Information provision support device, information provision support method, and information provision support program

Abstract

The purchase of information provision slots is supported using a reach index of the information provided in the information provision slots. [Solution] Reach index change information indicates the relationship between changes in the total cost required to provide information in multiple information slots and changes in reach indexes related to the number of contacts who have come into contact with information provided in one or more information slots. A first estimation unit estimates a reach index cost required to acquire an increment of the reach index to be added to the estimated value based on the reach index change information and an estimated value of the reach index for one or more selected information slots. A second estimation unit estimates an acquisition cost required to acquire the predicted increment of the reach index for each of multiple information slot candidates based on the predicted increment of the reach index for each of multiple information slot candidates and the reach index cost. A selection unit selects one of multiple information slot candidates based on the acquisition cost for each of the multiple information slot candidates. An output unit outputs candidate information indicating the selected information slot candidate.

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] In television broadcasts, advertisers' advertisements are broadcast as commercials (Commercial Messages). Commercials are broadly divided into time commercials and spot commercials. Time commercials are commercials that are broadcast in time slots that are bought and sold together with programs. Time commercials are also called program commercials, program commercials, or sponsored commercials.

[0003] Spot commercials are commercials that are broadcast in time slots set by broadcasting stations regardless of the program. Spot commercials are classified into station breaks (SB), which are broadcast between programs, and participation commercials (PT), which are inserted within programs but are not sponsored by the program.

[0004] There is a known system for spot commercials that automatically repeats bidding for auction slots that meet the set conditions, such as area, day of the week, time slot, cost per impression, and budget limit (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

[0005] There is also known an information processing device that can acquire the scale (reach) of the number of people who have come into contact with information with high accuracy and with a small processing load (for example, the amount of calculation) (for example, see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2024-119251 [Non-patent literature]

[0007] [Non-Patent Document 1] "With Suguri, you can watch terrestrial TV commercials online," [online], Nippon Television Network Corporation, [searched July 4, 2025], Internet<URL:https: / / sgr-service.ntv.co.jp> Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] According to the system in Non-Patent Document 1, a commercial orderer can immediately purchase a time slot that will improve the advertising effectiveness while monitoring the progress of the advertising effectiveness of the spot commercials they have already ordered. However, it is difficult to purchase a time slot that will improve reach from among multiple time slots that are candidates for purchase within a certain budget.

[0009] Reach is an indicator of the advertising effectiveness of a commercial, and represents the percentage of people who have been exposed to a particular commercial at least once within a certain period of time. Reach is also called the reach rate.

[0010] This problem is not limited to reach, but arises when purchasing time slots using various reach indicators that indicate the degree to which a commercial reaches survey subjects (reach).Furthermore, this problem is not limited to purchasing time slots using reach indicators for television commercials, but arises when purchasing various information slots using reach indicators that indicate the reach of various information provided through various media.

[0011] In one aspect, the present invention aims to support the purchase of an information slot by using a reach index of information provided in the information slot. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] In one example, the information provision support device includes a first estimation unit, a second estimation unit, a selection unit, and an output unit.

[0013] The reach index change information indicates the relationship between the change in the total cost required to provide information in multiple information slots and the change in the reach index regarding the number of contacts who came into contact with the information provided in one or more of the multiple information slots.

[0014] The first estimation unit estimates a reach index cost required to acquire an increment of the reach index to be added to the estimated value, based on the reach index change information and the estimated value of the reach index for the one or more selected information provision frames.

[0015] The second estimation unit estimates an acquisition cost required to acquire the predicted increase in the reach index for each of the plurality of information frame candidates based on the predicted increase in the reach index for each of the plurality of information frame candidates and the reach index cost.

[0016] The selection unit selects one of the plurality of information provision slot candidates based on the acquisition cost of each of the plurality of information provision slot candidates. The output unit outputs candidate information indicating the selected information provision slot candidate. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] According to one aspect, the purchase of a slot can be supported using a reach index of information provided in the slot. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of an information provision support device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 10 is a flowchart of a first information provision support process. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an information provision control system. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of an information provision support device included in the information provision control system. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing performance values ​​of an advertising campaign. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an approximation curve. [Figure 7A]This is a graph (part 1) showing the amount of advertising required to increase reach by 1%. [Figure 7B] This is the second graph showing the amount of advertising required to increase reach by 1%. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an increment ΔR of each time slot candidate. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the upper limit purchase price for each time frame candidate. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing contact indices C for each time frame. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the number of impressions for each time slot. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the cost per impression for each time slot candidate. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart of a second information provision support process. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the expected prices for each time frame candidate. [Figure 15] 10 is a flowchart of a third information provision support process. [Figure 16] 10 is a flowchart of a fourth information provision support process. [Figure 17] FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of an information processing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0020] 1 illustrates an example of a functional configuration of an information provision support device according to an embodiment. The information provision support device 101 includes a first estimation unit 111, a second estimation unit 112, a selection unit 113, and an output unit 114.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the first information provision support process performed by the information provision support device 101 of FIG.

[0022] Reach index change information is used in the information provision support process in Fig. 2. The reach index change information indicates the relationship between a change in the total cost required to provide information in multiple information provision slots and a change in the reach index related to the number of contacts who have come into contact with information provided in one or more of the multiple information provision slots.

[0023] First, the first estimation unit 111 estimates the achievement index cost required to obtain the increment of the achievement index to be added to the estimated value based on the achievement index change information and the estimated value of the achievement index for one or more selected information provision frames (step 201).

[0024] Next, the second estimation unit 112 estimates the acquisition cost required to acquire the predicted increase in the reach index for each of the multiple information provision frame candidates based on the predicted increase in the reach index for each of the multiple information provision frame candidates and the reach index cost (step 202).

[0025] Next, the selection unit 113 selects one of the plurality of information slot candidates based on the acquisition cost of each of the plurality of information slot candidates (step 203).Then, the output unit 114 outputs candidate information indicating the selected information slot candidate (step 204).

[0026] According to the information provision support device 101 of FIG. 1, it is possible to support the purchase of an information provision slot by using the reach index of information provided in the information provision slot.

[0027] Methods for providing information include television broadcasting, radio broadcasting, internet broadcasting, distribution on the web, display on digital signage devices, display on outdoor billboards, and publication in newspapers, magazines, etc.

[0028] The information provision slot may be a time slot in a television broadcast, radio broadcast, internet broadcast, etc., a display area in a web distribution or a digital signage device, or a publication area in a billboard, newspaper, magazine, etc. The display area or publication area may be an advertising slot. The information provided in the information provision slot may be an advertisement, a broadcast program, news, an article, etc., related to a product or service.

[0029] The advertisement for the product or service may be a commercial, which may be part of an advertising campaign in which spot commercials are broadcast for a specific purpose over a certain period of time.

[0030] The multiple pieces of information provided in each of the multiple information provision slots may be advertisements for the same product or service, or may be advertisements for different products or services. The multiple pieces of information may be provided using the same method or different methods. For example, in the case of an advertising campaign on television, the multiple pieces of information correspond to commercials for a specific product or service that are repeatedly broadcast multiple times over a certain period of time.

[0031] Contacts include viewers of television broadcasts, radio broadcasts, or internet broadcasts, viewers of information distributed on the web, viewers of digital signage devices or billboards, readers of newspapers, magazines, etc. Contacts are survey subjects who come into contact with the information provided. Survey subjects and contacts are, for example, households or individuals. Survey subjects and contacts may also be groups other than households that include one or more individuals.

[0032] The reach index is an index indicating the reach of the provided information. The reach indicates the degree to which the provided information reaches the survey subjects. The reach index may be reach.

[0033] Fig. 3 shows an example of the configuration of an information provision control system including the information provision support device 101 of Fig. 1. The information provision control system of Fig. 3 includes a reach prediction device 301, a contact index prediction device 302, a terminal device 303, an information provision support device 304, and an information provision control device 305. The information provision support device 304 corresponds to the information provision support device 101 of Fig. 1.

[0034] The reach prediction device 301, the contact index prediction device 302, the terminal device 303, the information provision support device 304, and the information provision control device 305 can communicate with each other via a communication network 306. The communication network 306 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network).

[0035] The information provision control device 305 controls the provision of advertisements in each information provision slot by allocating an advertisement specified by the user of the terminal device 303 to an information provision slot specified by the user from among multiple information provision slots.

[0036] The user of the terminal device 303 is, for example, an advertiser who requests an advertisement from an advertising agency, or an employee of the advertising agency. The advertiser requests the advertising agency to run an advertising campaign for a certain period of time, and the advertising agency determines multiple information slots to which advertisements for the advertising campaign are allocated. The one or more information slots to which advertisements are allocated are an example of one or more selected information slots.

[0037] The information provision control system may include a terminal device 303 for each of a plurality of users. When a plurality of users desire allocation of the same information provision slot, the information provision control device 305 may determine the user to which the slot is to be allocated, for example, by using the auction mechanism of Non-Patent Document 1. In this case, the information provision control device 305 allocates the information provision slot to the user who offers the highest purchase price for the same information provision slot.

[0038] The reach prediction device 301 predicts, for each target, the reach R1 for one or more information provision slots already allocated to the user of the terminal device 303, and the reach increment ΔR and total reach R2 for each of a plurality of information provision slot candidates.

[0039] Reach R1 and total reach R2 represent the proportion of contacts among a set of target survey respondents who are estimated to be exposed to an advertisement at least once within a certain period of time. The advertisement may be provided repeatedly using the same method over a certain period of time, or may be provided using multiple different methods over a certain period of time. Reach R1 and total reach R2 are examples of reach indicators relating to the number of contacts who are exposed to information provided in one or more of multiple information provision slots.

[0040] The target represents the attributes of the survey subjects, for example, all individuals (age 4 and over), men aged 20-34, men aged 35-49, women aged 20-34, women aged 35-49, both men and women aged 20-34, housewives, housewives (with children aged 0-3), etc.

[0041] The reach R1 represents the reach that would be achieved if the ad was served in one or more allocated slots. The reach R1 is an example of an estimate of the reach metric for one or more selected slots.

[0042] The informational slot candidate represents a candidate for an additional informational slot that a user may purchase in addition to one or more allocated informational slots. A user may purchase one or more additional informational slots to allocate an advertisement before or after the start of an advertising campaign. The increment ΔR represents the increased reach when an advertisement is served in the informational slot candidate.

[0043] The total reach R2 represents the sum of the reach R1 and the increment ΔR. Therefore, the increment ΔR represents the difference between the total reach R2 and the reach R1. The increment ΔR is sometimes called the incremental reach.

[0044] The reach prediction device 301 can predict the reach R1, increment ΔR, and total reach R2, for example, using the technology of Patent Document 1. The reach prediction device 301 transmits predicted reach information including the predicted reach R1, increment ΔR, and total reach R2 to the information provision support device 304.

[0045] The contact index prediction device 302 predicts the contact index C of the advertisements to be provided in each information provision slot for a certain period of time, and transmits predicted contact information including the predicted contact index C to the information provision support device 304.

[0046] The contact index C represents the proportion of contacts estimated to be exposed to the advertisements provided in each information slot among a group of target survey subjects. The contact index C is an example of a contact index that indicates the predicted degree of exposure to the information provided in each of the multiple information slot candidates.

[0047] For example, in the case of an advertising campaign on television broadcasting, the predicted viewership rate of the advertisements broadcast in each time slot can be used as the exposure index C. The predicted viewership rate may be the viewership rate of the entire individual (ALL).

[0048] The terminal device 303 transmits the setting information designated by the user to the information provision support device 304. The setting information includes information on the target whose total reach R2 is to be increased by additionally purchasing an information provision slot.

[0049] The information provision support device 304 selects one or more information provision slot candidates using the predicted reach information received from the reach prediction device 301, the predicted contact information received from the contact index prediction device 302, and the setting information received from the terminal device 303. Then, the information provision support device 304 transmits candidate information indicating each selected information provision slot candidate and cost information indicating the acquisition cost of each information provision slot candidate to the terminal device 303, thereby outputting the candidate information and cost information to the terminal device 303.

[0050] The terminal device 303 outputs the candidate information and cost information received from the information provision support device 304. This allows the user of the terminal device 303 to refer to the candidate information and cost information to determine an additional information provision slot and the purchase price for that information provision slot.

[0051] The terminal device 303 transmits purchase information indicating the additional information provision frame and purchase price determined by the user to the information provision support device 304. The information provision support device 304 transmits the purchase information received from the terminal device 303 to the information provision control device 305.

[0052] The information provision control device 305 determines users to whom each information provision slot is to be allocated based on the purchase information of a plurality of users received from the information provision support device 304, and allocates the information provision slots to the determined users.

[0053] Fig. 4 shows an example of the functional configuration of the information provision support device 304 in Fig. 3. The information provision support device 304 in Fig. 4 includes a communication unit 411, a generation unit 412, a reach cost estimation unit 413, a price estimation unit 414, a selection unit 415, and a storage unit 416. The communication unit 411, the reach cost estimation unit 413, the price estimation unit 414, and the selection unit 415 correspond to the output unit 114, the first estimation unit 111, the second estimation unit 112, and the selection unit 113 in Fig. 1, respectively.

[0054] The communication unit 411 communicates with the reach prediction device 301 , the contact index prediction device 302 , the terminal device 303 , and the information provision control device 305 via the communication network 306 .

[0055] The generation unit 412 generates reach change information 421 for each target using the actual value of the total cost required to purchase multiple information provision slots in each of multiple advertising campaigns carried out in the past and the actual value of the reach in each of those advertising campaigns. Then, the generation unit 412 stores the generated reach change information 421 in the storage unit 416. The reach change information 421 is an example of reach index change information.

[0056] Figure 5 shows an example of the performance values ​​of 20 advertising campaigns on television broadcasts. The horizontal axis represents the actual value of the advertising expenditure (yen), and the vertical axis represents the actual value of the reach (%). The advertising expenditure represents the total cost required to purchase multiple time slots in which commercials for each advertising campaign were aired. The target in the example in Figure 5 is men aged 20 to 34.

[0057] The black dots indicate the performance values ​​of one advertising campaign, and curve 501 is an approximation curve that approximates the performance values ​​indicated by the 20 black dots. Curve 501 is expressed by the following function, using variable x representing the advertising amount and variable y representing the reach.

[0058] y=16.316ln(x)-225.98 (1)

[0059] In this example, a logarithmic function is used as the approximation function, and ln(x) represents the natural logarithm. Other functions such as a linear function or a polynomial function may also be used as the approximation function.

[0060] Figure 6 shows an example of an approximation curve expressed by equation (1). The horizontal axis represents the actual value (yen) of advertising expenditure, and the vertical axis represents the actual value (%) of reach. Curve 501 in Figure 6 shows the relationship between reach in the range of 1 to 80% and advertising expenditure.

[0061] 7A and 7B show examples of advertising amounts required to increase reach by 1%. The generation unit 412 uses formula (1) to calculate the amount required to increase reach by 1% in the range of 1 to 80%, and stores the calculated amount in the storage unit 416 as reach change information 421.

[0062] For example, the amount needed to increase reach from 1% to 2% is 69,574 yen. The amount needed to increase reach from 51% to 52% is 1,490,511 yen. The amount needed to increase reach from 79% to 80% is 8,291,459 yen. We can see that the larger the reach, the more money needed to increase reach by 1%.

[0063] The advertising amount indicated by the reach change information 421 is used as a reference value when determining the purchase price of an additional information provision slot.

[0064] The reach cost estimation unit 413 receives predicted reach information for each target from the reach prediction device 301 via the communication unit 411 , and stores the received predicted reach information in the storage unit 416 as predicted reach information 422 .

[0065] The reach cost estimation unit 413 receives predicted contact information from the contact index prediction device 302 via the communication unit 411 and stores the received predicted contact information in the storage unit 416 as predicted contact information 423 .

[0066] The reach cost estimation unit 413 receives the setting information from the terminal device 303 via the communication unit 411 and stores the received setting information in the storage unit 416 as setting information 424 .

[0067] For example, in the case of a television broadcast advertising campaign, the reach R1 included in the predicted reach information 422 represents the reach for one or more time slots that have been allocated to the user of the terminal device 303.

[0068] The increment ΔR represents the increment in reach for each time slot candidate, which is a candidate for a time slot that the user will additionally purchase, and the total reach R2 represents the reach when each time slot candidate is additionally purchased. For example, the user can specify the broadcast station, broadcast period, day of the week, time slot, and purchase price to additionally purchase the time slot indicated by the day of the week and time slot.

[0069] In this case, the contact index C included in the predicted contact information 423 represents the predicted viewership rating for each time slot candidate, and the target included in the setting information 424 represents the attributes of the viewers whose total reach R2 will be increased by purchasing additional time slots.

[0070] Next, the reach cost estimation unit 413 estimates the reach cost per unit for the target included in the setting information 424, using the reach change information 421 and the reach R1 included in the predicted reach information 422. The reach cost per unit is an example of a reach index cost required to obtain the increment of the reach index to be added to the estimated value.

[0071] For example, when the reach change information 421 in Figures 7A and 7B is used and the reach R1 is 51.7%, the reach cost estimation unit 413 identifies the range of 51% to 52% that includes the reach R1 from among the 79 ranges included in Figures 7A and 7B. Then, the reach cost estimation unit 413 estimates 1,490,511 yen, which is associated with the range of 51% to 52%, as the reach cost per unit.

[0072] Next, the price estimation unit 414 estimates the upper limit purchase price of each information slot candidate for the target included in the setting information 424 by multiplying the increment ΔR of each information slot candidate included in the predicted reach information 422 by the reach cost per unit. The upper limit purchase price represents the upper limit of the purchase price of each information slot candidate. The increment ΔR of each information slot candidate is an example of the predicted increment of the reach index for each of the multiple information slot candidates.

[0073] FIG. 8 shows an example of the increment ΔR for each time slot candidate included in the predicted reach information 422 for a television broadcast advertising campaign. The target in the example of FIG. 8 is males aged 20 to 34. In this example, each day of the week from Monday to Sunday is divided into 24 time slots h (h=5 to 28). Each time slot h represents the time period from h to h+1. However, 25:00 to 29:00 corresponds to 1:00 to 5:00 the following day.

[0074] Each time slot is specified by a day of the week and a time period h. The value included in each time slot represents the increment ΔR of that time slot. Time slots that include a value correspond to candidate time slots that can be purchased additionally, while blank time slots that do not include a value correspond to time slots other than the candidate time slots. Time slots other than the candidate time slots are time slots that have already been allocated or are not available for sale.

[0075] For example, on Monday, the increment ΔR for time slot 5 is 0%, the increment ΔR for time slot 7 is 0.4%, and the increment ΔR for time slot 8 is 0.3%. On Thursday, the increment ΔR for time slot 18 is 0%, the increment ΔR for time slot 19 is 0.8%, and the increment ΔR for time slot 20 is 1.4%.

[0076] Figure 9 shows an example of the maximum purchase price for each time slot candidate estimated from the increment ΔR in Figure 8. In this example, 1,490,511 yen is used as the reach cost per unit, and the maximum purchase price is calculated by multiplying the increment ΔR for each time slot candidate in Figure 8 by 1,490,511 yen. However, the maximum purchase price for time slots other than the time slot candidates is set to 0 yen.

[0077] For example, on Monday, the maximum purchase price for time slot 5 is 0 yen, the maximum purchase price for time slot 7 is 560,761 yen, and the maximum purchase price for time slot 8 is 420,570 yen. On Thursday, the maximum purchase price for time slot 18 is 0 yen, the maximum purchase price for time slot 19 is 1,121,521 yen, and the maximum purchase price for time slot 20 is 1,962,662 yen.

[0078] Next, the price estimation unit 414 estimates the number of impressions of each information slot from the contact index C of each information slot included in the predicted contact information 423. The price estimation unit 414 estimates the number of impressions of each information slot, for example, by multiplying the contact index C of each information slot by the number of impressions per contact index unit. The contact index C of each information slot is an example of a contact index that indicates the predicted contact degree of information provided in each of the multiple information slot candidates.

[0079] 10 shows an example of the contact index C for each time slot included in the predicted contact information 423 for television broadcasting. In this example, as in FIG. 8, each day of the week from Monday to Sunday is divided into 24 time slots h.

[0080] Each time slot is specified by a day of the week and a time period h. The numerical value included in each time slot represents the contact index C for that time slot. The contact index C is the predicted audience rating for the entire individual. The price estimation unit 414 may use the predicted audience rating for the target included in the setting information 424 instead of the predicted audience rating for the entire individual.

[0081] For example, the predicted viewership for time slot 5 on Monday is 0.8%, for time slot 7 it is 2.9%, and for time slot 8 it is 3.4%. On Thursday, the predicted viewership for time slot 18 is 5.2%, for time slot 19 it is 5.6%, and for time slot 20 it is 6.0%.

[0082] Figure 11 shows an example of the number of impressions for each time slot estimated from the predicted audience rating in Figure 10. In this example, 413,398 is used as the number of impressions per 1% of predicted audience rating, and the number of impressions for each time slot is calculated by multiplying the predicted audience rating for each time slot in Figure 9 by 413,398.

[0083] For example, on Monday, day 5 had 330,718 impressions, day 7 had 1,198,854 impressions, and day 8 had 1,405,553 impressions. On Thursday, day 18 had 2,149,670 impressions, day 19 had 2,315,029 impressions, and day 20 had 2,480,389 impressions.

[0084] Next, the price estimation unit 414 estimates the cost per impression of each information slot candidate by dividing the maximum purchase price of each information slot candidate by the number of impressions of each information slot candidate. The cost per impression represents the maximum purchase price per unit of impressions. The cost per impression of each information slot candidate is an example of an acquisition cost required to acquire the predicted increase in the attainment index for each of the multiple information slot candidates.

[0085] Figure 12 shows an example of the cost per impression for each candidate time slot estimated from the maximum purchase price in Figure 9 and the number of impressions in Figure 11. In this example, the cost per impression for each time slot is calculated by dividing the maximum purchase price for each time slot in Figure 9 by the number of impressions for each time slot in Figure 11.

[0086] For example, the CPM for time slot 5 on Monday is 0 yen, the CPM for time slot 7 is 0.47 yen, and the CPM for time slot 8 is 0.30 yen. The CPM for time slot 18 on Thursday is 0 yen, the CPM for time slot 19 is 0.48 yen, and the CPM for time slot 20 is 0.79 yen.

[0087] Next, the selection unit 415 selects one of the information provision slot candidates based on the cost per impression of each information provision slot candidate, and transmits candidate information indicating the selected information provision slot candidate to the terminal device 303 via the communication unit 411.

[0088] For example, if a minimum bid price in the auction is set for each information slot candidate, the selection unit 415 compares the cost per impression of each information slot candidate with the minimum bid price of that information slot candidate. Then, the selection unit 415 selects, from among the multiple information slot candidates, an information slot candidate having a cost per impression equal to or higher than the minimum bid price. The minimum bid price of each information slot candidate is an example of the set price of each of the multiple information slot candidates.

[0089] As an example, let us assume that the allocation of the time slots up for sale among the time slots in Figure 12 is decided by an auction. In this example, the minimum bid price for the time slots from time slot 18 to time slot 23 on each day of the week is 0.60 yen, and the minimum bid price for the other time slots is 0.41 yen.

[0090] If multiple users wish to be allocated the same time slot, the information provision control device 305 allocates the time slot to the user who has offered the highest purchase price among the users who have offered a purchase price equal to or higher than the minimum bid price for that time slot.

[0091] In Figure 12, the CPM for time slot 7 on Monday is 0.47 yen, which is higher than 0.41 yen. The CPM for time slot 19 on Wednesday is 0.80 yen, which is higher than 0.60 yen. The CPM for time slot 20 on Thursday is 0.79 yen, which is higher than 0.60 yen. The CPM for time slot 19 on Friday is 0.69 yen, which is higher than 0.60 yen. The CPMs for the other time slots are all below the minimum bid price.

[0092] Therefore, four time slot candidates, namely, Monday time slot 7, Wednesday time slot 19, Thursday time slot 20, and Friday time slot 19, are selected, and candidate information indicating these time slot candidates is transmitted to terminal device 303.

[0093] The selection unit 415 may transmit, together with the candidate information, cost information indicating the cost per impression of the selected information provision slot candidate to the terminal device 303.

[0094] In the example of FIG. 12, the cost per impression for time slot 7 on Monday, time slot 19 on Wednesday, time slot 20 on Thursday, and time slot 19 on Friday is transmitted to the terminal device 303 as cost information.

[0095] The selection unit 415 may transmit the cost per impression of all information provision slots to the terminal device 303 as candidate information and cost information.

[0096] When the CPMs of all the time slot candidates in FIG. 12 are transmitted to the terminal device 303, a table such as that shown in FIG.

[0097] However, the CPMs for Monday time slot 7, Wednesday time slot 19, Thursday time slot 20, and Friday time slot 19 are displayed in a manner that is visually distinguishable from the CPMs of the other time slot candidates. For example, the numbers or background colors of these four time slot candidates may be different from the numbers or background colors of the other time slot candidates.

[0098] The user of the terminal device 303 refers to the displayed candidate information and cost information to determine an additional information provision slot and a purchase price for that information provision slot. The user can specify a purchase price that is equal to or higher than the minimum bid price for the determined information provision slot and equal to or lower than the cost per impression.

[0099] 12, the user selects one of the following time slot candidates as an additional time slot: Monday time slot 7, Wednesday time slot 19, Thursday time slot 20, or Friday time slot 19. For example, if Thursday time slot 20 is selected, the user specifies a purchase price equal to or greater than 0.60 yen and equal to or less than 0.79 yen.

[0100] By specifying a purchase price equal to or less than the cost per impression, an information provision slot can be additionally purchased for an advertising amount equal to or less than the reference value indicated by the reach change information 421, thereby realizing the placement of an advertisement with high reach efficiency.

[0101] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the second information provision support process performed by the information provision support device 304 of FIG.

[0102] First, the generation unit 412 generates reach change information 421 for each target using the total cost and the actual reach values ​​for each of a plurality of advertising campaigns that have been carried out in the past (step 1301).

[0103] Next, the reach cost estimation unit 413 receives predicted reach information 422 for each target from the reach prediction device 301 via the communication unit 411 (step 1302), and receives predicted contact information 423 from the contact index prediction device 302 (step 1303).Then, the reach cost estimation unit 413 receives setting information 424 from the terminal device 303 via the communication unit 411 (step 1304).

[0104] Next, the reach cost estimation unit 413 estimates the reach cost per unit for the target included in the setting information 424 using the reach change information 421 and the reach R1 included in the predicted reach information 422 (step 1305).

[0105] Next, the price estimation unit 414 estimates the upper limit purchase price of each information provision slot candidate for the target included in the setting information 424 by multiplying the increment ΔR of each information provision slot candidate included in the predicted reach information 422 by the reach cost per unit (step 1306).

[0106] Next, the price estimation unit 414 estimates the number of impressions of each information slot from the contact index C of each information slot included in the predicted contact information 423 (step 1307).

[0107] Next, the price estimation unit 414 estimates the cost per impression of each information slot candidate by dividing the upper limit purchase price of each information slot candidate by the number of impressions of each information slot candidate (step 1308).

[0108] Next, the selection unit 415 selects an information provision slot candidate having a cost per impression equal to or higher than the minimum bid price from among the plurality of information provision slot candidates (step 1309).The selection unit 415 then transmits candidate information indicating the selected information provision slot candidate and cost information indicating the cost per impression to the terminal device 303 via the communication unit 411 (step 1310).

[0109] When the user of the terminal device 303 additionally purchases any of the information provision slot candidates indicated by the candidate information, the information provision slot candidate is treated as an already allocated information provision slot. Then, the processing of steps 1302 to 1310 is repeated to additionally purchase the next information provision slot candidate.

[0110] The information provision support device 304 may transmit the candidate information and the cost information to the information provision control device 305 instead of transmitting the candidate information and the cost information to the terminal device 303. In this case, in step 1309, the selection unit 415 selects one of the information provision slot candidates having a cost per impression equal to or higher than the minimum bid price as an additional information provision slot. Then, the selection unit 415 determines a price equal to or higher than the minimum bid price and equal to or lower than the cost per impression of the additional information provision slot as the purchase price.

[0111] The selection unit 415 may select, for example, an information provision slot candidate having the maximum or minimum cost per impression from among one or more information provision slot candidates having cost per impression equal to or higher than the minimum bid price as an additional information provision slot. Also, the selection unit 415 may determine, for example, the cost per impression of the selected additional information provision slot as the purchase price.

[0112] Next, in step 1310, the selection unit 415 transmits purchase information including candidate information indicating additional information provision slots and cost information indicating the purchase price to the information provision control device 305. This allows the user of the terminal device 303 to automatically present the purchase information to the information provision control device 305 without performing an operation to determine the additional information provision slots and the purchase price.

[0113] The information provision control device 305 determines users to whom each information provision slot is to be allocated based on the purchase information of a plurality of users received from the information provision support device 304, and allocates the information provision slots to the determined users.

[0114] The selection unit 415 may select any one of the information slot candidates based on the maximum purchase price of each information slot candidate instead of the cost per impression of each information slot candidate. In this case, the price estimation unit 414 estimates the expected price of each information slot candidate by multiplying the number of impressions of each information slot candidate by the minimum bid price of the information slot candidate.

[0115] The selection unit 415 compares the upper limit purchase price of each information slot candidate with the expected price of the information slot candidate. Then, the selection unit 415 selects an information slot candidate having an upper limit purchase price equal to or higher than the expected price from among the multiple information slot candidates, and transmits candidate information indicating the selected information slot candidate to the terminal device 303 via the communication unit 411.

[0116] The selection unit 415 may transmit, together with the candidate information, cost information indicating the upper limit purchase price of the selected information provision slot candidate to the terminal device 303. The selection unit 415 may transmit the upper limit purchase prices of all information provision slots to the terminal device 303 as the candidate information and cost information.

[0117] The maximum purchase price of each information provision slot candidate is an example of the acquisition cost required to obtain the predicted increment of the attainment index for each of the multiple information provision slot candidates, and the expected price of each information provision slot candidate is an example of the set price for each of the multiple information provision slot candidates.

[0118] Figure 14 shows an example of the expected price for each candidate time slot estimated from the number of impressions in Figure 11. In this example, the expected price for each time slot is calculated by multiplying the number of impressions for each time slot in Figure 11 by the minimum bid price. The minimum bid price for time slots 18 to 23 on each day of the week is 0.60 yen, and the minimum bid price for other time slots is 0.41 yen.

[0119] For example, the expected price for time slot 5 on Monday is 135,595 yen, the expected price for time slot 7 is 491,530 yen, and the expected price for time slot 8 is 576,277 yen. The expected price for time slot 18 on Thursday is 1,289,802 yen, the expected price for time slot 19 is 1,389,018 yen, and the expected price for time slot 20 is 1,488,233 yen.

[0120] The upper limit purchase price for time slot 7 on Monday in Figure 9 is 560,761 yen, which is higher than the expected price of 491,530 yen for the same time slot in Figure 14. The upper limit purchase price for time slot 19 on Wednesday in Figure 9 is 1,682,282 yen, which is higher than the expected price of 1,264,998 yen for the same time slot in Figure 14.

[0121] The upper limit purchase price for time slot 20 on Thursday in Figure 9 is 1,962,662 yen, which is higher than the expected price of 1,488,233 yen for the same time slot in Figure 14. The upper limit purchase price for time slot 19 on Friday in Figure 9 is 1,261,711 yen, which is higher than the expected price of 1,091,371 yen for the same time slot in Figure 14. The upper limit purchase prices for the other time slots are all lower than the expected price.

[0122] Therefore, four time slot candidates, namely, Monday time slot 7, Wednesday time slot 19, Thursday time slot 20, and Friday time slot 19, are selected, and candidate information indicating these time slot candidates is transmitted to terminal device 303.

[0123] In the example of FIG. 9, the upper limit purchase prices for time slot 7 on Monday, time slot 19 on Wednesday, time slot 20 on Thursday, and time slot 19 on Friday are transmitted to terminal device 303 as cost information.

[0124] The selection unit 415 may transmit the upper limit purchase prices of all information provision slots as candidate information and cost information to the terminal device 303. In this case, a table such as that shown in FIG.

[0125] However, the upper limit purchase prices for Monday time slot 7, Wednesday time slot 19, Thursday time slot 20, and Friday time slot 19 are displayed in a manner that is visually distinguishable from the upper limit purchase prices for the other time slot candidates.

[0126] The user of the terminal device 303 refers to the displayed candidate information and cost information to determine an additional information provision slot and a purchase price for that information provision slot. The user can specify a purchase price that is equal to or higher than the estimated price of the determined information provision slot and equal to or lower than the upper limit purchase price.

[0127] 9, the user selects one of the following time slot candidates as an additional time slot: Monday time slot 7, Wednesday time slot 19, Thursday time slot 20, or Friday time slot 19. For example, if Thursday time slot 20 is selected, the user specifies a purchase price equal to or greater than 1,488,233 yen and equal to or less than 1,962,662 yen.

[0128] By specifying a purchase price equal to or lower than the upper limit purchase price, an information provision slot can be additionally purchased for an advertisement amount equal to or lower than the reference value indicated by the reach change information 421, thereby realizing advertisement advertisements with high reach efficiency.

[0129] Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of a third information provision support process performed by the information provision support device 304 in Fig. 4. In the information provision support process in Fig. 15, the upper limit purchase price of each information provision slot candidate is used instead of the cost per impression of each information provision slot candidate. The processes in steps 1501 to 1507 are the same as the processes in steps 1301 to 1307 in Fig. 13.

[0130] After the upper limit purchase price of each information provision slot candidate is estimated, the price estimation unit 414 estimates the expected price of each information provision slot candidate by multiplying the number of impressions of each information provision slot candidate by the minimum bid price of that information provision slot candidate (step 1508).

[0131] Next, the selection unit 415 selects an information slot candidate having an upper limit purchase price equal to or higher than the expected price from among the plurality of information slot candidates (step 1509).The selection unit 415 then transmits candidate information indicating the selected information slot candidate and cost information indicating its upper limit purchase price to the terminal device 303 via the communication unit 411 (step 1510).

[0132] When the user of the terminal device 303 additionally purchases any of the information provision slot candidates indicated by the candidate information, the information provision slot candidate is treated as an already allocated information provision slot. Then, the processing of steps 1502 to 1510 is repeated to additionally purchase the next information provision slot candidate.

[0133] The information provision support device 304 may transmit the candidate information and the cost information to the information provision control device 305 instead of transmitting the candidate information and the cost information to the terminal device 303. In this case, in step 1509, the selection unit 415 selects one of the information provision slot candidates having an upper limit purchase price equal to or higher than the expected price as an additional information provision slot. Then, the selection unit 415 determines a price equal to or higher than the expected price of the additional information provision slot and equal to or lower than the upper limit purchase price as the purchase price.

[0134] The selection unit 415 may select, as an additional information slot, an information slot candidate having the maximum or minimum upper limit purchase price among one or more information slot candidates having upper limit purchase prices equal to or higher than the expected price. The selection unit 415 may also determine, as a purchase price, the upper limit purchase price of the selected additional information slot.

[0135] Next, in step 1510, the selection unit 415 transmits purchase information including candidate information indicating additional information provision slots and cost information indicating the purchase price to the information provision control device 305. The information provision control device 305 determines users to which each information provision slot will be assigned based on the purchase information of multiple users received from the information provision support device 304, and assigns the information provision slots to the determined users.

[0136] The selection unit 415 may select one of the information provision slot candidates using the lowest price of each information provision slot candidate instead of the expected price of each information provision slot candidate. In this case, the lowest price is set in advance for each information provision slot candidate.

[0137] The selection unit 415 compares the upper limit purchase price of each information slot candidate with the lowest price of that information slot candidate. Then, the selection unit 415 selects an information slot candidate having an upper limit purchase price equal to or higher than the lowest price from among the multiple information slot candidates, and transmits candidate information indicating the selected information slot candidate to the terminal device 303 via the communication unit 411.

[0138] The selection unit 415 may transmit, together with the candidate information, cost information indicating the upper limit purchase price of the selected information slot candidate to the terminal device 303. The selection unit 415 may transmit, as the candidate information and cost information, the upper limit purchase prices of all the information slots to the terminal device 303. The minimum price of each information slot candidate is an example of the set price of each of the multiple information slot candidates.

[0139] Fig. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of a fourth information provision support process performed by the information provision support device 304 in Fig. 4. In the information provision support process in Fig. 16, the upper limit purchase price of each information provision slot candidate is used instead of the cost per impression of each information provision slot candidate. The processes in steps 1601 to 1605 are the same as the processes in steps 1301, 1302, and 1304 to 1306 in Fig. 13.

[0140] After the upper limit purchase price of each information slot candidate is estimated, the selection unit 415 selects an information slot candidate having an upper limit purchase price equal to or higher than the minimum price from among the plurality of information slot candidates (step 1606).The selection unit 415 then transmits candidate information indicating the selected information slot candidate and cost information indicating its upper limit purchase price to the terminal device 303 via the communication unit 411 (step 1607).

[0141] When the user of the terminal device 303 additionally purchases any of the information provision slot candidates indicated by the candidate information, the information provision slot candidate is treated as an already allocated information provision slot. Then, the processing of steps 1602 to 1607 is repeated to additionally purchase the next information provision slot candidate.

[0142] The information provision support device 304 may transmit the candidate information and cost information to the information provision control device 305 instead of transmitting the candidate information and cost information to the terminal device 303. In this case, in step 1606, the selection unit 415 selects one of the information provision slot candidates having an upper limit purchase price equal to or higher than the minimum price as an additional information provision slot. Then, the selection unit 415 determines a price equal to or higher than the minimum price and equal to or lower than the upper limit purchase price of the additional information provision slot as the purchase price.

[0143] The selection unit 415 may select, as an additional information slot, an information slot candidate having the maximum or minimum upper limit purchase price from among one or more information slot candidates having upper limit purchase prices equal to or higher than the minimum price. The selection unit 415 may also determine, for example, the upper limit purchase price of the selected additional information slot as the purchase price.

[0144] Next, in step 1607, the selection unit 415 transmits purchase information including candidate information indicating additional information provision slots and cost information indicating the purchase price to the information provision control device 305. The information provision control device 305 determines users to which each information provision slot will be assigned based on the purchase information of multiple users received from the information provision support device 304, and assigns the information provision slots to the determined users.

[0145] The configurations of the information provision support device 101 in Fig. 1 and the information provision support device 304 in Fig. 4 are merely examples, and some of the components may be omitted or changed depending on the application or conditions of the information provision support device. For example, in the information provision support device 304 in Fig. 4, if the reach change information 421 is generated by another device, the generation unit 412 can be omitted.

[0146] The configuration of the information provision control system in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and some of the components may be omitted or changed depending on the application or conditions of the information provision control system.

[0147] The flowcharts in FIGS. 2, 13, 15, and 16 are merely examples, and some of the processing may be omitted or changed depending on the configuration or conditions of the information provision support device or information provision control system.

[0148] The performance values ​​of the advertising campaign shown in FIG. 5 and the approximation curve shown in FIG. 6 are merely examples, and the performance values ​​and approximation curve will vary depending on the product or service, period, etc. that are the subject of the advertising campaign.

[0149] The advertising costs shown in Figures 7A and 7B are merely examples, and the advertising costs required to increase reach by 1% will vary depending on the advertising campaign.

[0150] The increment ΔR, upper limit purchase price, contact index C, number of impressions, cost per impression, and expected price for each time slot shown in Figures 8 to 12 and 14 are merely examples. The increment ΔR, upper limit purchase price, contact index C, number of impressions, cost per impression, and expected price for each time slot will vary depending on the advertising campaign.

[0151] The function shown in equation (1) is merely an example, and other functions may be used to approximate the performance of an advertising campaign.

[0152] Fig. 17 shows an example of the hardware configuration of an information processing device (computer) used as the information provision support device 101 in Fig. 1 and the information provision support device 304 in Fig. 4. The information processing device in Fig. 17 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1701, a memory 1702, an input device 1703, an output device 1704, an auxiliary storage device 1705, a media drive device 1706, and a network connection device 1707. These components are hardware and are connected to each other by a bus 1708.

[0153] The memory 1702 is, for example, a semiconductor memory such as a read-only memory (ROM) or a random access memory (RAM), and stores programs and data used in processing. The memory 1702 may operate as the storage unit 416 in FIG.

[0154] The CPU 1701 (processor) operates as the first estimation unit 111, the second estimation unit 112, and the selection unit 113 in Fig. 1 by executing a program using the memory 1702. The CPU 1701 also operates as the generation unit 412, the reach cost estimation unit 413, the price estimation unit 414, and the selection unit 415 in Fig. 4 by executing a program using the memory 1702.

[0155] The input device 1703 is, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device, etc., and is used for inputting instructions or information from an operator. The output device 1704 is, for example, a display device, a printer, a speaker, etc., and is used for outputting inquiries or instructions to an operator and processing results. The processing results may be candidate information and cost information. The output device 1704 may operate as the output unit 114 in FIG. 1.

[0156] The auxiliary storage device 1705 is, for example, a magnetic disk device, an optical disk device, a magneto-optical disk device, a tape device, or the like. The auxiliary storage device 1705 may be a hard disk drive or a solid state drive (SSD). The information processing device stores programs and data in the auxiliary storage device 1705 and can use them by loading them into the memory 1702. The auxiliary storage device 1705 may operate as the storage unit 416 in FIG. 4.

[0157] The medium drive device 1706 drives the portable recording medium 1709 and accesses the recorded contents thereof. The portable recording medium 1709 is a memory device, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, etc. The portable recording medium 1709 may be a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, etc. An operator can store programs and data in the portable recording medium 1709 and load them into the memory 1702 for use.

[0158] In this way, the computer-readable recording medium that stores the program and data used in the processing is a physical (non-transitory) recording medium such as the memory 1702, the auxiliary storage device 1705, or the portable recording medium 1709.

[0159] The network connection device 1707 is a communication device that is connected to the communication network 306 and performs data conversion associated with communication. The information processing device receives programs and data from external devices via the network connection device 1707 and can use them by loading them into the memory 1702. The network connection device 1707 may operate as the output unit 114 in FIG. 1 or the communication unit 411 in FIG. 4.

[0160] 17, some components may be omitted depending on the application or conditions. For example, if an interface with an operator is not required, the input device 1703 and the output device 1704 may be omitted. If the portable recording medium 1709 is not used, the medium drive device 1706 may be omitted.

[0161] The reach prediction device 301, contact index prediction device 302, terminal device 303, and information provision control device 305 in FIG. 3 can be information processing devices similar to those in FIG.

[0162] Although the disclosed embodiments and their advantages have been described in detail, those skilled in the art may make various modifications, additions, and omissions without departing from the scope of the invention as clearly set forth in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0163] 101 Information provision support device 111 1st estimation part 112 Second estimation part 113, 415 Selection Section 114 Output section 301 Reach Prediction Device 302 Contact Index Prediction Device 303 Terminal Equipment 304 Information provision support device 305 Information provision control device 306 Communication Network 411 Communications Department 412 Generation part 413 Reach Cost Estimation Unit 414 Price Estimation Department 416 Storage section 421 Reach Change Information 422 Predictive Reach Information 423 Predicted Contact Information 424 Configuration Information 501 curve 1701 CPU 1702 memory 1703 Input Device 1704 Output Device 1705 Auxiliary storage device 1706 Media drive unit 1707 Network connection device 1708 Bus 1709 Portable recording media

Claims

1. a first estimation unit that estimates a reach index cost required to obtain an increment of the reach index to be added to the estimated value based on reach index change information indicating a relationship between a change in the total cost required to provide information in a plurality of information slots and a change in a reach index related to the number of contacts who have come into contact with information provided in one or more information slots among the plurality of information slots, and an estimated value of the reach index for the one or more selected information slots; a second estimation unit that estimates an acquisition cost required to acquire the predicted increase in the reach index for each of the plurality of information provision frame candidates based on the predicted increase in the reach index for each of the plurality of information provision frame candidates and the reach index cost; a selection unit that selects one of the plurality of information provision frame candidates based on the acquisition cost of each of the plurality of information provision frame candidates; an output unit that outputs candidate information indicating any of the information provision frame candidates; An information provision support device comprising:

2. 2. The information provision support device according to claim 1, further comprising a generating unit that generates the achievement index change information using a plurality of actual results values ​​of the total cost and a plurality of actual results values ​​of the achievement index.

3. The information provision support device according to claim 1, characterized in that the selection unit compares the acquisition cost of each of the plurality of information provision slot candidates with the set price of each of the plurality of information provision slot candidates, and selects an information provision slot candidate having an acquisition cost equal to or greater than the set price as one of the information provision slot candidates.

4. The information provision support device described in claim 1, characterized in that the second estimation unit estimates the acquisition cost for each of the plurality of information provision slot candidates using a predicted increment of the reach index for each of the plurality of information provision slot candidates, the reach index cost, and a contact index indicating a predicted degree of contact with the information provided in each of the plurality of information provision slot candidates.

5. 5. The information provision support device according to claim 1, wherein the output unit further outputs cost information indicating the acquisition cost of each of the plurality of information provision frame candidates.

6. based on reach index change information indicating the relationship between a change in the total cost required to provide information in a plurality of information frames and a change in a reach index relating to the number of contacts who have come into contact with information provided in one or more of the plurality of information frames, and an estimated value of the reach index for the one or more selected information frames, an estimate of a reach index cost required to obtain an increment of the reach index to be added to the estimated value; estimating an acquisition cost required to acquire the predicted increase in the reach index for each of the plurality of information provision frame candidates based on the predicted increase in the reach index for each of the plurality of information provision frame candidates and the reach index cost; selecting any one of the plurality of information provision frame candidates based on the acquisition cost of each of the plurality of information provision frame candidates; outputting candidate information indicating any of the information provision frame candidates; An information provision support method characterized in that processing is executed by a computer.

7. based on reach index change information indicating the relationship between a change in the total cost required to provide information in a plurality of information frames and a change in a reach index relating to the number of contacts who have come into contact with information provided in one or more of the plurality of information frames, and an estimated value of the reach index for the one or more selected information frames, an estimate of a reach index cost required to obtain an increment of the reach index to be added to the estimated value; estimating an acquisition cost required to acquire the predicted increase in the reach index for each of the plurality of information provision frame candidates based on the predicted increase in the reach index for each of the plurality of information provision frame candidates and the reach index cost; selecting any one of the plurality of information provision frame candidates based on the acquisition cost of each of the plurality of information provision frame candidates; outputting candidate information indicating any of the information provision frame candidates; An information provision support program that causes a computer to execute processing.

Images