Advertisement support device

Abstract

To provide a technical means for supporting a poster so as to provide advertisements in a manner that encourages advertisement browsing. [Solution] The advertisement provision support device 1 of the present invention includes a destination information acquisition unit 113 that acquires destination information related to the advertisement destination, including an SNS account and address; a mode designation unit 115 that designates one or more delivery modes from a group including a paper medium delivery mode and an online delivery mode based on the destination information; a link delivery unit 120 that delivers a link to an advertisement page to an account related to an advertisement destination for which the online delivery mode is designated; a delivery command unit 117 that commands an advertisement destination for which the paper medium delivery mode is designated to deliver an advertisement in paper form to the address related to the advertisement destination; and a reward granting unit 121 that grants a reward to a viewer's account when the advertisement page is viewed via the link.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an advertisement provision support device. [Background technology]

[0002] Advertising is conducted by posting advertising paper media on which advertising information is printed. Advertising paper media are also called flyers. However, distributing flyers poses various problems, such as the problem of flyers filling up mailboxes, the problem of flyers posted later overflowing from mailboxes and scattering on the floor, and the problem of paper consumption for flyers being an environmental burden.

[0003] Regarding technologies aimed at solving various problems that arise from the distribution of flyers in conventional services and conventional technologies, Patent Document 1 discloses a business system in which a notification manager's website homepage notifies users of methods for obtaining flyer information on their personal computers, web-enabled mobile phones, and digital home appliances, and the notification manager publishes flyer information on the website homepage to residents of buildings and apartments in specific areas requested by flyer delivery companies, and if any resident who wishes to do so registers their email address, the notification manager sends and conveys information about urgent real-time services that are time-limited or of a limited duration via email.

[0004] The technology described in Patent Document 1 prevents flyers from being scattered and provides necessary information to building and apartment occupants. By making the information public, it is possible to efficiently transmit the information to leaflet distributors. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-204213 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Incidentally, the technology of Patent Document 1 transmits urgent information on real-time services by email. Emails received at a recipient's email address are usually displayed in a list together with other emails by email viewing software. Therefore, with the technology of Patent Document 1, there is a concern that advertising information may be buried under other emails, causing the recipient to overlook the urgent information.

[0007] Therefore, the technology described in Patent Document 1 has room for further improvement in terms of supporting posters to provide advertisements in a manner that encourages viewers to view advertisements that provide substantially identical content in print and online advertisements.

[0008] An object of the present invention is to provide a technical means for supporting posters so that they can provide advertisements in a manner that encourages advertisement viewing when the advertisements provide substantially the same content in print advertisements and online advertisements. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] As a result of intensive research into solving the above problem, the inventors have found that the above object can be achieved by designating one or more provision modes from a group including a paper medium provision mode and an online provision mode based on destination information, providing an advertisement in the designated mode, and when an advertisement page is viewed via a link to an advertisement page provided in the online provision mode, providing a privilege to a viewer's account, etc. Thus, the inventors have completed the present invention.

[0010] One aspect of the present invention provides an advertisement provision support device comprising: a destination information acquisition unit that acquires destination information related to an advertisement destination, including an SNS account and address; a mode designation unit that designates one or more delivery modes from a group including a paper medium delivery mode in which an advertisement is provided by paper medium and an online delivery mode in which an advertisement is provided via the Internet based on the destination information; a delivery command unit that instructs an advertisement destination for which the paper medium delivery mode is designated to deliver the advertisement in paper medium to an address related to the advertisement destination; a link delivery unit that delivers a link to an advertisement page having substantially the same content as the paper medium to an account related to an advertisement destination for which the online delivery mode is designated; and a bonus granting unit that grants a bonus to a viewer's account when the advertisement page is viewed via the link.

[0011] In the support device of this aspect, the aspect designation unit designates one or more delivery modes from a group including a paper medium delivery mode and an online delivery mode based on the delivery destination information acquired by the delivery destination information acquisition unit. Then, the link delivery unit delivers a link to an advertisement page to the account of the advertisement delivery destination for which the online delivery mode is designated. In the SNS, received messages are displayed for each sender. Thus, the support device of this aspect prevents the link from being buried in other messages.

[0012] In addition, the delivery command unit issues a command to deliver the advertisement on paper to the address of the advertisement recipient for which the paper medium provision mode is specified. In the support device of this mode, the advertisement page and the paper medium have substantially the same content. Therefore, the person to whom the advertisement is provided can freely select the desired provision mode from the online provision mode and the paper medium provision mode based on his or her own will, and can use the advertisement with substantially the same content regardless of the selected mode.

[0013] In this manner, the support device of this embodiment can provide advertisements in an appropriate manner that encourages advertisement viewing, in advertisements that provide substantially the same content in print advertisements and online advertisements. Furthermore, in the support device of this embodiment, when the advertisement page is viewed via the link, the reward granting unit grants a reward to the viewer's account, thereby further encouraging advertisement viewing.

[0014] As described above, this aspect can provide a technical means for supporting posters to provide advertisements in a manner that encourages advertisement viewing when the advertisements provide substantially the same content in print advertisements and online advertisements.

[0015] In addition, the present invention can take various forms exemplified by a form of recommending one or more provision forms from a group including a paper medium provision form and an online medium provision form based on advertisement attributes, a form of estimating by a machine learning model the characteristics of advertisement content expected to have a higher advertisement performance, a form of estimating by a machine learning model the layout characteristics of advertisement content expected to have a higher advertisement performance, a form of estimating by a machine learning model the layout characteristics according to the attributes of the destination, etc. These forms contribute to supporting posters so that advertisements that provide substantially the same content in paper medium advertisements and online advertisements can be provided in a manner that encourages advertisement viewing, by the effects brought about by adding their respective unique configurations. Effect of the Invention

[0016] As described above, the present invention can provide a technical means for supporting posters to provide advertisements in a manner that encourages advertisement viewing in advertisements that provide substantially the same content in print advertisements and online advertisements. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration and software configuration of a system S of the present embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an example of the advertisement database 131. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an example of the destination database 132. As shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an example of the performance database 133. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a main flowchart showing an example of a preferable flow of the support process executed by the support device 1 of this embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a continuation of FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a continuation of FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a continuation of FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a continuation of FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is an example of a display on terminal T. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] First, although the following disclosure, diagrams, and / or claims are described as being described alone or in combination with one or more other aspects, the subject matter of the immediate disclosure is not intended to be so limited. That is, the immediate disclosure, diagrams, and claims are intended to encompass the various aspects described herein, each alone or in one or more combinations with each other. For example, even if the immediate disclosure describes and illustrates a first embodiment, a second embodiment, and a third embodiment in such a manner that the first embodiment is described and illustrated in particular with respect to the second embodiment, or the second embodiment is described and illustrated only with respect to the third embodiment, the immediate disclosure and illustrations are not so limited and may include only the first embodiment, only the second embodiment, only the third embodiment, or one or more combinations of the first, second, and / or third embodiments, such as the first and second embodiments, the first and third embodiments, the second and third embodiments, or the first, second, and third embodiments.

[0019] The use of the phrase "or" in this document shall mean a "non-exclusive" arrangement unless expressly specified otherwise. For example, "item x is A or B" shall mean either: (1) item x is either A or B, but not both; or (2) item x is both A and B. In other words, the word "or" is not used to define an "exclusive" arrangement.

[0020] Additionally, as used herein, the phrases "comprising at least one of" and "comprising at least one of the following," when used in conjunction with a system or element, mean that the system or element includes one or more of the elements listed after the phrase. For example, if there are three types of elements, a first element, a second element, and a third element, the phrases "comprising at least one of" and "comprising at least one of the following" are to be interpreted as any of the following structural arrangements: a device including the first element, a device including the second element, a device including the third element, a device including the first and second elements, a device including the first and third elements, a device including the second and third elements, or a device including the first, second, and third elements.

[0021] A similar interpretation is intended when the phrase "used in at least one of the following" is used in this context. Additionally, "and / or" is used in this context as a verbal conjunction to indicate that one or more of the listed elements or conditions are included or occur. For example, a device that includes a first element, a second element, and / or a third element is to be interpreted as any of the following structural arrangements: a device that includes the first element, a device that includes the second element, a device that includes the third element, a device that includes the first element and the second element, a device that includes the first element and the third element, a device that includes the second element and the third element, or a device that includes the first element, the second element, and the third element.

[0022] In addition, the use of the phrase "and / or" in the text means a "non-exclusive" agreement, as stipulated in the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) "Format and preparation method of standard sheets JIS Z 8301."

[0023] Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0024] <System S> 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration and a software configuration of a system S according to this embodiment. The advertisement provision support system (system S) according to this embodiment is configured to include an advertisement provision support device 1. The support device 1 is configured to communicate with a user's terminal T via a network N. The "user" here refers to the advertisement provision destination.

[0025] 〔advertisement〕 The advertisement according to this embodiment is an advertisement that provides substantially the same content in one or more provision modes selected from a group including a paper media provision mode in which the advertisement is provided by paper media and an online provision mode in which the advertisement is provided via the Internet. The advertisement according to this embodiment is not particularly limited as long as it conveys information that the organization wants to inform users. The advertisement includes, for example, a flyer that informs users of the content and sales price of a product or service, and a handout (such as a local government newsletter) that informs users of the organization's activities.

[0026] Substantially the same content here refers to similar written content excluding information specific to the design, layout, or mode. Information specific to the mode is, for example, information that is difficult to express in another mode, information related to the procedure for applying for provision in another mode, etc. Information that is difficult to express in another mode is, for example, a video in a paper advertisement, a watermark in an online advertisement, etc. Information related to the procedure for applying for provision in another mode is, for example, a two-dimensional code indicating a link to a download destination of a program that causes the terminal T of this embodiment to cooperate with the support device 1.

[0027] [Support device 1] The support device 1 includes various hardware components such as a control unit 11, a storage unit 13, and a communication unit 14. The support device 1 executes a series of processes to support a poster to provide advertisements in a manner that encourages advertisement viewing in advertisements that provide substantially the same content in paper advertisements and online advertisements. The type of the support device 1 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a server device, a cloud server, etc.

[0028] [Control unit 11] The control unit 11 includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Random Access Memory (RAM), and a Read Only Memory (ROM).

[0029] The control unit 11 cooperates with at least one of the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 as necessary. The control unit 11 realizes software components of the program of this embodiment executed by the support device 1, such as an advertisement management unit 111, a destination management unit 112, a destination information acquisition unit 113, a performance management unit 114, a mode designation unit 115, a mode recommendation unit 116, a delivery command unit 117, a feature estimation unit 118, a layout unit 119, a link delivery unit 120, and a privilege granting unit 121.

[0030] The support processes realized by the above-mentioned software components will be described in detail later with reference to FIGS.

[0031] [Storage section 13] The memory unit 13 is a device in which data and / or files are stored, and has a storage unit that non-temporarily stores data using a hard disk, a semiconductor memory, a recording medium, a memory card, etc. The memory unit 13 stores a program executed by a microcomputer, an advertisement database 131, a destination database 132, a performance database 133, etc.

[0032] (Advertising Database 131) The advertisement database 131 stores data of advertisements (advertising data) provided by the support device 1 of this embodiment. The advertisement database 131 is managed by the advertisement management unit 111. Although not essential, it is preferable that the advertisement data is stored in association with information that identifies the data (e.g., an advertisement ID).

[0033] The advertising data includes, for example, various data related to the advertiser, information necessary for providing a paper advertisement, information necessary for providing an online advertisement, or benefits, etc. Information necessary for providing a paper advertisement is, for example, a number that identifies the paper advertisement at the posting company, a distribution area, etc. Information necessary for providing an online advertisement is, for example, a link to an advertising page with substantially the same content as the paper advertisement. The link is expressed, for example, by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

[0034] 2 is an example of advertisement database 131. In this example, advertisement data identified by advertisement IDs "A0001", "A0002", "A0003", etc. are stored.

[0035] The first advertising data identified by the advertising ID "A0001" includes data related to the advertiser "△△ Real Estate", the paper medium number "#2024-09-0001" as information necessary for provision in a paper medium advertisement, the URL "https: / / foo.bar / triangle_resident" as information necessary for provision in an online advertisement, and the benefit "Earn △△△△ points by registering as a friend", etc.

[0036] The second advertising data identified by the advertising ID "A0002" includes data related to the advertiser "△△ Food Delivery", the paper medium number "#2024-09-0002" as information required for provision in paper advertising, the URL "https: / / foo.bar / triangle_deliver" as information required for provision in online advertising, and the benefit "Register as a friend to receive △△△△pts + a slice of bread", etc.

[0037] The third advertising data identified by the advertising ID "A0003" includes data related to the advertiser "△△ Supermarket", the paper medium number "#2024-09-0003" as information required for provision in a paper advertisement, the URL "https: / / foo.bar / triangle_market" as information required for provision in an online advertisement, and the benefit "A coupon to exchange for a pack of eggs when you register as a friend", etc.

[0038] By storing these advertisement data in the example, the posting company can deliver the appropriate paper advertisement identified by the paper medium number to the advertisement destination for which the paper medium provision mode is specified. Also, the support device 1 can deliver a link (URL) to an advertisement page to an account related to an advertisement destination for which an online provision mode is specified. Furthermore, the support device 1 can provide a benefit related to a condition to an advertisement destination that satisfies the condition in the data related to the benefit.

[0039] (132 databases provided) The destination database 132 stores data on advertisement destinations (destination data). The destination database 132 is managed by the destination management unit 112. Although not essential, it is preferable that the destination data is stored in association with information that identifies the data (e.g., a destination ID).

[0040] The destination data includes data related to a social network service (SNS) account and address of the destination. The SNS is not particularly limited. As it has a rich application programming interface (API) and is widely used, the SNS is preferably LINE (registered trademark).

[0041] The destination data preferably includes the first and last names of the advertisement recipients, and data regarding designation of the mode of advertisement provision. The data regarding designation of the mode is preferably in a format that allows the mode to be designated for each classification of advertisements.

[0042] 3 is an example of the destination database 132. In this example, destination data specified by advertisement IDs "D0001", "D0002", etc. are stored.

[0043] The first destination data identified by the destination ID "D0001" includes data indicating the account name "@TanakaTriangle", the first name "Tanaka △△", and the address "Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture..." as data related to the advertisement destination related to the data. The data also includes data indicating that the advertisement is provided in the form of "retail stores: online, restaurants and gourmet: paper media, beauty and health: online...".

[0044] The second destination data identified by the destination ID "D0002" includes data indicating the account name "@SatouSankaku", the first and last name "Sato △△", and the address "Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture..." as data regarding the advertisement destination related to the data. The data also includes data indicating that the advertisement is provided in the form of "retail stores: online, restaurants and gourmet: online, beauty and health: paper media".

[0045] By storing these destination data in the example, the support device 1 can instruct the postal company to deliver based on the address, etc. Also, the support device 1 can deliver a link to an advertisement page to an account indicated by an account name. In addition, by storing data related to the designation of the delivery mode, the support device 1 can specify the delivery mode by referring to the data.

[0046] (Performance database 133) Data relating to advertisement results (performance data) is stored in the performance database 133. Although not essential, the performance data is preferably stored in association with information for identifying the data (for example, a performance ID).

[0047] The data included in the performance data is not particularly limited. In order to make it possible to recommend a presentation mode based on advertisement attributes, the data preferably includes data associating advertisement performance for each presentation mode with advertisement features.

[0048] At this time, in order to make it possible to estimate the characteristics of advertisement content that are expected to have a higher advertising performance, it is preferable that the data is data that further associates the characteristics of the advertisement content.

[0049] In order to enable the generation of layouts that are likely to have higher advertising performance, the data is preferably data that further associates layout features of the advertising content.

[0050] At this time, in order to enable generation of a layout according to the destination attributes, it is preferable that the data is data further associated with the destination attributes of the advertisement destination.

[0051] 4 is an example of the result database 133. In this example, destination data identified by a result ID "P0001" and the like is stored.

[0052] The first performance data identified by the performance ID "P0001" includes data relating to the performance of a print advertisement, the performance of an online advertisement having a layout characteristic of a paper-like layout, and the performance of an online advertisement having a layout characteristic of an electronic advertisement, for an advertisement with the advertising attribute "food retail store product list."

[0053] In this data, the data concerning the performance of print advertising includes data showing that it was generally unpopular among young people with a sample size of △△△, data showing that it was met with mixed reviews among middle-aged people with a sample size of △△△, and data showing that it was generally well-received among elderly people with a sample size of △△△.

[0054] In this data, the data on the performance of the paper-style layout includes data showing that it is generally unpopular among young people with a sample size of △△△, data showing that it is met with mixed opinions among middle-aged people with a sample size of △△△, and data showing that it is generally well-received among elderly people with a sample size of △△△.

[0055] In this data, the data relating to the performance of the electronic advertising layout includes data indicating that it was generally well received among young people with a sample size of △△△, data indicating that it was generally well received among middle-aged people with a sample size of △△△, and data indicating that it was mixed among elderly people with a sample size of △△△.

[0056] By storing these performance data in this example, the support device 1 can refer to the performance data and estimate the characteristics of the advertising content that is expected to have a higher advertising performance. In particular, the support device 1 can generate layout characteristics of the advertising content that is expected to have a higher advertising performance. In this case, the support device 1 can estimate and generate characteristics suitable for each of the destination attributes (young people, middle-aged people, elderly people).

[0057] [Communications Section 14] The communication unit 14 is not particularly limited as long as it can connect the support device 1 to the network N and communicate with it. Examples of the communication unit 14 include a network card compatible with the Ethernet standard and a communication device compatible with wireless LAN.

[0058] [Network N] The type of the network N is not particularly limited as long as it enables communication with the support device 1, etc. The type of the network N is, for example, the Internet, a mobile phone network, a wireless LAN, etc.

[0059] [Terminal T] The terminal T is used by a user who is the destination of the advertisement. The type of the terminal T is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a stationary terminal such as a personal computer, or various terminals such as a mobile terminal such as a tablet terminal. From the viewpoint of being able to use the terminal T without introducing expensive equipment such as a personal computer or a notebook computer, it is preferable that the terminal T includes a smartphone.

[0060] (program) The terminal T of this embodiment cooperates with the support device 1 by executing the program (advertising delivery application) of this embodiment delivered from the support device 1, etc. The program causes the terminal T to execute a process of transmitting data related to a user's input to the support device 1, a process of performing various displays based on a command related to display received from the support device 1, and the like.

[0061] [Main Flowchart of Support Processing] Fig. 5 is a main flow chart showing an example of a preferred flow of the support processing executed by the support device 1 of this embodiment. Fig. 6 is a diagram continuing from Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a diagram continuing from Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a diagram continuing from Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a diagram continuing from Fig. 8. The following is an example of a preferred flow of the support processing executed by the support device 1 of this embodiment using Figs. 5 to 9.

[0062] [Step S1: Determine whether to display the registration screen] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute the destination management unit 112. Then, the control unit 11 executes a process of determining whether or not to display a destination information registration screen by the destination management unit 112 (registration screen display determination step). If the control unit 11 determines that the screen should be displayed, it shifts the process to step S2, and if not, it shifts the process to step S5.

[0063] In the registration screen display determination step, when data requesting the display of a registration screen is received from the terminal T, the destination management unit 112 determines that the destination data registration screen is to be displayed.

[0064] [Step S2: Display the registration screen] The control unit 11 executes a process of displaying a registration screen for destination information through the destination management unit 112 (a registration screen display step). The control unit 11 moves the process to step S3. The registration screen is configured to register at least an account and an address.

[0065] If the data received by the support device 1 when displaying the registration screen includes information for identifying the user's account, the registration screen may not have a field for registering the account. For example, the registration screen may be displayed in response to a request via an API of an SNS such as LINE.

[0066] [Step S3: Obtaining recipient information input] The control unit 11 executes a process of acquiring destination information input by a user through the destination management unit 112 (destination input acquisition step). The control unit 11 moves the process to step S4. The destination information includes at least an account and an address.

[0067] When the data received by the support device 1 when displaying the registration screen includes information for identifying the user's account, the destination management unit 112 may obtain data relating to the account from the destination information.

[0068] [Step S4: Update recipient information] The control unit 11 executes a process of updating the destination information stored in the destination database 132 based on the data acquired in the destination input acquisition step by the destination management unit 112 (destination information update step). The control unit 11 shifts the process to step S5.

[0069] [Step S5: Determine whether to provide advertisements] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute a process of determining whether to provide an advertisement (advertisement provision determination step). If the control unit 11 determines that an advertisement should be provided, the process proceeds to step S6, and if not, the process proceeds to step S20.

[0070] In the advertisement presentation determination step, the control unit 11 realizes the above-mentioned determination by, for example, a procedure of determining that an advertisement is to be presented when a presentation timing designated for each advertisement has arrived.

[0071] [Step S6: Obtain destination information] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute the destination information acquisition unit 113. Then, the control unit 11 executes a process of acquiring destination information by the destination information acquisition unit 113 (destination information acquisition step). The control unit 11 shifts the process to step S7.

[0072] In the recipient information acquisition step, the recipient information acquisition unit 113 acquires, from the recipient database 132, recipient information including an address corresponding to the distribution area associated with the advertisement, for example.

[0073] [Step S7: Determine whether the user has explicitly specified] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute the manner designation unit 115. Then, the control unit 11 executes a process of determining whether or not there is an explicit designation by the user through the manner designation unit 115 (designation presence / absence determination step). If the control unit 11 determines that there is an explicit designation, it shifts the process to step S8, and if not, it shifts the process to step S9.

[0074] In the designation presence / absence determination step, the mode designation unit 115 determines that there is a designation when, for example, an explicit designation by the user is stored in the storage unit 13. As described in the section on the destination database 132, in the case where data relating to the designation of the mode is stored in a format in which the mode can be designated for each advertisement classification, it is preferable that the mode designation unit 115 determines whether or not there is an explicit designation by the user for the advertisement classification determined to be provided in the advertisement provision determination step.

[0075] [Step S8: Specify the provision mode according to the user's specification] The control unit 11 executes a process of designating a provision mode in accordance with a user's designation by the mode designation unit 115 (first mode designation step). The control unit 11 shifts the process to step S12.

[0076] Note that the number of provision modes specified in this step is not particularly limited. The following are examples of designations in this step. If the user designates that no provision mode should be used, the mode designation unit 115 does not designate any provision mode. If the user designates either the paper medium provision mode or the online provision mode, the mode designation unit 115 designates the designated provision mode. If the user designates both the paper medium provision mode and the online provision mode, the mode designation unit 115 designates both provision modes.

[0077] [Step S9: Get advertising attributes] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute the performance management unit 114. Then, the control unit 11 executes a process of acquiring advertisement attributes of the advertisement related to the above-mentioned advertisement by the performance management unit 114 (performance acquisition step). The control unit 11 shifts the process to step S10.

[0078] [Step S10: Recommend the provision mode] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute the mode recommendation unit 116. Then, the control unit 11 executes a process of recommending one or more provision modes from a group including a paper medium provision mode and an online provision mode based on the advertisement attributes of the above-mentioned advertisement by the mode recommendation unit 116 (mode recommendation step). The control unit 11 shifts the process to step S11.

[0079] In the mode recommendation step, the mode recommendation unit 116 recommends one or more presentation modes by a process including a procedure of inputting the above-mentioned advertising attributes into a machine learning model that has been pre-trained using advertising performance data as training data, and outputting the expected advertising performance for each presentation mode. This is expected to result in the recommendation of an appropriate mode by AI.

[0080] [Step S11: Specify the presentation format according to the recommendation] The control unit 11 executes a process of designating a provision mode in accordance with the above-mentioned recommendation by the mode designation unit 115 (second mode designation step). The control unit 11 moves the process to step S12.

[0081] [Step S12: Determine whether the paper medium provision mode is specified] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute a process of determining whether a paper medium provision mode has been specified in the above-mentioned designation (paper medium provision determination step). If the control unit 11 determines that a paper medium provision mode has been specified, the process proceeds to step S13, and if not, the process proceeds to step S14.

[0082] [Step S13: Instruct to deliver advertisements in paper form] The control unit 11 cooperates with the memory unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute the delivery command unit 117. Then, the control unit 11 executes a process of commanding the delivery command unit 117 to deliver the advertisement on paper to the address related to the advertisement destination (delivery command step). The control unit 11 shifts the process to step S14.

[0083] In the delivery instruction step, the delivery instruction unit 117 realizes the above-mentioned instruction by, for example, transmitting data related to the instruction to a terminal used by the posting company. The format of the data is not particularly limited. The format may be, for example, a written email showing information identifying the paper advertisement and a list of addresses to which the paper advertisement is to be delivered, or the written document in Portable Document Format (PDF).

[0084] The format may also be, for example, a written email or a PDF document indicating information identifying the paper advertisement, the delivery area for the paper advertisement, and a list of addresses to which the paper advertisement will not be delivered.

[0085] [Step S14: Determine whether online provision mode has been specified] The control unit 11, in cooperation with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14, executes a process of determining whether the online provision mode has been specified in the above-mentioned specification (online provision determination step). If the control unit 11 determines that the online provision mode has been specified, the process proceeds to step S15, and if not, the process proceeds to step S20.

[0086] Although not essential, the support process preferably includes a series of processes for estimating, by a machine learning model, characteristics of advertising content that is expected to have a higher advertising performance. Steps S15 to S18 are an example of such processes.

[0087] [Step S15: Determine whether to estimate features] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute a process of determining whether to estimate the characteristics of the advertising content that is expected to have a higher advertising performance (characteristic estimation determination step). If the control unit 11 determines that the characteristics are to be estimated, the process proceeds to step S16, and if not, the process proceeds to step S19.

[0088] In the feature estimation determination step, the control unit 11 realizes the above-mentioned determination by, for example, a procedure for determining whether or not to make an estimation according to a given specification by an administrator of the support device 1 or the like.

[0089] [Step S16: Estimate features] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute the feature estimation unit 118. Then, the control unit 11 executes a process of estimating features of advertising content that is expected to have a higher advertising performance, using the feature estimation unit 118 (feature estimation step). The control unit 11 moves the process to step S17. In the feature estimation step, the feature estimation unit 118 estimates the features by a process including a procedure of inputting the above-mentioned advertising attributes into a machine learning model that has been pre-trained using performance data stored in the performance database 133 as training data, and outputting the above-mentioned features.

[0090] The features estimated in the feature estimation step are, for example, headline features, layout features, etc. In order to generate advertising content with a layout that is expected to have a higher advertising performance, it is preferable that the feature estimation unit 118 is configured to estimate layout features. In this case, it is preferable that the support process further includes a series of processes for generating laid-out advertising data in accordance with the estimated layout features. Steps S17 to S18 are an example of such processes.

[0091] [Step S17: Determine whether to generate layout-completed advertisement data] The control unit 11, in cooperation with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14, executes a process of determining whether to generate layout-completed advertisement data in which content components included in the advertisement are arranged so as to have a specified layout feature (advertisement generation determination step). If the control unit 11 determines that the advertisement should be generated, it shifts the process to step S18, and if not, it shifts the process to step S19.

[0092] In the advertisement generation determination step, the control unit 11 realizes the above-mentioned determination by, for example, a procedure for determining whether or not to make an estimation according to a given specification by an administrator of the support device 1 or the like.

[0093] [Step S18: Generate layout-completed advertisement data] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute the layout unit 119. Then, the control unit 11 executes a process of generating laid-out advertisement data in which the content components included in the advertisement are arranged so as to have a specified layout feature, by the layout unit 119 (layout step). The control unit 11 shifts the process to step S19.

[0094] There is no particular limitation on the procedure by which the layout unit 119 generates laid-out advertisement data in the layout step, and this procedure is realized, for example, by a process of allocating content components to templates for each feature.

[0095] [Step S19: Deliver a link to the advertising page] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute the link delivery unit 120. Then, the control unit 11 executes a process of delivering a link to an advertisement page having substantially the same content as the above-mentioned paper medium to an account related to the above-mentioned advertisement destination by the link delivery unit 120 (link delivery step). The control unit 11 shifts the process to step S20.

[0096] In the link delivery step, the link delivery unit 120 realizes the above-mentioned delivery by, for example, a process of sending a message including the above-mentioned link to the account via the API of the SNS related to the above-mentioned account.

[0097] [Step S20: Determine whether the advertisement page has been accessed] The control unit 11 cooperates with the memory unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute the privilege granting unit 121. The control unit 11 then executes a process of determining whether the advertisement page has been accessed by the privilege granting unit 121 (access determination step). If the control unit 11 determines that the advertisement page has been accessed, it shifts the process to step S21, and if not, it shifts the process to step S22. In the access determination step, the privilege granting unit 121 realizes the above-mentioned determination by, for example, a procedure of determining that the advertisement page has been accessed when the advertisement page has been viewed via the above-mentioned link.

[0098] When the feature estimation step is executed, the support process preferably includes a process of updating the track record. Step S21 is an example of such a process.

[0099] [Step S21: Update results] The control unit 11 cooperates with the storage unit 13 and the communication unit 14 to execute the result management unit 114. Then, the control unit 11 executes a process of updating the results stored in the result database 133 based on the above-mentioned access by the result management unit 114 (result update step). The control unit 11 shifts the process to step S22.

[0100] [Step S22: Determine whether to grant a bonus] The control unit 11 executes a process of determining whether to grant a bonus by the bonus granting unit 121 (bonus grant determination step). If the control unit 11 determines that a bonus should be granted, the process proceeds to step S23, and if not, the process returns to step S1 to repeat the processes from step S1 to step S23.

[0101] In the reward grant determination step, the reward granting unit 121 realizes the above determination by, for example, a procedure of determining that a reward is to be granted to a viewer's account when the advertisement page is viewed via the above link. Alternatively, the reward granting unit 121 may realize the above determination by a procedure of determining that a reward is to be granted when a given condition associated with the advertisement is satisfied.

[0102] The benefit given in the benefit giving determination step is, for example, points that can be converted into benefits that can be used in various electronic payment services. The points and digital gifts (owned benefits) related to the benefit are associated with an account. By the support device 1 functioning as an advertisement information distribution means and a point management means, the burden on the user of receiving advertisements in paper form is reduced, and an incentive to view advertisements is provided.

[0103] [Step S23: Granting benefits] The control unit 11 executes a process of granting a privilege by the privilege granting unit 121 (privilege granting step). The control unit 11 returns the process to step S1 and repeats the processes from step S1 to step S23.

[0104] [Effects of Support Processing] In the support device 1 that executes the above-mentioned support process, the mode designation unit 115 designates one or more provision modes from a group including a paper medium provision mode and an online medium provision mode based on the destination information acquired by the destination information acquisition unit 113 (step S6) (step S8). When the person to whom the advertisement is provided explicitly indicates a provision mode from the online medium provision mode and the paper medium provision mode, the support device 1 designates the indicated provision mode (steps S7 to S8). Therefore, the person to whom the advertisement is provided can freely designate a desired mode from the online medium provision mode or the paper medium provision mode based on his or her own will and receive the advertisement. Then, the link delivery unit delivers a link to the advertisement page to the account of the advertisement destination to which the online provision mode is designated (steps S14 to S19). In the SNS, the received message is displayed for each sender. Therefore, the support device in the mode prevents the link from being buried in other messages.

[0105] The delivery command unit also issues a command to deliver the advertisement on paper to the address of the advertisement recipient for which the paper medium delivery mode is specified (steps S12 to S13). In this support device 1, the advertisement page and the paper medium have substantially the same content. Therefore, the person to whom the advertisement is delivered can use the advertisement with substantially the same content regardless of the mode.

[0106] This allows the support device 1 to provide advertisements in an appropriate manner that encourages advertisement viewing in advertisements that provide substantially the same content in paper advertisements and online advertisements. Furthermore, in this embodiment of the support device, the reward granting unit grants a reward to the viewer's account when the advertisement page is viewed via the link, thereby further encouraging advertisement viewing (steps S22 to S23).

[0107] As described above, the support device 1 of this embodiment can provide technical means for supporting posters to provide advertisements in a manner that encourages advertisement viewing when the advertisements provide substantially the same content in paper advertisements and online advertisements.

[0108] In order to provide advertisements in an appropriate manner based on the advertisement attributes, the support process may be configured to execute a process (steps S9 to S11) of recommending one or more modes of provision from a group including a paper medium mode of provision and an online mode of provision based on the advertisement attributes. This allows the support device 1 to support the poster to provide advertisements in a manner that encourages advertisement viewing.

[0109] In order to provide an advertisement having characteristics that are expected to have a higher advertising performance, the support process may be configured to execute a process (steps S15 to S16) of estimating characteristics of advertisement content that are expected to have a higher advertising performance using a machine learning model. Performance data that serves as learning data is collected in the process related to steps S20 to S21. In this way, the support device 1 can support the poster to provide the advertisement in a manner that encourages advertisement viewing.

[0110] In order to provide an advertisement having layout features that are expected to have a higher advertising performance, the support process may be configured to execute a process (steps S15 to S16) of estimating layout features of advertisement content that are expected to have a higher advertising performance using a machine learning model. At this time, the support process may be configured to further execute a process (steps S17 to S18) of estimating layout features that match the attributes of the destination using a machine learning model. In this way, the support device 1 can support the poster to provide the advertisement in a manner that encourages advertisement viewing.

[0111] <Usage example> The following is an example of how the support device 1 of this embodiment is used.

[0112] [Register via SNS] The user photographs the two-dimensional code indicating the address of the support device 1 with the terminal T and accesses the address. The terminal T registers the account related to the support device 1 as a friend on the SNS. The support device 1 displays a registration screen on the terminal T.

[0113] Fig. 10 is a display example on terminal T. In this example, terminal T shows fields for inputting account name, last name, and address (zip code, prefecture, city, town, and street address), a check box for each advertisement classification that specifies whether or not a paper medium delivery form entitled "Flyers to be received in paper form" is desired, and a button for executing registration. The advertisement classifications displayed in this example are 11 types: retail stores, restaurants and gourmet, beauty and health, learning and school, cars and travel, housing, finance and weddings and funerals, coupons and deals, jobs, notices from local governments, and others.

[0114] The user checks the three options of Restaurants & Gourmet, Cars & Travel, and Housing to specify the paper media delivery format, and touches Register. Terminal T sends the input name and address data to the support device 1 along with the account that was registered as a friend. The support device 1 registers the account, address, etc.

[0115] [Provision of print media advertising] The support device 1 provides data indicating the address to which the paper advertisement is designated to the poster by the time when each paper advertisement is to be distributed. The poster delivers the paper advertisement based on the data.

[0116] [Providing online advertising] The support device 1 provides a link to the advertisement page to the SNS account. The user uses the link to view the advertisement page and is given a benefit.

[0117] [Auto Layout] The support device 1 estimates an appropriate layout based on the advertisement attributes and the destination attributes, and lays out the content components according to the estimation result. Then, the support device 1 delivers the laid-out advertisement data to the terminal T.

[0118] It should be noted that within the scope of the concept of the present invention, a person skilled in the art may come up with various modifications and alterations. It is understood that such modifications and alterations fall within the scope of the present invention. For example, even if a person skilled in the art appropriately adds, deletes, or modifies the design of the above-described embodiment, or adds, omits, or modifies the conditions of a process, these modifications and alterations are included in the scope of the present invention as long as they include the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0119] S System 1 Support equipment 11 Control section 111 Advertising Management Department 112 Supplier Management Department 113 Destination Information Acquisition Department 114 Performance Management Department 115 Mode designation section 116 Mode recommendation section 117 Delivery Command 118 Feature Estimation Unit 119 Layout section 120 Link Distribution Department 121 Benefits Granting Department 13 Storage section 131 Advertising Database 132 Provider Database 133 Performance Database 14 Communications Department N Network T-Terminal

Claims

1. a destination information acquisition unit that acquires destination information related to an advertisement destination, including an SNS account and an address; a mode designation unit that designates one or more modes of provision from a group including a paper medium provision mode in which the advertisement is provided by a paper medium and an online provision mode in which the advertisement is provided via the Internet based on the destination information; A delivery instruction unit that instructs an advertisement destination for which a paper medium delivery mode is specified to deliver an advertisement by paper medium to an address related to the advertisement destination; a link delivery unit that delivers a link to an advertisement page having substantially the same content as that of the paper medium to an account related to an advertisement destination for which an online provision mode is specified; a reward giving unit that gives a reward to a viewer's account when the advertisement page is viewed via the link; a performance management unit that manages performance data that associates advertising performance for each provision mode with advertising features; a mode recommendation unit that recommends one or more modes of delivery from a group including a paper medium delivery mode and an online delivery mode based on an advertisement attribute of the advertisement; Equipped with the mode recommendation unit recommends the one or more provision modes by a process including a step of inputting the advertising attributes into a machine learning model that has been pre-trained using the performance data as training data, and outputting advertising performance expected for each provision mode; The mode designation unit designates the advertisement presentation mode recommended by the mode recommendation unit when there is no explicit designation by a user.

2. A feature estimation unit that estimates features of advertising content that is expected to have a higher advertising performance based on the advertising attributes, The performance management unit is configured to manage performance data further associated with features of the advertising content; The advertisement provision support device according to claim 1 , wherein the feature estimation unit estimates the features by processing including a step of inputting the advertising attributes into a machine learning model that has been pre-trained using the performance data as learning data and outputting the features.

3. a layout unit that generates layout-completed advertisement data in which content components included in the advertisement are arranged to have specified layout characteristics; the performance management unit is configured to manage performance data further associated with layout features of the advertising content; The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the feature estimation unit is configured to estimate a feature in a layout.

4. The performance management unit is configured to manage performance data further associated with destination attributes of the advertisement destination, The advertisement provision support device according to claim 3 , wherein the feature estimation unit estimates the layout feature by a process including a step of inputting the advertisement attribute and the destination attribute into the machine learning model and outputting the layout feature.

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