Patent Application
20140379494
The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-129514 filed in Japan on Jun. 20, 2013.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auction apparatus and an auction method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A distribution service has been known which distributes various kinds of content to a terminal apparatus of the user through the Internet. As an example of the distribution service, a moving image distribution service has been known which distributes moving image content and advertising content which is displayed in a display area of the moving image content.
In regard to the moving image distribution service, a technique which is called a program auction has been proposed. Specifically, in the program auction, after a program production company makes a presentation on a program, sponsors bid for a given amount of investment money. Then, only the sponsor who bids against the other sponsors has a broadcast right to a CM space for broadcasting hours. This program auction is used to make a definite promise to ensure funds beforehand.
However, in the related art, the content of the program is likely to be illegally used. Specifically, in the program auction, the program production company makes a presentation on the program and an auction is held. Therefore, in the program auction, an unauthorized person pretends to be a sponsor and can acquire the content of the program. Therefore, the content of the program is likely to be illegally used.
According to one aspect of an embodiment, an auction apparatus includes a communication unit configured to communicate with a communication network; and a providing unit configured to present a portion of plan information indicating a plan of content which is created by a content creator through the communication network, configured to present the other plan information when a request is received from an advertiser who has browsed the portion of the plan information, and configured to provide an auction service in which a bid target is a right to display an advertisement in an advertising space set to the content.
The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical and industrial significance of this invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Hereinafter, an auction apparatus, an auction method, and an auction program according to exemplary embodiments (hereinafter, referred to as “embodiments”) of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The auction apparatus, the auction method, and the auction program according to the invention are not limited by the embodiments. In the following embodiments, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will not be repeated.
First, an example of an auction process according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to
As illustrated in the upper part of
In the example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
When the plan information and the advertising space information are received, the auction apparatus 100 provides an auction service to the advertiser who agrees with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of the content-plan. Specifically, the auction apparatus 100 provides an auction service in which a bid target, that is an item to be auctioned off, is a right to display advertisements in the advertising space of the moving image. Specifically, in an initial stage, the auction apparatus 100 presents only a portion of the plan information to the advertiser, with bidding being unavailable. In the example illustrated in the upper part of
Then, when the advertiser who has browsed a portion of the plan information requests the detailed information of the content-plan (Step S12), the auction apparatus 100 inquires the advertiser whether to agree with the police of prohibiting the illegal use of content-plan through, for example, a web page (Step S13). Then, the auction apparatus 100 permits the advertiser who has agreed with the police of prohibiting the illegal use of the content-plan to bid for the bid target to be auctioned off (Step S14).
Then, as illustrated in the lower part of
Then, the auction apparatus 100 receives bids from the advertisers in each auction (Step S15). Then, the auction apparatus 100 determines the advertiser who bids the highest price for the period for which the auction is being held to be a winning bidder and receives the winning bid amount from the winning bidder (Step S16). Then, the auction apparatus 100 sends the winning bid amount received from the winning bidder to the content creator (Step S17). The subsequent process will be described in detail below. The auction apparatus 100 generates a moving image to be distributed by incorporating advertising data received from the winning bidder into the moving image created by the content creator.
As such, the auction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment holds the auction in the stage in which the content creator plans to create a moving image and sends the winning bid amount to the content creator. Therefore, the auction apparatus 100 enables the content creator who plans to create content to raise funds for creation. For example, the auction apparatus 100 enables the content creator who is short of funds to raise funds for creation. Therefore, the auction apparatus 100 can support the creation of content by the content creator.
In addition, the auction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment presents only a portion of the plan information and provides the auction service in which bidding is unavailable in the initial stage. Then, the auction apparatus 100 presents all plan information to the advertiser who has agreed with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of the content-plan and provides the advertiser the auction service in which bidding is available. In this way, the auction apparatus 100 presents all plan information only to the advertiser who has agreed with the policy. Therefore, even when the auction service for the content which is planned to be created, it is possible to prevent the illegal use of the content-plan.
Next, the structure of the auction system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to
The creator terminal 10 is an information processing apparatus which is used by the content creator. For example, the creator terminal 10 is operated by the content creator to transmit the plan information, the advertising space information, or content, such as a moving image created by the content creator, to the auction apparatus 100. In the following description, in some cases, the creator terminal 10 is referred to as a content creator. That is, in the following description, the content creator may be replaced with the creator terminal 10.
In some cases, the content creator requests an agent to transmit the plan information. In this case, the agent uses the auction service provided by the auction apparatus 100. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the term “content creator” includes the agent in addition to the content creator and the term “creator terminal” includes an agent terminal used by the agent in addition to the advertiser terminal.
The advertiser terminals 201 to 20n are information processing apparatuses used by the advertisers. For example, the advertiser terminals 201 to 20n are operated by the advertisers to acquire a web page (hereinafter, in some cases, referred to as an “auction page”) related to the auction service from the auction apparatus 100 or to transmit bid information or advertising data to the auction apparatus 100. In the following description, in some cases, when it is not necessary to distinguish the advertiser terminals 201 to 20n, the advertiser terminals 201 to 20n are generically referred to as an “advertiser terminal 20”. In addition, in the following description, in some cases, the advertiser terminal 20 is referred to as an advertiser, a bidder, or a winning bidder. That is, in the following description, the advertiser, the bidder, or the winning bidder may be replaced with the advertiser terminal 20.
In some cases, the advertiser requests the agent to perform a bid operation. In this case, the agent uses the auction service provided by the auction apparatus 100. In the following description, it is assumed that the term “advertiser” includes the agent in addition to the advertiser and the term “advertiser terminal” includes the agent terminal used by the agent in addition to the advertiser terminal.
The distribution server 30 is, for example, a web server. The distribution server 30 receives distribution target content from the auction apparatus 100. In addition, the distribution server 30 distributes the content received from the auction apparatus 100 in response to requests from the user terminals 401 to 40m.
The user terminals 401 to 40m are information processing apparatuses used by the users who browse content. For example, the user terminals 401 to 40m are operated by the users to acquire content, such as a moving image, from the distribution server 30 and to display the acquired content on a display device (for example, a liquid crystal display). In the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish the user terminals 401 to 40m, the user terminals 401 to 40m are generically referred to as a “user terminal 40”. In the following description, in some cases, the user terminal 40 is referred to as a user or a viewer. That is, in the following description, the user or the viewer may be replaced with the user terminal 40.
The auction apparatus 100 is, for example, a web server. As described with reference to
The creator terminal 10, the advertiser terminal 20, or the user terminal 40 is implemented by, for example, a desktop personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, a tablet terminal, a mobile telephone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA).
Next, the structure of the auction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to
The communication unit 110 is implemented by, for example, a network interface card (NIC). The communication unit 110 is connected to the communication network 50 wirelessly or by wire. The communication unit 110 transmits and receives information to and from the creator terminal 10, the advertiser terminal 20, or the distribution server 30 through the communication network 50.
The auction storage unit 121 is implemented by a semiconductor memory element, such as random access memory (RAM) or flash memory, or a storage device, such as a hard disk or an optical disk. The auction storage unit 121 according to the first embodiment stores various kinds of information used in the auction service.
The “plan ID” indicates identification information for identifying content which is planned to be created by the content creator. The “content-plan” indicates, for example, skeleton, details or the like of the content. The “open item” indicates an item which is permitted to be opened to the public without any conditions in the content-plan. The “auction ID” indicates identification information for identifying the auction related to each advertising space. In other words, the “auction ID” indicates identification information for identifying the advertising space. The “advertising space information” indicates information related to the advertising space incorporated into content. The “auction period” indicates the period for which the auction is held. The “current price” indicates the highest bid price of the auction at the present time. The “bidder ID” indicates identification information for identifying the bidder (that is, the advertiser) who bids the highest price at the present time. The “end date and time” indicates the date and time when the auction ends.
That is,
The advertiser information storage unit 122 is implemented by a semiconductor memory element, such as RAM or flash memory, or a storage device, such as a hard disk or an optical disk. The advertiser information storage unit 122 according to the first embodiment stores information about the advertiser who is permitted to use the auction service.
For example, a central processing unit (CPU) or a micro processing unit (MPU) executes various programs (an example of an auction program) stored in a storage device of the auction apparatus 100, using the RAM as a work area, to implement the functions of the control unit 130. In addition, the control unit 130 is implemented by an integrated circuit, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA).
As illustrated in
The plan receiving unit 131 receives the plan information and the advertising space information from the content creator who plans to create content. Specifically, the plan receiving unit 131 receives, from the content creator, the plan information indicating the content-plan and the advertising space information about the advertising space which is set to the content by the content creator. Then, when the plan information and the advertising space information are received, the plan receiving unit 131 outputs a new plan ID and also outputs an auction ID for each advertising space set to the content. Then, the plan receiving unit 131 stores the plan information in the “content-plan” and the “open item” of the auction storage unit 121 so as to be associated with the new plan ID. In addition, the plan receiving unit 131 stores the auction ID for each advertising space in the auction storage unit 121 so as to be associated with the plan ID and stores the advertising space information in the “advertising space information” of the auction storage unit 121 so as to be associated with each auction ID. In this case, the plan receiving unit 131 may store the creator ID corresponding to the content creator, who is a transmission source of the plan information and the advertising space information, in the auction storage unit 121. The creator ID is transmitted together with, for example, the plan information and the advertising space information by the content creator. Alternatively, when a login is required to use various types of services provided by the auction apparatus 100, the login ID of the content creator may be used as the creator ID.
The plan receiving unit 131 analyzes, for example, the plan information to extract information corresponding to items, such as the type, director, and actors of content, or information about whether each item can be opened to the public. For example, when the plan information is described by a markup language such as an extensible markup language (XML), the plan receiving unit 131 can easily extract the information corresponding to each item or the information about whether each item can be opened to the public from the plan information. When the format of the plan information is predetermined, the plan receiving unit 131 can easily extract various kinds of information from the plan information on the basis of the predetermined format. Similarly, when the advertising space information is described by the markup language or when the format of the advertising space information is predetermined, the plan receiving unit 131 can easily extract various kinds of information from the advertising space information.
The plan receiving unit 131 may receive the advertising space information including the auction period set by the content creator. In this case, the plan receiving unit 131 stores the auction period included in the advertising space information in the auction storage unit 121. However, the invention is not limited to this example, but the plan receiving unit 131 may store a predetermined auction period in the auction storage unit 121. For example, the plan receiving unit 131 may use, as the auction period, the period until a predetermined number of days elapse from the date and time when the plan information and the advertising space information are received.
The plan receiving unit 131 may provide an input site for inputting the plan information or the advertising space information to the content creator. For example, the plan receiving unit 131 provides an input site for inputting the type of content or the content-plan. In this case, the plan receiving unit 131 divides the input site into an input form for inputting the content-plan which may be presented to the advertiser without any conditions and an input form for inputting the content-plan which may be presented only to the advertiser who has agreed with the policy. In addition, for example, the plan receiving unit 131 provides an input site for inputting a temporal position (hereinafter, in some cases, referred to as a reproduction position) where the advertising space is reproduced, the reproduction time of the advertising space, or the display size of the advertising space. In this case, the plan receiving unit 131 receives various kinds of information input to the input site as the plan information and the advertising space information.
The auction providing unit 132 presents the plan information received by the plan receiving unit 131 and provides the auction service which bids for a right to display advertisements in the content. Specifically, the auction providing unit 132 presents a portion of the plan information received by the plan receiving unit 131, presents the other plan information when a request is received from the advertiser who has browsed a portion of the plan information, and provides the auction service.
Specifically, when an auction page acquisition request is received from the advertiser terminal 20 of the advertiser, the auction providing unit 132 determines whether the advertiser ID of the advertiser has been stored in the advertiser information storage unit 122. For example, the advertiser terminal 20 transmits the advertiser ID and the acquisition request. Alternatively, when a login is required to use various types of services provided by the auction apparatus 100, the login ID of the advertiser may be used as the advertiser ID.
Then, when the advertiser ID has not been stored in the advertiser information storage unit 122, the auction providing unit 132 determines that the auction page acquisition request has been received from the advertiser who has not agreed with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of the content. In this case, the auction providing unit 132 extracts the plan information corresponding to the open item from the content-plan stored in the auction storage unit 121 and provides an auction page having the extracted plan information inserted thereinto to the advertiser terminal 20. In this case, the auction providing unit 132 provides the auction page into which the information about the advertising space is also inserted, on the basis of the advertising space information stored in the auction storage unit 121. However, the auction providing unit 132 provides the auction page in which bidding is unavailable at this point of time.
On the other hand, when the advertiser ID of the advertiser who has transmitted the acquisition request has been stored in the advertiser information storage unit 122, the auction providing unit 132 determines that the auction page acquisition request has been received from the advertiser who agrees with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of the content. In this case, the auction providing unit 132 provides the auction page into which the content-plan stored in the auction storage unit 121 is inserted to the advertiser terminal 20. At that time, the auction providing unit 132 provides the auction page which includes information about the advertising space and in which bidding is available. Then, the auction providing unit 132 receives bid information including a bid price from the advertiser terminal 20 through the auction page. In this case, the auction providing unit 132 stores the bid price included in the bid information in the auction storage unit 121 so as to be associated with an auction ID indicating the auction corresponding to a bid target. The auction providing unit 132 also stores the advertiser ID corresponding to the bidder, which is a transmission source of the bid information, in the bidder ID of the auction storage unit 121.
An example of the process performed by the auction providing unit 132 will be described. For example, the auction providing unit 132 transmits a list of the content-plan stored in the auction storage unit 121 to the advertiser terminal 20. The auction providing unit 132 receives an acquisition request including the plan ID which corresponds to the content-plan selected from the transmitted list from the advertiser terminal 20. In this case, the auction providing unit 132 acquires various kinds of information corresponding to the plan ID in the acquisition request from the auction storage unit 121. In the example illustrated in
As in the example illustrated in
As such, when the advertising space information includes information about a plurality of advertising spaces, the auction providing unit 132 inserts all advertising space information into the auction page W10 and individually holds the auctions related to each advertising space.
In the example illustrated in
As in the example illustrated in
Although not illustrated in the drawings, when the bid button displayed in the bid display field R12 of the auction page W20 is pressed, the auction providing unit 132 provides a bid page for inputting the bid price to the advertiser terminal 20. Then, the auction providing unit 132 receives bid information including the bid price from the advertiser terminal 20 through the bid page.
The auction page is not limited to those illustrated in
The winning bid amount management unit 133 manages the winning bid amount received from the winning bidder who has successfully bid the right to display advertisements. Specifically, even when the winning bid amount is received from the winning bidder, the winning bid amount management unit 133 instantly stores the entire winning bid amount, without sending the winning bid amount to the content creator. Whenever the content creator charges for the creation of content, the winning bid amount management unit 133 sends the amount of money corresponding to the charge from the stored reserve price to the content creator. For example, the winning bid amount management unit 133 receives, from the creator terminal 10, charge data, such as clothing expenses, filming expenses, or food expenses which have been actually used to create content, or charge data, such as clothing expenses, filming expenses, or food expenses which will be used to create content immediately. Then, the winning bid amount management unit 133 sends the amount of money corresponding to the received charge data to the content creator. The winning bid amount management unit 133 manages the winning bid amount using the current price (that is, the highest bid price) stored in the auction storage unit 121.
As such, the winning bid amount management unit 133 does not instantly send the winning bid amount received from the winning bidder to the content creator, but gradually sends the winning bid amount in response to a request from the content creator. Therefore, the winning bid amount management unit 133 can prevent the winning bid amount from being sent to the content creator who does not create the content. As a result, the winning bid amount management unit 133 can prevent the abuse of the auction service provided by the auction apparatus 100.
When the total amount of money charged by the content creator is less than the winning bid amount, the winning bid amount managed by the winning bid amount management unit 133 is left. In this case, the winning bid amount management unit 133 may send the surplus money to the content creator after the content creator creates content. Therefore, the winning bid amount management unit 133 pays the content creator for the creation of the content, which makes it possible to improve the creative will of the content creator.
The content receiving unit 134 receives the content corresponding to the plan information from the content creator. For example, when the content creator which has transmitted the plan information completes content, the content receiving unit 134 receives the completed content. In addition, the content receiving unit 134 receives advertising data which is incorporated into the advertising space from the winning bidder who has successfully bid for the right to display advertisements.
The winning bidder has the right to display the advertisements. However, the winning bidder may transfer the right to other advertisers. In this case, the content receiving unit 134 receives advertising data from the advertiser who has the right to display advertisements, in addition to the winning bidder. It is assumed that the term ‘winning bidder’ includes the advertiser to which the right to display advertisements is transferred.
The generating unit 135 combines the content and the advertising data received from the content receiving unit 134 to generate composite content. Specifically, the generating unit 135 incorporates advertising data corresponding to the advertiser who has the right to display advertisements in the advertising space which is set to the content created by the content creator into the advertising space on the basis of the advertising space information, thereby generating the composite content.
The transmitting unit 136 transmits the composite content generated by the generating unit 135 to the distribution server 30. Then, the distribution server 30 distributes the composite content having the advertising data incorporated thereinto to the user terminal 40 in response to a request from the user terminal 40.
Next, the procedure of the auction process performed by the auction system 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
Then, when an auction page acquisition request is received from the advertiser terminal 20 (Step S102), the auction apparatus 100 provides the auction page into which some of the content-plan are inserted to the advertiser terminal 20 (Step S103). Then, the auction apparatus 100 inquires the advertiser whether to agree with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of content (S104). Here, it is assumed that the advertiser agrees with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of content. In this case, the auction apparatus 100 stores the advertiser ID of the advertiser in the advertiser information storage unit 122 to permit the advertiser to bid in the auction (Step S105).
Then, when the advertiser who has agreed with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of content accesses the auction apparatus 100, the auction apparatus 100 provides the auction page into which all of the content-plan are inserted to the advertiser terminal 20 (Step S106). Then, the auction apparatus 100 receives the bid information including the bid price from the advertiser terminal 20 through the auction page (Step S107). In this way, the auction apparatus 100 receives the bid information from a plurality of advertiser terminals 20.
Then, the auction apparatus. 100 determines the winning bidder on the basis of the bid information received from the advertiser terminals 20 (Step S108). For example, the auction apparatus 100 determines the advertiser who bids the highest price at the date and time when the auction has ended to be the winning bidder. Then, the auction apparatus 100 manages the winning bid amount received from the winning bidder. Then, when the content creator charges for the cost of production, the auction apparatus 100 subtracts the cost from the winning bid amount and sends the cost to the content creator.
The winning bidder transmits advertising data to the auction apparatus 100 using the advertiser terminal 20 (Step S109). When the content has been created, the content creator transmits the content to the auction apparatus 100 using the creator terminal 10 (Step S110).
The auction apparatus 100 incorporates the advertising data received from the advertiser into the content received from the content creator to generate composite content and transmits the generated composite content to the distribution server 30 (Step S111).
The first embodiment is not limited to the above-mentioned structure, but various other structures can be configured. Next, the modifications of the first embodiment will be described.
5-1. Selection by Content Creator
In the first embodiment, the advertiser can bid in the auction at the time when the advertiser agrees with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of content. However, the auction apparatus 100 may inquire the content creator whether bidding is available.
This will be described with reference to
Then, the content creator determines whether to open all of the content-plan to the advertiser on the basis of the advertiser information and transmits the determination result to the auction apparatus, 100 (Step S23). When the content creator determines to open all of the content-plan to the advertiser, the auction apparatus 100 transmits the policy page to the advertiser. When the advertiser agrees with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of the content-plan (Step S24), the auction apparatus 100 permits the advertiser to bid in the auction (Step S25). On the other hand, when the content creator does not permit to open all of the content-plan to the advertiser, the auction apparatus 100 does not transmit the policy page to the advertiser and does not permit the advertiser to bid in the auction.
As such, since the auction apparatus 100 opens all of the content-plan only to the advertiser which is permitted by the content creator. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility of the content-plan being illegally used. In addition, the content creator can allow only the desired advertiser to participate in the auction. Therefore, it is possible to incorporate advertisements corresponding to the content-plan which is planned to be created into the content. For example, when moving image content related to a car is created, the content creator allows only the advertiser related to a car business to participate in the auction. Therefore, it is possible to incorporate advertisements corresponding to moving image content into the content and thus give unity to the moving image content.
In Step S23 of
5-2. Intermediation Between Content Creator and Advertiser
In the first embodiment, the auction apparatus 100 may be configured such that the advertiser designate the desired genre of content and the content creator selects the advertiser who can participate in the auction on the basis of the desired genre.
This will be described with reference to
Then, the content creator selects one or more advertisers who can participate in the auction on the basis of the list of the correspondence and transmits the selection result to the auction apparatus 100 (Step S33). For example, the content creator selects the advertiser whose desired genre corresponds to the content-plan which is planned to be created. Then, when the advertiser selected by the content creator accesses the auction apparatus 100, the auction apparatus 100 provides the auction page W10 illustrated in
When the advertiser which is not selected by the content creator accesses the auction apparatus 100, the auction apparatus 100 does not open the plan information and notifies the advertiser that the advertiser cannot participate in the auction.
As such, the auction apparatus 100 intermediates between the content creator and the advertisers and connects the content creator and the advertiser who agree with their request. Therefore, the auction apparatus 100 can improve the degree of satisfaction of both the content creator and the advertiser. In Step S32, the auction apparatus 100 may transmit a list of the advertisers corresponding to the genre of the content which is planned to be created by the content creator. In this case, the auction apparatus 100 can connect the content creator and the advertiser who agree with their request.
5-3. Subject Determining Items to be Opened
In the first embodiment, the plan information in which the items to be opened are set is received from the content creator. That is, in the first embodiment, the content creator sets the items to be opened. However, the invention is not limited thereto, but the auction apparatus 100 may determine the items to be opened. For example, the plan receiving unit 131 provides the content creator the input site for inputting the plan information or the advertising space information, as described above. In this case, the plan receiving unit 131 allows the content creator to input various kinds of information for each item related to content, such as the type of content, a director, and actors. Then, the auction providing unit 132 may use a predetermined item (for example, the type or content and a director) among various kinds of information input to the input site as the item to be opened. In this case, the plan receiving unit 131 may insert the items to be opened into the input site.
5-4. Items to be Opened
In the first embodiment, a portion of the content-plan is not opened to the advertiser who does not agree with the policy. However, the auction providing unit 132 may not open information about the advertising space to the advertiser who does not agree with the policy. In this case, the auction providing unit 132 may not all information (for example, the number of advertising spaces and the reproduction position) about the advertising space or it may not open a portion of information (for example, the reproduction position of the advertising space) about the advertising space. The item to be opened in the information about the advertising space may be determined by the content creator or the auction apparatus 100.
In the first embodiment, the auction providing unit 132 may display closed information so as to be obscured by a mosaic. In this case, the auction providing unit 132 may constantly open an item name in the content-plan to the public. For example, in the example illustrated in
5-5. Gradual
In the first embodiment, the plan receiving unit 131 may gradually receive the plan information. For example, the plan receiving unit 131 may receive a first plan information item which can be opened to the advertisers without any conditions and then receive a second plan information item which can be opened only to the advertiser who has agreed with the policy. Then, the auction providing unit 132 opens the first plan information item to all of the advertisers and opens the second plan information item only to the advertiser who has agreed with the policy. Therefore, the content creator can transmit a brief version of the content-plan as the first plan information items to the auction apparatus 100 and then transmit a detailed version of the content-plan as the second plan information item to the auction apparatus 100. Therefore, the auction apparatus 100 can implement a practical auction for the content creator who plans to create content.
5-6. Notification of Holding of Auction
In the first embodiment, the date when each auction is held may not be set. That is, the content creator may set information, such as “not set”, to the auction period of the advertising space information. In this case, after the advertising space information in which “not set” is set to the auction period is received, the plan receiving unit 131 receives the advertising space information in which the detailed range of the date and time is set to the auction period at an arbitrary time. That is, the content creator may not set the auction period and may then set the detailed range of the date and time to the auction period. In this case, when the auction period is set, the auction providing unit 132 may notify the advertiser who has agreed with the policy (that is, the advertiser whose advertiser ID has been stored in the advertiser information storage unit 122) that the auction has been held.
5-7. Determination of Reliability
In the first embodiment, the auction apparatus 100 may store auction log information about the content creator or the advertiser who has used the auction service provided by the auction providing unit 132 in the past. For example, the auction apparatus 100 may store, as the auction log information, the creation result of content by the content creator, the money received by the advertiser, the evaluation of the content creator by the advertiser, or the evaluation of the advertiser by the content creator. The auction apparatus 100 may open the auction log information to the content creator or the advertiser. For example, the auction apparatus 100 may transmit the auction log information to the content creator, in addition to the list of the correspondence between the advertiser and the desired genre, in Step S32 of
5-8. Right to Bid
In the first embodiment, only the advertiser who has agreed with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of content can bid in the auction. However, the auction apparatus 100 may allow the advertiser who does not agreed with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of content to bid in the auction, with only a portion of the content-plan opened to the public. For example, when the advertiser who does not agreed with the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of content accesses the auction apparatus 100, the auction apparatus 100 may provide an auction page into which only a portion of the content of an advertisement is inserted and in which bidding is available. The auction apparatus 100 makes it easy for a large number of advertisers to participate in the auction and can increase the number of bidders.
5-9. Policy
In the first embodiment, the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of the content-plan is given as an example. However, the policy is not limited thereto. For example, the auction apparatus 100 may open all of the content-plan to the advertiser who has agreed with the policy of prohibiting the leakage of the content-plan, in addition to the policy of prohibiting the illegal use of the content-plan.
5-10. Auction Period
In the first embodiment, when a plurality of advertising spaces are set to one content item, the periods for which the auctions related to each advertising space are held are equal to each other. However, the auction providing unit 132 may provide an auction service in which an auction related to some advertising spaces among the plurality of advertising spaces and an auction related to the other advertising spaces are held at different start date and times. For example, when a plurality of advertising spaces are set to content, the auction providing unit 132 may allow the content creator to set the period for which each auction related to each advertising space is held. The auction providing unit 132 may hold the auction for the period which is set to each auction. In the first embodiment, a buyout price or a reserve price may be set to the auction related to each advertising space.
This will be described with reference to
The “auction period” indicates the period for which the auction related to each advertising space is held. The “buyout price” indicates a price at which a bid target (that is, the right to display advertisements in the advertising space) can be instantly knocked down. The “reserve price” indicates the minimum price at which a bid target can be knocked down. The “auction period”, the “buyout price”, and the “reserve price” are included in, for example, the advertising space information which is transmitted from the creator terminal 10 to the auction apparatus 100 and is set by the content creator.
That is,
In the example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
As such, the auction apparatus 100 may hold the auctions related to each advertising space which is set to one content item for different periods. Therefore, the auction apparatus 100 enables the advertiser to check the conditions of the item which has been knocked down at the auction related to some advertising spaces among a plurality of advertising spaces set to one content item and hold the auctions related to the other advertising spaces. For example, the advertiser refers to the winning bid price of the auction which has ended to check a change in the winning bid price. When the auctions are held at different periods, it is considered that last-minute bidding is likely to occur at an auction which is held late and the winning bid price is likely to rise. Therefore, the advertiser can place a bid in the auction which is held early to buy an item at a low price.
In the example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
5-11. Target Price
In the modification illustrated in
This will be described with reference to
When any one of a plurality of auctions which are held for different periods ends, the auction providing unit 132 determines whether the total of the winning bid prices in the auctions reaches the target price. For example, the auction providing unit 132 adds “the total of the winning bid prices in the auctions which have ended at the present time” and “the total of the reserve prices in the auctions which have not been held” and determines whether the addition result is less than the target price. When the addition result is less than the target price, the auction providing unit 132 raises the reserve price in the auctions which have not been held.
For example, in the auction storage unit 123 illustrated on the upper side of
As such, the auction apparatus 100 can adjust the reserve prices in the auctions which have not been held, depending on the winning bid prices in the auctions which have ended, to increase the possibility of the winning bid price reaching the target price. As a result, the auction apparatus 100 can increase the possibility of the content creator raising desired funds.
In the example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
When the auctions are held for the same period, but a bid is made at the buyout price, the times when the auctions end are different from each other. Therefore, even when the auctions are held for the same period, but some auctions have ended early, the auction apparatus 100 may perform a process of adjusting the reserve price or the buyout price.
In the first embodiment, whenever receiving billing data from the content creator, the winning bid amount management unit 133 sends the billing amount to the content creator. However, when the total of the winning bid prices reaches the target price, the winning bid amount management unit 133 may send the amount of money corresponding to the target price to the content creator, without receiving the billing data.
5-12. Display of Bidder
In the modification illustrated in
This will be described with reference to
As such, the auction apparatus 100 can display information about the bidder or the winning bidder to provide reference information in bidding to the advertiser who is a bidder. For example, in the example illustrated in
5-13. Bid Target
In the first embodiment, the advertising spaces are allocated to different reproduction positions in the moving image. That is, in the first embodiment, the advertising space is distinguished by the reproduction position. However, the invention is not limited thereto, but the advertising space may be distinguished by, for example, the distribution period for which advertising data is distributed or the targeting conditions used during the distribution of the advertising data.
This will be described with reference to
Next, the example illustrated in
As such, the auction apparatus 100 may distinguish the advertising spaces set to the same reproduction position using the targeting conditions, such as the distribution period or distribution destination of advertisements. In this case, the auction apparatus 100 can increase the choices of the advertiser and improve the degree of satisfaction of the advertiser.
The auction providing unit 132 divides the advertising space as in the example illustrated in
The targeting conditions for distinguishing the advertising space are not limited to the display period or distribution destination of advertisements, but may be various kinds of user attributes, such as psychographic attributes or demographic attributes. For example, the advertising space set to the same reproduction position may be divided into an advertising space in which advertisements are distributed to the male users and an advertising space in which advertisements are distributed to the female users. For example, the advertising space set to the same reproduction position may be divided into an advertising space in which advertisements are distributed to the user with relatively high preference to a car, an advertising space in which advertisements are distributed to the user with relatively high preference to travel, and an advertising space in which advertisements are distributed to the user with relatively high preference to cosmetics.
In the examples illustrated in
5-14. Additional Fee
In the first embodiment, the winning bid amount management unit 133 sends the winning bid amount received from the winning bidder to the content creator. However, the invention is not limited thereto. When the number of times the distribution server 30 distributes the composite content to the user terminal 40 is greater than a predetermined value, the winning bid amount management unit 133 may charge the advertiser, which corresponds to the advertising data incorporated in the composite content, an additional fee. That is, when the number′ of times the composite content is browsed is greater than a predetermined value, the winning bid amount management unit 133 may charge the advertiser an additional fee. When the additional fee is received from the advertiser, the winning bid amount management unit 133 may send the received additional fee to the content creator. In this case, when the composite content is popular, the auction apparatus 100 pays the additional fee to the content creator. Therefore, it is possible to improve the creative will of the content creator. When the advertiser is charged the additional fee, the auction providing unit 132 inserts information indicating that an additional fee is likely to be charged into the auction page. For example, the auction providing unit 132 inserts a note that “when the number of times the content is browsed is greater than N, an additional fee of M yen is charged” or a note that “when the number of times the content is browsed is greater than N, an additional fee is charged depending on the number of times the content is browsed” into the auction page. Therefore, the auction apparatus 100 informs the advertiser that an additional fee is charged in advance. The notes may be set to the plan information by the content creator or it may be predetermined in the auction apparatus 100.
5-15. Fee
In the first embodiment, the auction apparatus 100 may collect a fee from the advertiser who uses the auction service. For example, when providing the auction page W10 illustrated in
As described above, the auction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment includes the plan receiving unit 131 and the auction providing unit 132. The plan receiving unit 131 receives the plan information indicating the content-plan from the content creator who creates the content. The auction providing unit 132 opens a portion of the plan information received by the plan receiving unit 131 and opens the other plan information in response to a request from the advertiser who has browsed a portion of the plan information. Then, the auction providing unit 132 provides the auction service which bids for the right to display advertisements in the advertising space set to the content.
Therefore, even when the auction service for the content which is planned to be created is provided, the auction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment can prevent the content-plan from being illegally used.
When a plurality of advertising spaces are set to content, the auction providing unit 132 according to the first embodiment manages the auctions related to each advertising space so as to be associated with the plan information (which corresponds to an example of the plan ID) corresponding to the content.
Therefore, the auction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment can manage a plurality of auctions corresponding to one content-plan item so as to be associated with each other. For example, the auction apparatus 100 manages each auction so as to be associated with one content-plan item. Therefore, it is possible to adjust, for example, the buyout price or the reserve price, as in the above-mentioned example.
In a second embodiment, an example in which the consistency between composite content distributed to a distribution server 30 and the plan of content is verified will be described. The structure of an auction system 1 according to the second embodiment is the same as that illustrated in
The structure of an auction apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to
The verifying unit 237 verifies the consistency between composite content generated by a generating unit 135 and the content-plan indicated by plan information. Specifically, when composite content is generated by the generating unit 135, the verifying unit 237 verifies whether the generated composite content is consistent with the content-plan and advertising space information stored in an auction storage unit 121.
In this situation, the verifying unit 237 analyzes the meta data MD10 and extracts keywords corresponding to items, such as the type of content, the director, the actors, and the reproduction position of the advertising space. For example, when the meta data MD10 is described by a markup language, the verifying unit 237 can easily extract the keywords corresponding to each item from the meta data MD10. Then, the verifying unit 237 verifies whether the plan information PD10 and the advertising space information QD10 stored in the auction storage unit 121 are identical to the keywords extracted from the meta data MD10 for each item.
When the number of items in which the keywords are not identical to the information is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the verifying unit 237 determines that the composite content is not consistent with the content-plan or the advertising space information. In this case, the verifying unit 237 does not output the composite content to the transmitting unit 136, notifies a creator terminal 10 of the content creator that there is no consistency therebetween, and ends the process. When the verifying unit 237 determines that there is no consistency therebetween, the winning bid amount management unit 133 returns the winning bid amount to the winning bidder. When it is determined that there is the consistency therebetween, the verifying unit 237 outputs the composite content to the transmitting unit 136.
Examples of the item whose consistency is verified by the verifying unit 237 include the “type of content”, the “plan of content (for example, the director, the actors, and the summary)”, the “number of advertising spaces”, the “reproduction position of an advertising space”, the “reproduction time of an advertising space”, and the “size of an advertising space”. In addition, for example, when the plan information includes a deadline for creating the content, the verifying unit 237 verifies whether the content is created within the deadline.
The verifying unit 237 may store result information indicating whether the content which is consistent with the plan of the content or the advertising space information is generated, for each content creator. The auction providing unit 132 according to the second embodiment may pay a penalty to the content creator who has created inconsistent content a number of times more than a predetermined value, on the basis of the result information stored by the verifying unit 237. For example, the auction providing unit 132 may pay a penalty for preventing the posting of the plan information and the advertising space information or a penalty for preventing the distribution server 30 from distributing the created content to the user terminal 40.
As described above, the auction apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment includes the verifying unit 237. The verifying unit 237 verifies the consistency between the composite content generated by the generating unit 135 and the content-plan indicated by the plan information.
Therefore, the auction apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment can determine whether the content creator creates content according to the plan. Therefore, it is possible to provide a high-reliability auction service to the advertisers.
Various structures other than the structures according to the above-described embodiments may be configured. Hereinafter, other embodiments will be described. Next, other embodiments will be described using the auction apparatus 100 as an example, but the following other embodiments may be applied to the auction apparatus 200.
In the above-described embodiments, when the composite content is generated, the auction apparatus 100 may make the content creator or the advertiser confirm the content of the composite content item.
This will be described with reference to
The transmitting unit 136 of the auction apparatus 100 transmits the composite content CD11 to the content creator and the advertiser before transmitting the composite content CD11 to the distribution server 30 (Steps S43 and S44). In this way, the transmitting unit 136 inquires the content creator and the advertiser whether there is a problem on the composite content CD11. Then, when a response indicating that there is no problem in the composite content CD11 is received from the content creator and the advertiser, the transmitting unit 136 transmits the composite content CD11 to the distribution server 30 (Step S45).
As such, the auction apparatus 100 makes the content creator and the winning bidder confirm the composite content, which makes it possible to prevent the unintended composite content of the content creator and the winning bidder from being distributed to the user terminal 40. Specifically, since advertising data is incorporated into the composite content generated by the auction apparatus 100, the composite content is not identical to the content created by the content creator. Therefore, for example, advertising data which damages the image of the content is likely to be incorporated into the composite content. In addition, since the advertiser participates in the auction in the planning stage, the advertiser buys the right to display advertisements at an auction, without checking the content created by the content creator. Therefore, advertising data is likely to be incorporated into the content which damages the image of the advertiser. In the example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
In the above-described embodiments, the plan receiving unit 131 may receive the plan information from the content creator a plurality of times. For example, when the actor of the moving image is changed due to a sudden illness, the plan receiving unit 131 may receive new plan information including information indicating that the actor has been changed. In this case, when the content-plan which is opened to the public is changed by the second or subsequent plan information received by the plan receiving unit 131, the auction providing unit 132 inquires the bidders or the winning bidder in the auction whether to invalidate the auction. When an instruction to invalidate the auction is received as a response from the bidder (for example, the highest bidder) or the winning bidder, the auction providing unit 132 invalidates the auction and holds an auction for the content of a new plan again. In this case, the auction providing unit 132 may invalidate all auctions related to the content or it may invalidate only the auction which is required to be invalidated by the bidder or the winning bidder.
In the above-described embodiments, when the composite content is distributed as charged content to the user terminal 40, the use fee from the user of the user terminal 40 may be distributed to the content creator. That is, profits from the distribution of content by the distributor of the composite content may be shared by the content creator.
This will be described with reference to
The distribution server 30 distributes the composite content CD11 as charged content to the viewer (Step S54). Then, the distribution server 30 (or the operator of the distribution server 30) obtains a subscription fee M1 from the viewer whenever the composite content Coil is distributed (Step S55). In this case, the distribution server 30 transmits a portion of the subscription fee M1 to the auction apparatus 100 (Step S56). Then, the winning bid amount management unit 133 of the auction apparatus 100 sends a portion of the subscription fee M1 obtained from the distribution server 30 to the content creator (Step S57).
As such, the auction apparatus 100 sends a portion of the profits made from the distribution of the composite content as charged content. Therefore, it is possible to improve the creative will of the content creator. Specifically, as the popularity of the content created by the content creator increases, profits from the viewer increase and the fee distributed to the content creator increases. As a result, it is possible to improve the creative will of the content creator.
In the example illustrated in
In the above-described embodiments, when a web page including composite content and advertisements is distributed to the user terminal 40, the advertisement rates obtained from the distribution of the advertisements may be distributed to the content creator. That is, advertising revenues from the distribution of the web page by the distributor of the composite content may be shared by the content creator.
This will be described with reference to
The distribution server 30 receives advertising data G2 from an advertiser T2 (Step S64) and distributes a web page including the composite content CD11 and the advertising data G2 to the viewer (Step S65). Then, the distribution server 30 (or, for example, the operator of the distribution server 30) obtains advertisement rates M2 as a charge for the distribution of the advertising data G2 or a charge corresponding to the clicking of the advertising data G2 by the viewer from the advertiser T2 (Step S66). In this case, the distribution server 30 transmits a portion of the advertisement rates M2 to the auction apparatus 100 (Step S67). Then, the winning bid amount management unit 133 of the auction apparatus 100 sends a portion of the advertisement rates M2 obtained from the distribution server 30 to the content creator (Step S68).
As such, the auction apparatus 100 distributes a portion of the advertising revenues earned by the distributor who distributes the composite content and advertisements to the content creator. Therefore, it is possible to improve the creative will of the content creator. Specifically, as the popularity of the content created by the content creator increases, the advertising revenues earned from the advertiser T2 increase and the profits distributed to the content creator increase. As a result, it is possible to improve the creative will of the content creator. In the example illustrated in
In the above-described embodiments, the auction providing unit 132 may provide the auction service in which the bid target is the right to display advertisements in the advertising space and the right to participate in the creation of content. Specifically, in general, the advertiser wants to incorporate advertising data into the content which is popular with the viewers or the content corresponding to his or her own image. Therefore, in some cases, when the advertiser has successfully bid the right to display advertisements, the advertiser wants to exchange opinions on the creation of content with the content creator. The auction providing unit 132 provides the auction service in which the bid target is the right to participate in the creation of content. Therefore, the advertiser who has successfully bid the right to participate in the creation of content can exchange opinions with the content creator such that content corresponding to his or her own image is generated. In addition, the content creator can reflect the opinions of the advertiser to the content to improve the value of the content. When the right to participate in the creation of content is sold at an auction, the bid price is expected to rise significantly. Therefore, the auction apparatus 100 can improve the possibility of the content creator raising desired funds.
The auction providing unit 132 may provide a platform for exchanging opinions between the content creator and the winning bidder. For example, the auction providing unit 132 may provide a telephone communication platform or a telephone conference platform through a dedicated line. In addition, the auction providing unit 132 may record the sound or image of conversational content and provide the recorded content to a dedicated site where the viewer can view the content. An evidence for confirming whether the content creator creates content according to the content-plan or an evidence for checking whether the advertiser makes an unreasonable demand for the content creator remains. That is, the auction apparatus 100 can provide the safe auction service to both the content creator and the advertiser. As a result, it is possible to improve the use of the auction service.
The content creator may arbitrarily select whether to set the right to participate in the creation of content to a bid target. In addition, the auction providing unit 132 may set the buyout price or the reserve price in the auction in which both the right to display advertisements in the advertising space and the right to participate in the creation of content are bid targets to be higher than that in the auction in which only the right to participate in the creation of content is a bid target.
In the above-described embodiments, the advertiser may transmit a plurality of advertising data items to the auction apparatus 100. In this case, the generating unit 135 of the auction apparatus 100 generates a plurality of composite content patterns corresponding to the number of advertising data items transmitted from the advertiser. For example, when the advertiser transmits advertising data items G11 and G12, the generating unit 135 generates composite content into which the advertising data G11 is incorporated and composite content into which the advertising data G12 is incorporated. Then, the transmitting unit 136 transmits the plurality of composite content patterns generated by the generating unit 135 to the distribution server 30. In this case, the distribution server 30 appropriately changes the composite content to be distributed among the plurality of composite content items. For example, the distribution server 30 distributes different composite content items to the user terminal 40 whenever the composite content is distributed a predetermined number of times.
In the above-mentioned example, the advertiser may transmit keywords for each advertising data to the auction apparatus 100. When a plurality of composite content patterns are generated, the generating unit 135 gives the keywords corresponding to the advertising data incorporated into the composite content to the corresponding composite content. In this case, the distribution server 30 can perform targeting distribution for the composite content using the keywords given to the composite content. For example, the distribution server 30 distributes the composite content to which keywords corresponding to the user attributes of the user, who is a distribution destination, are given. Therefore, the auction apparatus 100 can improve the advertising effect of the advertising data incorporated into the composite content.
In the above-described embodiments, the auction apparatus 100 may bid for the genre of content. Specifically, as in the example illustrated in
In the above-described embodiments, the moving image is mainly given as an example of the content. However, the type of content is not limited to the moving image. Examples of the content may include applications, such as games, electronic books, and web pages, such as weblogs. For example, when the content creator plans to create games, electronic books, or professional web pages, the content creator can use the above-mentioned auction service.
The auction apparatuses 100 and 200 according to the above-described embodiments are implemented by, for example, a computer 1000 having the structure illustrated in
The CPU 1100 operates on the basis of the programs stored in the ROM 1300 or the HDD 1400 and controls each unit. The ROM 1300 stores, for example, a boot program which is executed by the CPU 1100 when the computer 1000 starts up or programs depending on the hardware of the computer 1000.
The HDD 1400 stores, for example, the programs executed by the CPU 1100 and data used by the programs. The communication interface 1500 receives data from other apparatus through a communication network 50 and transmits the data to the CPU 1100. Alternatively, the communication interface 1500 transmits data generated by the CPU 1100 to other apparatuses through the communication network 50.
The CPU 1100 controls an output device, such as a display or a printer, and an input device, such as a keyboard or a mouse, through the input/output interface 1600. The CPU 1100 acquires data from the input device through the input/output interface 1600. In addition, the CPU 1100 outputs the generated data to the output device through the input/output interface 1600.
The media interface 1700 reads a program or data stored in a recording medium 1800 and provides the read program or data to the CPU 1100 through the RAM 1200. The CPU 1100 loads the program from the recording medium 1800 to the RAM 1200 through the media interface 1700 and executes the loaded program. Examples of the recording medium 1800 include an optical recording medium, such as a digital versatile disc (DVD) or a phase change rewritable disk (PD), a magneto-optical recording medium, such as a magneto-optical disk (MO), a tape medium, a magnetic recording medium, and a semiconductor memory.
For example, when the computer 1000 functions as the auction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, the CPU 1100 of the computer 1000 executes the program loaded onto the RAM 1200 to implement the functions of the control unit 130. The HDD 1400 stores the data of the auction storage unit 121. The CPU 1100 of the computer 1000 reads the programs from the recording medium 1800 and executes the program. However, as another example, the CPU 1100 may acquire the programs from other apparatuses through the communication network 50.
Among the processes according to the above-described embodiments, some or all of the processes which are automatically performed may be manually performed, or some or all of the processes which are manually performed may be automatically performed by a known method. In addition, information including the procedure, the detailed names, and various kinds of data or parameters described in the above-mentioned document or drawings can be arbitrarily changed except in a case in which it is specified.
For example, various kinds of information illustrated in the drawings are limited to the illustrated information. For example, in the above-described embodiments, a plurality of advertising spaces are set to one content item. However, one advertising space may be set to one content item.
In the above-described embodiment, the content creator sets, for example, the reproduction position or reproduction time of the advertising space to the content. However, for example, the auction apparatus 100 may receive only the plan information from the content creator, but may not receive the advertising space information. In this case, the auction apparatus 100 may set, for example, a predetermined reproduction position or reproduction time of the advertising space in the content.
For example, in the above-described embodiments, the composite content obtained by incorporating advertising data into content is distributed to the user terminal 40. However, an advertisement server (for example, referred to as an ad server) which is not illustrated in
The drawings are conceptual diagrams illustrating the functions of each component of each apparatus, and the components are not necessarily physically configured as illustrated in the drawings. That is, the detailed form of the dispersion and integration of each apparatus is not limited to that illustrated in the drawings, but some or all of the apparatuses may be functionally and physically dispersed and integrated in an arbitrary unit, depending on various loads or usage conditions. For example, the plan receiving unit 131 and the content receiving unit 134 illustrated in
The above-described embodiments may be appropriately combined with each other in the range in which the content of the process is maintained consistently.
The embodiments of the invention have been described above with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments are illustrative and various modifications and changes of the invention including the aspects described in the Detailed Description of the Embodiments can be made on the basis of knowledge of those skilled in the art.
In the claims, a “unit” can be replaced with a “section”, a “module”, or a “circuit”. For example, a plan receiving unit can be replaced with a plan receiving module or a plan receiving circuit.
According to an embodiment of the invention, it is possible to prevent the illegal use of the content-plan.
Although the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to one skilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein set forth.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-129514 | Jun 2013 | JP | national |
