Advertising System

Abstract

To provide an advertising system that makes it easier for advertisers to deliver advertising information to their desired target areas, while also allowing profits to be distributed to the physical stores associated with the users who receive the advertising information. [Solution] An advertising system that includes a store member registration unit that registers customers of affiliated stores 60 that have physical stores as store members 70 of said affiliated stores 60, and a service provision server 10 that provides advertising information of advertisers 80 different from the affiliated stores 60 that the store members 70 are registered with, wherein the service provision server 10 comprises an underwriting affiliate store extraction unit that extracts affiliated stores 60 that meet the conditions specified by the advertiser 80 from among the affiliated stores 60 that have permitted the provision of the advertising information to its own store members 70 as underwriting affiliate stores, and an advertising information distribution unit that distributes the advertising information of said advertiser 80 to the store members 70 of said underwriting affiliate stores.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an advertising system.

Background Art

[0002] As an advertising means for actual stores such as restaurants and beauty salons, for example, information is posted on various reservation sites and the like. However, with this method, whether the advertising information reaches the user depends on the user's search behavior, and it has been difficult to directly deliver the advertising information to the user at the timing desired by the store side.

[0003] Also, as an advertising means for actual stores, advertising is also posted in paper media such as town information magazines. Although the paper media advertisement can target the neighboring areas of the advertiser store, there are problems such that the content to be advertised cannot be fully included due to the constraint of the posting space, or the advertising fee becomes high when the advertising frame is enlarged.

[0004] Recently, targeted advertising using the information of store customers has been carried out. In the advertising distribution system described in Patent Document 1, an advertising distributor acquires user information and user behavior history held by a plurality of partner companies, and distributes advertisements to users, for example, a manufacturer that provides products to the partner companies' stores.

[0005] Also, Patent Document 2 describes a computer system that enables targeted advertising using personal information stored in the database sections of a plurality of partner companies. The computer system of Patent Document 2 is a system in which an operating company that cross-utilizes personal information stored in the database sections of a plurality of partner companies and a media company that provides advertising frames cooperate to provide a set of advertising frames and personal information to an advertising company.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

[0007] While the systems described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 enable highly accurate targeted advertising, these systems involve tracking individual behavior and providing personal information to third-party companies. In recent years, with the advancement of laws protecting personal information, consumers have become increasingly reluctant to provide personal information to advertising companies. Furthermore, traditional targeted advertising has been costly and difficult to use, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.

[0008] Furthermore, in recent years, major retailers have been conducting advertising businesses that utilize customer and purchase data from their stores, targeting manufacturers who supply products to their stores as advertisers. In such advertising businesses, retailers can leverage the data they have obtained from their own retail operations. However, for small and medium-sized businesses, developing an advertising business that utilizes customer information obtained through their own operations has presented significant obstacles in terms of system development, sales activities, and costs.

[0009] The objective of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, to make it easier to deliver advertising information to the target area desired by the advertiser, and to provide an advertising system that can distribute profits to the physical stores associated with the users who receive the advertising information. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] To solve the above problems, the advertising system includes a store member registration unit that registers customers of affiliated stores with physical stores as store members of said affiliated stores, and a service provision server that provides advertising information from advertisers other than the affiliated stores to which the store members are registered, wherein the service provision server comprises an underwriting affiliate store extraction unit that extracts affiliated stores that meet the conditions specified by the advertiser from among affiliated stores that have permitted the provision of the advertising information to its own store members as underwriting affiliate stores, and an advertising information distribution unit that distributes the advertiser's advertising information to the store members of the underwriting affiliate stores.

[0011] Furthermore, it is preferable that the above conditions include at least the regional conditions desired by the advertiser, and that the underwriting member selection unit is configured to select member stores that have physical stores in regions that match the above regional conditions as underwriting member stores.

[0012] Furthermore, it is preferable that the above conditions include attribute conditions for the store members desired by the advertiser, and that the service provision server is configured to include a store member extraction unit that extracts store members who meet the above attribute conditions from among the store members of the accepting member stores.

[0013] Furthermore, it is preferable that the service provision server includes an exclusion condition database that stores the exclusion conditions specified by the affiliated merchant, and that the underwriting affiliated merchant extraction unit is configured not to extract affiliated merchants who have specified the exclusion conditions if the advertiser falls under those exclusion conditions.

[0014] Furthermore, it is preferable that the service provider server is configured to include an advertising information generation unit that generates the advertising information in accordance with the content entered on the screen displayed on the terminal device operated by the advertiser.

[0015] Furthermore, it is preferable that the service provision server is configured to include a reward calculation unit that calculates the reward for the underwriting member store when it delivers the advertiser's advertising information to the store member store of the underwriting member store.

[0016] Further, it is preferable that the service providing server includes a point management unit that awards points corresponding to the reward calculated by the reward calculation unit to the accepting franchise store.

[0017] Further, the service providing server provides a predetermined service related to the franchise store via the Internet as a member service, and the store member registration unit is configured to register the member user as a store member of the franchise store designated by the member user based on an operation performed on a terminal device of the member user having an account for the service.

[0018] Further, it is preferable that the service providing server includes a display processing unit that provides a portal site for the member user and displays a list of the advertisement information of the advertiser in a browsable manner on the my page of the store member on the portal site.

[0019] Further, it is preferable that the my page includes a display of a digital membership card for the member service, and the digital membership card also functions as a store membership card for the franchise store.

Effects of the Invention

[0020] In the present invention, it is possible to provide an advertising system that makes it easy to deliver advertisement information to a target area desired by an advertiser and enables distribution of profits to physical stores associated with users who receive the advertisement information.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0021] [Figure 1] It is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the advertising system and the service providing server of the embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a diagram showing an outline of an advertising service realized by the advertising system of the embodiment. [Figure 3] It is a diagram showing an example of a service member database. [Figure 4]It is a diagram showing an example of the process when a service member is registered as a store member of a franchise store and the display of the top page of the my page. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing an example of the store member registration flow. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing an example of a store member database. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing an example of the advertisement distribution flow of the embodiment. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for setting the presence or absence of permission for other store advertisements to be distributed and exclusion conditions on the franchise store terminal device. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing an example of the advertisement distribution request flow of the first embodiment. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing an example of an advertisement distribution request screen when the advertiser is a franchise store. [Figure 11] It is a diagram showing an example of an advertisement distribution request screen when the advertiser is a franchise store. [Figure 12] It is a diagram showing an example of a created advertisement selection screen when the advertiser is a franchise store. [Figure 13] It is a diagram showing an example of an advertisement creation format screen when the advertiser is a franchise store. [Figure 14] It is a diagram showing an example of an advertisement creation format screen when the advertiser is a franchise store. [Figure 15] (a) is a distribution condition selection screen, and (b) is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for the number of people hoping for distribution when not targeting for distribution. [Figure 16] It is a diagram showing an example of the advertisement distribution request / accepting franchise store extraction flow of the first embodiment. [Figure 17] (a) is a distribution condition / target number of people confirmation screen, (b) is a distribution cost confirmation screen, and (c) is a diagram showing an example of a distribution start date selection screen. [Figure 18] It is a diagram showing an example of a payment method selection screen when the advertiser is a franchise store. [Figure 19] It is a diagram showing an example of the advertisement distribution request / accepting franchise store extraction flow when target distribution is selected in the first embodiment. [Figure 20] (a) is an example of the target delivery conditions selection screen, and (b) is an example of the number of recipients and delivery cost confirmation screen. [Figure 21] This figure shows an example of the flow after advertising information has been delivered. [Figure 22] This figure shows an example of a store member's My Page displayed on a store member terminal device. (a) is the My Page top screen, and (b) is the inbox top screen. [Figure 23] This figure shows an example of how the contents of the merchant folder are displayed, as well as an example of a message sent from a merchant to a store member. [Figure 24] (a) is an example of the display on the advertising information top screen, and (b) is an example of the display of advertising information on a store member terminal device. [Figure 25] This figure shows an example of the merchant selection flow in the second embodiment. [Figure 26] This figure shows an example of the screen for inputting and filtering the number of people to be delivered in the second embodiment. [Figure 27] This figure shows an example of the merchant selection flow in the third embodiment. [Figure 28] This figure shows an example of the screen for specifying store member size and inputting the desired number of recipients in the third embodiment. [Figure 29] This figure shows an example of the merchant selection flow in the fourth embodiment. [Figure 30] This figure shows an example of the filtering screen in the fourth embodiment. [Figure 31] This figure shows an example of the merchant selection flow in the fifth embodiment. [Figure 32] This figure shows an example of a screen for specifying the number of households to be delivered to in the fifth embodiment. [Figure 33] This figure shows an example of a screen for confirming the number of deliveries in the fifth embodiment. [Figure 34] This figure shows an example of a delivery cost confirmation screen in the fifth embodiment. [Figure 35] This figure shows an example of the merchant selection flow in the sixth embodiment. [Figure 36] This figure shows an example of the filtering specification screen in the sixth embodiment. [Figure 37] This figure shows an example of the merchant selection flow in the seventh embodiment. [Figure 38] This is an example of the display on the advertiser terminal device in the seventh embodiment. (a) is the target delivery condition selection screen, and (b) is the screen for specifying the number of people to whom delivery is desired. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0022] (Advertising system configuration) Referring to Figure 1, an example of the configuration of the advertising system 1 of the embodiment will be described. As shown in Figure 1, the advertising system 1 comprises a service provision server 10, a merchant terminal device 20, a service member terminal device 30, a store member terminal device 31, and an advertiser terminal device 40. The service provision server 10 is connected to the merchant terminal device 20, the service member terminal device 30, the store member terminal device 31, and the advertiser terminal device 40 so that they can communicate with each other via a network NW.

[0023] The service provider server 10 is operated by the service provider 50 shown in Figure 2 and is a server computer that provides advertising services. As shown in Figure 2, multiple member stores 60 are members of the advertising service. The advertising service targets multiple member stores 60 that have physical stores, store members 70 who are customers of the member stores 60 and are registered as store members of the member stores 60, and advertisers 80. Specifically, it provides store members 70 with advertising information from advertisers 80 that are different from the member stores 60 to which the store members 70 are registered.

[0024] As shown in Figure 1, the service provision server 10 has a control unit 11 and a storage unit 12 as functional elements. The control unit 11 includes at least one processor. The control unit 11 of this embodiment includes a store member registration unit 11a. The store member registration unit 11a of this embodiment registers customers of a franchise store 60 that has a physical store as store members of the franchise store 60.

[0025] The storage unit 12 is an HDD or RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The storage unit 12 stores the merchant database 12a, the service member database 12b, the store member database 12c, the advertiser database 12d, etc. In this specification, "database" may be abbreviated as "DB" below. The service provision server 10 may be composed of multiple servers.

[0026] The service provider 50 may provide users with a membership-based comprehensive internet service. In this embodiment, the service provider 50 provides the following as the comprehensive internet service: store membership registration service for member stores 60 (details will be described later), reservation service, point accrual service, online shopping service, etc. The service provider 50 in this embodiment also provides the following to the member stores 60 of the comprehensive internet service: store membership registration service, customer management service, point management service, coupon issuance service, message delivery service, online sales management service, etc. The advertising service in this embodiment is included in the comprehensive internet service.

[0027] A member store 60 is a business that has at least one physical store. In this embodiment, member store 60 is a business that has joined the comprehensive internet service and obtained a store account, and is a business that uses the advertising service. In this embodiment, member store 60 can act as an underwriter, authorizing the distribution of advertising information from advertiser 80 to its own store members 70, and can also act as an advertiser, requesting other member stores 60 to distribute its own advertising information to their store members 70.

[0028] The types of businesses that can be included in the 60 member stores are not limited; for example, they could be hair salons, beauty salons, restaurants, retail stores, etc. Various information about the member stores 60 is registered in the member store database 12a. The member store database 12a may include, for example, the member store ID issued to the member store 60, store identification information such as the member store's name, type of business, and address, as well as information about the member store 60's staff.

[0029] The franchisee terminal device 20 is a computer device operated by the person in charge and / or staff of the franchisee 60, and is installed, for example, in the physical store of the franchisee 60. The franchisee terminal device 20 may also include computer devices installed in locations other than the physical store. For example, computer devices installed in the head office or headquarters of a franchisee 60 that has multiple physical stores may be included in the franchisee terminal device 20. The franchisee terminal device 20 is not limited to stationary computer devices, and may also include portable terminal devices such as smartphones and tablet devices.

[0030] Store member 70 is a user registered as a store member of affiliated store 60 in the store member registration service provided by service provider 50. In order to become a store member of affiliated store 60 in the store member registration service of this embodiment, it is a prerequisite to be a member user (hereinafter referred to as "service member") who has an account for the aforementioned comprehensive internet service provided by service provider 50. The store member registration process will be described in detail later.

[0031] The service member terminal device 30 is a terminal device operated by the service member. The store member terminal device 31 is a terminal device operated by the store member 70. The service member terminal device 30 and the store member terminal device 31 are portable terminal devices such as smartphones and tablet devices, but are not limited to these, and may also include stationary personal computers.

[0032] The advertiser 80 is an advertising entity that wishes to deliver advertisements primarily targeting a specific region using the advertising system 1, and is, for example, a business with a physical store or a business whose market area is a specific region. In the advertising system 1 of this embodiment, the advertiser 80 may or may not be a member store 60.

[0033] Furthermore, in this embodiment, advertisers 80 can include not only businesses that sell goods or provide services at local physical stores, but also temporary staffing agencies and large-scale businesses that want to market their goods or services in a specific region. For advertisers 80 like these, who do not necessarily require customer management services from service providers 50, various membership options may be available, such as membership registration limited to advertising requests.

[0034] The advertiser terminal device 40 is a computer device operated by the advertiser 80 and is installed, for example, in the advertiser 80's store or business premises. The advertiser terminal device 40 is not limited to a stationary computer device and may include portable terminal devices such as smartphones and tablet devices.

[0035] (Overview of the store membership registration system) The advertising system 1 of this embodiment includes a store member registration system that registers customers as store members of 60 affiliated stores. Hereinafter, an overview of the store member registration system in this embodiment will be described.

[0036] The service provider server 10 in this embodiment provides predetermined services related to the affiliated stores 60 as member services via the internet. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the store members 70 are service members who have an account (user account) for the comprehensive internet service. In this embodiment, the registration of the comprehensive internet service account is performed on the application of the comprehensive internet service installed on the user's terminal device or on a service member registration page (not shown) displayed on the website.

[0037] In this embodiment, the user identification information entered by the user on the service member registration page is registered in the service member DB12b. In the example shown in Figure 3, the service member DB12b contains the user identification information of the service member and the service member ID assigned to that service member, all associated with each other. The user identification information in this embodiment includes at least the user's name, date of birth, gender, email address, and password used for various authentications on the service member site and application. In addition, the user identification information may optionally include a telephone number, address, etc.

[0038] The service provider server in this embodiment issues a digital membership card, such as a 2D code or barcode, which includes at least a service member ID, to service members who have registered an account.

[0039] Furthermore, the service provision server 10 of this embodiment provides a portal site for service members to the service member terminal device 30. The portal site may be a website accessible via a browser, or it may be provided through an application installed on a smartphone or tablet device. Through the portal site, the service provision server 10 of this embodiment allows service members to perform reservation procedures for affiliated stores 60, store member registration procedures, and the like.

[0040] When a service member logs into the portal site using the service member terminal device 30, the My Page for that service member's account is displayed on the screen of the service member terminal device 30 (see Figure 4(a)). The My Page in the example shown in Figure 4(a) includes a display of a 2D code Q, which serves as the digital membership card for the comprehensive internet service. The digital membership card may also be a barcode.

[0041] The following describes an example of the process by which a customer of a member store 60 registers as a store member of that member store 60, with reference to Figures 4 and 5. In the example shown in Figures 4 and 5, a service member who wishes to use the member store 60 and register as a store member of that member store 60 performs the store member registration operation using the service member terminal device 30.

[0042] (Step S101) The service provider 50 issues a store member registration code to the affiliated store 60 in advance. The store member registration code in this embodiment is a two-dimensional code (QR code (registered trademark: hereinafter the same)). The store member registration two-dimensional code may include information such as store identification information that identifies the physical store of the affiliated store 60. In addition, if the affiliated store 60 is a type of business where services are provided by staff members (for example, a hair salon or beauty salon), the member registration two-dimensional code may include staff member identification information that identifies the staff member. The store member registration code in this embodiment can be presented to customers by printing it and displaying it in the physical store of the affiliated store 60, or by displaying it on the screen of the store terminal device 40.

[0043] (Step S102) As shown in Figure 4(b), service member A visits a physical store of affiliated store 60 (for example, hair salon A) to receive a service or purchase a product.

[0044] (Step S103) Service members are presented with a QR code for store membership registration by a store staff member at affiliated store 60 (hair salon A). The QR code for store membership registration may be presented only to customers who have used the store, and only within the store itself. Furthermore, the QR code for store membership registration obtained by the customer may have an expiration date. The expiration date may be a short period, such as 10 minutes. This configuration can deter store membership registration by people who have not used the physical store.

[0045] (Step S104) The service member displays the portal site or portal app on the screen of their service member terminal device 30 and, while logged in, reads the two-dimensional code for store member registration. In this embodiment, the store member registration unit 11a of the service provision server 10 registers the service member as a store member of the affiliated store 60 (in this example, hair salon A) specified by the service member, based on the operation performed on the service member terminal device 30 (in this example, reading the two-dimensional code for store member registration).

[0046] In this embodiment, when a two-dimensional code for store member registration is read by a service member terminal device 30 displaying a portal site, a store member registration request is automatically sent from the service member terminal device 30 to the service provision server 10.

[0047] (Step S105) Upon receiving the store member registration request, the store member registration unit 11a of the service provision server 10 extracts the user identification information of service member A included in the store member registration request from the service member DB 12b, associates the extracted user identification information with the store identification information of affiliated store 60 (hair salon A), and registers it in the store member DB 12c (see Figure 6). As a result, service member A is registered as store member 70 of store 60 (hair salon A). Once store member registration is complete, the control unit 11 executes a process to display a message indicating the completion of store member registration (e.g., "Shop added") on the screen of service member A's service member terminal device 30 (see Figure 4(c)). Once store member registration is complete, the 2D code Q, which is the digital membership card for the comprehensive internet service, also functions as the store membership card for affiliated store 60.

[0048] In the example shown in Figure 6, the store member DB12c has the store member 70's user identification information, including name, date of birth, gender, and email address. In this embodiment, the store member DB12c does not register the store member 70's address or telephone number, and is configured to register only the minimum amount of the store member 70's personal information. However, if the store member 70 gives permission, their address and telephone number can be registered in the store member DB12c.

[0049] In this embodiment, the merchant 60 can view its own store member database 12c from the management screen of the merchant terminal device 20. The merchant 60 may be able to view all items stored in the store member database 12c, or the items that can be viewed from the merchant terminal device 20 may be restricted.

[0050] Furthermore, the procedure is not limited to the one described above. The service member terminal device 30 may be configured to display a store member registration page (not shown) on its screen after reading the 2D code for store member registration, and to allow the user to indicate their intention to register as a store member from this page. Alternatively, store member registration may be performed when a service member displays their digital membership card, 2D code Q, on the screen of the service member terminal device 30 and has the merchant terminal device 30 read it.

[0051] If a customer visiting the store is not a service member, they may complete service member registration (account creation) for the comprehensive internet service at the store before registering as a store member. Alternatively, the 60 participating stores may allow both service member registration and store member registration to be completed simultaneously on a page displayed by scanning a QR code for store member registration.

[0052] (Message delivery) The service provision server 10 in the embodiment shown in Figure 1 comprises a message generation unit 11b and a message distribution unit 11c, and has the function of distributing messages to service members and store members 70.

[0053] The message generation unit 11b generates various messages, such as notifications and coupon distributions, from the service provider 50 or the affiliated store 60 to the service members or the store members 70 of the affiliated store 60. The message generation unit 11b may also automatically generate messages that correspond to the content entered in the settings screen displayed on the screen of the affiliated store terminal device 20, for example.

[0054] The message distribution unit 11c distributes the message generated by the message generation unit 11b to the service member or store member 70. In this embodiment, the message distribution unit 11c distributes the message to the service member's account. For example, the message distribution unit 11c can distribute the message addressed to the service member to the inbox displayed on the service member's My Page on the portal site. This allows the affiliated store 60 to freely distribute its business information, advertising information, etc., to its store members 70. The message distribution unit 11c may also, as necessary, send emails, distribute messages using various messaging services, send push notifications, or send notifications via in-app messages.

[0055] (Point management) The service provision server 10 in the embodiment shown in Figure 1 includes a point management unit 11d and has the function of awarding points to service members and store members 70. The point management unit 11d may also perform the process of awarding common merchant points to service members. The point management unit 11d may also perform the process of awarding store members 70 store-specific points that can be used only at stores where the store member has registered, or merchant-specific points that can be used at the store and group stores. The point management unit 11d may also have the function of awarding points to merchants 60. The point management unit 11d in the embodiment can award points to merchants 60 as compensation for the distribution of advertisements to other stores, as described later.

[0056] (Overview of advertising services) Next, with reference to Figure 2, an overview of the advertising service realized by the advertising system 1 of this embodiment will be described.

[0057] In Step S1 (Store Membership Registration), a service member uses one of the 60 affiliated stores and registers as a store member at that store. As mentioned above, this store membership registration is performed using the comprehensive internet service provided by the service provider 50. In the example shown in Figure 2, there are multiple store members 70, each associated with affiliated store 60A (a hair salon in City X) and affiliated store 60B (a nail salon in City Y). Note that a single service member can be a store member of multiple affiliated stores 60.

[0058] In step S2 (Registration of permission / exclusion conditions for distribution of advertisements from other stores), the member store 60 chooses whether or not to allow the service provider 50 to distribute advertising information from advertisers 80 other than its own store to its store members 70 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "distribution of advertisements from other stores"). In this embodiment, a member store 60 that has permitted the distribution of advertisements from other stores can set exclusion conditions for advertisers 80. This allows, for example, to specify that advertisers 80 of the same industry be excluded, thereby refusing to have advertising information from the same industry distributed to its store members 70 in the distribution of advertisements from other stores.

[0059] In step S3 (Ad delivery request and delivery condition selection), advertiser 80 (80C) requests service provider 50 to deliver its store's advertising information. It also selects various delivery conditions related to the distribution of the advertising information. These conditions include, for example, the location of member stores 60. This allows advertiser 80C, a restaurant with a physical store in city X, to deliver advertising information to member store 70 of member store 60A, which also has a store in city X.

[0060] In this example, advertiser 80C is also a member store 60 of the comprehensive internet service provided by service provider 50. In this embodiment, advertising distribution requests can also be received from advertisers 80D and 80E who are not member stores 60.

[0061] In step S4 (extracting 60 merchants that meet the distribution conditions), the service provider 50 extracts merchants 60 from among multiple merchants 60 that meet the distribution conditions specified by the advertiser 80C.

[0062] In Step S5 (delivering advertisements to the 60 selected member stores), advertiser 80C's advertising information is delivered to some or all of the 60 member stores (70 store members) selected in Step S4.

[0063] In Step S6 (Payment of Rewards), the service provider 50 pays a reward to the participating stores 60 whose advertisements for other stores were delivered to their own store members 70, based on the number of deliveries.

[0064] (System Functional Configuration) The control unit 11 of the service provision server 10 in the embodiment shown in Figure 1 comprises an advertising request information management unit 11e, a distribution condition management unit 11f, an advertising information generation unit 11g, a participating merchant extraction unit 11h, a store member extraction unit 11i, an advertising information distribution unit 11j, a display processing unit 11k, and a reward calculation unit 11L.

[0065] The advertising request information management unit 11e acquires advertising request information entered on the screen displayed on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 13). Specifically, advertising request information is information about the specific content of the advertisement, such as the text, images, and links to be included in the advertisement.

[0066] The delivery condition management unit 11f acquires the delivery conditions entered on the screen displayed on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 15(a), etc.). The delivery conditions are various conditions related to the delivery format of advertising information and the extraction of delivery destinations, and may include regional conditions desired by the advertiser 80 and attribute conditions of store members 70 desired by the advertiser 80. The delivery condition management unit 11f also acquires exclusion conditions, etc., specified by the merchant 60 from the merchant terminal device 20.

[0067] The advertising information generation unit 11g generates advertising information in accordance with the content entered on the screen displayed on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 13). In this embodiment, the advertising information generation unit 11g generates advertising information based on the advertising request information acquired by the advertising request information management unit 11e.

[0068] The underwriting member store selection unit 11h selects underwriting member stores 60 that meet the conditions specified by the advertiser 80 from among the member stores 60 that have permitted the provision of advertising information to their store members 70. The conditions in this embodiment include at least the regional conditions desired by the advertiser 80, and the underwriting member store selection unit 11h selects member stores 60 that have physical stores in regions that match the regional conditions. Furthermore, if the advertiser 80 falls under any exclusion conditions, the underwriting member store selection unit 11h in this embodiment does not extract any member stores 60 that meet the specified exclusion conditions as underwriting member stores.

[0069] The store member extraction unit 11i extracts 70 store members from among the 70 store members of the participating member stores that meet the attribute conditions desired by the advertiser 80.

[0070] The advertising information distribution unit 11j distributes the advertising information generated by the advertising information generation unit 11g to the store members 70 of the member stores 60 extracted by the underwriting member store extraction unit 11h. In this embodiment, the advertising information distribution unit 11j distributes the advertising information to the accounts of the store members 70. For example, the advertising information distribution unit 11j can distribute the advertising information to the inbox displayed on the service member's My Page on the portal site. The advertising information distribution unit 11j may also, as necessary, send emails, distribute messages using various messaging services, send notifications via push notifications or in-app messages, etc.

[0071] In this manner, the advertising distribution system 1 of this embodiment delivers advertisements to other stores to the store members 70 of the member stores 60 that have been selected as underwriting member stores from among the member stores 60. Furthermore, advertisements to other stores may be delivered to store members 70 that have been further narrowed down based on attribute conditions from among the store members 70 of the underwriting member stores.

[0072] The display processing unit 11k controls the display of data to each terminal device included in the advertising system 1. The display processing unit 11k controls the store management screen displayed on the merchant terminal device 20, the advertising request information input screen displayed on the advertiser terminal device 40, and the display of the portal site. For example, in this embodiment, the display processing unit 11k displays a list of advertising information from advertiser 80 so that it can be viewed on the store member 70's My Page on the portal site.

[0073] The compensation calculation unit 11L calculates the compensation for the underwriting member store when it delivers advertising information from the advertiser 80 to the store members 70 of the underwriting member store.

[0074] Furthermore, the storage unit 12 of the service provision server 10 in this embodiment includes an advertiser database 12d, an advertising request information database 12e, a delivery condition database 12f, and an exclusion condition database 12g.

[0075] Advertiser DB12d stores information on 80 advertisers who request ad delivery.

[0076] The advertising request information DB12e stores the advertising request information acquired by the advertising request information management unit 11e.

[0077] The distribution conditions DB12f stores the distribution conditions acquired by the distribution conditions management unit 11f.

[0078] The exclusion conditions DB12g stores the exclusion conditions acquired by the distribution conditions management unit 11f.

[0079] (Operation of the advertising system in the first embodiment) Next, the operation of the advertising system 1 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 7, etc.

[0080] (Step S1: Store Membership Registration) The store member registration process (step S1 in Figure 2, Figure 5) is as described above, and will not be explained here.

[0081] (Step S2: Allowing and excluding advertising from other stores) Step S2 (Registration of permission / exclusion conditions for distribution of advertisements to other stores), shown in Figure 7, will now be explained. In this embodiment, the display processing unit 11k displays an input screen (see Figure 8) on the screen of the affiliate terminal device 20 for inputting whether or not to allow the distribution of advertisements to other stores to the affiliate store's members 70. In this embodiment, the advertiser's advertisement information can only be distributed to the affiliate store members 70 of the affiliate store 60 that have allowed the distribution of advertisements to other stores to the affiliate store's members 70.

[0082] In the input screen shown in the example in Figure 8, when the user performs the operation to allow the distribution of advertisements from other stores (by checking the "Allow" checkbox), input fields for setting exclusion conditions for advertiser 80 are displayed. In this example, the industry of advertiser 80 can be selected as an exclusion condition. This allows member store 60 to set it so that when it becomes an underwriting member store, advertisement information from competitors is not distributed to its store members 70. The exclusion conditions entered on the input screen shown in Figure 8 are sent to the service provider server 10, and the distribution condition management unit 11f executes the process of registering the exclusion conditions in the exclusion condition DB 12g.

[0083] (Step S3-1: Ad delivery request / delivery condition selection) Step S3-1 (Ad delivery request / delivery condition selection) shown in Figure 7 will be explained. In this embodiment, ad request information is transmitted from the advertiser terminal device 40 to the service provider server 10. The delivery condition selection flow of the flow in which the advertiser 80 requests ad delivery will be explained below with reference to Figure 9, etc. In this embodiment, the advertiser 80 may be a merchant 60 or not. For convenience, the terminal device operated by the advertiser 80 who is a merchant 60 (for example, advertiser 80C shown in Figure 2) will be referred to as the advertiser terminal device 41, and the terminal device operated by the advertiser 80 who is not a merchant 60 (for example, advertiser 80D shown in Figure 2) will be referred to as the advertiser terminal device 42. The advertiser terminal device 41 may also be the merchant terminal device 20.

[0084] (Step S301) The person in charge of advertiser 80C (a restaurant in City X in the example shown in Figure 2) uses the advertiser terminal device 41 to log in to the merchant page (not shown) of the comprehensive internet service provided by the service server 10.

[0085] (Step S302) Next, the user transitions from the logged-in merchant page to the other store advertising menu page (not shown). On the other store advertising menu page, the user selects the other store advertising distribution request menu to display the advertising distribution request screen (see Figure 10). The advertising distribution request screen in the example shown in Figure 10 displays the points held by the merchant 60 and the number of other store advertising orders for this fiscal year, as well as the "Request a new advertisement" button for requesting other store advertising distribution. The advertising distribution request screen may also display a list of past requests for other store advertising distribution, and may include buttons to transition to a detailed screen of the request history (such as the text of the advertising information and distribution conditions), or a button to transition to the invoice issuance screen for requested advertisements.

[0086] (Step S303) When the person in charge at advertiser 80C presses the "Request a new ad placement" button, a pop-up message (see Figure 11) is displayed asking whether or not to use a pre-created ad. Pre-created ads include, for example, ad information that has been requested to be distributed to other stores in the past, or ad information that has been saved as a draft. In this embodiment, if advertiser 80 is a member store 60 (i.e., if it has a store account for the comprehensive internet service provided by the service provider 50), it can use a pre-created ad when requesting ad distribution, saving the trouble of re-entering all the information each time a request is made.

[0087] (Step S304) If you select to use a pre-created ad in Step S303, you will be taken to the pre-created ad selection screen shown in Figure 12. Select the ad you want to use from the list of pre-created ads and press the "Select this ad" button to be taken to the delivery conditions selection screen in Step S310 (see Figure 15(a)).

[0088] (Step S305) If you choose not to use the ad created in Step S303, you will be taken to the ad creation format screen shown in Figure 13. On this example's ad creation format screen, you can enter and set the ad information in the input form. The input forms on the ad creation format screen include the image to be included in the ad information, various comments, the details of the benefits and the benefit expiration date if benefits are set, the destination URL link and the setting of a button to go to this URL. After entering the ad information using these forms and pressing the "Confirm" button, you will be taken to the confirmation screen shown in Figure 14. On this example's confirmation screen, there are buttons to display a preview of the ad information, a correction button, a draft save button, and a registration button. After confirming the ad information and pressing the "Register" button, you will be taken to the delivery condition selection screen in Step S310 (see Figure 15(a)).

[0089] Furthermore, the system may not be limited to ad creation through inputting information into the ad creation format screen. For example, if a more aesthetically pleasing ad is desired, the system may also be configured to allow users to request ad creation through a separate ad creation request form. Additionally, if advertiser 80 already possesses ad data created by another company, the system may be configured to allow registration through a file upload function.

[0090] (Steps S306-S309) Here, we will explain an example of the flow from ad distribution application to ad creation format screen input when advertiser 80 is advertiser 80D, not affiliate store 60. Advertiser 80D applies for ad distribution from visitor application screen (not shown) provided by service server 10 (Step S306). On the application screen of this embodiment, the advertiser is asked to agree to the terms of service (Step S307). If they do not agree, they cannot request ad distribution (Step S308). If they agree, they are taken to the ad creation format screen (not shown) (Step S309). Advertiser 80D creates the ad by entering the necessary information on the ad creation format screen, and also enters store information such as the store name and address.

[0091] The application screen may also allow advertiser 80D to choose whether or not to join the comprehensive internet service. If advertiser 80D joins the comprehensive internet service, it is not necessary to enter store information on the advertisement creation format screen. Once advertiser 80D has entered the advertisement information, proceed to step S310. The flow from step S310 onward is largely the same for advertisers 80C and 80D.

[0092] (Step S310) In the delivery condition selection screen shown in Figure 15(a), advertiser 80 (80C, 80D) selects the desired delivery conditions. In this example, the delivery condition selection screen allows the user to select whether or not to include the highlighting option in the "Delivery Method" section. Adding the highlighting (special information) option allows the advertisement to be highlighted on the store member terminal device 31 at the delivery destination (see Figure 22). Specific examples of highlighting will be described later. In addition, the display size of the advertisement information can be selected in the "Display Size" section. In the "Delivery Period" section, the display period for the advertisement information delivered to the store member 70's account in their inbox can be set.

[0093] (Regional conditions) Furthermore, in this embodiment, advertiser 80 can specify the desired regional conditions for the distribution of advertising information. In the example distribution condition selection screen shown in Figure 15(a), the regional conditions are specified in the "Regional conditions of the underwriting member store" item. In this embodiment, the regional conditions can be specified at the "prefecture" or "city / ward / county" level. On this distribution condition selection screen, prefectures and cities / wards / counties can be selected using checkboxes. Only one prefecture may be selected, while multiple cities / wards / counties may be selected, or both prefectures and cities / wards / counties may be selected in multiples. Alternatively, an area selection screen, such as Kanto or Kansai, may be displayed before the prefecture selection.

[0094] When an advertiser 80 specifies regional conditions, the service provider server 10 (accepting member store extraction unit 11h) selects the destination for the advertising information from a population consisting of store members 70 of member stores 60 that have physical stores in the regions that match the specified regional conditions. In other words, the regional conditions in this embodiment are used to extract accepting member stores by matching them with the information of the physical store locations of member stores 60, and are not used to directly extract store members 70 who reside in regions that match the regional conditions by matching them with the address information of store members 70.

[0095] In the advertising system 1 of this embodiment, since the store members 70 of the affiliated stores 60 are likely to reside in the vicinity of the physical stores of the affiliated stores 60, an advertising distribution service can be realized that makes it easy to deliver advertising information to the target area desired by the advertiser 80 without directly extracting store members 70 that meet the regional conditions. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the advertising system 1 can be made easy to deliver advertising information to the target area desired by the advertiser 80 without referring to the personal information of the store members 70. The specific extraction flow by the service provision server 10 will be described in steps S401 and below.

[0096] (attribute condition) (Step 311) In the delivery condition selection screen of the embodiment (see Figure 15(a)), advertiser 80 can specify attribute conditions in the target delivery condition specification field to further narrow down the target of the delivery of advertising information. Examples of attribute conditions that can be specified include attribute conditions of store members 70 who are the target recipients (gender, age, etc.) and store conditions of member stores 60 that are extracted as underwriting member stores (industry, average customer spending, etc.). Note that an optional fee may be added for specifying target delivery conditions.

[0097] (Step S312) On the delivery condition selection screen (see Figure 15(a)), enter each delivery condition and press the "Next" button, and the entered delivery conditions will be sent to the service provider server 10. Note that the flow of the following steps differs depending on whether or not target delivery conditions are specified. First, the flow when the target delivery option is not selected will be explained with reference to Figure 16, and the flow when the target delivery option is selected will be explained later with reference to Figure 19.

[0098] (Step S4: Selecting participating merchants) The service provider server 10 in this embodiment extracts participating merchants that meet the distribution conditions received from the advertiser terminal device 40 and transmits the total number of store members 70 who will be the target audience to the advertiser terminal device 40. The extraction flow from step S401 onwards, as shown in Figure 16, is as follows.

[0099] (Step S401) The distribution conditions received by the service provider server 10 are stored in the distribution conditions DB 12f. The underwriting member store extraction unit 11h refers to the distribution conditions DB 12f and the member store DB 12a and extracts member stores 60 that meet the regional conditions specified by the advertiser 80. For example, if advertiser 80C (a restaurant in X city) specifies X city as the regional condition for underwriting member stores, member stores 60 that have physical stores in X city are extracted as candidate underwriting member stores.

[0100] (Step S402) Next, the underwriting member extraction unit 11h refers to the exclusion condition DB 12g and the advertiser DB 12d and determines whether any of the member stores 60 extracted as underwriting member store candidates in step S401 include any member store 60 for which the advertiser 80's industry has been set as an exclusion condition. If any are found to be included, that member store 60 is removed from the underwriting member store candidates. For example, if the advertiser 80C's industry is a restaurant, and the underwriting member store candidates include any member store 60 for which "restaurant" was specified as the "industry of advertiser to be excluded" in step S2, that member store 60 is removed from the underwriting member store candidates.

[0101] (Steps S403, S404) Next, the service provider server 10 calculates the total number of store members 70 across all the member stores 60 that have been selected as candidate member stores and sends this number to the advertiser terminal device 40 as the number of people to whom the ad can be delivered. The number of people to whom the ad can be delivered is displayed, for example, on the screen for inputting the number of people to whom the ad can be delivered, as shown in Figure 15(b).

[0102] (Step S313) The advertiser 80 enters the desired number of recipients on the screen for inputting the desired number of recipients (see Figure 15(b)), referring to the number of recipients that can be delivered. When the advertiser presses the "Confirm Delivery Conditions and Number of Recipients" button, the information of the desired number of recipients is sent to the service provider server 10.

[0103] (Step S405) The number of people who wish to receive the advertisement, received by the service provider server 10, is stored in the distribution conditions DB 12f. The underwriting member store extraction unit 11h of this embodiment refers to the distribution conditions DB 12f, the member store DB 12a, and the store member DB 12c, and randomly extracts member stores 60 to become underwriting member stores so that the total number of store members approximates the number of people who wish to receive the advertisement. In this embodiment, the store members 70 of each member store 60 extracted as underwriting member stores become the recipients of the advertisement, and the advertiser's advertisement information is distributed.

[0104] (Step S406) The service provider server 10 displays the number of recipients on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 17(a)).

[0105] (Step S314) Advertiser 80 checks the delivery conditions and number of recipients confirmation screen shown in the example in Figure 17(a). If the advertiser approves the number of recipients, they proceed to step S315. Advertiser 80 who wants to change the number of recipients can press the "Modify" button to return to step S310 or S313 and reset the delivery conditions and the desired number of recipients.

[0106] (Step S407) The service provider server 10 calculates the delivery cost according to the number of recipients approved by the advertiser 80 and displays it as an estimate on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 17(b)).

[0107] (Step S315) Advertiser 80 checks the delivery cost confirmation screen shown in Figure 17(b). If the advertiser approves the presented delivery cost, they press the "Proceed to Select Delivery Start Date" button and proceed to Step S316. If the advertiser wishes to adjust the delivery cost, they press the "Modify" button to return to Step S310 or S313 and can reset the delivery conditions and the desired number of recipients.

[0108] (Steps S316-S317) The advertiser 80 sets the delivery start date on the delivery start date selection screen shown in Figure 17(c). Pressing the "Proceed to Payment Method Selection" button on the same screen transitions to the payment method selection screen shown in Figures 18(a) and 18(b). If the advertiser 80 is a merchant 60, the advertiser 80 (80C) can choose to pay part or all of the advertising delivery costs using points granted by the service provider 50. If the advertiser 80 is not a merchant 60, the payment method selection screen (not shown) does not display the option for point payment, and payment methods such as bank transfer or credit card payment are available. When the advertiser 80 (80C, 80D) specifies a payment method and presses the "Next" button, the screen transitions to the completion screen shown in Figure 18(c), and the advertising delivery request is completed.

[0109] (Targeted delivery) Next, with reference to Figures 9, 19, etc., the advertising distribution request and merchant selection flow in the first embodiment when advertiser 80 wishes to perform targeted distribution will be described.

[0110] (Step S311) If "Target delivery" is selected in Step S311 shown in Figure 9 (see Figure 15), the process proceeds to the ad delivery request / accepting merchant extraction flow shown in Figure 19.

[0111] (Steps S401-S404) Steps S401-S404 shown in Figure 19 are the same as the extraction flow when no targeted delivery is performed, so the explanation is omitted. The number of people who can receive the delivery when targeted delivery is performed is displayed, for example, on the targeted delivery condition selection screen shown in Figure 20(a).

[0112] (Step S321) The advertiser 80 enters the target delivery conditions on the target delivery condition selection screen (see Figure 20(a)), referring to the number of people who can be delivered to the target.

[0113] (attribute condition) In the target delivery condition selection screen of the embodiment, gender and age conditions for the store members 70 can be selected as attribute conditions. In the example target delivery condition selection screen shown in Figure 20(a), the age conditions for the store members 70 to be delivered to can be specified by checking checkboxes for each decade-long period, or by specifying a range by optional input. Multiple age groups may be selected.

[0114] (Store conditions) In the target delivery condition selection screen of the embodiment, the average customer spending and industry type of participating merchants can be specified as store conditions. The store conditions are not limited to these, and other indicators such as the size of the 60 participating merchants may also be selectable.

[0115] When an advertiser 80 who has entered their target delivery conditions presses the "Show Filtered Results" button, the specified target delivery conditions are sent to the service provider server 10. The target delivery conditions received by the service provider server 10 are stored in the delivery condition DB 12f.

[0116] (Step S421) If the advertiser 80 specifies store conditions as target delivery conditions, the underwriting member selection unit 11h extracts member stores 60 that meet the specified store conditions from among the underwriting member store candidates as underwriting member stores.

[0117] (Step S422) If advertiser 80 specifies attribute conditions for store members 70 as target delivery conditions, store member extraction unit 11i extracts store members 70 that meet the specified attribute conditions from among the store members 70 of each participating store extracted in step S421, for example by referring to the delivery conditions DB 12f and the store member DB 12c, and selects store members 70 that meet the specified attribute conditions as target delivery recipients.

[0118] (Step S423) The service provider server 10 calculates the number of recipients extracted in step S422 and the corresponding distribution costs, and displays them as an estimate on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 20(b)).

[0119] (Step S322) Advertiser 80 checks the number of recipients and delivery cost confirmation screen shown in Figure 20(b). If the advertiser approves the presented content, they press the "Proceed to Select Delivery Start Date" button and proceed to Step S323. If the advertiser wishes to adjust the delivery costs, etc., they can press the "Modify" button to return to Step S310 or S321 and reset the delivery conditions, etc.

[0120] (Steps S323-S324) The selection of the delivery start date and payment method is the same as in the case of no targeted delivery, so the explanation is omitted.

[0121] (Data verification process) In this embodiment, after the advertiser 80 completes the ad delivery request, a data check process is provided in which a person in charge at the service provider 50 determines whether the URL links and image files included in the ad information are malicious. The determination of URL links and image files may be performed by the service provider server 10. Examples of redirect destinations for malicious URL links include harmful sites such as fraudulent sites, and sites that have no relation to the advertiser 80. Examples of malicious image files include images that have no relation to the advertiser 80, images that violate public order and morals, and images that contain information that leads to unrelated sites.

[0122] If any problems are detected with URL links or image files, a message requesting data correction is sent from the service provider server 10 to the advertiser terminal device 40. If there are no problems with the URL links or image files, or if the problems are corrected, the data check process is completed. By configuring the system to perform such data checks, the advertising system 1 of this embodiment can enhance the security of advertising services and improve user confidence.

[0123] (Step S5: Advertising Information Distribution) Next, step S5 (advertising information distribution) shown in Figure 7 will be described. In this embodiment, the advertising information generation unit 11g refers to the advertising request information DB 12e and generates advertising information to be distributed to the store members 70. The advertising information in this embodiment may include images, store information of the advertiser 80, benefits such as coupons, and buttons that lead to the reservation page, as shown in Figure 24(b).

[0124] The advertising information generated by the advertising information generation unit 11g is distributed to the store members 70 who were selected as recipients in step S4. In this embodiment, the advertising information distribution unit 11j distributes the advertiser's 80 advertising information to the inbox displayed on the service member's My Page of the store members 70 who are the recipients. The flow after the advertising information has been distributed to the store members 70 will be explained below with reference to Figure 21, etc.

[0125] (Step S501) The advertising information distribution unit 11j of the service provision server 10 distributes advertising information from advertiser 80 to store members 70 who are the target audience for the information.

[0126] (Step S502) In this embodiment, the delivered advertising information arrives in the inbox of the service member's My Page, which is viewed on the store member terminal device 31. Figure 22(a) shows an example of the display of the My Page top screen in the Internet Comprehensive Service portal application installed on the store member terminal device 31. In this example, the My Page top screen displays a 2D code Q which serves as a digital membership card. The My Page top screen may also be provided with a special information display area AD1 that displays advertising information or a thumbnail image of an advertiser 80 that has selected the highlighting option. In addition, the My Page top screen of this embodiment displays a button that transitions to the inbox ("Message BOX" in the figure) which stores various messages delivered by the message delivery unit 11c. Pressing this button transitions to the top screen of the inbox shown in Figure 22(b).

[0127] In the example shown in Figure 22(b), the top screen of the inbox displays folders where various messages are grouped and stored. In this embodiment, the display processing unit 11k generates folders for each type of message sender and displays a screen indicating that messages corresponding to each of these folders are stored.

[0128] The top screen of the inbox in this embodiment (Figure 22(b)) displays the merchant folder F1, which stores messages from the registered merchants 60. In this embodiment, a marker is displayed in the merchant folder F1 if there are unread messages. When a merchant folder F1 is selected, a folder for each merchant 60 is displayed (see Figure 23(a)), and when a folder for a particular merchant 60 is selected, a list of messages from that merchant 60 is displayed (see Figure 23(b)). Merchants 60 can freely send text messages (see Figure 23(c)) and messages with benefits such as coupons (see Figure 23(d)) to their store members at any time.

[0129] Furthermore, the top screen of the inbox in this embodiment (Figure 22(b)) displays an advertising information folder F2 where advertising information from advertiser 80 is stored. The advertising information folder F2 may also display folders with more detailed classifications. In the example shown in Figure 22(b), there is a special advertising information folder F21 where advertising information from advertiser 80 who have selected the highlighting option is stored, and a regular advertising information folder F22 (the "From Surrounding Areas" folder in the figure) where advertising information from advertiser 80 who have not selected the highlighting option is stored. In addition, in this embodiment, a read advertising information save folder F23 (the "Save BOX" folder in the figure) is created where advertising information opened by store members 70 is saved from the advertising information of advertiser 80 stored in the special advertising information folder F21 and the regular advertising information folder F22. Each folder may display information indicating the number of unread messages or information indicating a summary of new unread messages.

[0130] When any of the advertising information folders F2 is opened, the advertising information top screen shown in Figure 24(a) is displayed. In this example, tabs TB are provided according to the classification of the advertising information folder F2. When any of the tabs TB are selected, the advertising information in the advertising information folder F2 corresponding to that tab TB is displayed in a list. In this example, unread advertising information in the list is marked. In addition, the name of the advertiser 80 and the expiration date are displayed for each piece of advertising information. The displayed advertising information may be filtered to show, for example, the industry of the advertiser 80. Alternatively, the store member 70 may transition to a settings screen from the "Display Settings" button and set whether to display or hide each type of advertising information. With such a configuration, the store member 70 can customize the information they receive according to their interests.

[0131] Figure 24(b) shows an example of advertising information for advertiser 80 that used the multi-store advertising distribution service. The advertising information in this example was generated by the advertising information generation unit 11g based on the information entered by advertiser 80 on the advertising creation format screen (see Figure 13). The content of the advertising information is not limited to this example.

[0132] (Steps S503-S505) It is preferable that the advertising information can be counted as to whether it has been opened and read by the store member 70. In this embodiment, advertising information opened within a predetermined opening validity period is stored in the read advertising information storage folder F23 (Step S504). The service provider server 10 performs a storage count when an advertising piece of information is stored in the read advertising information storage folder F23 (Step S505). This allows the advertiser 80 to receive feedback on the advertising information open rate.

[0133] (Steps S506-507) In this embodiment, advertising information that is not opened within a predetermined opening validity period is automatically deleted after the expiration date (Step S506), and the service provider server 10 performs an unsaved count (Step S507). With this configuration, old, expired advertising information is automatically deleted, so store members 70 do not have to go through the trouble of managing messages in folders, and an easy-to-view display can be automatically maintained.

[0134] (Steps S508-S512) In this embodiment, if the opened advertisement information contains benefit information such as coupons, it is possible to manage whether or not the benefit information has been used. The benefit information is displayed in the advertisement information in the form of a 2D code, barcode, coupon number, etc. (see Figure 24(b)). If the benefit information contained in the advertisement information is used within the validity period (specifically, if a store member 70 presents the benefit information at the advertiser 80's store (step S510)), the advertiser terminal device 40 reads the benefit information and performs accounting processing (step S511). At this time, information indicating that the benefit information has been used is transmitted from the advertiser terminal device 40 to the service provision server 10, and the service provision server 10 counts the benefit usage (step S512). With this configuration, the advertiser 80 can be fed back the number of times the advertisement information has led to store visits and usage.

[0135] (Steps S513-S514) If store member 70 does not use the benefits included in the advertisement information within the validity period, the advertisement information is automatically deleted from the read advertisement information storage folder F23 (Step S513). When the advertisement information is deleted, the service provider server 10 counts the unused information (Step S514). With this configuration, it is possible to provide advertiser 80 with feedback on the unused rate of the advertisement information.

[0136] (Step S515) The advertiser terminal device 40 receives periodic notifications of various count results from the service provider server 10 (Step S515). The timing and frequency of count notifications can be determined as appropriate.

[0137] As described above, in this embodiment, advertising information is delivered to the inbox within the portal site or portal app, making it easy for the service provider server 10 to manage information such as deleting expired messages and saving opened messages. With this configuration, unlike email, for example, the store member 70, who is the recipient, does not need to set up message sorting or delete old messages themselves. In addition, with typical promotional emails sent via email, mainly only the subject line is displayed in the inbox, which can lead to them getting lost among other emails and resulting in low open rates. With this embodiment, advertising information or its thumbnail image is displayed on the My Page or at the top of the inbox, making the advertising content more eye-catching.

[0138] (Step S6: Reward calculation and reward granting process) As described above, according to this embodiment, after the participating merchants are selected, advertising information is distributed to the store members 70 linked to these merchants 60. Therefore, it becomes possible to distribute the profits associated with advertising distribution to the participating merchants 60, which are the physical stores linked to the users (store members 70) who receive the advertising information.

[0139] In this embodiment, the service provider 50 is selected as an accepting merchant and pays a predetermined reward to merchants 60 whose advertisements for other stores are delivered to its own store members 70. In this embodiment, the reward calculation unit 11L of the service provision server 10 calculates the reward for merchants 60, for example, according to the number of recipients. The reward amount calculated by the reward calculation unit 11L is notified to merchants 60 at a predetermined time. Merchants 60 may select the means of receiving the reward on a management screen displayed on the merchant terminal device 20. It is preferable that the reward be received in multiple ways, such as bank transfer, points, or offset against various fees. The service provision server 10 executes the reward granting process based on the receiving method specified by merchants 60. If merchants 60 wish to receive points, the point management unit 11d grants points to merchants 60 equivalent to the reward calculated by the reward calculation unit 11L.

[0140] In this embodiment, a member store 60 with a physical store can automatically earn advertising revenue by having advertisements for other stores delivered to its own customers, who are store members 70. Furthermore, in this embodiment, advertisements can be delivered to store members 70 without their personal information being provided to third parties such as advertisers 80.

[0141] (Other embodiments) The advertising system 1 can take on various forms, particularly in the process of selecting participating merchants. The following describes embodiments that differ mainly in the selection process. Parts similar to those in the first embodiment will be omitted from the explanation. For convenience, the diagrams showing the selection flow in the following embodiments only show excerpts of the operation of the service provider server 10.

[0142] (Second Embodiment) The merchant selection flow for the second embodiment will be explained with reference to Figure 25, etc.

[0143] (Steps S401-S403) Steps S401-S403 shown in Figure 25 are the same as in the first embodiment, so their explanation will be omitted.

[0144] (Step S431) The service provider server 10 displays the total number of store members (number of people who can be delivered) from all the extracted candidate underwriters on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 26). In the example shown in Figure 26, the screen for inputting and specifying the desired number of people to deliver to displays an input field where the desired number of people to deliver to is entered up to the number of people who can be delivered, and an anonymized list for narrowing down the candidate underwriters to underwriters.

[0145] The anonymized list in this example contains information such as industry type and average customer spending for 60 merchants selected as potential underwriters. In this example, the average customer spending information is schematically shown with more stars as the average customer spending increases, but this is not the only way to represent it. The anonymized list may list each of the 60 selected merchants individually, or it may list multiple merchants 60 together based on their industry type and average customer spending information. The advertiser 80 can check the selection box for the store attributes they want to extract as underwriters. In conjunction with this check, the "Number of Recipients" column displayed below the anonymized list shows the number of recipients when filtered by the checked attributes. The advertiser 80 can specify that the number of potential underwriters be narrowed down to approximate the desired number of recipients.

[0146] (Step S432) The underwriting merchant extraction unit 11h extracts underwriting merchants based on the advertiser's 80 filtering specifications. The store members 70 of each of the 60 merchants extracted as underwriting merchants become the target audience for the advertisement. The service provider server 10 calculates the distribution cost according to the number of target audiences and presents it to the advertiser 80.

[0147] (Third embodiment) The merchant selection flow for the third embodiment will be explained with reference to Figure 27, etc.

[0148] (Steps S401-S402) Steps S401-S402 shown in Figure 27 are the same as in the first embodiment, so their explanation will be omitted.

[0149] (Step S441) The service provider server 10 classifies the 60 member stores extracted as candidates for underwriting by the size of their store members. In this example, for example, the store members are divided into units of 100, but this is not limited to this.

[0150] (Step S442) The service provider server 10 displays the number of store members for each store member size for the 60 stores extracted as candidates for underwriting on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 28). Note that the store member size filtering and desired number of recipients input screen shown in Figure 28 also displays the total number of store members for all candidates for underwriting as the maximum number of recipients to whom the ad can be delivered.

[0151] In the example shown in Figure 28, the number of store members for each store membership size is displayed in the "Filter affiliated stores within the specified area" column. The advertiser 80 can select the store membership size they wish to extract as affiliated stores by checking the corresponding box in the selection column. The advertiser 80 can also enter the desired number of recipients on the same screen.

[0152] (Step S443) The underwriting member selection unit 11h randomly selects underwriting member stores from among the candidate underwriting member stores, from among the member stores 60 that correspond to the store member size specified by the advertiser 80, in order to approximate the number of people to whom the advertisement should be delivered. The store members 70 of each member store 60 randomly selected as underwriting member stores become the target audience for the advertisement. The service provider server 10 calculates the delivery cost according to the number of target audiences and presents it to the advertiser 80.

[0153] (Fourth Embodiment) The merchant extraction flow for the fourth embodiment will be explained with reference to Figure 29, etc. In the fourth embodiment, the advertiser 80, who narrowed down the list of prospective merchants by specifying the store member size and the number of people to whom the advertisement should be delivered in step S442 of the third embodiment, can further narrow down the list by industry and average customer spending.

[0154] (Step S451) The service provider server 10 displays an anonymized list containing industry information and average customer spending information for the candidate merchants narrowed down in step S442 on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 30). The anonymized list in the fourth embodiment also includes information on the size of the store membership. The display of other items may be the same as in the anonymized list of the second embodiment.

[0155] (Step S452) The underwriting member store extraction unit 11h extracts 60 member stores that meet the conditions of store member size, industry, and average customer spending specified by the advertiser 80 as underwriting member stores. The store members 70 of each member store 60 extracted as underwriting member stores become the target audience for the advertisement. The service provider server 10 calculates the distribution cost according to the number of target audiences and presents it to the advertiser 80.

[0156] (Fifth embodiment) In the first to fourth embodiments, the distribution cost is calculated based on the total number of recipients multiplied by the unit price per person. The fifth embodiment allows for the calculation of distribution costs on a per-member basis. The distribution member extraction flow for the fifth embodiment will be described below with reference to Figure 31, etc.

[0157] (Step S461) After steps S401 to S402, the service provider server 10 classifies the 60 member stores extracted as candidates for underwriting by store member size. At this time, it also calculates the number of member stores 60 for each store member size.

[0158] (Step S462) The service provider server 10 displays the number of stores for each store membership size for the member stores 60 extracted as candidate underwriters on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 32). The screen for specifying the desired number of stores for distribution shown in Figure 32 displays the total number of candidate underwriters as "Number of member stores in the specified area," as well as the breakdown of the number of stores by store membership size and the unit price per store, allowing the advertiser 80 to input the desired number of stores for distribution for each store membership size. The advertiser 80 checks how many member stores 60 of each store membership size are in the specified area and what the unit price per store is, decides how many member stores 60 of each size to specify, and enters this information in the desired number input field.

[0159] (Step S463) The underwriting member selection unit 11h randomly selects underwriting member stores from the underwriting member store candidates in accordance with the number of stores the advertiser 80 wishes to deliver to. The store members 70 of each of the 60 stores selected as underwriting member stores become the target audience for delivery. The service provider server 10 displays the number of extracted underwriting member stores on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 33). Note that if the number of stores 60 that meet the store member size conditions specified by the advertiser 80 is small, the number of stores delivered (number of underwriting member stores) may be less than the desired number of stores to deliver to. The advertiser 80 can check the number of stores delivered (number of underwriting member stores) on the delivery number confirmation screen shown in Figure 33, and if they wish to make corrections, they can redo the selection of the desired number of stores to deliver to.

[0160] Once advertiser 80 accepts the number of recipients and presses the "Confirm Delivery Costs" button, the system transitions to the delivery cost confirmation screen shown in Figure 34. In this embodiment, the estimated delivery cost is presented, calculated based on the number of recipients multiplied by the unit price per recipient. If the advertiser wishes to modify the conditions after reviewing the estimated delivery cost, they can press the "Modify" button to reconfigure the conditions. After approving the estimated cost, the advertiser presses the "Proceed to Delivery Start Date Selection" button to select the delivery start date and payment method.

[0161] (Sixth Embodiment) In the sixth embodiment shown in Figure 35, an anonymized list containing industry information and average customer spending information is displayed on the advertiser terminal device 40 for affiliated stores 60 that meet the store member size conditions specified by the advertiser 80, from among the affiliated store candidates extracted and classified in step S461 of the fifth embodiment. This allows the advertiser 80 to specify even more detailed conditions for narrowing down the affiliated stores.

[0162] (Step S471) In step S471 shown in Figure 35, the anonymized list shown in Figure 36 is displayed on the advertiser terminal device 40. The display of each item in the anonymized list in the sixth embodiment may be the same as in the fourth embodiment.

[0163] (Step S472) The underwriting member store extraction unit 11h extracts 60 member stores that meet the conditions of store member size, industry, and average customer spending specified by the advertiser 80 as underwriting member stores. The store members 70 of each member store 60 extracted as underwriting member stores become the target audience for the advertisement. The service provider server 10 calculates the distribution cost according to the number of target audiences and presents it to the advertiser 80.

[0164] (Seventh Embodiment) The seventh embodiment shown in Figure 37 is a targeted delivery method of the first embodiment in which the advertiser 80 specifies the number of people to whom the advertisement should be delivered. Steps S401 to S404 shown in Figure 37 are the same as in the first embodiment, so their explanation is omitted.

[0165] (Step S481) When advertiser 80 specifies store conditions on the target delivery condition specification screen shown in Figure 38(a), the underwriting member extraction unit 11h extracts member stores 60 that meet the specified store conditions as underwriting member candidates.

[0166] (Step S482) When the advertiser 80 specifies attribute conditions for store members 70 on the target delivery condition specification screen shown in Figure 38(a), the store member extraction unit 11i extracts store members 70 that meet the specified attribute conditions from among the candidate store members 70 extracted in Step S481 as attribute condition satisfied individuals.

[0167] (Step S483) The service provider server 10 displays the number of people who meet the attribute criteria extracted in step S482 ("total number of target members") on the advertiser terminal device 40 (see Figure 38(b)). The advertiser 80 enters the number of people they wish to deliver to, up to the number of people who meet the attribute criteria, on the delivery request screen in Figure 38(b).

[0168] (Step S484) The underwriting member selection unit 11h randomly selects 60 member stores from the underwriting member store candidates to become underwriting member stores so that the total number of recipients approximates the number of people who wish to receive the advertisement. The store members 70 of each member store 60 selected as underwriting member stores become the recipients, and the advertiser's advertisement information is delivered to them.

[0169] In the seventh embodiment, further narrowing down of participating merchants may be performed using an anonymized list that includes information on the type of business and average customer spending of the 60 participating merchants.

[0170] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments described, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be implemented in various forms. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0171] 1. Advertising System 10 Service Provider Servers 11 Control Unit 11a Store Membership Registration Department 11b Message generation unit 11c Message Distribution Department 11d Point Management Department 11e Advertising Request Information Management Department 11F Distribution Conditions Management Department 11g Advertising Information Generation Unit 11h Underwriting Merchant Selection Department 11i Store Member Extraction Department 11j Advertising Information Distribution Department 12 Storage section 12a Merchant Database 12b Service Member Database 12c Store Member Database 12f Delivery Conditions Database 20 Merchant terminal equipment 30 Service Member Terminal Device 31 Store Member Terminal Devices 40 Advertiser terminal device 50 service providers 60 member stores 70 store members 80 advertisers

Claims

1. It has a store membership registration department that registers customers of affiliated stores with physical locations as store members of those affiliated stores. An advertising system including a service server that provides advertising information from advertisers other than the affiliated stores registered by the store member to the aforementioned store member, The aforementioned service provider server A member store selection unit that selects member stores that meet the conditions specified by the advertiser from among member stores that have permitted the provision of the aforementioned advertising information to their store members, and An advertising system comprising an advertising information distribution unit that distributes advertising information of the advertiser to the store members of the aforementioned affiliated stores.

2. The aforementioned conditions include at least the geographical conditions desired by the advertiser, The advertising system according to claim 1, wherein the underwriting member selection unit selects member stores that have physical stores in areas that meet the above-mentioned regional conditions as underwriting member stores.

3. The aforementioned conditions include the attribute conditions of the store members desired by the advertiser, The aforementioned service provider server The advertising system according to claim 2, further comprising a store member extraction unit for extracting store members who meet the attribute conditions from among the store members of the underwriting member stores.

4. The aforementioned service provider server The system includes an exclusion conditions database that stores the exclusion conditions specified by the aforementioned member store, The aforementioned underwriting member store selection unit is: The advertising system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein if the advertiser falls under the exclusion conditions, the member store that specified the exclusion conditions is not extracted as an accepting member store.

5. The aforementioned service provider server The advertising system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an advertising information generation unit that generates the advertising information in accordance with the content entered on a screen displayed on a terminal device operated by the advertiser.

6. The aforementioned service provider server The advertising system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a reward calculation unit that calculates the reward to the underwriting member store when advertising information from the advertiser is distributed to the store members of the underwriting member store.

7. The aforementioned service provider server The advertising system according to claim 6, further comprising a point management unit that grants points equivalent to the reward calculated by the reward calculation unit to the participating merchant.

8. The aforementioned service provider server This service provides the aforementioned affiliated stores as a member service via the internet. The aforementioned store member registration department is: An advertising system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which registers a member user as a store member of the affiliated store designated by the member user based on an operation performed on the terminal device of a member user who has an account for the said service.

9. The aforementioned service provider server The aforementioned portal site is provided for member users, The advertising system according to claim 8, further comprising a display processing unit that makes a list of advertisers' advertising information viewable on the store member's My Page on the portal site.

10. The aforementioned My Page is, Including the display of a digital membership card for the aforementioned membership service, The advertising system according to claim 9, wherein the digital membership card also functions as a store membership card for the affiliated store.

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