Advertising print effectiveness collection system and advertising print effectiveness collection device

Abstract

This invention provides a system and device for collecting the effects of advertising prints, enabling a detailed understanding of their effectiveness. [Solution] When an action is selected, the user terminal 300 sends the selection result (selected action) to the advertising server 100 in process B15. Upon receiving the selection result, the advertising server 100 retrieves the selected action in the selected process B20 and stores the selected action in the memory area reserved in the aforementioned action history DB 133. At this time, referring to the print job management DB 132, user identification information and identification information 139 corresponding to the unique information extracted in process B05 are associated with the stored action and stored in the action history DB 133.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The technical field disclosed in this specification relates to an advertisement printing effect collection system for collecting information on the effects printed for each advertisement and an advertisement printing effect collection device.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, technologies for displaying advertisements on the screens of terminals such as personal computers and smartphones have become widespread. On the other hand, compared to delivering advertisements to and printing them on the printers owned by users, it has not become as widespread as displaying advertisements on the screens of terminals. In the case of displaying advertisements on the screens of terminals, it is relatively easy to collect the effects of advertisements by clicking on the advertisements, etc. However, it is thought that it is not easy to collect the effects of advertisements when delivering and printing advertisements. On the other hand, when delivering and printing advertisements, since the user gets the paper on which the advertisement is printed, there is an advantage that the content of the advertisement is easily recognized by the user.

[0003] As a document that discloses the effects of printed advertisements, for example, there is Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for detecting that access has been made to a two-dimensional code included in a delivered advertisement and recording the history of access to the advertisement.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, printed advertisements are sent to an unspecified number of subscribers, and while it is possible to detect that a user has accessed the advertisement, it is not possible to recognize which user accessed it. Advertisers can know how many people accessed the advertisement, but they cannot know what kind of users accessed it, and there is room for improvement in order to grasp the effectiveness of the advertisement in detail. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The advertising print effectiveness collection system, designed to solve the aforementioned problems, comprises: a user information management unit that manages user information of users using printers using user identification information; an identification information issuing unit that issues identification information; an advertising acquisition unit that acquires original advertising images submitted by advertisers and corresponding to the identification information issued by the identification information issuing unit; an advertising printing unit that prints advertising images, with an image indicating unique information added to the original advertising image acquired by the advertising acquisition unit, using the printer of the target user; an activity history acquisition unit that acquires information on the target user's activity history and the unique information in response to the printing of the advertising image; and an activity history storage unit that stores the activity history information of the target user acquired by the activity history acquisition unit, associating it with the identification information and the user identification information based on the unique information.

[0007] An advertising print effectiveness collection device, designed to solve the aforementioned problems, comprises: a user information management unit that manages user information of users using a printer using user identification information; an identification information issuing unit that issues identification information; an advertising acquisition unit that acquires original advertising images submitted by advertisers and corresponding to the identification information issued by the identification information issuing unit; an advertising print instruction unit that prints an advertising image, on which an image indicating unique information has been added to the original advertising image acquired by the advertising acquisition unit, using the printer of the target user; an activity history acquisition unit that acquires information on the target user's activity history and the unique information in response to the printing of the advertising image; and an activity history storage unit that stores the information on the target user's activity history acquired by the activity history acquisition unit, associating it with the identification information and the user identification information based on the unique information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the technology disclosed herein, it is possible to collect effectiveness information based on user information for each printed advertisement, and to understand the effectiveness of the printed advertisements in detail. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is an overall diagram showing the system for collecting effectiveness data from advertising prints. [Figure 2] This is an example of an electrical configuration diagram for an advertising server. [Figure 3] This is an example of an electrical configuration diagram for a printer. [Figure 4] This is an example of an electrical configuration diagram for a user terminal. [Figure 5] This is an example of an electrical configuration diagram for an advertiser's terminal. [Figure 6] This is an example of a sequence diagram showing the process from start to finish until the advertisement is printed. [Figure 7] This is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process for collecting user behavior history in response to printed advertisements. [Figure 8] This is an example of a screen used to collect user activity history. [Figure 9]Figure 9(a) shows one example of how the effectiveness of an advertisement can be displayed, and Figure 9(b) shows another example of how the effectiveness of an advertisement can be displayed. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] An embodiment of the advertising print effectiveness collection system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] <Overall Configuration of the Effect Data Collection System> Figure 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of the advertising print effectiveness collection system 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the advertising print effectiveness collection system 1 includes an advertising supply server (SSP: Supply Side Platform) 100, a printer 200, a user terminal 300, an advertiser terminal 400, an advertising management server (DSP: Demand Side Platform) 500, and a printer management server 600. Each server 100, 500, 600, printer 200, and each terminal device 300, 400 are equipped with a communication interface and can communicate with each other via a network NT. The network NT includes at least one of the following: the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a WAN (Wide Area Network). The communication interface may be configured to include multiple types of communication circuits for connecting to the network NT. In this case, devices connected to the network NT may communicate with multiple other devices using different communication circuits. In this embodiment, the collective term for multiple types of communication circuits is referred to as the communication interface.

[0012] <Advertising server> The advertising server 100 is, for example, a server installed and operated by the manufacturer of the printer 200. The advertising server 100 receives advertising images from the advertising management server 500 at predetermined times. The advertising server 100 distributes the acquired advertising images to the printer 200 and causes it to print. In addition, the advertising server 100 can collect various user activity history, such as whether the user viewed the advertisement, made an inquiry about the advertisement, visited a site to purchase the advertised product, etc., in response to the advertisement being printed by the printer 200, and display information based on this activity history to the advertiser as an indicator of the effectiveness of the advertisement. The advertising server 100 is an example of a device for collecting the effectiveness of advertising printing.

[0013] Figure 2 is an electrical configuration diagram of the advertising server 100. The advertising server 100 comprises a controller 110 and a communication IF 160. The communication IF 160 includes hardware such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) for connecting to Ethernet®, is connected to network NT, and communicates with the printer 200, user terminal 300, advertiser terminal 400, advertising management server 500, and printer management server 600. The controller 110 comprises a processor, which is a CPU 111, and memory 112. Memory 112 is composed of, for example, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, HDD, etc. Memory 112 comprises a program storage area 120 where various programs are stored and a data storage area 130 where various data is stored. The various programs in the program storage area 120 include programs that execute the control contents of the advertising server 100 as shown in the sequence diagrams in Figures 6 and 7 described later, and the data in the data storage area 130 includes various data such as the advertiser management DB 131, which is a database that manages information about advertisers, the print job management DB 132, which is a database that manages print jobs for printing advertisements, the behavior history DB 133, which is a database of the behavior history of users who receive printed advertisements, and the user information DB 134, which is a database of user information about users who receive printed advertisements.

[0014] The advertiser management DB 131 includes, for example, information about the advertiser, an advertisement DB 131a related to the advertisements published by the advertiser, and the like. Information about the advertiser includes, for example, advertiser information such as the personal name or corporate name of the advertiser, the IP address of the advertiser terminal 400 possessed by the advertiser, and the like. Further, the information about the advertiser includes store information such as the store name possessed by the advertiser, the store notation image described on the receipt, and the like. The advertisement DB 131a related to the advertisements published by the advertiser includes, for example, identification information 139 corresponding to each advertisement, the expiration date of the advertisement, questionnaire information related to the advertisement, and the like. The advertiser management DB 131 is managed by the controller 110.

[0015] The print job management DB 132 includes, for example, a print job number, identification information 139, user identification information, the original advertisement image or the URL for obtaining the original advertisement image, unique information attached to the advertisement image, printing conditions, a print deadline, the print completion date and time, and the like. The print job management DB 132 is managed by the controller 110.

[0016] The action history DB 133 includes the action history of the user corresponding to the advertisement printing for each advertisement and each user. For example, information indicating whether the user has viewed the printed advertisement, information indicating that the user has made an inquiry about a product after viewing the printed advertisement, information indicating that the user has visited the product purchase site after viewing the printed advertisement, and information indicating various other actions of the user, all of which are associated with both the user identification information for identifying the user and the identification information 139. As the history of each action, for example, the date and time when the action was performed is recorded. When information indicating that the user has purchased a product is included, more detailed purchase information may be included. The purchase information includes, for example, information about the item purchased by the user, the purchase store, the purchase date and time, the purchase method, and the like. The action history DB 133 is managed by the controller 110.

[0017] The user information DB 134 includes user information such as, for example, the user name, user identification information, printer identification information owned by the user, identification information of the terminal owned by the user, user-specific information to be shown on the receipt at the time of settlement, and the like. Further, the user information in the user information DB 134 includes user attribute information such as the user's age, gender, address, place of origin, favorite genre, and the like. The user information is registered in advance when the user concludes a contract for advertisement distribution printing, and is managed using the user identification information. The user information DB 134 is used for generating notification data of advertisement effects and the like, which will be described later. The user information DB 134 is managed by the controller 110, and the controller 110 that manages the user information DB 134 is an example of a user information management unit.

[0018] <Printer> Only one printer 200 is shown in FIG. 1, and the description of other printers 200 is omitted. A plurality of printers 200 corresponding to a plurality of users respectively are connected to the advertisement providing server 100. Each printer 200 acquires and prints the advertisement image distributed to each user from the advertisement providing server 100, and notifies the advertisement providing server 100 that the printing has been completed.

[0019] FIG. 3 is an electrical configuration diagram of the printer 200. The printer 200 includes a controller 210, a printing mechanism 220, a reading mechanism 230, a display unit 240, an operation unit 250, and a communication IF 260. The controller 210 controls the printing mechanism 220, the reading mechanism 230, the display unit 240, the operation unit 250, and the communication IF 260. The communication IF 260 includes hardware such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) for connecting to Ethernet, is connected to the network NT, and communicates with the user terminal 300 and the printer management server 600. The printer 200 may communicate with the advertisement providing server 100 without going through the printer management server 600.

[0020] The controller 210 includes a CPU 211, an ASIC 212, and memory 213. The memory 213 has a program area 214 where various programs are stored and a data area 215 where various data is stored. The controller 210 performs processes such as printing, reading, various displays, and receiving various operations by having the CPU execute various programs stored in the program area 214, and by having the ASIC perform various processes such as image processing. In addition, among the various programs, there is a program for an embedded web server (hereinafter referred to as EWS), and instead of using the display unit 240 and operation unit 250 to display and receive operations, it is also possible to use the user terminal 300 to display and receive operations.

[0021] The printing method of the printing mechanism 220 is, for example, an electrophotographic printing mechanism, but it may also be a printing mechanism of another printing method such as an inkjet method. The reading mechanism 230 is, for example, a flatbed reading mechanism that reads an image by placing the original on the platen, but it may also be a sheet-through reading mechanism that reads an image while transporting the original. The display unit 240 is, for example, a liquid crystal panel, but it may be of another type. By reading images such as questionnaire results using the reading mechanism 230, the user's behavior history can be detected (details will be described later). The operation unit 250 is, for example, a touch panel compatible with a liquid crystal panel, but it may also be a group of operation buttons separate from the display unit 240.

[0022] <User terminal> Figure 1 shows only one user terminal 300, omitting the other user terminals 300. Each printer 200 can print advertising images distributed from the advertising server 100, as well as print based on print data sent from the corresponding user terminal 300. Furthermore, the user terminals 300 can conduct surveys and other activities for users.

[0023] Figure 4 is an electrical configuration diagram of the user terminal 300. The user terminal 300 comprises a controller 310, a display unit 340, an operation unit 350, a communication IF 360, and an imaging unit 370. The controller 310 controls the display unit 340, the operation unit 350, the communication IF 360, and the imaging unit 370. The communication IF 360 has, for example, a wireless communication mechanism and is connected to the network NT via an access point, and can communicate with the advertising server 100 and the printer 200. Alternatively, it may communicate directly with the printer 200 via a wireless communication mechanism or the like. The display unit 340 is, for example, a liquid crystal panel, and the operation unit 350 is a touch panel compatible with the liquid crystal panel. The display unit 340 and the operation unit 350 can display various information and accept various operations. The imaging unit 370 can capture and read images.

[0024] The controller 310 includes a CPU 311 and a memory 320, the memory 320 having a program storage area 321 and a data storage area 325. The program storage area 321 stores the operating system (OS) 322 and applications 323. The applications 323 include various applications such as a printing application with a function to generate print data to send to the printer 200, a scanning application that reads images using the imaging unit 370, a survey application that conducts surveys in response to advertisement printing, and a browser that can display the web pages of the printer 200's EWS.

[0025] <Advertiser terminal> Figure 1 shows only one advertiser terminal 400, and the other advertiser terminals 400 are omitted. Multiple advertiser terminals 400, each corresponding to multiple advertisers, are connected to the advertising server 100. The advertiser terminals 400 can register information about the advertiser with the advertising server 100, submit advertisements to the advertising management server 500 to be printed, and obtain the results of collecting data on the effectiveness of printing advertisements from the advertising server 100.

[0026] Figure 5 is an electrical configuration diagram of the advertiser terminal 400. The advertiser terminal 400 comprises a controller 410, a display unit 440, an operation unit 450, and a communication interface 460. The controller 410 controls the display unit 440, the operation unit 450, and the communication interface 460. The communication interface 460 includes hardware such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) for connecting to Ethernet, is connected to the network NT, and communicates with the advertising server 100 and the advertising management server 500. The display unit 340 has a large screen to make the effects of printing advertisements easily visible. The operation unit 350 includes, for example, a keyboard and mouse.

[0027] The controller 410 includes a CPU 411 and memory 420, the memory 420 having a program storage area 421 and a data storage area 425. The program storage area 421 stores the operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) 422 and applications 423. Applications 423 include an advertiser application that can register information about advertisers, information about advertisements, etc., with the advertising server 100 and display the effect of printing advertisements from the advertising server 100, an advertising submission application that submits advertisements for printing, and other applications.

[0028] <Ad management server> The advertising management server 500 receives advertisement submissions from advertisers and sends the advertisement images to the advertising provision server 100 for printing on the printer 200. The advertising management server 500 has a controller (not shown), memory, a communication interface, etc., and in this example, it receives bid requests from the advertising provision server 100 via the communication interface. The controller of the advertising management server 500 conducts an auction corresponding to the bid requests for the advertisement images submitted by the advertisers and acquires suitable advertisement images by bidding on the auction. When a successful bid that meets the predetermined conditions of the auction is made, the controller of the advertising management server 500 acquires the corresponding advertisement image from the advertiser terminal 400 of the successful bidder advertiser.

[0029] The acquired advertising image is transmitted from the advertising management server 500 to the advertising provider server 100 via a communication interface, and from the receiving advertising provider server 100, it is further transmitted to the printer 200 for printing. Alternatively, the advertising provider server 100 may acquire the advertising image from the advertising management server 500, or the advertising management server 500 may acquire the advertising image from another external server and transmit it to the advertising provider server 100.

[0030] <Printer Management Server> The printer management server 600 acts as an intermediary between the advertising server 100 and the printer 200. Printers 200 can utilize various communication and printing protocols, and these vary depending on the printer manufacturer. The printer management server 600 acts as an intermediary between the advertising server 100 and the printer 200, reducing the complexity of the advertising server 100. The printer management server 600 may be established for each printer manufacturer to manage their own printers and associated printers 200. Furthermore, the existence of the printer management server 600 is not mandatory; the advertising server 100 may communicate directly with the printer 200. The printer management server 600 may also act as an intermediary between the advertising server 100 and the user terminal 300 corresponding to the printer 200.

[0031] The details of the processing of the advertising print effectiveness collection system 1 of this embodiment will be explained below with reference to Figures 6 and 7. Figures 6 and 7 are sequence flows representing the control performed through the cooperation of the advertising provider server 100, printer 200, user terminal 300, advertiser terminal 400, advertising management server 500, and printer management server 600.

[0032] Figure 6 is a sequence diagram showing the process until the advertisement is printed. First, a registration request is sent from the advertiser terminal 400 to the advertisement provider server 100 via process A01. This registration request includes, for example, advertiser information. Advertiser information includes, for example, the name of the individual or company that is the advertiser, the IP address of the advertiser terminal 400 owned by the advertiser, the URL of the inquiry page for the advertiser's products or services, and the URL of the website where the advertiser's products or services can be purchased. The registration request is made in advance each time the advertiser places an advertisement. The URL of the inquiry page for the advertiser's products or services and the URL of the website where the advertiser's products or services can be changed to URLs appropriate for each advertisement placed.

[0033] Next, the ad provider server 100, upon receiving the registration request, generates identification information 139 in process A05, associates it with advertiser information, and registers it in the advertiser management DB 131. In particular, the ad provider server 100 registers the identification information 139, the URL of the inquiry page for the advertiser's products or services, and the URL of the purchase site for the advertiser's products or services, which are generated for each advertisement, in the ad management DB 131a. Then, in process A08, the ad provider server 100 sends a registration completion message to the advertiser terminal 400. This registration completion message includes the identification information 139 generated in process A05. The controller 110 that executes processes A05 and A08 is an example of an identification information issuing unit.

[0034] An advertiser who has obtained identification information 139 will place an advertisement. Specifically, in process A10, the advertisement is placed from the advertiser terminal 400 to the advertisement management server 500. In this advertisement placement, the advertisement image and the identification information 139 obtained in process A08 are transmitted from the advertiser terminal 400 to the advertisement management server 500. Upon receiving the advertisement, the advertisement management server 500 becomes able to receive bids for the placed advertisement.

[0035] Next, the printer management server 600 executes process A15 when the conditions for the managed printer 200 to print an advertisement are met. In process A15, an advertisement request is sent from the printer management server 600 to the advertisement provider server 100. The advertisement request includes user identification information of the user of the printer 200 that will print the advertisement. Upon receiving the advertisement request, the advertisement provider server 100 sends a bid request to the advertisement management server 500 in process A20. The bid request includes the minimum bid price. The bid request may also include user attribute information such as the user's age, gender, address, place of origin, and favorite genre. This user attribute information may be included in the advertisement request received from the printer management server 600 in process A15, and the advertisement provider server 100 may obtain it from that advertisement request.

[0036] Upon receiving a bid request, the ad management server 500, in process A25, executes an auction for an ad suitable to the bid request and sends the bid results to the ad provider server 100. The bid results include the bid price, the URL of the ad image, and identification information 139. Upon receiving the bid results, the ad provider server 100 can manage the following behavioral history if the identification information included in the received bid results matches the identification information 139 registered in the advertiser management DB 131. The following explanation assumes that the identification information included in the bid results matches the identification information 139 registered in the advertiser management DB 131.

[0037] If the received bid results meet the winning conditions, the ad provider server 100 determines that the ad targeted by the bid results (the ad corresponding to the ad image URL) is the winning ad. Winning conditions include, for example, having the highest bid price. Alternatively, the conditions may include meeting the specified conditions requested in the bid request. Once the ad provider server 100 has determined the winning ad, it sends a "hold notification" to the ad management server 500 in process A30. It is a "hold notification" because printing has not yet been completed and the ad has not yet reached the user. On the other hand, for ads that were not won, a "defeat notification" is sent to the ad management server 500.

[0038] Next, in process A40, the ad provider server 100 accesses the ad image URL included in the bid results of the successful ad and obtains the ad image. The controller 110 that executes processes A25 and A40 is an example of an ad acquisition unit. Then, in process A50, the ad provider server 100 generates print data based on the ad image. At this time, the ad provider server 100 generates a unique two-dimensional code, attaches an image of the generated unique two-dimensional code to the ad image, and then generates the print data. The unique two-dimensional code contains information that can identify the user identification information included in the ad request and the identification information 139 included in the bid results of the successful ad.

[0039] For example, a unique two-dimensional code is information obtained by adding user identification information and identification information 139 as queries to a predetermined URL of the advertising server 100. Alternatively, it may be simply information combining user identification information and identification information 139, rather than a URL. Or, it may be a unique serial number associated with user identification information and identification information 139.

[0040] Before sending the generated print data to the printer 200 in process A50, the advertising server 100 registers, for example, the print job number, identification information 139, user identification information, unique two-dimensional code information, the original advertisement image or a URL to obtain the original advertisement image, print conditions, and print deadline in the print job management DB 132.

[0041] The advertising server 100 sends print data to the printer management server 600 in process A56, and the printer management server 600 sends the received print data to the printer 200 in process A57. The controller 110 that executes process A56 is an example of an advertising print instruction unit. The printer 200 that receives the print data executes the printing of an advertising image with a two-dimensional code image of the relay URL attached, based on the received print data, in process A60. The printer 200 that executes process A60 is an example of an advertising print unit.

[0042] When the printer 200 completes printing, it sends a print completion notification containing identification information 139 to the printer management server 600 in process A66. The printer management server 600 then sends the received print completion notification containing identification information 139 to the advertisement provider server 100.

[0043] Next, in process A70, the ad provider server 100 sends a "print complete" notification to the ad management server 500. The "print complete" notification indicates that the ad has been delivered to the user and means that the pending status of the "hold notification" in process A30 has been resolved. The "print complete" notification also serves as a billing statement for the winning bid price for the printed ad.

[0044] Then, upon completion of printing, the ad delivery server 100 stores the print completion date and time in the print job management DB 132, associating it with the identification information 139. Furthermore, the ad delivery server 100 reserves a memory area in the behavior history DB 133 so that it can store the user's behavior history for the advertisements that have been printed. This memory area is reserved in association with the identification information 139 and user identification information that indicates the user of the printer 200.

[0045] Figure 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process for collecting user behavior history in response to printing advertisements.

[0046] First, in process B01, the user uses an application on the user terminal 300 to read a two-dimensional code attached to the printed advertisement image. After reading the two-dimensional code, the user terminal 300 accesses a web page at a predetermined URL on the advertisement server 100 in process B02. This operation works because the two-dimensional code is information to which unique information (for example, user identification information and identification information 139) is attached as a query to a predetermined URL on the advertisement server 100. On the other hand, the two-dimensional code does not have to be URL information. For example, an application on the user terminal 300 may attach the unique information of the two-dimensional code as a query to access a predetermined URL on the advertisement server 100.

[0047] When the ad provider server 100 is accessed by the user terminal 300, in process B05, it extracts unique information contained in the query of a predetermined URL. In response to process B02, the ad provider server 100 sends the page information of the action selection screen to the user terminal 300 in process B07. As a result, the action selection screen is displayed on the display unit 340 of the user terminal 300.

[0048] Figure 8(a) shows an example of an action selection screen. The action selection screen has an action selection field 11, a scroll bar 12, and an OK button 13. Then, in process B10, the user terminal 300 accepts the selection of an option in the action selection field 11. In the action selection screen of Figure 8(a), one of the following actions can be selected: "Read advertisement", "Inquire about product", or "Purchase product". Here, "Purchase product" is the selection to visit the product purchase page.

[0049] When an action is selected, the user terminal 300 sends the selection result (selected action) to the advertising server 100 in process B15. Upon receiving the selection result, the advertising server 100 retrieves the selected action in the selected process B20 and stores the selected action in the memory area reserved in the aforementioned action history DB 133. At this time, referring to the print job management DB 132, user identification information and identification information 139 corresponding to the unique information extracted in process B05 are associated with the stored action and stored in the action history DB 133. The controller 110 that executes process B20 is an example of an action history storage unit.

[0050] Next, in process B22, the ad provider server 100 sends page information corresponding to the selected action to the user terminal 300. Specifically, if "I read the ad" is selected in process B10, page information is sent that displays, for example, a thank you message for reading the ad. If "Inquire about a product" is selected, page information is sent that redirects to a URL that displays, for example, the inquiry screen shown in Figure 8(b) managed by the advertiser. This URL is the URL of the inquiry page for the advertiser's products and services, which is stored in the ad management DB 131 in association with the identification information 139. As a result, the inquiry screen is displayed on the user terminal 300. The inquiry screen includes an inquiry input field 21 and an OK button 23, and the user makes an inquiry by entering the inquiry content in the inquiry input field 21 and operating the OK button 23. If "Purchase a product" is selected, page information is sent that redirects to a URL that displays, for example, the product purchase screen shown in Figure 8(c) managed by the advertiser. This URL is the URL of the purchase site for the advertiser's products and services, which is stored in the ad management DB 131 in association with the identification information 139. This displays a product purchase screen on the user terminal 300. The product purchase screen includes a product selection field 31, a scroll bar 32, and an OK button 33, allowing the user to purchase the desired product.

[0051] Processes A15 to A70 cause advertisements to be printed on many printers 200, processes B01 to B20 collect behavioral history information from many users on the advertisement provision server 100, and a large amount of behavioral history information is accumulated in the behavioral history DB 133.

[0052] If an advertiser wishes to obtain information on the effectiveness of an advertisement they have placed, they send a request for effectiveness information from the advertiser terminal 400 to the ad provider server 100 in process B30. The request for effectiveness information includes identification information 139. The request for effectiveness information may also include information on the format of the effectiveness information.

[0053] Upon receiving a request for effectiveness information, the advertising server 100 generates advertising effectiveness notification data in process B35. The advertising effectiveness notification data is generated by performing statistical processing based on advertising information stored in the advertising management DB 131a associated with identification information 139, the history of actions (date and time of actions) stored in the action history DB 133 associated with both user identification information and identification information 139, and user information stored in the user information DB 134 associated with user identification information. The controller 110 that executes process B35 is an example of an effectiveness display data generation unit.

[0054] In process B40, the advertising server 100 sends the generated advertising effectiveness notification data to the advertiser terminal 400. Upon receiving the advertising effectiveness notification data, the advertiser terminal 400 displays a display based on the received advertising effectiveness notification data on the display unit 440 in process B45. Figures 10(a) and 10(b) show examples of the advertising effectiveness display shown on the display unit 440. Figure 10(a) is an example of the advertising effectiveness display content in the format of "distribution of customer behavior towards printed advertisements by customer preference genre". Figure 10(b) is an example of the advertising effectiveness display content in the format of "distribution of customer behavior towards printed advertisements by age". The advertiser terminal 400 executing process B45 is an example of an advertising effectiveness display unit.

[0055] The advertising server 100 can notify advertisers of the effectiveness of their advertisements in many formats, in addition to the notification examples shown in Figures 10(a) and 10(b). This allows advertisers to accurately obtain the results of printing their advertisements, which can contribute to their sales activities.

[0056] <Effects of the Embodiment> As described above, in this embodiment, the advertising server 100 is equipped with a user information DB 134 that manages user information of users using the printer using user identification information. The advertising server 100 issues identification information 139 to advertisers in processes A05 and A08, and acquires the original advertising image in processes A25 and A40. In process A50, the advertising server 100 generates print data for the advertising image by adding a two-dimensional code, which is unique information, to the original image, and the printer 200 executes printing with this print data in process A60. The advertising server 100 then acquires the unique information and user activity history information in processes B05 and B20. In process B20, the advertising server 100 stores the acquired user activity history information in the activity history DB 133, associating it with the identification information 139 corresponding to the unique information and the user identification information.

[0057] As a result, for advertisements delivered and printed to a specific large number of users, it is possible to collect information on the effectiveness of each advertisement based on user information, and to understand the effectiveness of the printed advertisements in detail.

[0058] <Variation> In the above, each component of the advertising print effectiveness collection system 1 shown in Figure 1 is not necessarily essential. For example, the advertising provider server 100 may directly send and receive data with the printer 200, in which case the printer management server 600 does not need to be included in the advertising print effectiveness collection system 1. Alternatively, for example, the advertising provider server 100 may directly acquire advertising images from the advertiser server based on a contract at a predetermined price. In that case, the advertising management server 500 does not need to be included in the advertising print effectiveness collection system 1.

[0059] Furthermore, although the advertising server 100 has been described as a single device in the above explanation, it may also function as an advertising server 100 through the coordinated operation of multiple devices. Additionally, the functionality of the advertising server 100 may be implemented in, for example, a printer 200, a user terminal 300, an advertiser terminal 400, or other devices.

[0060] Furthermore, in any flowchart or sequence diagram disclosed in the embodiments, the execution order of any multiple processes in any multiple steps can be arbitrarily changed or executed in parallel, as long as no inconsistencies arise in the processing content. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0061] 100 Ad Provider Servers 131 Advertiser Management Database 133 Behavioral History Database 134 User Information Database 139 Identification Information 200 printers 300 user terminals 400 advertiser terminals 500 Ad Management Server 600 Printer Management Server

Claims

1. This is a system for collecting the effectiveness of advertising prints. The user information management unit manages the user information of users who use the printer using user identification information, An identification information issuing unit that issues identification information, An advertising acquisition unit acquires an original advertising image that is submitted by an advertiser and corresponds to the identification information issued by the identification information issuing unit, An advertising printing unit prints an advertising image, which has an image indicating unique information added to the original advertising image acquired by the advertising acquisition unit, using the printer of the target user. A behavioral history acquisition unit acquires information on the behavioral history of the target user and the unique information corresponding to the printing of the advertisement image. An activity history storage unit stores the activity history information of the target user acquired by the activity history acquisition unit, associating it with the identification information and the user identification information based on the unique information. An advertising print effectiveness data collection system equipped with the following features.

2. In the advertising print effectiveness collection system described in claim 1, The aforementioned unique information is attached as a query to a predetermined URL. The behavior history acquisition unit acquires the unique information when the predetermined URL is accessed. An advertising print effectiveness data collection system characterized by the following features.

3. In the advertising print effectiveness collection system described in claim 2, The image representing the unique information is a two-dimensional code. The behavior history acquisition unit acquires the unique information when the predetermined URL is accessed by reading the two-dimensional code with a device. An advertising print effectiveness data collection system characterized by the following features.

4. In the advertising print effectiveness collection system described in claim 1, The aforementioned unique information includes the identification information and the user identification information. An advertising print effectiveness data collection system characterized by the following features.

5. In the advertising print effectiveness collection system described in claim 1, The aforementioned unique information is non-repeating information generated by associating the aforementioned identification information with the aforementioned user identification information. An advertising print effectiveness data collection system characterized by the following features.

6. In an advertising print effectiveness collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The aforementioned ad acquisition unit acquires the original ad image and the identification information corresponding to the original ad image, which have been submitted to the ad management server by the advertiser, by winning an auction. An advertising print effectiveness data collection system characterized by the following features.

7. In an advertising print effectiveness collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The user information includes at least one piece of information for each user, such as age, gender, place of origin, and preferred genre. An advertising print effectiveness data collection system characterized by the following features.

8. The advertising print effectiveness collection system described in any one of claims 1 to 5 is: An effect display data generation unit generates effect display data using the action history information stored in the action history storage unit and the user information, Based on the effect display data generated by the aforementioned effect display data generation unit, an advertising effect display unit displays the advertising effect, An advertising print effectiveness data collection system characterized by further features.

9. An advertising print effectiveness collection device, The user information management unit manages the user information of users who use the printer using user identification information, An identification information issuing unit that issues identification information, An advertising acquisition unit acquires an original advertising image that is submitted by an advertiser and corresponds to the identification information issued by the identification information issuing unit, An advertisement printing instruction unit causes the printer of the target user to print an advertisement image, which has an image indicating unique information added to the original advertisement image acquired by the advertisement acquisition unit, A behavioral history acquisition unit acquires information on the behavioral history of the target user and the unique information corresponding to the printing of the advertisement image. An activity history storage unit stores the activity history information of the target user acquired by the activity history acquisition unit, associating it with the identification information and the user identification information based on the unique information. An advertising print effectiveness collection device equipped with the following features.

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