost based on the ink amount from the bid price (S235 in FIG. 7, FIG. 8). That is, the advertisement delivery server 300 calculates the revised bid price for the candidate image by correcting the bid price based on the ink amount information so that the revised bid price becomes lower the greater the amount of color material used to print the candidate image. As a result, a desirable image can be determined as the advertisement image from the perspective of the profit to be obtained by printing the advertisement image.

[0105] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the advertisement delivery server 300 sets a plurality of candidate patterns, which are candidates for an arrangement pattern for arranging one or more advertisement images on a print image PI of a specific size (A4 size in this embodiment) (S8 in FIG. 3). The plurality of candidate patterns include a first pattern (FIG. 6(A)) including M (M is an integer equal to or greater than 1, M=1 in this embodiment) advertisement images of a first size (equivalent to A4 size in this embodiment) and a second pattern (FIG. 6(A)) including N (N is an integer greater than M, N=8 in this embodiment) advertisement images of a second size (equivalent to 1 / 8 of A4 size in this embodiment). The advertisement delivery server 300 determines an arrangement pattern to be selected from the plurality of candidate patterns and one or more advertisement images to be arranged according to the selected arrangement pattern using the bid price information and the ink information (S230-S250 in FIG. 7). As a result, it is possible to determine appropriate advertisement images so that the advertisement images are arranged in a highly profitable arrangement pattern, for example.

[0106] As can be seen from the above explanation, the ink amount information in this embodiment is an example of color material information, the bid price in this embodiment is an example of an advertised price, and the revised bid price is an example of a revised price.

[0107] B. Second Example In the second embodiment, the information included in the bid notification in S18 of FIG. 3 differs from that in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the bid notification in the second embodiment includes a bid ID, bid slot information, and bid price, similar to the first embodiment. Unlike the first embodiment, the bid notification in the second embodiment does not include an advertisement image URL. Unlike the first embodiment, the bid notification in the second embodiment includes a bid server ID and an advertiser ID. The bid server ID is an identifier assigned to the bid server 400 that sent the bid notification. The bid server ID can also be said to be an identifier that identifies the business (also called the bidding business) that operates the bid server 400. The advertiser ID is an identifier that identifies the advertiser of the advertisement image corresponding to the bid. The advertiser is a business that provides advertisement images to the distribution business (the business that operates the advertisement distribution server 300) via the bidding business. Furthermore, the bidding business is a business that provides advertisement images submitted by the advertiser to the distribution business. For this reason, it can be said that both the bidding business and the advertiser are businesses that provide advertisement images to the distribution business.

[0108] FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the advertisement printing process of the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the process of FIG. 9 is executed instead of the process of FIG. 4 in the advertisement printing process. As shown in FIG. 9, in the advertisement printing process of the second embodiment, the process of S24B in FIG. 9 is executed after S22 in FIG. 3. That is, when the bidding server 400 receives a successful bid result notice indicating a successful bid in S22 in FIG. 3, in the second embodiment, in S24B in FIG. 9, the bidding control unit BC of the bidding server 400 transmits to the advertisement distribution server 300 an advertisement image URL indicating the location of the advertisement image to be printed using the successful advertisement space. This is because, unlike the first embodiment, the advertisement image URL is not included in the bid notice in S18 in FIG. 3 in the second embodiment.

[0109] After S24B in Fig. 9, the processes of S26-S30 in Fig. 4 are executed, as in the advertisement printing process of the first embodiment. After S30 in Fig. 4 is executed and the print image PI is generated, in the printing process of the second embodiment, in S31B in Fig. 9, the delivery control unit DC of the advertisement delivery server 300 sends a request for remaining ink level information to the printer 500. As described above, in this embodiment, communication between the advertisement delivery server 300 and the printer 500 is executed via a relay server (not shown).

[0110] When printer 500 receives the remaining ink level information request, CPU 510 of printer 500 sends the remaining ink level information to advertisement delivery server 300 in S32B. The remaining ink level information is information that indicates the current remaining levels of each of the CMYK inks in printer 500. The remaining ink level information is obtained from database DBp and sent to advertisement delivery server 300.

[0111] When the advertisement delivery server 300 receives the remaining ink level information, the delivery control unit DC acquires the remaining ink level information. In S33B, the delivery control unit DC transmits a print instruction to the remote print server 200, similar to S34 in FIG.

[0112] When the remote print server 200 receives the print instruction, in S34B, the remote print server 200 and the printer 500 execute the remote print process, similar to S36 in FIG.

[0113] 4, when the remote printing process in S34B is completed, in S35B, the CPU 210 of the remote printing server 200 transmits a print completion notification indicating that printing of the print image PI has been completed to the advertisement delivery server 300. When the advertisement delivery server 300 receives the print completion notification, the delivery control unit DC of the advertisement delivery server 300 acquires the print completion notification.

[0114] When the delivery control unit DC receives the print completion notification, in S36B it sends a remaining ink level request similar to S31B to the printer 500. When the printer 500 receives the remaining ink level information request, in S37B the CPU 510 of the printer 500 sends the remaining ink level information to the advertisement delivery server 300, similar to S32B. When the advertisement delivery server 300 receives the remaining ink level information, the delivery control unit DC acquires the remaining ink level information.

[0115] In this way, the distribution control unit DC acquires ink remaining amount information indicating the amount of ink remaining before printing the advertising image in S32B, and acquires ink remaining amount information indicating the amount of ink remaining after printing the advertising image in S37B.

[0116] In S38B, the amount of ink consumed in printing the advertisement image (ink consumption amount) is calculated. Specifically, for each of the CMYK inks, the delivery control unit DC calculates the difference between the remaining amount of ink before printing acquired in S37B and the remaining amount of ink after printing acquired in S32B. In this way, the ink consumption amount for each of the CMYK inks is calculated.

[0117] In S40B, the distribution control unit DC sends a notification of completion of printing of the advertising image to the advertising space sales unit AS in S40. The notification of completion of printing includes the amount of ink consumed in printing the advertising image.

[0118] When the advertising space sales department AS receives the printing completion notification, in S41B, the advertising space sales department AS records the ink consumption amount in the ink amount recording table TB (FIG. 2(D)) stored in the database DBa. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the ink amount recording table TB.

[0119] As shown in Fig. 10, the ink consumption amounts for each of CMYK are recorded in the ink amount recording table TB in association with the combination of the printing date and time, the bidding server ID, and the advertiser ID. The bidding server ID and the advertiser ID are IDs included in the bid notice (S18 in Fig. 3) corresponding to the printed advertising image. In other words, the bidding server ID and the advertiser ID are identifiers of the business entity (bidding entity and advertiser) providing the printed advertising image. For example, in S41B, one line of record RD indicated by the dashed line in Fig. 10 is recorded.

[0120] After the process of S41 in FIG. 9, the same processes as those of S41 to S52 in FIGS. 4 and 5 are executed.

[0121] In the second embodiment, the content of the bidding success process in S20 of FIG. 3 is also different from that of the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the bidding success process of the second embodiment. In S210B, the advertising space sales unit AS acquires the ink consumption amount for multiple past advertisement printings for each notified bid. For example, the advertising space sales unit AS searches the ink amount recording table TB for a combination of the bidding server ID and advertiser ID included in each bid notification. From the multiple records found, the advertising space sales unit AS identifies a predetermined number of records (e.g., several to several tens) in order of most recent printing date and time, and acquires the ink consumption amount recorded in those records. In other words, the actual ink consumption amount for advertisement printing is acquired for each advertiser who provided an advertisement image corresponding to each bid.

[0122] In S215B, the advertising space sales department AS calculates the average ink consumption amount for a predetermined number of times acquired in S210B for each notified bid. Specifically, the average ink consumption amount for a predetermined number of times is calculated for the total ink consumption amount for CMYK. The average ink consumption amount calculated for one bid is used as the amount of ink (estimated value) to be used for printing when printing a candidate image corresponding to that bid. That is, in the first embodiment, the amount of ink to be used for printing a candidate image is calculated by analyzing the candidate image, but in the second embodiment, the amount of ink to be used for printing a candidate image is calculated based on the actual ink consumption amount for past advertising printing.

[0123] The processing after calculating the amount of ink to be used to print the candidate image in S215B is the same as in the first embodiment. That is, the processing of S220-S250 in Fig. 11 is the same as the processing of the same symbols (S220-S250) in Fig. 7. For this reason, a description of S220-S250 in Fig. 11 will be omitted.

[0124] According to the second embodiment described above, the advertisement delivery server 300 records consumption information indicating the amount of ink used in printing advertisement images in memory (in this embodiment, the ink amount record table TB stored in the non-volatile storage device 330) (S41B in FIG. 9). The advertisement delivery server 300 acquires ink information indicating the amount of ink used in printing the candidate images based on the consumption information (S210B, 215B in FIG. 11). As a result, the advertisement image can be determined taking into consideration the past ink consumption record. For example, some advertisers tend to consume a lot of ink by using a lot of solid advertisement images, while others tend to consume less ink by using a lot of advertisement images with text on a white background.

[0125] If ink consumption tends to be excessively high, even if the advertising price paid by the advertiser is high, the distributor may not be able to make a sufficient profit and may not be able to return sufficient bonus points to the user to cover the burden. Conversely, if ink consumption tends to be sufficiently low, even if the advertising price paid by the advertiser is low, the distributor may be able to secure a profit and it may not be a problem if fewer bonus points are returned to the user.

[0126] In this embodiment, the advertising image can be determined taking into consideration the past ink usage record. Therefore, when printing the advertising image, an image that is preferable from the viewpoint of the profitability of the advertising distribution service provider and the burden on the user of the printer 500 can be determined as the advertising image.

[0127] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the ink information used to determine the advertisement image is the average value of the amount of ink used to print multiple advertisement images (S215B in FIG. 11). As a result, for example, the influence of an unusual value of ink consumption can be mitigated, and the advertisement image can be determined by appropriately taking into account the past ink consumption record.

[0128] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the ink consumption information is recorded in the ink amount recording table TB in association with identification information identifying the business providing the advertising image (specifically, the bid server ID and advertiser ID) (S41B in FIG. 9, FIG. 10). The advertising distribution server 300 obtains information on the amount of ink used to print the advertising image for each business (e.g., advertiser) based on the ink consumption information (S210B in FIG. 11, FIG. 10). As a result, ink amount information is obtained for each business providing the advertising image, making it possible to determine an appropriate advertising image taking into account the past ink usage record of each business.

[0129] C. Third Example Fig. 12 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the advertisement printing process in the second embodiment. In the third embodiment, the advertisement printing process is performed in place of the process in Fig. 3, and the process in Fig. 12 is executed. When the advertisement printing process is started, the delivery control unit DC of the advertisement delivery server 300 sends a request for remaining ink level information to the printer 500 in S2C. As described above, in this embodiment, communication between the advertisement delivery server 300 and the printer 500 is performed via a relay server (not shown).

[0130] When printer 500 receives the remaining ink level information request, CPU 510 of printer 500 sends the remaining ink level information to advertisement delivery server 300 in S4C. As described above, the remaining ink level information is information that indicates the current remaining levels of each of the CMYK inks in printer 500. The remaining ink level information is obtained from database DBp and sent to advertisement delivery server 300.

[0131] When the advertisement delivery server 300 receives the remaining ink level information, the delivery control unit DC acquires the remaining ink level information. In S6C, the delivery control unit DC requests an advertisement image URL from the advertisement space sales unit AS, similar to S6 in FIG. 3. When requesting the advertisement image URL, the delivery control unit DC passes the remaining ink level information acquired in S4C to the advertisement space sales unit AS. The advertisement space sales unit AS uses the remaining ink level information in the bidding process of S20C, as will be described later.

[0132] When the advertising space sales unit AS receives a request for the URL of the advertising image, it sets the advertising solicitation conditions at S8C. Unlike the first embodiment, the solicitation conditions of the third embodiment allow advertising solicitation with only one type of advertising image placement pattern. The one type of placement pattern is the first pattern (FIGS. 6(A) and (C)) in which one advertising space AFa is placed per sheet of paper.

[0133] The processes of S10 to S18 in Fig. 12 of the third embodiment are the same as the processes (S8 to S18) of the same symbols in Fig. 3. In S20C in Fig. 12, the bidding process of the second embodiment is executed instead of the bidding process of the first embodiment (Fig. 7).

[0134] 13 is a flowchart of the bidding process according to the third embodiment. In S310, similar to S210 in FIG. 7, the advertising space sales unit AS acquires candidate images corresponding to each notified bid. That is, the advertising space sales unit AS transmits an advertising image request addressed to the advertising image URL included in each bid, and receives candidate image data from the bidding server 400 as a response to the advertising image request.

[0135] In S315, the advertising space sales department AS analyzes each of the candidate images that have been acquired, and calculates the amount of ink (estimated value) that will be used for printing each of the candidate images for each of the four colors of ink, CMYK.

[0136] Specifically, for example, as described in S215 of FIG. 7, the ad space sales unit AS performs image processing, including color conversion processing and halftone processing, on the candidate image to generate dot data for each of CMYK. The ad space sales unit AS uses the dot data to count the number of print dots formed for printing the candidate image for each ink color. The ad space sales unit AS converts each count value for CMYK into ink amounts.

[0137] In S320, the advertising space sales unit AS calculates the remaining ink amounts (estimated values) for each of the four CMYK colors of ink in the printer 500 after each candidate image has been printed as an advertising image. Specifically, the advertising space sales unit AS subtracts the amount of ink used for each of the CMYK colors calculated in S315 from the current remaining ink amounts for each of the CMYK colors acquired in S6C of Fig. 12. This calculates the remaining ink amounts in the printer 500 after the candidate images have been printed (also called post-printing ink amounts).

[0138] Fig. 14 is a table for explaining Example 3. The table in Fig. 14(A) shows the remaining ink amount after printing of the candidate image corresponding to each of the four submitted bids (bids with bid IDs 0-3).

[0139] In S330, the advertising space sales department AS excludes candidate images that will run out of ink when printed from the candidates for advertising images. Specifically, the advertising space sales department AS excludes a specific candidate image from the candidates for advertising images when at least one of the remaining CMYK ink levels after printing of the specific candidate image is 0 or less. In the example of FIG. 14(A), the remaining printing ink level of candidate image C corresponding to the bid with bid ID "2" is 0 or less. For this reason, the candidate image corresponding to the bid with bid ID "2" is excluded from the candidates for advertising images.

[0140] In S340, the advertising space sales unit AS calculates the maximum remaining amount difference ΔV after printing as an advertising image for each of the candidate images remaining after the exclusion in S330. Specifically, the advertising space sales unit AS calculates the maximum remaining amount difference ΔV as the difference between the maximum value of the remaining ink amounts after printing CMYK and the minimum value of the remaining ink amounts after printing CMYK.

[0141] The table in Figure 14(B) records the maximum remaining ink amount difference ΔV for each candidate image corresponding to bids with bid IDs 0, 1, and 3. For example, the maximum remaining ink amount after printing for a candidate image with bid ID "1" is "65" for Y, and the minimum remaining ink amount after printing is "30" for C (Figure 14(A)). Therefore, the maximum remaining ink amount difference ΔV for a candidate image corresponding to bid ID "1" is "35".

[0142] In S350, the advertising space sales department AS modifies the bid price of each bid by multiplying the bid price of each bid by a modification coefficient according to the maximum remaining amount difference ΔV. The modified bid price is also called the modified bid price.

[0143] Specifically, the advertising space sales department AS converts the maximum remaining amount difference ΔV calculated for each candidate image into a remaining amount difference ratio ΔR. The remaining amount difference ratio ΔR is a value that represents the relative magnitude of the maximum remaining amount difference ΔV for each candidate image, with the maximum value of the maximum remaining amount differences ΔV calculated for each candidate image being "1." The remaining amount difference ratio ΔR is calculated by dividing the maximum remaining amount difference ΔV for each candidate image by the maximum value of the maximum remaining amount differences ΔV for multiple candidate images. The table in FIG. 14(B) illustrates the remaining amount difference ratio ΔR for each candidate image corresponding to bids with bid IDs of 0, 1, and 3.

[0144] Furthermore, the advertising space sales unit AS calculates the inverse of the remaining amount difference ratio ΔR of each candidate image as a correction coefficient K. The advertising space sales unit AS calculates the corrected bid price by multiplying the bid price of each bid by the corresponding correction coefficient K. The table in FIG. 14(B) shows the bid price, correction coefficient K, and corrected bid price for each of the bids with bid IDs 0, 1, and 3.

[0145] As shown in FIG. 14(B), the larger the maximum remaining amount difference ΔV, the smaller the correction coefficient K, and therefore the bid price is corrected so that the larger the maximum remaining amount difference ΔV, the smaller the bid price. The larger the variation in the remaining amount of the four CMYK ink colors after printing the candidate image, the larger the maximum remaining amount difference ΔV. For this reason, it can be said that the maximum remaining amount difference ΔV is an index value that indicates the variation in the remaining amount of the four CMYK ink colors after printing the candidate image. As can be seen from the above, in this embodiment, the bid price is corrected so that the variation in the remaining amount of the four CMYK ink colors after printing the candidate image will reduce the bid price.

[0146] In S360, the advertising space sales department AS determines the advertising image to be printed based on the revised bid price (FIG. 14(B)). Specifically, the advertising space sales department AS selects the bid with the highest revised bid price from among multiple bids. In the example of FIG. 14(B), the bid with bid ID "3" is selected from three bids. The advertising space sales department AS determines the candidate image corresponding to the selected bid as the advertising image to be printed. Once the advertising image is determined, the successful bidder is the person who placed the bid corresponding to the advertising image, and the successful bid price is the bid price of the bid corresponding to the advertising image.

[0147] The processing after the bidding success process in S20C of Fig. 12, i.e., the processing from S22 onwards, is the same as the processing from S22 onwards in Fig. 3 of the first embodiment (S22 in Fig. 3, S24-S44 in Fig. 4, S46-S52 in Fig. 5). For this reason, a description of the processing after the bidding success process in S20C of Fig. 12 will be omitted.

[0148] According to the third embodiment described above, the advertisement delivery server 300 modifies the bid price based on information on the amount of ink used to print the candidate images so that the revised bid price becomes lower as the variation in the remaining amount of ink increases (S340, S350 in FIG. 13, FIG. 14). The advertisement delivery server 300 determines the advertisement image to be printed based on the revised bid price (S360 in FIG. 13).

[0149] The advertising image is printed at a fixed time regardless of the user's wishes. For this reason, if the printing of the advertising image causes excessive variation in the remaining ink levels, it may cause disadvantages to the user of the printer 500. For example, the remaining levels of some CMYK inks may become excessively low, and printing the advertising image may make it impossible to print the image the user had planned to print without refilling the ink. In addition, some inks may need to be refilled at an excessively earlier timing than other inks, which may increase the burden on the user. For this reason, it is considered preferable to prioritize advertising images that reduce the variation in the remaining ink levels after printing. Furthermore, if the variation in the remaining ink levels after printing is large, even if the advertising fee paid by the advertiser increases, this is considered to be no problem because the bonus points returned to the user can be increased accordingly. In this embodiment, the bid price is adjusted so that the greater the variation in the remaining ink levels, the lower the adjusted bid price. Therefore, if some ink levels are required, the user may be unable to print the image they had planned to print without refilling the ink. In order to prevent ink shortages, a desirable image can be determined as the advertisement image. This can prevent an increase in the burden on the user and increase the likelihood that the user will continue to use the advertisement distribution service.

[0150] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, if printing a candidate image causes at least one ink to run out, the candidate image is excluded from the candidates for advertising images (S330 in FIG. 13). As a result, it is possible to prevent the printing of an advertising image from causing an unexpected ink shortage for the user. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of unexpected disadvantages, such as the user being unable to carry out a planned print job because an advertising image has been printed.

[0151] D. Variations (1) In the first embodiment described above, the advertisement delivery server 300 acquires information indicating the amount of ink used by analyzing a plurality of candidate images and calculating the amount of ink used (S215 in FIG. 7). Alternatively, the advertisement delivery server 300 may receive information indicating the amount of ink used from the bidding server 400. In this case, for example, the bidding server 400 may generate information indicating the amount of ink used by analyzing candidate images submitted by an advertiser, or, when the advertiser submits a candidate image, may associate the candidate image with information indicating the amount of ink used together with the candidate image. The bidding server 400, for example, stores the acquired information indicating the amount of ink used in the non-volatile storage device 430 in association with the candidate image. When the bidding server 400 transmits a bid notification to the advertisement delivery server 300 in S18 in FIG. 3, the bid notification may include information indicating the amount of ink used. The same applies to the third embodiment.

[0152] Furthermore, for example, the advertisement delivery server 300 may receive information indicating the cost of ink required to print each candidate image (required ink cost) instead of the amount of ink used from an external server such as a bidding server. For example, the bidding server 400 may calculate the required ink cost by analyzing the candidate image, or an advertiser may associate information indicating the required ink cost with the candidate image when submitting the candidate image to the bidding server 400. The required ink cost is a value correlated with the amount of ink used, and is therefore an example of color material information related to the amount of color material used to print the candidate image.

[0153] (2) In the first embodiment, the advertisement delivery server 300 receives data on a plurality of candidate images from the bidding server 400. However, the data on the plurality of candidate images may be received from another server, for example, a server owned by the advertiser or a storage server used by the advertiser. In this case, a URL pointing to the other server storing the data on the plurality of candidate images is used as the advertisement image URL. The same applies to the third embodiment.

[0154] (3) In the second embodiment described above, information indicating the remaining ink level is obtained from the printer 500 before and after printing the advertisement image (S32B and S37B in FIG. 9 ). The advertisement delivery server 300 calculates the ink consumption amount for printing the advertisement image based on the information indicating the remaining ink level, thereby obtaining consumption information indicating the ink consumption amount (S38B in FIG. 9 ). Alternatively, the advertisement delivery server 300 may obtain consumption information by receiving consumption information from the printer 500. For example, the printer 500 calculates the ink consumption amount for printing the advertisement image each time the printer 500 prints the advertisement image. When the printer 500 sends a printing completion notification to the remote printing server 200, the printer 500 includes consumption information indicating the ink consumption amount in the printing completion notification. Then, the remote printing server 200 may send a printing completion notification including the consumption information to the advertisement delivery server 300 in S35B in FIG. 9 .

[0155] Furthermore, as described above, if the user of the printer 500 uses an ink management service, the remaining ink amount of the printer 500 may be managed in almost real time by a server (not shown) that provides the ink management service. In this case, the advertisement delivery server 300 may receive information indicating the remaining ink amount and consumption amount information from the server that provides the ink management service.

[0156] (4) In each of the above embodiments, after determining the advertising image to be printed, the advertising delivery server 300 transmits a print instruction for the advertising image to the remote print server 200 (S34 in FIG. 4). Alternatively, the advertising delivery server 300 may generate a print job by itself and transmit the print job directly to the printer 500. Also, if the printer 500 is configured to receive image data in a predetermined format (e.g., PDF format) and then execute printing using the image data, the advertising delivery server 300 may simply transmit the advertising image data in the predetermined format to the printer 500.

[0157] (5) The layout pattern of the advertising image in the print image PI may be a pattern different from the two patterns shown in FIG. 6. For example, the layout pattern employed may include two or more different sizes of advertising spaces. For example, a layout pattern including one advertising space that is half the size of the print image and four advertising spaces that are one-eighth the size of the print image may be employed. Furthermore, in the bidding process of the first and second embodiments, one layout pattern may be determined from three or more candidate layout patterns.

[0158] (6) In the second embodiment described above, in the ink amount recording table TB, consumption information indicating ink consumption is recorded in association with a combination of a bid server ID and an advertiser ID. Alternatively, consumption information may be recorded in association with only the bid server ID. In this case, for example, if there is a bias in the amount of ink consumed when printing advertising images depending on the bid server, a more preferable candidate image may be determined as the advertising image by taking into account the difference in ink consumption between the bid servers. Furthermore, consumption information may be recorded in association with only the advertiser ID. In this case, for example, if there is a bias in the amount of ink consumed when printing advertising images depending on the advertiser, a more preferable candidate image may be determined as the advertising image by taking into account the difference in ink consumption between the advertisers.

[0159] Furthermore, the consumption information does not need to be associated with the bid server ID and the advertiser ID. In this case, the consumer information may be recorded in association with the size of the advertising space (for example, whether it is (1 / 8) the size of the printed image or the size of the entire printed image). In this case, for example, if there is a bias in the amount of ink consumed in printing the advertising image depending on the size of the advertising space, a more preferable candidate image may be determined as the advertising image by taking into account the difference in the actual ink consumption values ​​for each advertising space size.

[0160] (7) In the first embodiment described above, the amount of ink used for printing is calculated in S215 of FIG. 7. Alternatively, other index values ​​correlated with the amount of ink used may be calculated. For example, the dot formation rate (the proportion of pixels where dots are formed relative to all pixels) may be calculated using CMYK dot data. Alternatively, if the candidate image is a monochrome image, the average density of the entire image may be calculated.

[0161] (8) In the first embodiment described above, in S225 of FIG. 7, the bid price is corrected by subtracting the required ink cost from the bid price. This is not a limitation, and the bid price may be corrected by other methods. For example, the advertising space sales unit AS determines a correction amount ΔH that increases as the index value correlated with the amount of ink used increases. The correction amount ΔH is determined, for example, by referring to a table that defines a predetermined correspondence between the index value and the correction amount ΔH. The advertising space sales unit AS may correct the bid price by subtracting the correction amount from the bid price.

[0162] (8) In each of the above embodiments, an advertising image is selected from among multiple candidate images based on the revised bid price. However, the invention is not limited to this. An advertising image may be selected from among multiple candidate images without using the revised bid price. For example, when the remaining ink level in the printer 500 is equal to or less than a first threshold, the advertising space sales unit AS may exclude candidate images whose ink usage level is equal to or greater than a second threshold from the candidates for advertising images. The advertising space sales unit AS may then select the candidate image corresponding to the highest bid price from among the remaining candidate images as the advertising image. Even in this case, it is possible to prevent an advertising image that consumes an excessive amount of ink from being printed when the remaining ink level in the printer 500 is low.

[0163] (9) In each of the above embodiments, the advertisement delivery service is realized by four types of servers 100-400 working together. The servers providing the advertisement delivery service may have various configurations. For example, the delivery control unit DC and the ad space sales unit AS of the advertisement delivery server 300 may be separate servers. Similarly, the bidding control unit BC and the consumer information management unit CM of the bidding server 400 may be separate servers. Furthermore, the advertisement delivery server 300 and one of the bidding servers 400A-400C may be configured as a single server.

[0164] Furthermore, the processes executed by the management server 100, the remote print server 200, and the advertisement delivery server 300 may be executed by a single server. Alternatively, the processes executed by any two of the management server 100, the remote print server 200, and the advertisement delivery server 300 may be executed by a single server.

[0165] (10) In the above embodiments, part of the configuration realized by hardware may be replaced by software, and conversely, part or all of the configuration realized by software may be replaced by hardware.

[0166] The present invention has been described above based on examples and modifications, but the above-described embodiments of the invention are intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified or improved without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims, and equivalents thereof are also included in the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0167] 1000...system, 100...management server, 110...CPU, 120...volatile storage device, 130...non-volatile storage device, 180...communication IF, 200...remote print server, 210...CPU, 220...volatile storage device, 230...non-volatile storage device, 280...communication IF, 300...advertising distribution server, 310...CPU, 320...volatile storage device, 330...non-volatile storage device, 380...communication IF, 400A-400C...bidding server, 410...CPU, 420...volatile storage device, 4 30...nonvolatile storage device, 480...communication IF, 500...printer, 510...CPU, 520...volatile storage device, 530...nonvolatile storage device, 540...display unit, 550...operation unit, 570...printing mechanism, 580...communication IF, DC...distribution control unit, AS...advertising space sales unit, BC...bidding control unit, CM...consumer information management unit, DBa, DBb, DBm, DBp, DBr...database, PGa, PGb, PGm, PGp, PGr...computer program, TB...ink amount recording table

Claims

1. a server, a first acquisition unit that acquires price information indicating an advertising price for each of a plurality of candidate images that are candidates for an advertising image, the advertising price being a price for printing the candidate image as the advertising image; a second acquisition unit that acquires color material information relating to the amount of color material used to print the candidate image; an image determination unit that determines one or more of the advertisement images from among the plurality of candidate images using the price information and the color material information; a print processing unit that executes a process for causing a printer to print a print image including the determined advertisement image; A server comprising:

2. 2. The server of claim 1, The second acquisition unit acquires the color material information generated by analyzing the plurality of candidate images.

3. 3. The server according to claim 2, The second acquisition unit acquiring the plurality of candidate images; A server that generates the colorant information for each of the plurality of candidate images by analyzing the plurality of candidate images and calculating amounts of colorants used to print the plurality of candidate images.

4. The server of claim 1, further comprising: a consumption recording unit that records consumption information indicating the amount of the color material used in printing the advertisement image in the past in a memory; The second acquisition unit acquires the color material information based on the consumption amount information.

5. 5. The server according to claim 4, The colorant information is an average value of the amount of the colorant used in printing a plurality of the advertisement images.

6. 5. The server according to claim 4, the consumption information is recorded in the memory in association with identification information for identifying a business entity that provides the advertising image; The second acquisition unit acquires the color material information for each business operator based on the consumption amount information.

7. 2. The server of claim 1, The image determination unit calculating a revised price for each of the plurality of candidate images by modifying the advertising price for each of the plurality of candidate images using the colorant information; A server determines a first candidate image corresponding to a first revised price from among the plurality of candidate images as the advertising image, and does not determine a second candidate image corresponding to a second revised price lower than the first revised price as the advertising image.

8. 8. The server according to claim 7, The image determination unit calculates the revised price of the candidate image by revising the advertising price based on the color material information so that the revised price becomes lower the greater the amount of color material used to print the candidate image.

9. 8. The server according to claim 7, the printer is a color printer that prints an image using a plurality of colors of color materials, The image determination unit calculates the revised price of the candidate image by revising the advertising price based on the color material information so that the revised price becomes lower the greater the variation in the remaining amount of the color materials of multiple colors after printing of the candidate image.

10. 8. The server according to claim 7, a layout setting unit that sets a plurality of candidate patterns that are candidates for a layout pattern in which one or more advertising images are arranged on the print image of a specific size, the plurality of candidate patterns including a first pattern including M (M is an integer equal to or greater than 1) advertising images of a first size, and a second pattern including N (N is an integer greater than M) advertising frames of a second size that are smaller than the first size; The image determination unit uses the price information and the color material information to determine the arrangement pattern selected from the plurality of candidate patterns and one or more of the advertising images to be arranged in accordance with the selected arrangement pattern.

11. 2. The server of claim 1, The colorant is ink.

12. 2. The server of claim 1, the first acquisition unit receives the price information from a bidding server for bidding on the advertising space corresponding to the advertising image; The advertising price indicated by the price information is a bid price for the advertising space.

13. 4. The server according to claim 3, The second acquisition unit acquires the plurality of candidate images by receiving data of the plurality of candidate images from a bidding server for bidding on an advertising space corresponding to the advertising image.

14. The server according to claim 4, further comprising: a receiving unit that receives the remaining amount information of the color material from the printer; The consumption amount recording unit records the consumption amount information in the memory using the remaining amount information received by the receiving unit.

15. 2. The server of claim 1, the print processing unit transmits a print instruction to a print server to cause the printer to print the print image; The print server generates a print job for printing the print image based on the print instruction and transmits the print job to the printer.

16. 1. A method for printing advertising images, comprising: a first acquisition step of acquiring price information indicating an advertising price for each of a plurality of candidate images that are candidates for the advertising image, the advertising price being a price for printing the candidate image as the advertising image; a second obtaining step of obtaining colorant information relating to the amount of colorant used to print the candidate image; an image determination step of determining one or more of the advertisement images from among the plurality of candidate images using the price information and the color material information; an instruction sending step of sending a print instruction to a printer to print a print image including the determined advertisement image; A method for providing the above.

Images