Information processing device, advertising effectiveness estimation system, advertising effectiveness estimation method and program

Abstract

To enable further detailed information on the effectiveness of an advertisement to be provided.SOLUTION: A controller of a server acquires communication device information including a location (position) where a communication device performs communication, the date and time of the communication, and user information of the communication device, acquires advertisement information including the location and a period of time in which the advertisement is displayed or placed, and estimates a user who has contacted an OOH advertisement based on the acquired communication device information and advertisement information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an advertisement effect estimation system, an advertisement effect estimation method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, techniques for estimating the effect of advertisements have been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a technique for calculating the estimated number of viewers of an OOH (Out of Home) advertisement that passes through a specific location at a predetermined time by communication of a wireless communication device.

[0003] Also, for example, Patent Document 2 determines the number of passersby who may visually recognize an outdoor advertisement or a traffic advertisement or the like by data on passersby moving in the location where the target outdoor advertisement or traffic advertisement or the like is installed and its vicinity, and calculates the effective number of people estimated to have actually seen the target outdoor advertisement or traffic advertisement or the like from the number of passersby who may have seen it, and calculates the cost per predetermined number of effective people based on the calculated effective number of people.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, although it is possible to estimate the number of people who viewed the advertisement, the cost based on the number of viewers, etc., it is not possible to estimate more detailed information such as who viewed the advertisement, which social group the people who viewed the advertisement belong to, and whether the people who viewed the advertisement actually visited the place where the advertisement is shown.

[0006] The objective of this invention is to provide more detailed information regarding the effectiveness of advertising. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To solve the above problems, the information processing apparatus of the present invention is: From the wireless communication management device that manages the communication of wireless access points, The system acquires communication device information, including the location, date and time of communication between the communicating device and the wireless access point, and the user information of the device. death, off-line Obtain advertising information, including the location and duration for which the advertisement will be displayed or placed. death, The system compares the location information of the communication that took place in the acquired communication device information with the location information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the acquired advertising information, and compares the date and time information of the communication that took place in the communication device information with the period information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the advertising information. If it is determined that the device was within a predetermined range from the location where the offline advertisement is displayed or placed during the period of displaying or placing the offline advertisement, the system estimates that the user of the device is a user who has been exposed to the offline advertisement. Processor It is equipped with.

[0008] Furthermore, the advertising effectiveness estimation system of the present invention is From the wireless communication management device that manages the communication of wireless access points, The system acquires communication device information, including the location, date and time of communication between the communicating device and the wireless access point, and the user information of the device. death, off-line Obtain advertising information, including the location and duration for which the advertisement will be displayed or placed. death, The system compares the location information of the communication that took place in the acquired communication device information with the location information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the acquired advertising information, and compares the date and time information of the communication that took place in the communication device information with the period information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the advertising information. If it is determined that the device was within a predetermined range from the location where the offline advertisement is displayed or placed during the period of displaying or placing the offline advertisement, the system estimates that the user of the device is a user who has been exposed to the offline advertisement. Processor It is equipped with.

[0009] Furthermore, the advertising effectiveness estimation method of the present invention is Information processing device, From the wireless communication management device that manages the communication of wireless access points, The system acquires communication device information, including the location, date and time of communication between the communicating device and the wireless access point, and the user information of the device. death, off-line Obtain advertising information, including the location and duration for which the advertisement will be displayed or placed. death, The system compares the location information of the communication that took place in the acquired communication device information with the location information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the acquired advertising information, and compares the date and time information of the communication that took place in the communication device information with the period information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the advertising information. If it is determined that the device was within a predetermined range from the location where the offline advertisement was displayed or placed during the period of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed, the system estimates that the user of the device is a user who has been exposed to the offline advertisement. .

[0010] In addition, the program of the present invention causes a computer to From the wireless communication management device that manages the communication of wireless access points, acquire communication device information including the location, date and time when a device for performing communication communicates with the wireless access point, and user information of the device death, off-line acquire advertisement information including the location and period for displaying or installing an advertisement death, The system compares the location information of the communication that took place in the acquired communication device information with the location information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the acquired advertising information, and compares the date and time information of the communication that took place in the communication device information with the period information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the advertising information. If it is determined that the device was within a predetermined range from the location where the offline advertisement is displayed or placed during the period of displaying or placing the offline advertisement, the system estimates that the user of the device is a user who has been exposed to the offline advertisement. Execute the process.

Advantages of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to provide more detailed information regarding the effect of an advertisement.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012] [Figure 1] It is a diagram showing an overall configuration example of an advertisement effect estimation system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the server in FIG. 1. [Figure 3] It is a diagram showing an example of data storage in a social group information storage unit. [Figure 4] It is a diagram showing an example of data storage in a communication information storage unit. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing an example of data storage in a communication device information storage unit. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing an example of data storage in an advertisement information storage unit. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing an example of data storage in an advertisement contact user information storage unit. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing an example of data storage in an advertisement contact social group information storage unit. [Figure 9] It is a flowchart showing the flow of advertisement effect estimation processing executed by the control unit in FIG. 1. [Figure 10] It is a flowchart showing the flow of OOH advertisement contact user estimation processing executed in step S1 in FIG. 9. [Figure 11] This flowchart shows the flow of the web advertisement exposure social group estimation process performed in step S2 of Figure 9. [Figure 12] This flowchart shows the flow of the web ad exposure user estimation process performed in step S3 of Figure 9. [Figure 13] This flowchart shows the flow of the conversion estimation process performed in step S4 of Figure 9. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated examples.

[0014] (Configuration of advertising effectiveness estimation system 100) Figure 1 shows the system configuration of the advertising effectiveness estimation system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the advertising effectiveness estimation system 100 comprises a server 1, a WiFi spot management unit 2, information devices 3 and user terminals 4 installed within the social group, an advertising distribution system 5, and a communication device 6. The server 1 can send and receive data with the WiFi spot management unit 2 and the advertising distribution system 5 via the internet N. The information devices 3 and user terminals 4 can send and receive data with the server 1 and the advertising distribution system 5, which are connected to the internet N, via the social group network N1 installed within the social group (the activity location of the social group). The communication device 6 can send and receive data with devices connected to the internet N via the WiFi spot management unit 2. Here, a social group is a collection of people who share a common purpose or space, such as a company, a local government, or a union. The number of WiFi spot management units 2, social group network N1, information devices 3, user terminals 4, advertising distribution systems 5, and communication devices 6 is not particularly limited.

[0015] (Server 1 configuration) Server 1 is an information processing device that estimates the effectiveness of advertisements based on information acquired from the WiFi spot management unit 2, information device 3, and advertisement distribution system 5. Server 1 also functions as a management device that receives usage history information from information device 3 and manages the information device 3. In this embodiment, Server 1 is described as a single device, but it may also be composed of multiple functionally distributed devices.

[0016] As shown in Figure 2, Server 1 is configured to include a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a communication unit 13, etc., and each unit is connected by a bus 14.

[0017] The control unit 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and RAM (Random Access Memory). It is composed of the following: The CPU of the control unit 11 reads the system program and various processing programs stored in the memory unit 12, expands them into RAM, and centrally controls the operation of each part of the server 1 according to the expanded programs. The control unit 11 also executes various processes, including the advertising effect estimation process described later, according to the programs stored in the memory unit 12. The control unit 11 functions as the first to fourth acquisition units and estimation unit of the present invention.

[0018] The storage unit 12 is composed of non-volatile semiconductor memory, a hard disk, or the like. The storage unit 12 stores data such as various programs executed by the control unit 11, parameters necessary for processing by the programs, or processing results. The various programs are stored in the form of readable program code, and the control unit 11 sequentially executes operations according to the program code.

[0019] In this embodiment, the storage unit 12 is provided with a social group information storage unit 121, a communication information storage unit 122, a communication device information storage unit 123, an advertising information storage unit 124, an advertising contact user information storage unit 125, and an advertising contact social group information storage unit 126.

[0020] The social group information storage unit 121 stores information about the social groups that have installed the information devices 3 managed by server 1. Figure 3 shows an example of data storage in the social group information storage unit 121. As shown in Figure 3, the social group information storage unit 121 stores the following information in association with each other: the information device ID, which is the identification information of the information device 3 managed by the server 1; the name of the social group using the information device 3 (social group name); the address of the social group where the information device 3 is installed; and the number of members in that social group.

[0021] The communication information storage unit 122 is an area that stores the communication date and time, the source IP address, and the information device ID of the information device 3 when usage history information is received from the information device 3, as well as the name of the social group, the address of the social group, and the number of people (number of people belonging to the social group) corresponding to the information device ID, as communication information. Figure 4 shows an example of data storage in the communication information storage unit 122. As shown in Figure 4, the communication information storage unit 122 stores the communication date and time, the source IP address, the information device ID, the social group name, the social group address, and the number of people in association with each other. The social group name, social group address, and number of people are information obtained by the control unit 11 when it receives usage history information from the information device 3, by searching the social group information storage unit 121 for social group information with an information device ID that matches the source information device ID.

[0022] The communication device information storage unit 123 is an area for storing communication device information acquired from the WiFi spot management unit 2. The communication device information includes the date and time of communication between the communication device 6 and the access point of the WiFi spot management unit 2, the communication ID, the communication location, and user information (social group name and username) acquired by the WiFi spot management unit 2 from the communication device 6 at the time of communication. Figure 5 shows an example of data storage in the communication device information storage unit 123. As shown in Figure 5, the communication device information storage unit 123 stores the communication date and time, communication ID, communication location, and user information (social group name and username) in association with each other. The communication location includes, for example, location information of the place where the communication took place (for example, location information (latitude and longitude, etc.) of the access point of the WiFi spot management unit 2 that communicated with the communication device 6).

[0023] The advertising information storage unit 124 is an area for storing advertising information acquired from the advertising distribution system 5. Figure 6 shows an example of data storage in the advertising information storage unit 124. As shown in Figure 6, the advertising information storage unit 124 stores the following information in association with each other: an advertising ID for identifying an advertisement, the advertising placement and display period for OOH advertisements, the advertising placement and display location, the location indicated by the advertisement, and the IP address / date and time of contact with the advertisement for web advertisements (advertising contact IP address and date and time). The location indicated by the advertisement, included in the advertising information, is the location where the store or service advertised in the advertisement is provided. The advertising contact IP address is the IP address that clicked on the web advertisement (i.e., came into contact with the web advertisement). The advertising placement and display location and the location indicated by the advertisement include, for example, location information (latitude and longitude, etc.) for each location. Although only one advertising contact IP address is shown in the figure, there may be multiple. In this embodiment, the advertising company that distributes web advertisements using the advertising distribution system 5 distributes both OOH advertisements and web advertisements for the same subject (product or service), and manages the OOH advertisements and web advertisements for the same subject by assigning them the same advertising ID. The OOH advertisements may be displayed on digital signage, or they may be installed on paper media or billboards.

[0024] The ad exposure user information storage unit 125 is an area that stores ad exposure user information generated in the ad effectiveness estimation process described later. Figure 7 shows an example of data storage in the ad exposure user information storage unit 125. As shown in Figure 7, the ad exposure user information storage unit 125 stores, for example, an ad ID, communication device information (communication date and time, communication ID, communication location, social group name, username) when a user of communication device 6 comes into contact with the ad, and a flag indicating whether a conversion was successful or not, in association with each other.

[0025] The advertising exposure social group information storage unit 126 is a region that stores advertising exposure social group information generated in the advertising effectiveness estimation process described later. Figure 8 shows an example of data storage in the advertising exposure social group information storage unit 126. As shown in Figure 8, the advertising exposure social group information storage unit 126 stores, for example, the advertising ID, the social group name, the social group address, the number of people, the user name of the advertising exposure user, and the probability, in association with each other.

[0026] Furthermore, the memory unit 12 stores the usage history information received from the information device 3, associating it with the communication date and time, the source IP address, and the information device ID.

[0027] The communication unit 13 transmits and receives various types of data with external devices connected to the Internet N.

[0028] (Configuration of WiFi Spot Management Unit 2) The WiFi Spot Management Unit 2 is a wireless communication management device comprising an access point (wireless access point) installed in a WiFi spot, a router, an authentication server that authenticates communication devices 6 that intend to use WiFi, and a storage unit that stores communication device information of communication devices 6 that have established communication with the access point. The access points of the WiFi Spot Management Unit 2 are installed in large numbers in public transportation facilities such as train stations, restaurants, shops, commercial facilities, and various other facilities. In this embodiment, they are installed near the locations where advertisements are placed and displayed, and the locations indicated by the advertisements. The WiFi spot usage service provided by the WiFi Spot Management Unit 2 is contracted by, for example, a social group, and the communication ID, which is the identification information of users using the WiFi spot, is distributed to people belonging to the social group (for example, employees of a company).

[0029] When the WiFi Spot Management Unit 2 receives an access request from the communication device 6, it obtains the communication ID and password from the communication device 6, performs authentication, and establishes communication with the communication device 6 if the communication device 6 is authorized to use the service. The WiFi Spot Management Unit 2 then obtains user information such as the social group name and username of the user of the communication device 6 from the communication device 6 and stores the communication device information, including the date and time of communication with the communication device 6, the communication ID, the communication location, the social group name, and the username, in the communication device information storage unit of the storage unit. Alternatively, the user information may be transmitted to the WiFi Spot Management Unit 2 by the communication device 6 along with the communication ID and password.

[0030] (Configuration of Information Device 3) Information device 3 is an information device installed in a social group setting and used by users belonging to that social group. Examples of information device 3 include, but are not limited to, image forming devices such as MFPs (Multifunction Peripherals). Information device 3 in a social group is assigned an information device ID to uniquely identify that information device 3. Information device 3 is connected to the social group network N1 and can connect to the Internet N via the social group network N1.

[0031] Information device 3 stores usage history information of its own device (information device 3) (for example, user information and operation details of the user who used information device 3) in its storage unit and transmits it to server 1 at predetermined intervals.

[0032] (Configuration of user terminal 4) User terminal 4 is a terminal device, such as a PC, smartphone, or tablet, that is set up in a social group setting and used by users belonging to that social group. User terminal 4 is connected to the social group's internal network N1 and can connect to the internet N via the social group's internal network N1. In other words, users of user terminal 4 can view web advertisements using user terminal 4.

[0033] (Configuration of advertising delivery system 5) The advertising distribution system 5 is a computer device that distributes and manages web advertisements and OOH advertisements. For example, the advertising distribution system 5 has a web advertisement management DB (Database) that stores web advertisement distribution management information (e.g., advertisement ID, distribution period, target category, distribution content, advertiser, location indicated by the advertisement, IP address of the device that touched the advertisement (clicked the advertisement), destination, etc.) and an OOH advertisement management DB that stores OOH advertisement management information (e.g., advertisement ID, advertisement placement / display period, advertisement placement / display location, target category, distribution content, advertiser, location indicated by the advertisement, etc.). Based on the information in the web advertisement management DB, it distributes and manages web advertisements, and based on the information in the OOH advertisement management DB, it displays and manages OOH advertisements. The advertising distribution system 5 obtains the IP address of the device (such as the user terminal 4) that clicked on the web advertisement (i.e., came into contact with the web advertisement) and stores it in the web advertisement distribution management information of the corresponding web advertisement in the web advertisement management DB. Then, the advertising distribution system 5 generates advertisement information (information including the items shown in Figure 6) based on the information stored in the web advertisement management DB and the information stored in the OOH advertisement management DB, and stores it in the storage unit.

[0034] (Configuration of communication device 6) The communication device 6 is, for example, a smartphone or tablet. The communication device 6 is equipped with an application for receiving the WiFi spot usage service provided by the WiFi spot management unit 2, and this application is configured with a communication ID, password, and user information (username, social group name, etc.) for receiving the WiFi spot usage service. In addition, the function of the WiFi spot usage service provided by the WiFi spot management unit 2 is set to ON on the communication device 6. When the communication device 6 enters the communication area of ​​the access point of the WiFi spot management unit 2, it sends the communication ID, password, and user information to the access point and connects to the WiFi.

[0035] (operation) Next, we will explain how the advertising effectiveness estimation system 100 works. The control unit 11 of server 1 acquires communication device information from the WiFi spot management unit 2 for a predetermined period (in this case, for example, the period since the last advertising effectiveness estimation processing was performed) and stores it in the communication device information storage unit 123. The method by which Server 1 obtains communication device information from the WiFi spot management unit 2 is not particularly limited. For example, the control unit 11 of Server 1 may, at a predetermined timing, request the WiFi spot management unit 2 to transmit communication device information via the communication unit 13, and obtain the communication device information from the WiFi spot management unit 2. Alternatively, the WiFi spot management unit 2 may transmit communication device information to Server 1 at a predetermined timing, and Server 1 may obtain the communication device information sent from the WiFi spot management unit 2 via the communication unit 13. Alternatively, the WiFi spot management unit 2 (or access point) may transmit communication device information to Server 1 in real time each time it obtains communication device information, and Server 1 may obtain the communication device information sent from the WiFi spot management unit 2 via the communication unit 13.

[0036] Furthermore, the control unit 11 of server 1 acquires advertising information for the ad placement and display dates and times of a predetermined period (for example, the period after the end date and time of the ad placement and display period is the date and time when the previous ad effectiveness estimation processing was performed) from the ad distribution system 5 and stores it in the advertising information storage unit 124. The method by which Server 1 obtains advertising information from the advertising distribution system 5 is not particularly limited. For example, the control unit 11 of Server 1 may request the advertising distribution system 5 to send advertising information at a predetermined timing using the communication unit 13, and obtain the advertising information from the advertising distribution system 5. Alternatively, the advertising distribution system 5 may send advertising information to Server 1 at a predetermined timing, and Server 1 may obtain the advertising information sent from the advertising distribution system 5 using the communication unit 13.

[0037] Furthermore, the control unit 11 of server 1 stores the communication information of the usage history information transmitted from information device 3 during a predetermined period (for example, the period after the last advertising effectiveness estimation processing was performed) in the communication information storage unit 122.

[0038] Then, when a predetermined timing (for example, a predetermined time each day) arrives, the control unit 11 of server 1 executes advertising effectiveness estimation processing using, for example, the information for the predetermined period mentioned above.

[0039] Figure 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the advertising effectiveness estimation process. The advertising effectiveness estimation process is performed through the cooperation of the CPU of the control unit 11 and the program stored in the storage unit 12. In this embodiment, the control unit 11 erases the data stored in the advertising exposure user information storage unit 125 and the advertising exposure social group information storage unit 126 before executing the advertising effectiveness estimation process.

[0040] First, the control unit 11 performs OOH advertising contact user estimation processing to estimate the users of the communication device 6 that have been exposed to the OOH advertisement (step S1).

[0041] Figure 10 shows the flow of the OOH advertising exposure user estimation process performed in step S1. The OOH advertising exposure user estimation process is performed in cooperation with the control unit 11 and the program stored in the storage unit 12.

[0042] In the OOH advertising contact user estimation process, first, the control unit 11 reads one communication device information from the communication device information storage unit 123 to obtain the communication location, communication date and time, and user information of the communication device 6 (step S101).

[0043] Next, the control unit 11 reads one piece of advertising information from the advertising information storage unit 124 to obtain the installation and display location and installation and display period of the OOH advertisement (step S102).

[0044] Next, the control unit 11 compares the acquired communication location with the installation / display location of the OOH advertisement and determines whether or not a communication device 6 was present near the installation / display location of the OOH advertisement (within a predetermined range from the installation / display location of the OOH advertisement) (step S103).

[0045] If the control unit 11 determines that a communication device 6 was present near the installation / display location of the OOH advertisement (step S103; YES), it compares the acquired communication date and time with the installation / display period of the OOH advertisement to determine whether the communication device 6 was present near the installation / display location of the OOH advertisement during the installation / display period (whether the communication date and time falls within the installation / display period of the OOH advertisement) (step S104).

[0046] If the control unit 11 determines that the communication device 6 was present near the location where the OOH advertisement was installed and displayed during the installation and display period of the OOH advertisement (step S104; YES), the control unit 11 estimates that the user of the communication device 6 is a user who has been exposed to the OOH advertisement (step S105). Then, the control unit 11 associates the ad ID contained in the read ad information with the communication device information read in step S102 and stores it in the ad contact user information storage unit 125 as ad contact user information (step S106), and proceeds to step S109.

[0047] On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no communication device 6 near the installation / display location of the OOH advertisement (step S103; NO), or if it is determined that the communication device 6 was not present near the installation / display location of the OOH advertisement during the installation / display period of the OOH advertisement (step S104; NO), the control unit 11 estimates that the user of the communication device 6 has not come into contact with the OOH advertisement (step S107).

[0048] Next, the control unit 11 determines whether or not it has compared the communication device information read in step S101 with all the advertising information in the advertising information storage unit 124 (step S108). If the control unit 11 determines that the communication device information read in step S101 has not been compared with all the advertising information in the advertising information storage unit 124 (step S108; NO), the control unit 11 returns to step S102, reads one piece of advertising information that has not yet been read, and executes the processes in steps S102 to S107.

[0049] If the control unit 11 determines that it has compared the communication device information read in step S101 with all the advertising information in the advertising information storage unit 124 (step S108; YES), it proceeds to step S109.

[0050] In step S109, the control unit 11 determines whether the processing in steps S101 to S108 has been completed for all communication device information stored in the communication device information storage unit 123 (step S109). If it determines that the processing in steps S101 to S108 has not been completed for all communication device information stored in the communication device information storage unit 123 (step S109; NO), the control unit 11 returns to step S101, reads one communication device information that has not yet been read, and executes the processing in steps S101 to S108. If the control unit 11 determines that the processing of steps S101 to S108 for all communication device information stored in the communication device information storage unit 123 has been completed (step S109; YES), the control unit 11 proceeds to step S2 in Figure 9.

[0051] In step S2 of Figure 9, the control unit 11 performs a web advertisement exposure social group estimation process to estimate the social group that has been exposed to the web advertisement (step S2).

[0052] Figure 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of the web advertisement exposure social group estimation process. The web advertisement exposure social group estimation process is executed through the cooperation of the CPU of the control unit 11 and the program stored in the memory unit 12.

[0053] In the web advertising exposure social group estimation process, first, the control unit 11 sorts the communication information log stored in the communication information storage unit 122 by information device ID and communication date and time, and obtains the IP address and usage period used by each social group (step S201). Since Server 1 acquires communication information from Information Device 3 at predetermined intervals, it can identify the IP addresses used by each social group where Information Device 3 is installed and the period of their use from the acquired communication information's Information Device ID, communication date and time, and source IP address.

[0054] Next, the control unit 11 reads one piece of advertising information from the advertising information storage unit 124 and obtains the advertising contact IP address / date and time (step S202).

[0055] Next, the control unit 11 determines whether or not an IP address of a social group that matches the IP address of the advertisement contact existed at the time of advertisement contact, based on a comparison of the acquired IP address / date and time of advertisement contact with the IP address of each social group and its usage period (step S203).

[0056] If the control unit 11 determines that there is an IP address of a social group that matches the IP address that exposed the advertisement at the time of exposure (step S203; YES), it estimates that the social group whose IP address matches the IP address that exposed the advertisement is the social group that was exposed to the web advertisement (step S204). Then, the control unit 11 reads the social group information of the social group (social group name, social group address, number of members) from the social group information storage unit 121 based on the information device ID, associates it with the advertisement ID read in step S202, and stores it in the advertisement-contacted social group information storage unit 126 as advertisement-contacted social group information (step S205), and proceeds to step S207.

[0057] If the control unit 11 determines that there is no IP address of a social group that matches the IP address that exposed the advertisement at the time of exposure (step S203; NO), it determines that it cannot estimate the social group that was exposed to the web advertisement (step S206) and proceeds to step S207. If multiple IP addresses that have been exposed to advertisements are found in the acquired advertisement information, the process in steps S202 to S206 will be executed for each IP address that has been exposed to advertisements, and then the process will proceed to step S207.

[0058] In step S207, the control unit 11 determines whether the processing in steps S202 to S206 has been completed for all advertising information stored in the advertising information storage unit 124 (step S207). If it determines that the processing in steps S202 to S206 has not been completed for all advertising information stored in the advertising information storage unit 124 (step S207; NO), the control unit 11 returns to step S202, reads one piece of advertising information that has not yet been read, and executes the processing in steps S202 to S206. If the control unit 11 determines that the processing in steps S202 to S206 has been completed for all advertising information stored in the advertising information storage unit 124 (step S207; YES), the control unit 11 proceeds to step S3 in Figure 9.

[0059] In step S3 of Figure 9, the control unit 11 performs a web advertisement contact user estimation process to estimate the number of users in a social group who have been exposed to the web advertisement (step S3).

[0060] Figure 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of the web advertisement exposure user estimation process. The web advertisement exposure user estimation process is performed through the cooperation of the CPU of the control unit 11 and the program stored in the memory unit 12.

[0061] In the web ad exposure user estimation process, first, the control unit 11 reads one piece of ad exposure user information from the ad exposure user information storage unit 125 and obtains the ad ID and social group name (step S301).

[0062] Next, the control unit 11 reads out information on a social group that has been exposed to an advertisement from the social group information storage unit 126 and obtains the advertisement ID, the name of the social group, and the number of people (step S302).

[0063] Next, the control unit 11 determines whether the advertising IDs obtained in steps S301 and S302 are the same (step S303). That is, it determines whether the OOH advertisement that the user identified by the read advertising contact user information was exposed to and the web advertisement that the social group identified by the read advertising contact social group information was exposed to are advertisements relating to the same subject.

[0064] If it is determined that the advertising IDs obtained in steps S301 and S302 are the same (step S303; YES), the control unit 11 determines whether the social group names obtained in steps S301 and S302 match (step S304). That is, it determines whether the user identified by the read advertising contact user information belongs to a social group that has been exposed to the same web advertisement as the OOH advertisement that the user has been exposed to.

[0065] If the social group names obtained in steps S301 and S302 match, that is, if the user identified by the read ad-exposed user information belongs to a social group that has been exposed to the same web advertisement as the OOH advertisement that the user was exposed to (step S304; YES), the control unit 11 determines whether the number of people in that social group is less than or equal to a predetermined number (step S305).

[0066] If the control unit 11 determines that the number of people in that social group is less than or equal to a predetermined number (step S305; YES), it estimates with high accuracy that the user is a user who has been exposed to a web advertisement within that social group (step S306). Here, the fewer people there are in the social group, the higher the accuracy of the estimation. Then, the control unit 11 updates the advertising exposure social group information storage unit 126 by associating the username of the advertising exposure user and the estimation accuracy (high) with the advertising exposure social group information read in step S302 (step S308), and proceeds to step S309.

[0067] If the control unit 11 determines that the number of people in that social group exceeds a predetermined number (step S305; NO), it estimates with low certainty that the user is a user who has been exposed to a web advertisement within that social group (step S307). Then, the control unit 11 updates the advertising exposure social group information storage unit 126 by associating the username of the advertising exposure user and the estimation accuracy (low) with the advertising exposure social group information read in step S302 (step S308), and proceeds to step S309.

[0068] On the other hand, if in step S303 it is determined that the acquired advertising IDs are not the same (step S303; NO), or if it is determined that the acquired social group names do not match (step S304; NO), the control unit 11 proceeds to step S309.

[0069] In step S309, it is determined whether the comparison between the ad-exposed user information read in step S301 and all ad-exposed social group information in the ad-exposed social group information storage unit 126 has been completed (step S310). If the control unit 11 determines that the comparison between the ad-exposed user information read in step S301 and all ad-exposed social group information in the ad-exposed social group information storage unit 126 has not been completed (step S310; NO), the control unit 11 returns to step S302, reads any ad-exposed social group information that has not yet been read from the ad-exposed social group information storage unit 126, and executes the processes in steps S302 to S309.

[0070] If the control unit 11 determines that the comparison between the record read in step S301 and all records in the advertising exposure social group information storage unit 126 has been completed (step S309; ​​YES), the control unit 11 proceeds to step S310.

[0071] In step S310, the control unit 11 determines whether the processing in steps S301 to S309 has been completed for all advertising contact user information stored in the advertising contact user information storage unit 125 (step S310). If it determines that the processing in steps S301 to S309 has not been completed for all advertising contact user information stored in the advertising contact user information storage unit 125 (step S310; NO), the control unit 11 returns to step S301, reads one advertising contact user information that has not yet been read, and executes the processing in steps S301 to S309. If the control unit 11 determines that the processing of steps S301 to S309 for all records stored in the advertising exposure user information storage unit 125 has been completed (step S310; YES), the control unit 11 proceeds to step S4 in Figure 9.

[0072] In step S4 of Figure 9, the control unit 11 performs a conversion estimation process to estimate whether or not a user who has been exposed to the advertisement has visited the location indicated by the advertisement (step S4). Figure 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of the conversion estimation process. The conversion estimation process is executed through the cooperation of the CPU of the control unit 11 and the program stored in the memory unit 12.

[0073] In the conversion estimation process, first, the control unit 11 reads one communication device information from the communication device information storage unit 123 and obtains the communication date and time, communication location, and user information (step S401).

[0074] Next, the control unit 11 reads one piece of advertising information from the advertising information storage unit 124 and obtains the advertising ID and information about the location indicated by the advertisement (step S402).

[0075] Next, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the user of the communication device 6 has gone to the location indicated by the advertisement, based on a comparison between the communication location of the acquired communication device information and the location indicated by the advertisement in the acquired advertisement information (step S403).

[0076] If the control unit 11 determines that the user of the communication device 6 has gone to the location indicated by the advertisement (step S403; YES), it determines whether the user had contact with the advertisement before going to the location indicated by the advertisement (step S404). For example, if the control unit 11 finds a record in the ad contact user information storage unit 125 that contains user information matching the user information obtained in step S401, where the communication date and time is earlier than the communication date and time obtained in step S401, and the ad ID matches the ad ID obtained in step S402, then the control unit 11 determines that the user was exposed to the ad before going to the location indicated in the ad.

[0077] If the control unit 11 determines that the user has been exposed to the advertisement before visiting the location indicated by the advertisement (step S404; YES), the control unit 11 determines that a conversion has occurred (the user visited the location indicated by the advertisement after being exposed to the advertisement) (step S405). The control unit 11 then updates the record in the advertisement exposure user information storage unit 125 by adding a flag indicating that a conversion has occurred to the advertisement exposure user information stored in the advertisement exposure user information storage unit 125 where the user information matches the user information obtained in step S401, the communication date and time is earlier than the communication date and time obtained in step S401, and the advertisement ID matches the advertisement ID obtained in step S402 (step S406), and then proceeds to step S407.

[0078] On the other hand, if the control unit 11 determines that the user of the communication device 6 has not gone to the location indicated in the advertisement (step S403; NO), or if it determines that the user has not been exposed to the advertisement before going to the location indicated in the advertisement (step S404; NO), the control unit 11 proceeds to step S407.

[0079] In step S407, the control unit 11 determines whether the processing in steps S402 to S406 has been completed for all advertising information stored in the advertising information storage unit 124 (step S407). If it determines that the processing in steps S402 to S406 has not been completed for all advertising information stored in the advertising information storage unit 124 (step S407; NO), the control unit 11 returns to step S402, reads any advertising information that has not yet been read, and executes the processing in steps S402 to S406. If the control unit 11 determines that the processing of steps S402 to S406 for all advertising information stored in the advertising contact user information storage unit 125 has been completed (step S407; YES), the control unit 11 proceeds to step S408.

[0080] In step S408, the control unit 11 determines whether the processing in steps S401 to S407 has been completed for all communication device information stored in the communication device information storage unit 123 (step S408). If it determines that the processing in steps S401 to S407 has not been completed for all communication device information stored in the communication device information storage unit 123 (step S408; NO), the control unit 11 returns to step S401, reads the communication device information that has not yet been read, and executes the processing in steps S401 to S407. If the control unit 11 determines that the processing of steps S401 to S407 has been completed for all records stored in the ad exposure user information storage unit 125 (step S408; YES), the control unit 11 terminates the ad effectiveness estimation process. Once the advertising effectiveness estimation process is complete, the control unit 11 deletes the information stored in the communication information storage unit 122, the communication device information storage unit 123, and the advertising information storage unit 124.

[0081] The user information and social group information generated by the advertising effectiveness estimation process are read by the control unit 11 from the user information storage unit 125 and the social group information storage unit 126, respectively, and stored, for example, in a database provided in the storage unit 12, or transmitted to the advertising distribution system 5, etc., for use.

[0082] The above advertising effectiveness estimation process allows for the acquisition of information on users exposed to the advertisement and information on social groups exposed to the advertisement. In other words, it is possible to obtain more detailed information about the advertising effectiveness, such as which users (who) were exposed to the advertisement, which social groups belonged to the people who were exposed to the advertisement, and whether those who were exposed to the advertisement actually visited the place indicated by the advertisement. This makes it possible to identify users or social groups that were interested in a particular advertisement, and to determine more detailed advertising effectiveness, such as whether users actually visited stores, etc., after seeing the advertisement. This can be used to improve the effectiveness of future advertising distribution. For example, if a web advertisement is accessed by multiple users belonging to a certain social group, it can be assumed that people belonging to that social group have a common interest in that advertisement. Therefore, it becomes possible to deliver more effective advertisements, such as sending advertisements of the same category as that advertisement to the information devices 3 or user terminals 4 of that social group.

[0083] As explained above, the control unit 11 of server 1 acquires communication device information including the location (position) where communication device 6 communicated, the date and time of communication, and user information of communication device 6, acquires advertising information including the location and period for which advertisements are displayed or installed, and estimates the users who have been exposed to the OOH advertisement based on the acquired communication device information and advertising information. Therefore, since it is possible to estimate the users who were exposed to OOH advertisements, it becomes possible to provide more detailed information regarding the effectiveness of the advertisements.

[0084] Furthermore, the control unit 11 of server 1 obtains the IP address of the user terminal 4 that came into contact with the web advertisement and the date and time when the user terminal 4 came into contact with the web advertisement, obtains the IP address of a predetermined social group and the period during which that IP address was used, and estimates the social group information that came into contact with the web advertisement based on the information obtained. Therefore, since it is possible to estimate the social group that has been exposed to the web advertisement, it becomes possible to provide more detailed information regarding the effectiveness of the advertisement.

[0085] Furthermore, the user information of the communication device includes information about the social group to which the user of the communication device 6 belongs. The control unit 11 determines whether a user who is presumed to have been exposed to an OOH advertisement belongs to a social group that is presumed to have been exposed to a Web advertisement about the same subject as the OOH advertisement. If it determines that the user belongs to such a group, the control unit 11 presumes that the user who is presumed to have been exposed to the OOH advertisement is a user who has been exposed to the Web advertisement within that social group. Therefore, since it is possible to estimate the number of users who have been exposed to web advertisements within a social group, it becomes possible to provide more detailed information regarding the effectiveness of the advertisements.

[0086] Furthermore, the control unit 11 determines the degree of certainty that a user who is estimated to have been exposed to an OOH advertisement is a user who has been exposed to a web advertisement within that social group, based on the number of people belonging to that social group. Therefore, it can provide an accuracy in estimating the number of users who have been exposed to advertisements within a social group.

[0087] Furthermore, the advertising information includes location information of the place indicated by the advertisement, and the control unit 11 determines, based on the acquired communication device information and advertising information, whether or not a user who is presumed to have come into contact with the advertisement actually went to the place indicated by the advertisement after coming into contact with it. Therefore, it becomes possible to provide information indicating whether or not users who are presumed to have been exposed to an advertisement actually visited the location indicated by that advertisement after being exposed to it.

[0088] The description in the above embodiment is merely a preferred example of the advertising effectiveness estimation system according to the present invention, and is not limited thereto.

[0089] For example, in the above embodiment, the case in which the server 1 and the advertising distribution system 5 are separate entities was described, but the server 1 and the advertising distribution system 5 may be configured as a single unit. For example, the server 1 may have the functions of an advertising distribution system and distribute advertisements.

[0090] Furthermore, although the above embodiment was described using the example of acquiring communication device information when the communication device 6 performs wireless communication with a WiFi access point, wireless communication is not limited to WiFi, and the communication device 6 may also acquire communication device information when it performs wireless communication with an access point of another wireless communication network.

[0091] Furthermore, although the above embodiment was described using the example of offline advertising being OOH advertising and online advertising being Web advertising, offline advertising and online advertising are not limited to these.

[0092] Furthermore, the content of the advertising exposure user information and advertising exposure social group information generated in the advertising effectiveness estimation process in the above embodiment is merely an example and is not limited thereto. Furthermore, the items of information acquired by Server 1 are not limited to those shown in the above embodiment.

[0093] Furthermore, while the above description discloses examples using hard disks, semiconductor non-volatile memory, etc., as computer-readable media for the program according to the present invention, the invention is not limited to these examples. Portable recording media such as CD-ROMs can also be used as other computer-readable media. In addition, carrier waves can be used as a medium for providing the data of the program according to the present invention via a communication line.

[0094] Furthermore, the detailed configuration and operation of each device constituting the advertising effectiveness estimation system can also be modified as appropriate, without departing from the spirit of the invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0095] 100 Advertising Effectiveness Estimation System 1 server 11 Control Unit 12 Storage section 121 Social Group Information Memory Unit 122 Communication Information Storage Unit 123 Communication device information storage unit 124 Advertising Information Storage Unit 125 Advertisement Contact User Information Storage Unit 126 Advertising Contact Social Group Information Memory Unit 13 Communications Department 14 bus 2. WiFi Spot Management Department 3 Information equipment 4 User terminals 5. Ad delivery system 6. Communication devices

Claims

1. A wireless communication management device that manages the communication of a wireless access point acquires communication device information including the location, date and time, and user information of the device that performed the communication between the communicating device and the wireless access point. We obtain advertising information, including the location and duration for which offline ads will be displayed or placed. The system compares the location information of the communication that took place in the acquired communication device information with the location information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the acquired advertising information, and compares the date and time information of the communication that took place in the communication device information with the period information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the advertising information. If it is determined that the device was within a predetermined range from the location where the offline advertisement is displayed or placed during the period of displaying or placing the offline advertisement, the system estimates that the user of the device is a user who has been exposed to the offline advertisement. An information processing device equipped with a processor.

2. The processor further, The IP address of the terminal device that came into contact with the online advertisement and the date and time when the terminal device came into contact with the online advertisement are obtained. Obtain the IP addresses of a specified social group and the period during which those IP addresses were used. The information processing device according to claim 1, which compares the acquired IP address of the terminal device and the date and time when the terminal device came into contact with the online advertisement with the IP address of the social group and the period during which the IP address was used, and if it is determined that there was an IP address of the social group that matched the IP address of the terminal device at the time of contact with the online advertisement, it estimates that the social group whose IP address matched the IP address of the terminal device is the social group that came into contact with the online advertisement.

3. The processor is The information processing device according to claim 2, which obtains the IP address of the social group and the period during which the IP address was used from a log of communication information transmitted from an information device installed at the social group's location.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the user information of the communication device includes the name of the social group to which the user of the device belongs.

5. The processor is The advertising ID of the offline advertisement and the name of the social group to which the user who was estimated to have been exposed to the offline advertisement belongs are obtained. The advertising ID of the online advertisement and the name of the social group that is presumed to have been exposed to the online advertisement are obtained. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the information processing device compares the advertising ID of the advertisement that a user who is presumed to have been exposed to the offline advertisement was exposed to and the name of the social group to which the user belongs with the advertising ID of the advertisement that the social group was exposed to and the name of the social group of the social group, and if they match, it is presumed that the user is a user who was exposed to the online advertisement within the social group.

6. The aforementioned processor, Further information is obtained on the number of people belonging to the social group that is estimated to have been exposed to the aforementioned online advertisement. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the smaller the number of such people, the higher the probability that the user is a user who has been exposed to the online advertisement within the social group.

7. The aforementioned advertising information includes location information of the place indicated in the advertisement. The aforementioned processor, An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising: comparing the location information of the location where communication was performed in the communication device information with the location information of the place indicated by the advertisement in the advertisement information to determine whether or not the user of the device has gone to the place indicated by the advertisement; if it is determined that the user of the device has gone to the place indicated by the advertisement, obtaining the date and time when the user of the device came into contact with the advertisement; and if the user of the device came into contact with the advertisement before the date and time of communication in the communication device information used for the comparison, determining that the user came into contact with the advertisement before going to the place indicated by the advertisement.

8. A wireless communication management device that manages the communication of a wireless access point acquires communication device information including the location, date and time, and user information of the device that performed the communication between the communicating device and the wireless access point. We obtain advertising information, including the location and duration for which offline ads will be displayed or placed. The system compares the location information of the communication that took place in the acquired communication device information with the location information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the acquired advertising information, and compares the date and time information of the communication that took place in the communication device information with the period information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the advertising information. If it is determined that the device was within a predetermined range from the location where the offline advertisement is displayed or placed during the period of displaying or placing the offline advertisement, the system estimates that the user of the device is a user who has been exposed to the offline advertisement. An advertising effectiveness estimation system equipped with a processor.

9. The information processing device is The wireless communication management device, which manages the communication of the wireless access point, obtains communication device information including the location, date and time of communication between the communicating device and the wireless access point, and the user information of the device. We obtain advertising information, including the location and duration for which offline ads will be displayed or placed. The system compares the location information of the communication that took place in the acquired communication device information with the location information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the acquired advertising information, and compares the date and time information of the communication that took place in the communication device information with the period information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the advertising information. If it is determined that the device was within a predetermined range from the location where the offline advertisement is displayed or placed during the period of displaying or placing the offline advertisement, the system estimates that the user of the device is a user who has been exposed to the offline advertisement. Methods for estimating advertising effectiveness.

10. On the computer, The wireless communication management device, which manages the communication of the wireless access point, obtains communication device information including the location, date and time of communication between the communicating device and the wireless access point, and the user information of the device. We obtain advertising information, including the location and duration for which offline ads will be displayed or placed. The system compares the location information of the communication that took place in the acquired communication device information with the location information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the acquired advertising information, and compares the date and time information of the communication that took place in the communication device information with the period information of the offline advertisement to be displayed or placed in the advertising information. If it is determined that the device was within a predetermined range from the location where the offline advertisement is displayed or placed during the period of displaying or placing the offline advertisement, the system estimates that the user of the device is a user who has been exposed to the offline advertisement. A program to execute a process.

Images