Data linkage system, method, and program

Abstract

The goal is to convert data handled by one system into data that can be handled by another system, thereby enabling data linkage between systems. [Solution] A data linkage system that enables data handled by one system A to be handled by another system B, comprising: an acquisition unit 71 that acquires first individual specification data from one system A; and a storage unit 72 that stores forward conversion rules for converting the individual specification data into standard specification data. Furthermore, it comprises a conversion unit 73 that converts the first individual specification data into standard specification data by referring to the forward conversion rules, and the storage unit 72 stores the converted standard specification data.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a data linkage system, and particularly relates to a data linkage system or the like that links data between a plurality of systems handling data with different specifications. The present invention is also suitable for a product purchase support system that integrates products sold on different sales sites and presents them to consumers, allowing consumers to compare and select products from a plurality of integrated sales sites.

Background Art

[0002] Forms of sales sites that sell products on the Internet include the form of an online mall where a plurality of online shops are gathered, and an EC site that mainly sells the company's own products on an independently operated website. Among the products sold by EC sites, there are also attractive products such as local specialty products. However, compared to large-scale online malls (for example, Non-Patent Document 1), products on EC sites have fewer opportunities to catch the attention of consumers, which causes a problem that sales do not grow. On the other hand, if the operator of an EC site exhibits at a large-scale online mall to increase sales opportunities, the burden of fees and the like increases conversely, and there are cases where this results in a deficit.

[0003] Additionally, consumers may compare a plurality of online malls and EC sites when intending to purchase a certain product. However, the interface for finding a target product differs depending on each online mall and EC site. For this reason, consumers require a great deal of time and effort to find and compare target products from a plurality of shops.

[0004] For example, the inventor of the present application has compared as many as 10 reservation sites to book a hotel at a business trip destination, and had a very hard time. In particular, many small and medium-sized hotels are not included in major reservation sites, and it is itself difficult to reach the reservation sites of small and medium-sized hotels. Furthermore, there is no sales site that aggregates products from major product sales sites.

[0005] Furthermore, in order to make data from site A usable at another site B with different data specifications, conventionally, one linking system is required to connect the data between sites A and B. To further increase the number of sites and link three sites A, B, and C with different data specifications, three systems are needed: one for linking sites A and B, one for linking sites B and C, and one for linking sites A and C. To link X sites with different specifications, X·(X-1) / 2 linking systems are required, making it difficult to link a large number of sites.

[0006] Furthermore, many online marketplaces offer affiliate services. These affiliate services may be provided by the marketplace itself or by an ASP (Affiliate Service Provider).

[0007] Herein, the term "goods" in this application includes services. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0008] [Non-Patent Document 1] Rakuten, Inc., "Rakuten Market," [online], [searched February 21, 2015], Internet <URL: http: / / www.rakuten.co.jp> [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0009] The present invention aims to improve upon the shortcomings of such conventional examples, and in particular, to enable data exchange between systems by converting data handled by one system into data that can be handled by another system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a data linkage system that enables data handled by one system to be handled by another system, comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires data of a first individual specification from one system; and a storage unit that stores a forward conversion rule for converting the individual specification data into standard specification data. Furthermore, it comprises a conversion unit that converts the first individual specification data into standard specification data by referring to the forward conversion rule, and the storage unit stores the converted standard specification data.

[0011] According to this, various individual data specifications obtained from individual systems are uniformly converted into standardized data specifications. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to convert data handled by one system into data that can be handled by another system, thereby realizing data linkage between systems. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows the configuration diagram of the cross-search function. [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows the data structure diagram of product-related information for products targeted by the affiliate service. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows the data structure diagram of product-related information for products that are not eligible for the affiliate service. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows the configuration diagram of the product addition function, which adds products that are eligible for the affiliate service. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows the configuration diagram of the product addition function, which adds products that are not eligible for the affiliate service. [Figure 7] Figure 7 shows the configuration diagram of the personal information provision function. [Figure 8] Figure 8 shows the configuration diagram of the ranking function. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the data linkage system invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a product purchase system using a data cooperation system. MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0014] The data cooperation system of the present invention is also incorporated in a product purchase support system described below. However, the data cooperation system of the present invention is not applied only to the product purchase support system described below, but realizes data cooperation between various systems. Hereinafter, the product purchase support system will first be described, and then the configuration of the data cooperation system incorporated therein will be described. [Product Purchase Support System] Hereinafter, embodiments of the product purchase support system will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of online mall systems 200, 300 and a plurality of EC site systems 400, 500 are connected on the Internet. Further, an integrated product site system 100 and a purchaser interface system 600 are connected on the Internet. In the following description, the term "system" will be omitted.

[0015] Each of the online malls 200, 300, the EC sites 400, 500, and the integrated product site 100 includes a web server. The purchaser interface 600 executes a web browser and displays a web page on a display device in accordance with a program received from the web server of the integrated product site 100. Further, the purchaser interface 600 displays a web page on a display device in accordance with a program received from the web server of the online mall 200, 300 or the EC site 400, 500 as necessary. The purchaser interface 600 also transmits predetermined information to a predetermined web server based on an input operation by a user.

[0016] Online malls 200 and 300 provide affiliate services. The product integration site 100 uses the affiliate services provided by online malls 200 and 300, and posts products sold at each online mall 200 and 300 on a web page. The product integration site 100 also stores information on products sold by EC sites 400 and 500, and posts the products sold by the EC sites on a web page.

[0017] The purchaser interface 600 displays web pages acquired from the web server of the product integration site 100, thereby integrally displaying products sold at online malls 200 and 300 and products sold by EC sites 400 and 500 on a single web page. This allows a user of the purchaser interface 600 to easily compare products from different sellers. The product integration site 100 has a function of cross-searching products from online malls 200, 300 and products from EC sites 400, 500 in accordance with conditions sent from the purchaser interface 600, and integrating a plurality of products selected from the products of each online mall and the products of each EC site into a single web page.

[0018] Here, integrating products from a plurality of EC sites not associated with an affiliate service into a single web page is not normally performed. The reason why products from a plurality of sites are integrated into a single web page (hereinafter referred to as an integrated page) is that the provider of the integrated page has an incentive to obtain a reward through the affiliate service. On the other hand, since an affiliate reward cannot be expected even if products from a plurality of EC sites not associated with an affiliate service are integrated, as described above, a service that integrates and enables search of products from a plurality of EC sites not associated with an affiliate service into a single web page is not normally provided.

[0019] [Hardware of each system] Each system 100-600 is equipped with a processing unit, a storage device, an input device, a display device, and a communication device. The operation and functions of each system are realized by the processing unit executing a program. The information used by the processing unit for processing is read from the storage device. The information processed by the processing unit is stored in the storage device. Information input by system users is performed via the input device. Information is presented to system users via the display device. Information is sent and received between systems via the communication device. The processing unit, storage device, input device, and display device may cooperate in a distributed state under a network environment. Multiple processing units and storage devices may be provided. Multiple processing units or multiple storage devices may cooperate in a distributed state under a network environment.

[0020] [Cross-search function] The product integration site 100 performs a cross-search function. Figure 2 is a diagram of the configuration of the cross-search function. The search condition acquisition unit 11 acquires search conditions from the buyer interface 600 and passes them to the search unit 12. The search unit 12 searches the product integration DB (database) 13 for product-related information that matches the search conditions passed from the search condition acquisition unit 11 and passes the retrieved product-related information to the search result generation unit 14.

[0021] Figures 3 and 4 are data structure diagrams of product-related information stored in the product integration DB13. Figure 3 shows the data structure of product-related information for products sold on a site that provides affiliate services. In this embodiment, this applies to products sold by online malls 200 and 300, and the data associations shown in Figure 3 are stored for each product. Specifically, each product is associated with keywords, categories, product names, prices, product descriptions, affiliate tags, product search counts, click counts, and selection flags. The selection flag is a marker used to integrate only products with a common flag set into a single web page.

[0022] Figure 4 shows the data structure of product-related information for products sold by sites that do not offer affiliate services. In this embodiment, this applies to products sold by EC sites 400 and 500, and the data associations shown in Figure 4 are stored for each product. Specifically, each product is associated with the following: product URL (URL of the product sales page), product name, price, store name, product description, keywords, category, product image URL, store URL, sales site name, sales site URL, place of origin (prefecture), place of origin (city / town), historical information related to the product, festival information related to the product, tourist information related to the product, number of searches for the product, number of clicks, and selection flag.

[0023] When the search unit 12 receives a search word or search image as a search condition from the search condition acquisition unit 11, it searches the product integration DB 13 for product-related information that includes a word matching the search word or an image matching the search image. That is, it searches the product-related information of each product, which has the data structure shown in Figures 3 and 4, for product-related information that includes a word matching the search word or an image matching the search image. Images are obtained from the image URL included in the affiliate tag in Figure 3 or the product image URL in Figure 4.

[0024] Furthermore, when the search unit 12 receives a selection flag as a search condition from the search condition acquisition unit 11, it searches the product integration DB 13 for product-related information associated with the selection flag that matches that selection flag. That is, it searches for product-related information with matching selection flags from the product-related information of each product that has the data structure shown in Figures 3 and 4. The selection flag represents a group such as "recommended product" or "campaign product."

[0025] Furthermore, when the search unit 12 receives a price range as a search condition from the search condition acquisition unit 11, it narrows down the search results to include only product-related information where the price falls within that price range.

[0026] If the product-related information found as a result of the search is the product-related information shown in Figure 3 that corresponds to the affiliate service, the search unit 12 extracts the affiliate tag from the product-related information and passes it to the search result generation unit 14.

[0027] Furthermore, if the search unit 12 finds product-related information that is not compatible with the affiliate service, it reads the product URL, product name, price, product description, and product image URL from the product-related information and passes them to the search result generation unit 14.

[0028] If the search result generation unit 14 obtains an affiliate tag from the search unit 12, it inserts the affiliate tag (affiliate part) into the search results web page. If it obtains multiple affiliate tags from the search unit 12, it inserts each affiliate tag into the search results web page and lists multiple products.

[0029] Furthermore, when the search results generation unit 14 obtains product URLs, product names, prices, product descriptions, and product image URLs (hereinafter referred to as "product listing materials") from the search unit 12, it generates product listing tags (product listing parts) equivalent to affiliate tags using these product listing materials and inserts them into the search results display web page. An example of a product listing part is one that displays the product name, price, and product description, as well as the product image loaded from the product image URL. When the product listing part is clicked, it is configured to display the product sales page corresponding to the product URL in a separate frame of the browser. When the search results generation unit 14 obtains product listing materials corresponding to multiple products from the search unit 12, it generates multiple product listing parts for each product and inserts them into the search results display web page to list multiple products.

[0030] The sorting condition acquisition unit 15 receives sorting conditions for the search results from the buyer interface 600 and passes them to the search result generation unit 14. Based on the sorting conditions received from the sorting condition acquisition unit 15, the search result generation unit 14 sorts the affiliate parts and product listing parts to be listed above by price, number of searches, or number of clicks.

[0031] Based on the above, the search result generation unit 14 generates a search results display webpage that mixes products from 200,300 online malls that offer affiliate services and products from 400,500 e-commerce sites that do not offer affiliate services on a single webpage. The search results display webpage may span multiple pages.

[0032] The search result generation unit 14 then transmits the generated search result display webpage to the buyer interface 600 via the web server. This allows users of the buyer interface 600 to view a search result display webpage that mixes products from online malls 200 and 300 that offer affiliate services with products from e-commerce sites 400 and 500 that do not offer affiliate services, all on a single webpage, and to easily compare multiple products displayed there. Furthermore, users can transition to the product sales page via links attached to the displayed affiliate parts or product listing parts and purchase products.

[0033] The operation of the search condition acquisition unit 11, the search unit 12, the search result generation unit 14, and the sort condition acquisition unit 15 is realized by the processing unit of the product integration site 100 executing a program. The product integration DB 13 is stored in the storage device of the product integration site 100.

[0034] [Online Mall Product Addition Feature] Next, we will explain the function for registering products from 200,300 online malls that offer affiliate services into the integrated product database (DB13). Figure 5 shows the configuration diagram of this product addition function.

[0035] (First action) The affiliate tag acquisition unit 21 of the product integration site 100 receives product addition instructions from any system authorized to add products. These product addition instructions are accompanied by pre-acquired affiliate tags. The affiliate tag acquisition unit 21 acquires the affiliate tags attached to the product addition instructions and passes them to the tag analysis unit 22. The tag analysis unit 22 obtains the affiliate service identifier (e.g., domain) from the description of the affiliate tag. For this purpose, it is conceivable that identifiers for multiple affiliate services be pre-registered in a dictionary, and when the tag analysis unit 22 finds an identifier in the affiliate tag that matches an identifier registered in the dictionary, that identifier is acquired as the affiliate service identifier.

[0036] The tag analysis unit 22 refers to the affiliate tag structure dictionary 23 and extracts the product name, price, and product description from the affiliate tag. For this purpose, the affiliate tag structure dictionary 23 is pre-registered for each affiliate service, associating the identifier of the affiliate service with the structure of the affiliate tag (information on where the product name, price, and product description are described within the tag).

[0037] The tag analysis unit 22 associates the affiliate tags attached to the product addition instruction with the product name, price, and product description extracted from the affiliate tags and registers them in the product integration DB 13. As a result, the product-related information records shown in Figure 3 are added to the product integration DB 13. The initial values ​​for the search count and click count of the added product-related information are set to 0. If keywords, categories, or selection flags are attached to the product addition instruction, these keywords, categories, and selection flags may also be associated with the affiliate tags and registered in the product integration DB 13.

[0038] The operations of the affiliate tag acquisition unit 21 and the tag analysis unit 22 described above are realized by the processing unit of the product integration site 100 executing a program. Furthermore, each dictionary is stored in a memory device.

[0039] (Second action) The affiliate tag acquisition unit 21 of the product integration site 100 receives product addition instructions from any system authorized to add products. The product addition instructions include search terms for searching for products from the affiliate service. The affiliate tag acquisition unit 21 acquires affiliate tags for products corresponding to the search terms attached to the product addition instructions from the affiliate service using automated acquisition processes such as crawlers or autopilots. The affiliate tag acquisition unit 21 passes the affiliate tags acquired by the automated acquisition process and the identifier of the affiliate service that generated the tags to the tag analysis unit 22.

[0040] The tag analysis unit 22 refers to the affiliate tag structure dictionary 23 and extracts the product name, price, and product description from the affiliate tag. The affiliate tag structure dictionary 23 pre-registers each affiliate service by associating the identifier of the affiliate service with the structure of the affiliate tag (information on where the product name, price, and product description are written within the tag).

[0041] The tag analysis unit 22 associates the affiliate tags obtained from the affiliate service with the product name, price, and product description extracted from the affiliate tags and registers them in the product integration DB 13. As a result, the product-related information records shown in Figure 3 are automatically added to the product integration DB 13. The initial values ​​for the search count and click count of the added product-related information are set to 0. If keywords or selection flags are attached to the product addition instruction, these keywords and selection flags may also be associated with the affiliate tags and registered in the product integration DB 13.

[0042] The operations of the affiliate tag acquisition unit 21 and the tag analysis unit 22 described above are realized by the processing unit of the product integration site 100 executing a program. The dictionary is stored in the memory device. In addition, the search words attached to the product addition instruction are stored in the memory device, and the processing unit can periodically update the records of product-related information with the latest data by periodically repeating the second operation described above based on these search words. When updating the records, the values ​​of the number of searches and the number of clicks are not reset, and the values ​​before the update are maintained.

[0043] (Third action) Online malls 200 and 300 may provide a Web API. In this case, the processing unit of the product integration site system 100 receives product addition instructions from any system that has the authority to add products. The product addition instruction includes a Web API identifier and input parameters to be passed to the Web API. The processing unit sends the input parameters to the Web API corresponding to the Web API identifier and receives output parameters containing affiliate data from the Web API in response. In this embodiment, it is assumed that product-related information, which associates each of the data shown in Figure 3, can be received as output parameters according to the Web API specifications. The processing unit registers the product-related information obtained from the Web API in the product integration DB 13.

[0044] As a result, the product-related information records shown in Figure 3 are automatically added to the product integration DB13. The initial values ​​for the search count and click count of the added product-related information are set to 0. If keywords or selection flags are attached to the product addition instruction, these keywords or selection flags may be registered in the product integration DB13 in association with affiliate tags (affiliate data).

[0045] The above operations are achieved by the processing unit of the product integration site 100 executing a program. Furthermore, the association between the WebAPI identifier attached to the product addition instruction and the input parameters given to the WebAPI is stored in a memory device, and the processing unit periodically repeats the third operation described above based on this WebAPI identifier and the input parameters given to the WebAPI, thereby periodically updating the records of product-related information with the latest data. When updating the records, the values ​​of the number of searches and the number of clicks are not reset, but the values ​​from before the update are maintained.

[0046] [EC site product addition function] Next, we will explain the function for registering 400,500 products from e-commerce sites that do not offer affiliate services into the product integration database 13. Figure 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of this product addition function.

[0047] (First action) The product-related information acquisition unit 31 of the product integration site 100 receives product addition instructions from any system that has the authority to add products. Product-related information, as explained in Figure 4, is attached to the product addition instructions. The product-related information acquisition unit 31 acquires the product-related information attached to the product addition instructions and registers it in the product integration DB 13. As a result, the product-related information records shown in Figure 4 are added to the product integration DB 13. The initial values ​​for the search count and click count of the added product-related information are set to 0. Here, the system that issues the product addition instructions may be a computer operated by the operator of the e-commerce site. The functions of the product-related information acquisition unit 31 may also be provided by the "import Web API" provided by the integration site 100. That is, the "import Web API" refers to a Web API (Web Application Programming Interface) that acquires product-related information from any system that has the authority to add products and registers the acquired product-related information in the product integration DB 13. Until now, there was no mechanism to import the content of small and medium-sized sites, making it difficult to import, but by using this new mechanism, it becomes possible to import information from small and medium-sized sites (e-commerce sites) that do not implement affiliate programs. A computer that sends an instruction to add a product may acquire product-related information by taking in information entered on the screen via a GUI by the user of that computer.

[0048] The operation of the product-related information acquisition unit 31 described above is realized by the processing unit of the product integration site 100 executing a program.

[0049] (Second action) The product-related information acquisition unit 31 of the product integration site 100 receives product addition instructions from any system authorized to add products. The product addition instruction includes the URL of the EC site to which the product will be added. The product-related information acquisition unit 31 acquires the sales pages of each product sold on the EC site to be added using an automated acquisition process such as a crawler or autopilot, and passes them to the page analysis unit 32. Here, the system issuing the product addition instruction may be a computer operated by the operator of the EC site. The functions of the product-related information acquisition unit 31 may also be provided by the "Intake Web API" provided by the integration site 100. The page analysis unit 32 analyzes the source code of each product's sales page and extracts the product-related information shown in Figure 4 from that page.

[0050] The page analysis unit 32 refers to the page structure dictionary 33 when extracting product-related information from the source code of a sales page. The page structure dictionary 33 is pre-registered for each e-commerce site, associating the identifier of the e-commerce site with the structure of the sales page of that e-commerce site (information on where each product-related piece of information in Figure 4 is described on the page). The page analysis unit 32 reads and refers to the structure of the sales page associated with the identifier of the e-commerce site to be added from the page structure dictionary 33. The page analysis unit 32 may also extract each product-related piece of information by referring to the metadata, tags, or identifiers within tags described for each product-related piece of information on the sales page. Furthermore, if the sales page uses semantic web technology, that is, if product-related information is extracted from a sales page described using RDF, etc., or a sales page with tags (background data) that describe the meaning of the data, the page structure dictionary 33 is not necessary. In this case, the page analysis unit can interpret the meaning of the data using semantic web technology and extract the product-related information.

[0051] The page analysis unit 32 registers the extracted product-related information for each product in the product integration DB 13. This automatically adds the product-related information records shown in Figure 4. The initial values ​​for the search count and click count of the added product-related information are set to 0.

[0052] The operations of the product-related information acquisition unit 31 and the page analysis unit 32 described above are realized by the processing unit of the product integration site 100 executing a program. The page structure dictionary 33 is stored in the storage device. The URL (identifier) ​​of the e-commerce site attached to the product addition instruction is also stored in the storage device, and the processing unit can periodically update the product-related information record with the latest data by periodically repeating the second operation described above based on this e-commerce site URL. When updating the record, the values ​​of the number of searches and the number of clicks are not reset, and the values ​​before the update are maintained.

[0053] Here, in the second operation described above, when extracting product-related information shown in Figure 4 from each product's sales page, the processing unit of the product integration site 100 may utilize semantic web technology. Semantic web technology is a technology that enables computers to efficiently collect and interpret information by adding information (metadata) that indicates what a web page and the content written therein means, according to certain rules. In this case, it is possible that the product-related information automatically extracted from the product's sales page may be incorrect. Therefore, in this case, the processing unit of the product integration site 100 should have a proofreading function that displays the product-related information extracted using semantic web technology on the user interface of the terminal that sent the aforementioned product addition instruction, receives instructions to correct the product-related information from the terminal user who has confirmed this display, and registers the corrected product-related information in the product integration DB 13 according to the received instructions.

[0054] [Personal information provision function] Users of the buyer interface 600 view the product search results webpage, then click on the affiliate or product listing part of the product displayed on that page to be redirected to the product's sales page. Furthermore, if the user of the buyer interface 600 decides to purchase the product, they proceed with the purchase procedure from the product's sales page. The purchase procedure requires the user to enter the shipping address and name of the purchased product. If electronic payment is used, payment information must also be entered. The product integration site 100 provides the buyer interface 600 with personal information such as the shipping address, name, and payment information, as well as an auto-input program that automatically enters this personal information into the order form on the sales site. Software that automatically enters information into web forms is known, for example, for entering information into sweepstakes entry forms. This personal information provision function is described below.

[0055] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the personal information provision function. Hereafter, the online malls 200, 300 and EC sites 400, 500 where the purchase procedure is carried out will be collectively referred to as "sales sites." In Figure 7, the buyer interface 600 includes a browsing processing unit 41 and an automatic input processing unit 42. The operation of the browsing processing unit 41 and the automatic input processing unit 42 is realized by the processing unit of the buyer interface 600 executing a program provided from the product integration site 100. The automatic input program may be pre-installed in the buyer interface 600.

[0056] The product integration site 100 includes a personal information provision unit 43 and a personal information database 44. The operation of the personal information provision unit 43 is realized by the processing unit of the product integration site 100 executing a program. The personal information database 44 is stored in a storage device. The personal information database stores an individual's identifier in association with personal information requested when purchasing a product, such as the individual's address, name, telephone number, and payment information. The personal information may also be information about the person in charge at an organization when the organization purchases the product.

[0057] Here, it is assumed that users of the buyer interface 600 that utilize the product integration site 100 have already logged into the product integration site 100 using their personal identifier, and that the product integration site 100 has identified the personal identifier of the user of the buyer interface 600.

[0058] In the buyer interface 600, the browsing processing unit 41 displays the search results webpage on the display device. When the browsing processing unit 41 detects an event in which an affiliate part or product listing part displayed on the search results webpage is clicked by an input device, it retrieves the product sales page from the link attached to the part and displays the sales page in a frame separate from the display area where the search results webpage is open.

[0059] Users of the buyer interface 600 navigate through the pages within a frame where a sales page of the online mall 200, 300 or e-commerce site 400, 500 is displayed, from the sales page to the order page (personal information input page), and then to the payment page (payment information input page). At this time, when the browsing processing unit 41 detects an event requesting automatic input from the input device, it requests the product integration site 100 to provide the personal information of the buyer interface 600 user. An event requesting automatic input is, for example, an operation indicating consent made by the user via the input device in response to the question "Do you want to automatically input?" displayed on the user interface. The personal information requested may be only a part of the registered personal information, such as only the address or only the name. Here, the browsing processing unit 41 may be configured to request the provision of the above personal information from the product integration site 10 regardless of whether or not it detects an event requesting automatic input.

[0060] Upon receiving this request, the personal information provision unit 43 of the product integration site 100 reads the personal information associated with the user identifier of the buyer interface 600 from the personal information DB 44 and transmits it to the buyer interface 600. The browsing processing unit 41 of the buyer interface 600 retrieves the personal information transmitted from the product integration site 100 and passes it to the automatic input processing unit 42.

[0061] The automated input processing unit 42, having acquired personal information, automatically inputs the relevant personal information into the order page or payment page form displayed within the frame. The user reviews the automatically entered personal information, adds or corrects it as needed, and proceeds with the purchase. This personal information provision function allows personal information that is centrally managed outside the sales site to be provided to the sales site, and users of the buyer interface 600 can avoid the trouble of entering personal information when purchasing products.

[0062] [Ranking function] Next, we will explain the ranking function. In the explanation of the cross-search function described above, we explained that search results can be sorted by the number of searches or clicks. Here, we will explain the function for updating the search count and click count parameters of each product-related information stored in the product integration DB13.

[0063] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the ranking function. In addition to the search unit 11 and product integration DB 13 described above, the product integration site 100 includes a count processing unit 51. The operation of the count processing unit 51 is realized by the processing unit of the product integration site 100 executing a program.

[0064] In the product integration site 100, the count processing unit 51 increments the value of the number of searches among the product-related information for each product searched by the search unit 11 using the cross-search function described above, and updates the product integration DB 13.

[0065] Furthermore, in the buyer interface 600, when a user clicks on an affiliate part or product listing part, the browsing processing unit 41 detects the click event and sends the identifier of the clicked affiliate part or product listing part to the product integration site 100. In the product integration site 100, the count processing unit 51 obtains the identifier of the clicked part, increments the click count value of the product-related information corresponding to the part identifier by 1, and updates the product integration DB 13. For this purpose, the identifier of the part is pre-associated with each product-related information in the product integration DB 13, and the identifier of the part is also pre-associated with each affiliate part or product listing part in the search results display web page of the cross-search. As described above, the search result generation unit 14 sorts the affiliate parts and product listing parts to be listed by price, number of searches, or number of clicks, based on the sorting conditions received from the sorting condition acquisition unit 15. In this case, the number of searches and clicks refer to the number of searches or clicks added by the above process. Furthermore, since each product-related information in the affiliate parts and product listing parts is linked to keywords and categories, the integrated product site 100 may compile rankings of keywords or categories with high search or click counts based on each product-related information and provide them to the buyer interface 600. This allows for the provision of keyword or category rankings compiled across online malls 200 and 300 that offer affiliate services and e-commerce sites 400 and 500 that do not offer affiliate services, to product buyers.

[0066] [Integration with transaction management system] The present inventor has invented a transaction management system disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2012-178147. Transactions on sales sites such as EC Site 400, 500, etc., are best managed using this transaction management system.

[0067] [ASP functionality included] Product integration site 100 may incorporate the functionality of an affiliate service provider with the following configuration:

[0068] Specifically, the system comprises a storage unit that stores the IDs of multiple partners and the affiliate commissions corresponding to each partner's ID; a transmission unit that generates a link code linking product-related information requested by a partner with the partner's ID and sends it to the partner; and an execution unit that, when a product corresponding to the link code is purchased through access to the link code, registers the affiliate commission in the storage unit in association with the partner ID linked to the link code.

[0069] By incorporating the functionality of an affiliate service provider, the integrated product site 100 can help increase sales of products from e-commerce sites that do not currently offer affiliate services, by enabling them to utilize affiliate services.

[0070] [Compatibility with IoT (Internet of Things)] When an internet-connected device (such as a refrigerator) purchases goods on behalf of a consumer, the source of the goods is limited by the compatibility between the device's specifications and the specifications of the sales website. Typically, due to partnerships between refrigerator manufacturers and well-known sales websites (such as Rakuten or Amazon), a specific major shopping mall becomes the source of purchase, and it is unlikely that other smaller websites would be used as sources. On the other hand, if the product integration site of the present invention becomes the source of purchase, the product integration site includes products sold by major shopping malls as well as products from smaller websites, and it is also easy for new smaller websites to register their products on the product integration site. Therefore, an internet-connected device can automatically purchase goods from a wide range of sources, including smaller websites.

[0071] Similarly, by connecting vending machines installed at train stations and other locations to the internet, these vending machines can use the product integration site of the present invention as a source of purchase (in this case, the vending machine will sell products that are not in stock). In this way, the vending machine will be able to sell products from various sources, such as local websites and the websites of chambers of commerce.

[0072] [Data Integration System] Next, an embodiment of the data linkage system, which is also used in the product purchase support system described above, will be explained. In Figure 9, the data linkage system 700 includes an acquisition unit 71, a storage unit 72, a conversion unit 73, and an output unit 74. The acquisition unit 71, the conversion unit 73, and the output unit 74 are realized by a processor executing a program. The storage unit 72 is provided in the storage area of ​​a storage device such as a hard disk drive. The data linkage system 700 may be realized by the cooperation of multiple processors. Systems A and B each process data with different specifications. The data with different specifications handled by each system A and B is called "individual specification" data. Also, the unified specification of the data managed by the data linkage system 700 is called the "standard specification." Multiple systems that become systems A and B exist on the internet. A certain system may be system A or system B.

[0073] The acquisition unit 71 acquires the first individual specification data, the system identifier A of system A which is the source of the data, and the system identifier B of system B which is the output destination after the data has been converted, from system A via a communication device (not shown) and the Internet (I-NET), and stores them linked together in the storage unit 72. The system identifier is an identifier unique to each system that is system A or B. The acquisition unit 71 may also automatically extract and acquire the individual specification data from the web page of system A using an optimized artificial intelligence (AI) process.

[0074] If there are multiple output destination systems, multiple system identifiers B may be associated with each system. If the output destination is always limited to one system, the output unit 74 only needs to send data to a specific system B, so it is not necessary to associate a system identifier B with each piece of data. Also, if the pairs of source and output systems are predetermined, it is sufficient if the combination of system identifiers A and B is registered in the storage unit 72 in advance, and it is not necessary to associate this combination with each piece of data.

[0075] Furthermore, the memory unit 72 stores system identifiers and data conversion rules in association. The data conversion rules include forward conversion rules and reverse conversion rules. Forward conversion rules are rules that convert individual specification data to standard specification data. Reverse conversion rules are rules that convert standard specification data to individual specification data. The forward conversion rules that convert individual specification data of system A to standard specification data are associated with the system identifier of system A. The reverse conversion rules that convert standard specification data to individual specification data of system B are associated with the system identifier of system B.

[0076] The conversion unit 73 reads the first individual specification data associated with system identifiers A and B from the storage unit 72, converts the first individual specification data into standard specification data by referring to the forward conversion rule associated with system A, associates it with system identifier B of the output destination system B, and stores it in the storage unit 72.

[0077] Furthermore, the conversion unit 73 reads the standard specification data and the system identifier B associated therewith from the storage unit 72, and, referring to the inverse conversion rule associated with the system identifier B, converts the standard specification data into second individual specification data, and stores it in the storage unit 72, associated with the system identifier B.

[0078] Conversion refers to changing data types, the number of digits in the data, or the data representation without altering the meaning of the data itself.

[0079] Furthermore, the storage unit 72 stores the system identifier of system B and the timing for outputting data to system B (output timing). The output timing can be real-time or at regular intervals. Real-time means that as soon as the second individual specification data is stored in the storage unit 72, it is output from the output unit 74 to system B. Regular intervals mean that the second individual specification data, which is associated with system identifier B, is output from the output unit 74 to system B at a predetermined time every day or on a predetermined day of the week.

[0080] The output unit 74 monitors the output timing, and when it is time to output data to system B, it reads the second individual specification data associated with system identifier B from the storage unit 72 and outputs it to system B. If system B is located remotely on the internet, the output unit 74 transmits the second individual specification data to system B via the communication device and the internet. On the other hand, if system B is on the same computer as the computer running the data linkage system 700, the process of the output unit 74 passes the second individual specification data to the process of system B. Also, if system B is on the same local area network as the computer running the data linkage system 700, the output unit 74 transmits the second individual specification data to system B via the communication device and the local area network.

[0081] As a result, data with individual specifications in system A is converted and transmitted to system B with individual specifications that can be handled by system B without changing the meaning of the data, so that data can be linked and processed between systems A and B. Conventionally, for example, medical record data of medical institutions could not be shared because the data specifications differed between the systems of one medical institution and the other medical institution. In order to share the data, it was necessary to change the existing system of one of the medical institutions to match the data specifications. However, changing existing systems required high costs. Furthermore, even if a data sharing system was built between multiple systems, a system newly joining it could not participate if it was an existing system with different data specifications. It could not participate unless a system with compatible data specifications or a system to link with it was newly prepared. On the other hand, by using the data linkage system of the present invention, multiple existing systems can share data through the data linkage system as long as they link with this data linkage system. Using this mechanism, it is not necessary to build a linkage for each partner, and as long as a linkage to a standard system is built, it becomes possible to freely link with any system through the linkage system. Since data can be shared using existing systems, it is possible to add to existing data sharing systems without changing the system itself, making it relatively easy to implement large-scale data sharing systems.

[0082] The output unit 74 may read standard specification data from the storage unit 72 and output it to system B. In this case, conversion from standard specification data to second individual specification data is not necessarily required. For example, in the product purchase support system described above, individual specification data obtained from the affiliate service as system A may be converted into standard specification data that conforms to the product integration DB 13. Alternatively, individual specification data obtained from the EC sites 400 and 500 as system A may be converted into standard specification data that conforms to the product integration DB 13. In Figure 5, the affiliate tag acquisition unit 21 corresponds to the acquisition unit 71. The affiliate tag structure dictionary 23 corresponds to the storage unit 72 that stores the forward conversion rules. The tag analysis unit 22 corresponds to the conversion unit 73 that converts individual specification data into standard specification data by referring to the forward conversion rules. Also, in Figure 6, the product-related information acquisition unit 31 corresponds to the acquisition unit 71. The page structure dictionary 33 corresponds to the storage unit 72 that stores the forward conversion rules. The page analysis unit 32 corresponds to the conversion unit 73, which converts individual specification data into standard specification data by referring to the forward conversion rules.

[0083] [Applications of Data Integration Systems] In Figure 10, the data linkage system 700 is connected to the shop system 710, the sales agency system 720, the content distribution system 730, and the viewing terminal 740 via a data communication path, either by wire or wireless.

[0084] The shop system 710 is a system for stores that sell goods online or in physical stores, and provides product information of the goods to be sold to the sales agency system 720 via the internet and data linkage system 700.

[0085] The sales agency system 720 includes a product information storage unit 721, a processor 722, and a communication unit 723.

[0086] The product information storage unit 721 is a storage area of ​​a storage device such as a hard disk drive, and stores the product identifier, product information, product introducer identifier, sales shop identifier, and sales price distribution ratio in association with each other.

[0087] The product identifier is an identifier that uniquely identifies a product. The product information is product information obtained from the shop system 710 via the data linkage system 700 and the internet, and includes the product name, product image, product description, and product price. The product introducer identifier is the identifier of the business that introduces this product to consumers. The selling shop identifier is the identifier of the shop system 710 or its operator that sells this product. The distribution ratio shows the ratio P:Q:R to which the product price will be distributed to the product introducer P, the operator of the shop system 710 Q, and the operator of the sales agency system 720 R if this product is sold.

[0088] The processor 722 executes various processes by running a program, thereby realizing the operation of the product information provision unit, the purchase processing unit, and the payment processing unit. The processor 722 may be realized through the cooperation of multiple processors.

[0089] The product information provision unit causes the content distribution system 730 or the viewing terminal 740 to obtain product information stored in the product information storage unit 721 via the internet and data linkage system 700 for the product introducer. The purchase processing unit completes the purchase process for the product in response to a product purchase request made from the viewing terminal 740. When the payment processing unit detects that the payment for the purchased product has been settled, it executes a process to distribute and pay the product price to the product introducer, the operator of the shop system 710, and the operator of the sales agency system 720 according to the distribution ratio.

[0090] The communication unit 723 is a communication device for communicating with the data linkage system 700 via a computer network such as the Internet, and transmits and receives data with the shop system 710, the content distribution system 730, and, if necessary, the viewing terminal 740 via the data linkage system 700. Here, the sales agency system 720 may be installed in the system of the aforementioned product integration site 100. In this case, the product-related information of the aforementioned product integration site 100 may be used as product information. Alternatively, the content distribution system 730 may be made to acquire product information retrieved based on search conditions given to the inspection condition acquisition unit 11 from the content distribution system 730.

[0091] The content distribution system 730 distributes viewing content to the viewing terminal 740 either directly or via the data linkage system 700. The content distribution system 730 is, for example, a television receiver, set-top box, or taxi signage as the viewing device 740. Communication between the content distribution system 730 and the viewing terminal 740 is carried out using transmission paths and protocols appropriate to the characteristics of both devices. In the following description, the viewing terminal 740 is assumed to be a television receiver compatible with terrestrial digital broadcasting, and the content distribution system 730 is assumed to include a content server for data broadcasting.

[0092] The content distribution system 730 receives product information from the sales agency system 720 via the internet and data linkage system 700, and transmits the product information to the viewing terminal 740 via data broadcasting.

[0093] The viewing terminal 740 receives product information related to the program selected by the viewer via data broadcasting from the content distribution system 730 during the broadcast and displays it in the data broadcasting content display area. Furthermore, the viewing terminal 740 accepts purchase operations for the displayed products via the remote control.

[0094] To elaborate further, in this embodiment, the sales agency system 720 provides the content distribution system 730 in advance with product information of products related to the broadcast program, linked to product identifiers. The content distribution system 730 stores the product information received from the sales agency system 720 in a storage device, linked to its product identifiers. The content distribution system 730 also stores the received product identifiers in a storage device, linked to the broadcast program in advance. The content distribution system 730 transmits product information corresponding to the currently broadcasting program to the viewing terminal 740 via data broadcasting, linked to its product identifiers. The viewing terminal 740 displays product information of products related to the program in the data broadcasting section while the program is being broadcast, and accepts purchase operations for those products via remote control.

[0095] For example, during a program introducing Hakone, Hakone merchandise could be sold via data broadcasting. Instead of directing viewers to an internet search to purchase the product, the viewing terminal 740 would confirm the purchase through data broadcasting communication.

[0096] The content distribution system 730 obtains the product identifier of the product whose purchase has been confirmed by the operation of the viewing terminal 740 from the viewing terminal 740. Here, the content distribution system 730 may contain multiple computers, and the computer for data broadcasting and the computer that accepts purchases may be different, and communication between the computer that accepts purchases and the viewing terminal 740 may be via the internet. Furthermore, the transmission of product information to the viewing terminal 740 may be performed directly from the sales agency system 720 via the internet and the data linkage system 700 using methods such as Hybridcast, and the identifier of the purchased product may similarly be transmitted directly from the viewing terminal 740 to the sales agency system 720. When the identifier of the purchased product is notified to the content distribution system 730, the content distribution system 730 transmits that product identifier to the sales agency system 720 via the data linkage system 700.

[0097] The sales agency system 720 receives the identifier of the purchased product from the viewing device 740 or the content distribution system 730. The purchase processing unit notifies the viewing terminal 740 directly or via the content distribution system 730 that the purchase of the product has been accepted. The purchase processing unit also notifies the shop system 710 corresponding to the purchased product of the purchase details of the product. Here, the purchase processing unit may obtain the identifier of the viewing terminal 740 via the viewing terminal 740 or the content distribution system 730, and retrieve the delivery address and name of the recipient, which are pre-associated with the terminal identifier, from the database and display them in the purchase details.

[0098] When the payment processing unit detects a predetermined payment made by a viewer on the viewing terminal 740, it executes a process to distribute and pay the product price according to the distribution ratio corresponding to the purchased product, to the product introducer (operator of the content distribution system 730, broadcasting station), to the sales of the shop system 710 operator, and to the commission of the sales agency system 720 operator. However, if the sales agency system 720 and the data linkage system 700 are operated as a single unit, the commission of the sales agency system 720 operator may be considered as the commission of the data linkage system operator. Here, the payment made by the viewer may be made by transferring the product price to a bank account displayed on the television screen. The data linkage system 700 converts the communication between the above systems into data in real time and links the systems together.

[0099] According to this system, viewers can immediately purchase products related to the content they are watching, such as broadcast programs, thereby increasing the purchase rate compared to methods that guide viewers to internet searches before selling products. Furthermore, by linking IoT devices such as televisions, refrigerators, and vending machines with various sales sites, this mechanism allows others to easily and widely sell the products and services of each site. These others include television stations, vending machine vendors, taxi companies, train stations, airports, and other companies and individuals. In addition, profits can be shared among the site operator, seller, and operator of the linking system. However, the linking system and the profit-sharing system may be integrated, or they may be separate systems working in conjunction, and the two systems may be operated by different companies.

[0100] [Conclusion] The scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but is limited to the scope of the invention as described in the claims. Specific information processing technologies on each system and information communication technologies between each system can be replaced by technologies known to those skilled in the art. For example, the system may be configured using a serverless architecture. Also, the same processing results may be obtained even if the processing order of the processes is partially changed. Furthermore, in the aforementioned product purchase support system, products from multiple sales sites that provide affiliate services and products from multiple sales sites that do not provide affiliate services are integrated into a single site, enabling cross-searching of products across each sales site and allowing the purchase of the searched products. However, the invention of the product purchase support system is not limited to this, and at a minimum, it is sufficient if it integrates products from sales sites that do not provide affiliate services into a single site and enables cross-searching of products across said sales sites. Also, the data linkage system does not take the form of a single site, but may be a standalone linkage system that converts data from system A into standard data and then converts that into individual specification data for system B. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0101] 11. Search Criteria Acquisition Unit 12 Search Section 13 Product integration DB 14. Search Result Generation Unit 15. Sorting condition acquisition unit 21. Affiliate Tag Acquisition Section 22 Tag Analysis Department 23 Affiliate Tag Structure Dictionary 31 Product-related information acquisition unit 31 Page 32 Analysis Section 33-page structured dictionary 41. Browsing Processing Unit 42 Automatic Input Processing Unit 43 Personal information provision department 44 Personal information DB 71 Acquisition Department 72 Memory section 73 Conversion section 74 Output section 100 Product Integrated Site System 200,300 Online Mall System 400,500 EC site system 600 Buyer Interface System 700 Data Integration Systems 710 Shop System 720 Sales Agency System 721 Product information storage section 722 processors 723 Communications Department 730 Content Distribution System 740 viewing devices

Claims

[Claim 1] A data linkage system that enables data handled by one system to be handled by another system. An acquisition unit that acquires data for a first individual specification from the aforementioned system, A storage unit that stores forward conversion rules for converting individual specification data into standard specification data, The system includes a conversion unit that refers to the said rules and converts the data of the first individual specification into the data of the standard specification, The storage unit is a data linkage system that stores the converted standard specification data.

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