System and device for collecting effect of advertisement print
The system tracks user interactions with printed advertisements through unique codes, allowing detailed analysis of advertisement effectiveness by associating user activity with individual identities, addressing the limitations of existing systems.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- BROTHER KOGYO KK
- Filing Date
- 2025-12-05
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-18
Smart Images
Figure JP2025042493_18062026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
Advertising Print Effect Collection System and Advertising Print Effect Collection Device 【0001】 The technical field disclosed in this specification relates to an advertising print effect collection system and an advertising print effect collection device that collect information on the effects printed for each advertisement. 【0002】 In recent years, technologies for displaying advertisements on the screens of terminals such as personal computers and smartphones have been spreading. On the other hand, compared to delivering advertisements to the printers owned by users for printing, it has not spread as much as displaying advertisements on the screens of terminals. In the case of displaying advertisements on the screens of terminals, it is relatively easy to collect the effects of advertisements by clicking on the advertisements, etc. However, it seems that it is not easy to collect the effects of advertisements when delivering and printing advertisements. On the other hand, when delivering and printing advertisements, since the user gets the paper on which the advertisement is printed, there is an advantage that the content of the advertisement is easily recognized by the user. 【0003】 As a document that discloses the effects of printed advertisements, for example, there is Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for detecting access to a two-dimensional code included in a delivered advertisement and recording the access history to the advertisement. 【0004】 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-194221 【0005】 In the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, the printed advertisement is sent to an unspecified number of subscribers, and it is possible to detect that there has been access by a user, but it is not possible to recognize which user made the access. The advertiser can know how many accesses there have been, but cannot know from which users with what attributes the accesses have been made, and there is room for improvement in order to grasp the effects of the advertisement in detail. 【0006】The advertising print effectiveness collection system, designed to solve the aforementioned problems, comprises: a user information management unit that manages user information of users using printers using user identification information; an identification information issuing unit that issues identification information; an advertising acquisition unit that acquires original advertising images submitted by advertisers and corresponding to the identification information issued by the identification information issuing unit; an advertising printing unit that prints advertising images, with an image indicating unique information added to the original advertising image acquired by the advertising acquisition unit, using the printer of the target user; an activity history acquisition unit that acquires information on the target user's activity history and the unique information in response to the printing of the advertising image; and an activity history storage unit that stores the activity history information of the target user acquired by the activity history acquisition unit, associating it with the identification information and the user identification information based on the unique information. 【0007】 An advertising print effectiveness collection device, designed to solve the aforementioned problems, comprises: a user information management unit that manages user information of users using a printer using user identification information; an identification information issuing unit that issues identification information; an advertising acquisition unit that acquires original advertising images submitted by advertisers and corresponding to the identification information issued by the identification information issuing unit; an advertising print instruction unit that prints an advertising image, on which an image indicating unique information has been added to the original advertising image acquired by the advertising acquisition unit, using the printer of the target user; an activity history acquisition unit that acquires information on the target user's activity history and the unique information in response to the printing of the advertising image; and an activity history storage unit that stores the information on the target user's activity history acquired by the activity history acquisition unit, associating it with the identification information and the user identification information based on the unique information. 【0008】 According to the technology disclosed herein, it is possible to collect information on the effectiveness of each printed advertisement based on user information, and to understand the effectiveness of the printed advertisements in detail. 【0009】This is an overall configuration diagram showing the advertising print effectiveness collection system. This is an example of the electrical configuration diagram of the advertising server. This is an example of the electrical configuration diagram of the printer. This is an example of the electrical configuration diagram of the user terminal. This is an example of the electrical configuration diagram of the advertiser terminal. This is an example of a sequence diagram showing the process until the advertisement is printed. This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the process for collecting user behavior history in response to advertisement printing. This is an example of a screen for collecting user behavior history. Figure 9(a) is one example of displaying the effectiveness of an advertisement, and Figure 9(b) is another example of displaying the effectiveness of an advertisement. 【0010】 An embodiment of the advertising print effectiveness collection system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 【0011】 <Overall Configuration of the Effectiveness Collection System> Figure 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of the advertising printing effectiveness collection system 1 according to the embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the advertising printing effectiveness collection system 1 includes an advertising supply server (SSP: Supply Side Platform) 100, a printer 200, a user terminal 300, an advertiser terminal 400, an advertising management server (DSP: Demand Side Platform) 500, and a printer management server 600. Each server 100, 500, 600, the printer 200, and each terminal device 300, 400 are equipped with a communication interface and can communicate with each other via a network NT. The network NT includes at least one of the following: the Internet, LAN (Local Area Network), or WAN (Wide Area Network). The communication interface may also be configured to include multiple types of communication circuits for connecting to the network NT. In this case, devices connected to the network NT may communicate with multiple other devices using different communication circuits. In this embodiment, the collective term for multiple types of communication circuits is referred to as communication IF. 【0012】<Advertising Server> The advertising server 100 is a server installed and operated by, for example, the manufacturer of the printer 200. The advertising server 100 receives advertising images from the advertising management server 500 at predetermined timings. The advertising server 100 distributes the acquired advertising images to the printer 200 and causes it to print. In addition, the advertising server 100 collects various user activity history, such as whether the user viewed the advertisement, made an inquiry about the advertisement, visited a site to purchase the product related to the advertisement, etc., in response to the advertisement being printed by the printer 200, and can display information based on this activity history to the advertiser as an indication of the effectiveness of the advertisement. The advertising server 100 is an example of a device for collecting the effectiveness of advertising printing. 【0013】 Figure 2 is an electrical configuration diagram of the advertising server 100. The advertising server 100 comprises a controller 110 and a communication IF 160. The communication IF 160 includes hardware such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) for connecting to Ethernet®, is connected to the network NT, and communicates with the printer 200, user terminal 300, advertiser terminal 400, advertising management server 500, and printer management server 600. The controller 110 comprises a processor CPU 111 and memory 112. The memory 112 is composed of, for example, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, HDD, etc. The memory 112 comprises a program storage area 120 where various programs are stored and a data storage area 130 where various data is stored. The various programs in the program storage area 120 include programs that execute the control contents of the advertising server 100 as shown in the sequence diagrams in Figures 6 and 7, which will be described later. The data in the data storage area 130 includes various types of data, such as the advertiser management DB 131, which is a database for managing information about advertisers; the print job management DB 132, which is a database for managing print jobs for printing advertisements; the behavior history DB 133, which is a database for the behavior history of users who receive printed advertisements; and the user information DB 134, which is a database for user information about users who receive printed advertisements. 【0014】The advertiser management DB 131 includes, for example, information about advertisers and an advertising DB 131a related to the advertisements placed by advertisers. The advertiser information includes, for example, the name of the individual or company that is the advertiser, the IP address of the advertiser terminal 400 owned by the advertiser, and other advertiser information. The advertiser information also includes store information such as the name of the store owned by the advertiser and the store name image printed on the receipt. The advertising DB 131a related to the advertisements placed by advertisers includes, for example, identification information 139 corresponding to each advertisement, the expiration date of the advertisement, and survey information related to the advertisement. The advertiser management DB 131 is managed by the controller 110. 【0015】 The print job management DB 132 includes, for example, the print job number, identification information 139, user identification information, the original advertisement image or a URL for obtaining the original advertisement image, unique information to be attached to the advertisement image, printing conditions, printing deadline, printing completion date and time, etc. The print job management DB 132 is managed by the controller 110. 【0016】 The behavioral history DB 133 includes user behavioral history corresponding to ad printing for each ad and each user. For example, it includes information indicating whether the user viewed the printed ad, information indicating that the user inquired about a product after viewing the printed ad, information indicating that the user visited a product purchase site after viewing the printed ad, and other information indicating various user actions, all of which are associated with both user identification information and identification information 139 that identify the user. The history of each action includes, for example, the date and time the action took place. If it includes information on the user's purchase of a product, it may also include more detailed purchase information. This purchase information may include, for example, information on the items purchased by the user, the store where the purchase was made, the date and time of purchase, and the method of purchase. The behavioral history DB 133 is managed by the controller 110. 【0017】The user information database 134 includes user information such as username, user identification information, user-specific printer information, user-specific terminal information, and user-specific information displayed on receipts at the time of payment. The user information in the user information database 134 also includes user attribute information such as age, gender, address, place of origin, and favorite genres. User information is registered in advance when a contract for advertising distribution and printing is concluded with the user and is managed using user identification information. The user information database 134 is used for generating advertising effectiveness notification data, which will be described later. The user information database 134 is managed by the controller 110, and the controller 110 that manages the user information database 134 is an example of a user information management unit. 【0018】 <Printers> Figure 1 shows only one printer 200, and the other printers 200 are omitted. Multiple printers 200 are connected to the advertising server 100, each corresponding to a different user. Each printer 200 retrieves the advertising image delivered to each user from the advertising server 100, prints it, and notifies the advertising server 100 when printing is complete. 【0019】 Figure 3 is an electrical configuration diagram of the printer 200. The printer 200 comprises a controller 210, a printing mechanism 220, a reading mechanism 230, a display unit 240, an operation unit 250, and a communication interface 260. The controller 210 controls the printing mechanism 220, the reading mechanism 230, the display unit 240, the operation unit 250, and the communication interface 260. The communication interface 260 includes hardware such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) for connecting to Ethernet, is connected to the network NT, and communicates with the user terminal 300 and the printer management server 600. The printer 200 may communicate with the advertising server 100 without going through the printer management server 600. 【0020】The controller 210 includes a CPU 211, an ASIC 212, and a memory 213. The memory 213 has a program area 214 where various programs are stored and a data area 215 where various data is stored. The controller 210 performs processes such as printing, reading, various displays, and receiving various operations by having the CPU execute various programs stored in the program area 214, and by having the ASIC perform various processes such as image processing. In addition, among the various programs, there is a program for an embedded web server (hereinafter referred to as EWS), and instead of using the display unit 240 and operation unit 250 to display and receive operations, it is also possible to use the user terminal 300 to display and receive operations. 【0021】 The printing method of the printing mechanism 220 is, for example, an electrophotographic printing mechanism, but it may also be a printing mechanism of another printing method such as an inkjet method. The reading mechanism 230 is, for example, a flatbed reading mechanism that reads an image by placing the original on the platen, but it may also be a sheet-through reading mechanism that reads an image while transporting the original. The display unit 240 is, for example, a liquid crystal panel, but it may be of another type. By reading images such as questionnaire results using the reading mechanism 230, the user's behavior history can be detected (details will be described later). The operation unit 250 is, for example, a touch panel corresponding to a liquid crystal panel, but it may also be a group of operation buttons separate from the display unit 240. 【0022】 <User Terminals> Figure 1 shows only one user terminal 300, and the other user terminals 300 are omitted. Each printer 200 can print advertising images distributed from the advertising server 100, as well as print based on print data sent from the corresponding user terminal 300. In addition, user terminals 300 can conduct surveys and other activities for users. 【0023】Figure 4 is an electrical configuration diagram of the user terminal 300. The user terminal 300 comprises a controller 310, a display unit 340, an operation unit 350, a communication interface 360, and an imaging unit 370. The controller 310 controls the display unit 340, the operation unit 350, the communication interface 360, and the imaging unit 370. The communication interface 360 has, for example, a wireless communication mechanism and is connected to the network NT via an access point, and can communicate with the advertising server 100 and the printer 200. Alternatively, it may communicate directly with the printer 200 via a wireless communication mechanism or the like. The display unit 340 is, for example, a liquid crystal panel, and the operation unit 350 is a touch panel compatible with the liquid crystal panel. The display unit 340 and the operation unit 350 can display various information and accept various operations. The imaging unit 370 can capture and read images. 【0024】 The controller 310 includes a CPU 311 and a memory 320, the memory 320 having a program storage area 321 and a data storage area 325. The program storage area 321 stores the operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) 322 and applications 323. The applications 323 include various applications such as a printing application with a function to generate print data to send to the printer 200, a scanning application that reads images using the imaging unit 370, a survey application that conducts surveys in response to advertisement printing, and a browser that can display the EWS web page of the printer 200. 【0025】 <Advertiser Terminals> Figure 1 shows only one advertiser terminal 400, and the other advertiser terminals 400 are omitted. Multiple advertiser terminals 400, each corresponding to multiple advertisers, are connected to the advertising server 100. The advertiser terminals 400 can register information about the advertiser with the advertising server 100, submit advertisements to the advertising management server 500 to be printed, and obtain the results of collecting data on the effectiveness of printing advertisements from the advertising server 100. 【0026】Figure 5 is an electrical configuration diagram of the advertiser terminal 400. The advertiser terminal 400 comprises a controller 410, a display unit 440, an operation unit 450, and a communication interface 460. The controller 410 controls the display unit 440, the operation unit 450, and the communication interface 460. The communication interface 460 includes hardware such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) for connecting to Ethernet, is connected to the network NT, and communicates with the advertising server 100 and the advertising management server 500. The display unit 340 has a large screen to make the effects of printing advertisements easily visible. The operation unit 350 includes, for example, a keyboard and mouse. 【0027】 The controller 410 includes a CPU 411 and a memory 420, the memory 420 having a program storage area 421 and a data storage area 425. The program storage area 421 stores the operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) 422 and applications 423. Applications 423 include an advertiser application that can register information about advertisers, information about advertisements, etc., with the advertising server 100 and display the effect of printing advertisements from the advertising server 100, an advertising submission application for submitting advertisements to be printed, and other applications. 【0028】 <Advertising Management Server> The advertising management server 500 receives advertisement submissions from advertisers and sends the advertisement images for printing on the printer 200 to the advertising provision server 100. The advertising management server 500 has a controller (not shown), memory, communication interface, etc., and in this example, it receives bid requests from the advertising provision server 100 via the communication interface. The controller of the advertising management server 500 executes an auction corresponding to the bid requests for the advertisement images submitted by the advertisers and acquires suitable advertisement images by bidding on the auction. When there is a successful bid that meets the predetermined conditions of the auction, the controller of the advertising management server 500 acquires the corresponding advertisement image from the advertiser terminal 400 of the successful bidder advertiser. 【0029】The acquired advertising image is transmitted from the advertising management server 500 to the advertising provider server 100 via a communication interface, and from the receiving advertising provider server 100, it is further transmitted to the printer 200 for printing. Alternatively, the advertising provider server 100 may acquire the advertising image from the advertising management server 500, or the advertising management server 500 may acquire the advertising image from another external server and transmit it to the advertising provider server 100. 【0030】 <Printer Management Server> The printer management server 600 acts as a relay between the advertising server 100 and the printer 200. Printers 200 can use various communication and printing protocols, and these vary depending on the printer manufacturer. By having the printer management server 600 act as an intermediary between the advertising server 100 and the printer 200, the complexity of the advertising server 100 can be reduced. The printer management server 600 may be set up for each printer manufacturer to manage their own printers and related printers 200. Furthermore, the existence of the printer management server 600 is not mandatory, and the advertising server 100 may communicate directly with the printer 200. The printer management server 600 may also act as a relay between the advertising server 100 and the user terminal 300 corresponding to the printer 200. 【0031】 The details of the processing of the advertising print effectiveness collection system 1 of this embodiment will be explained below with reference to Figures 6 and 7. Figures 6 and 7 are sequence flows representing the control performed through the cooperation of the advertising provision server 100, printer 200, user terminal 300, advertiser terminal 400, advertising management server 500, and printer management server 600. 【0032】Figure 6 is a sequence diagram showing the process until the advertisement is printed. First, a registration request is sent from the advertiser terminal 400 to the advertisement provision server 100 via process A01. This registration request includes, for example, advertiser information. Advertiser information includes, for example, the name of the individual or company that is the advertiser, the IP address of the advertiser terminal 400 owned by the advertiser, the URL of the inquiry page regarding the advertiser's products or services, and the URL of the site where the advertiser's products or services can be purchased. The registration request is made in advance each time the advertiser places an advertisement. The URL of the inquiry page regarding the advertiser's products or services and the URL of the site where the advertiser's products or services can be changed to URLs appropriate to the advertisement each time an advertisement is placed. 【0033】 Next, the advertising server 100, upon receiving the registration request, generates identification information 139 in process A05, associates it with advertiser information, and registers it in the advertiser management DB 131. The advertising server 100 registers the identification information 139, the URL of the inquiry page for the advertiser's products or services, and the URL of the purchase site for the advertiser's products or services in the advertising management DB 131a, as these are generated for each advertisement. Then, in process A08, the advertising server 100 sends a registration completion message to the advertiser terminal 400. This registration completion message includes the identification information 139 generated in process A05. The controller 110 that executes processes A05 and A08 is an example of an identification information issuing unit. 【0034】 An advertiser who has obtained identification information 139 will place an advertisement. Specifically, in process A10, the advertisement is placed from the advertiser terminal 400 to the advertisement management server 500. In this advertisement placement, the advertisement image and the identification information 139 obtained in process A08 are transmitted from the advertiser terminal 400 to the advertisement management server 500. Upon receiving the advertisement, the advertisement management server 500 becomes able to receive bids for the placed advertisement. 【0035】Next, the printer management server 600 executes process A15 when the conditions for the managed printer 200 to print an advertisement are met. In process A15, an advertisement request is sent from the printer management server 600 to the advertisement provider server 100. The advertisement request includes user identification information of the user of the printer 200 that will print the advertisement. Upon receiving the advertisement request, the advertisement provider server 100 sends a bid request to the advertisement management server 500 in process A20. The bid request includes the minimum bid price. The bid request may also include user attribute information such as the user's age, gender, address, place of origin, and favorite genre. This user attribute information may be included in the advertisement request received from the printer management server 600 in process A15, and the advertisement provider server 100 may obtain it from that advertisement request. 【0036】 Upon receiving a bid request, the advertising management server 500, in process A25, executes an auction for an advertisement suitable for the bid request and sends the bid results to the advertising provider server 100. The bid results include the bid price, the URL of the advertisement image, and identification information 139. Upon receiving the bid results, the advertising provider server 100 can manage the following behavioral history if the identification information included in the received bid results matches the identification information 139 registered in the advertiser management DB 131. The following explanation is given assuming that the identification information included in the bid results matches the identification information 139 registered in the advertiser management DB 131. 【0037】 If the received bid results meet the winning conditions, the ad provider server 100 determines that the ad targeted by the bid results (the ad corresponding to the ad image URL) is the winning ad. Winning conditions include, for example, having the highest bid price. Alternatively, the conditions may include meeting the predetermined conditions requested in the bid request. Once the ad provider server 100 has determined the winning ad, it sends a "hold notification" to the ad management server 500 in process A30. It is a "hold notification" because printing has not yet been completed and the ad has not yet reached the user. On the other hand, for ads that were not won, a "defeat notification" is sent to the ad management server 500. 【0038】Next, in process A40, the ad provider server 100 accesses the ad image URL included in the bidding results of the successful ad and obtains the ad image. The controller 110 that executes processes A25 and A40 is an example of an ad acquisition unit. Then, in process A50, the ad provider server 100 generates print data based on the ad image. At this time, the ad provider server 100 generates a unique two-dimensional code, attaches an image of the generated unique two-dimensional code to the ad image, and then generates the print data. The unique two-dimensional code contains information that can identify the user identification information included in the ad request and the identification information 139 included in the bidding results of the successful ad. 【0039】 For example, a unique two-dimensional code is information obtained by adding user identification information and identification information 139 as queries to a predetermined URL of the advertising server 100. Alternatively, it may be simply information combining user identification information and identification information 139, rather than a URL. Or, it may be a unique serial number associated with user identification information and identification information 139. 【0040】 Before sending the generated print data to the printer 200 in process A50, the advertising server 100 registers, for example, the print job number, identification information 139, user identification information, unique two-dimensional code information, the original advertisement image or a URL to obtain the original advertisement image, print conditions, and print deadline in the print job management DB 132. 【0041】 The advertising server 100 sends print data to the printer management server 600 in process A56, and the printer management server 600 sends the received print data to the printer 200 in process A57. The controller 110 that executes process A56 is an example of an advertising print instruction unit. The printer 200 that receives the print data executes the printing of an advertising image with a two-dimensional code image of the relay URL attached, based on the received print data, in process A60. The printer 200 that executes process A60 is an example of an advertising print unit. 【0042】When the printing is completed, the printer 200 transmits a print completion notification including the identification information 139 to the printer management server 600 in process A66. Then, the printer management server 600 transmits the print completion notification including the received identification information 139 to the advertisement providing server 100. 【0043】 Next, in process A70, the advertisement providing server 100 transmits a "print completion" notification to the advertisement management server 500. The "print completion" notification indicates that the advertisement has reached the user and means that the hold status of the "hold notification" in process A30 has been cancelled. Also, the "print completion" notification is a charge request for the price at which the printed advertisement was won. 【0044】 Then, along with the above-mentioned print completion, the advertisement providing server 100 saves the print completion date and time in the print job management DB 132 in association with the identification information 139. Furthermore, the advertisement providing server 100 secures a storage area in the action history DB 133 so that the user's action history regarding the advertisement for which printing has been completed can be stored. The storage area is secured in association with the identification information 139 and the user identification information indicating the user of the printer 200. 【0045】 FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a process for collecting the user's action history in response to the printing of an advertisement. 【0046】 First, in process B01, the user uses the application possessed by the user terminal 300 to read the two-dimensional code attached to the printed advertisement image. The user terminal 300 that has read the two-dimensional code accesses the web page of a predetermined URL possessed by the advertisement providing server 100 in process B02. This is because the two-dimensional code is information to which unique information (for example, user identification information and identification information 139) is added as a query to the predetermined URL of the advertisement providing server 100. On the other hand, the two-dimensional code may not be URL information. For example, the application possessed by the user terminal 300 may add the unique information of the two-dimensional code as a query and access the predetermined URL possessed by the advertisement providing server 100. 【0047】The advertisement providing server 100 accessed by the user terminal 300 extracts unique information included in the query of a predetermined URL in process B05. As a response to process B02, the advertisement providing server 100 transmits page information of the action selection screen to the user terminal 300 in process B07. Thereby, an action selection screen is displayed on the display unit 340 of the user terminal 300. 【0048】 FIG. 8(a) shows an example of the action selection screen. The action selection screen has an action selection column 11, a scroll bar 12, and an OK button 13. In process B10, the user terminal 300 accepts the selection of an option in the action selection column 11. In the action selection screen of FIG. 8(a), any one of the actions “read the advertisement”, “inquire about the product”, and “purchase the product” is selected. Here, “purchase the product” is a selection for accessing the product purchase page. 【0049】 When an action is selected, the user terminal 300 transmits the selection result (the selected action) to the advertisement providing server 100 in process B15. The advertisement providing server 100 that has received the selection result acquires the action that is the selection result in the selected process B20, and stores the action that is the selection result in the storage area secured in the aforementioned action history DB 133. At this time, referring to the print job management DB 132, it is stored in the action history DB 133 in association with the action in which the user identification information and the identification information 139 corresponding to the unique information extracted in process B05 are stored. The controller 110 that executes process B20 is an example of an action history storage unit. 【0050】Next, in process B22, the ad provider server 100 sends page information corresponding to the selected action to the user terminal 300. Specifically, if "I read the ad" is selected in process B10, page information is sent that displays, for example, a thank you message for reading the ad. If "Inquire about a product" is selected, page information is sent that redirects to a URL that displays, for example, the inquiry screen shown in Figure 8(b) managed by the advertiser. This URL is the URL of the inquiry page for the advertiser's products and services, which is stored in the ad management DB 131 in association with the identification information 139. As a result, the inquiry screen is displayed on the user terminal 300. The inquiry screen includes an inquiry input field 21 and an OK button 23, and the user makes an inquiry by entering the inquiry content in the inquiry input field 21 and operating the OK button 23. If "Purchase a product" is selected, page information is sent that redirects to a URL that displays, for example, the product purchase screen shown in Figure 8(c) managed by the advertiser. This URL is the URL of the advertiser's product or service purchase site, which is stored in the advertising management DB 131 in association with the identification information 139. As a result, the product purchase screen is displayed on the user terminal 300. The product purchase screen has a product selection field 31, a scroll bar 32, and an OK button 33, allowing the user to purchase the desired product. 【0051】 Processes A15 to A70 cause advertisements to be printed on many printers 200, processes B01 to B20 collect information on the behavioral history of many users on the advertisement provision server 100, and a large amount of behavioral history information is accumulated in the behavioral history DB 133. 【0052】 If an advertiser wishes to obtain information on the effectiveness of an advertisement they have placed, in process B30, the advertiser terminal 400 sends a request for effectiveness information to the advertisement provision server 100. The request for effectiveness information includes identification information 139. The request for effectiveness information may also include information on the format of the effectiveness information. 【0053】Upon receiving a request for effectiveness information, the advertising server 100 generates advertising effectiveness notification data in process B35. The advertising effectiveness notification data is generated by performing statistical processing based on advertising information stored in the advertising management DB 131a associated with identification information 139, the history of actions (date and time of actions) stored in the action history DB 133 associated with both user identification information and identification information 139, and user information stored in the user information DB 134 associated with user identification information. The controller 110 that executes process B35 is an example of an effectiveness display data generation unit. 【0054】 In process B40, the advertising server 100 sends the generated advertising effectiveness notification data to the advertiser terminal 400. Upon receiving the advertising effectiveness notification data, the advertiser terminal 400 displays a display based on the received advertising effectiveness notification data on the display unit 440 in process B45. Figures 10(a) and 10(b) show examples of the advertising effectiveness display shown on the display unit 440. Figure 10(a) is an example of the advertising effectiveness display content in the format of "distribution of customer behavior towards printed advertisements by customer preference genre". Figure 10(b) is an example of the advertising effectiveness display content in the format of "distribution of customer behavior towards printed advertisements by age". The advertiser terminal 400 executing process B45 is an example of an advertising effectiveness display unit. 【0055】 The advertising server 100 can notify advertisers of the effectiveness of their advertisements in many formats, in addition to the notification examples shown in Figures 10(a) and 10(b). This allows advertisers to accurately obtain the effects of printing their advertisements, which can contribute to their sales activities. 【0056】<Effects of the Embodiment> As described above, in this embodiment, the advertising server 100 is equipped with a user information DB 134 that manages user information of users using the printer using user identification information. The advertising server 100 issues identification information 139 to advertisers in processes A05 and A08, and acquires the original advertising image in processes A25 and A40. In process A50, the advertising server 100 generates print data for the advertising image by adding a two-dimensional code, which is unique information, to the original image, and the printer 200 executes printing with the print data in process A60. The advertising server 100 then acquires the unique information and user activity history information in processes B05 and B20. In process B20, the advertising server 100 stores the acquired user activity history information in the activity history DB 133, associating it with the identification information 139 corresponding to the unique information and user identification information. 【0057】 As a result, for advertisements delivered and printed to a specific large number of users, it is possible to collect information on the effectiveness of each advertisement based on user information, and to understand the effectiveness of the printed advertisements in detail. 【0058】 <Modifications> In the above, each component of the advertising print effectiveness collection system 1 shown in Figure 1 is not necessarily required. For example, the advertising provider server 100 may directly send and receive data with the printer 200, in which case the printer management server 600 does not need to be included in the advertising print effectiveness collection system 1. Alternatively, for example, the advertising provider server 100 may directly acquire advertising images from the advertiser server based on a contract at a predetermined price. In that case, the advertising management server 500 does not need to be included in the advertising print effectiveness collection system 1. 【0059】 Furthermore, although the advertising server 100 has been described as a single device in the above explanation, multiple devices may work together to perform the function of the advertising server 100. The functionality of the advertising server 100 may also be implemented in, for example, a printer 200, a user terminal 300, an advertiser terminal 400, or other devices. 【0060】Furthermore, in any flowchart or sequence diagram disclosed in the embodiments, the execution order of any multiple processes in any multiple steps can be arbitrarily changed or executed in parallel, as long as no inconsistencies arise in the processing content. 【0061】 100 Ad delivery server 131 Advertiser management DB 133 Behavioral history DB 134 User information DB 139 Identification information 200 Printer 300 User terminal 400 Advertiser terminal 500 Ad management server 600 Printer management server
Claims
1. An advertising print effectiveness collection system comprising: a user information management unit that manages user information of users using a printer using user identification information; an identification information issuing unit that issues identification information; an advertising acquisition unit that acquires original advertising images submitted by advertisers and corresponding to the identification information issued by the identification information issuing unit; an advertising printing unit that prints advertising images obtained by the advertising acquisition unit with an image indicating unique information attached to the original advertising image, using the printer of the target user; an activity history acquisition unit that acquires activity history information of the target user and the unique information in response to the printing of the advertising image; and an activity history storage unit that stores the activity history information of the target user acquired by the activity history acquisition unit, associating it with the identification information and the user identification information based on the unique information.
2. An advertising print effectiveness collection system according to claim 1, wherein the unique information is attached as a query to a predetermined URL, and the behavioral history acquisition unit acquires the unique information when the predetermined URL is accessed.
3. An advertising print effectiveness collection system according to claim 2, wherein the image representing the unique information is a two-dimensional code, and the behavioral history acquisition unit acquires the unique information when the predetermined URL is accessed by reading the two-dimensional code with a device.
4. An advertising print effectiveness collection system according to claim 1, characterized in that the unique information includes the identification information and the user identification information.
5. An advertising print effectiveness collection system according to claim 1, characterized in that the unique information is non-repeating information generated in association with the identification information and the user identification information.
6. An advertising print effectiveness collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the advertising acquisition unit acquires the original advertising image and the identification information corresponding to the original advertising image, which have been submitted to the advertising management server by the advertiser, by winning an auction.
7. An advertising print effectiveness collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the user information includes at least one piece of information for each user from age, gender, place of origin, and preferred genre.
8. An advertising print effectiveness collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: an effectiveness display data generation unit that generates effectiveness display data using the behavior history information and user information stored in the behavior history storage unit; and an advertising effectiveness display unit that displays advertising effectiveness based on the effectiveness display data generated by the effectiveness display data generation unit.
9. An advertising print effectiveness collection device comprising: a user information management unit that manages user information of users using a printer using user identification information; an identification information issuing unit that issues identification information; an advertising acquisition unit that acquires a source advertising image submitted by an advertiser and corresponding to the identification information issued by the identification information issuing unit; an advertising print instruction unit that causes the target user to print an advertising image, which has an image indicating unique information added to the source advertising image acquired by the advertising acquisition unit, using the printer of the target user; an activity history acquisition unit that acquires information on the target user's activity history and the unique information in response to the printing of the advertising image; and an activity history storage unit that stores the information on the target user's activity history acquired by the activity history acquisition unit, associating it with the identification information and the user identification information based on the unique information.