Patent Application
20120041807
The present invention relates to an incentive-based server cooperation system, more particularly, to an incentive-based server cooperation system which achieves cooperation between service servers, such as web sites, through a network, such as the Internet.
Nowadays, various business entities set up web sites over the Internet, and provide various online services. These online services may be often used individually; in some cases, however, multiple services are sequentially in a predetermined procedure.
For example, users of online services often perform a routine composed of searching for a shop they want to use for lunch in a restaurant search service, finding the nearest station by looking detailed shop information displayed on the screen, and then checking the train route from their homes to the nearest station. Accordingly, it would be convenient if the web browser is provided with the function of automatically performing this series of operations.
A web-site cooperation system which achieves cooperation between multiple web sites as thus described can be realized by using the add-on function of the web browser, for example.
The system shown in
By configuring the system as thus described, the user can realize the cooperation function desired by the user, independently of the intentions and conveniences of the entities who run the web sites.
In the web site cooperation system thus described, it is necessary to create a dedicated add-on script (cooperation module) for each combination of web sites to be cooperated, and the system convenience is improved by preparing as many cooperation module as possible. One approach for making many cooperation modules available may be to request the system users themselves to create cooperation modules and to share the modules among the users.
As in this example, inviting users from a certain web site to another web site may make some profit for the cooperation destination (or invitation destination) web site; this may lead to advertisement income or product sales. In such case, it may be advantageous that some incentives are paid to the business entity who runs the cooperation source (invitation source) web site or to the developer of the cooperation module used for the relevant cooperation from the business entity who runs the cooperation destination web site.
The affiliate is an existing scheme similar to this system.
The system shown in
One possible scheme may be to apply this affiliate system to the aforementioned web site cooperation system, wherein an incentive is paid to a developer who creates and offers a cooperation module which achieves cooperation between web sites, in accordance with the number of times of uses of the cooperation module.
This approach effectively motivates many users to create various cooperation modules as developers, resulting in that the system convenience is improved by making many cooperation modules available.
Conventionally, many web sites, except for some sites such as online shopping sites, do not support the incentive paying function in many cases, because the cost for supporting the incentive paying function is higher than the benefit offered by the incentive paying function. Accordingly, the above-described scheme requires the web sites to support the incentive paying function; however, only a limited number of web sites support the incentive paying function.
In addition, the above-described scheme requires a cooperation module for each web site; however, cooperation modules are not so often developed for many web sites which do not support the incentive paying function, because no incentives are paid to the developers of cooperation modules. Accordingly, it is unlikely that many web site cooperation functions are provided, resulting in poor user friendliness.
Furthermore, in the scheme in which a cooperation module is to be generated by a third party, it is uncertain in advance to the business entity of the cooperation source web site which cooperation destination web site is cooperated with which cooperation source web site. Accordingly, in order to receive an incentive which is possibly made available in future, it is necessary to register data necessary for receiving the incentive with respect to any possible business entities of cooperation destinations. This is unlikely at least in terms of the efficiency. Accordingly, in the conventional system, it is difficult for a business entity of a web site of a cooperation source to receive an incentive even if a business entity who runs a cooperation destination web site intends to pay an incentive to the cooperation source web site as well as the developer of a cooperation module.
An objective of the present invention is to provide an incentive-based server cooperation system which eliminates the need for preparing the incentive paying function in a service server for which cooperation is to be achieved.
An incentive-based server cooperation system includes a plurality of service servers, a cooperation server which provides cooperation between the service servers and a client which uses the plurality of service servers. The cooperation server includes a business entity data storage means for storing business entity data related to business entities of the respective service servers; a cooperation module storage means for storing cooperation modules which cooperates the respective service servers; a developer data storage means for storing developer data related to developers of the cooperation modules; a cooperation history storage means for storing cooperation history data of the cooperation modules; and an incentive settlement means for calculating and paying an incentive amount by referring to the business entity data, the developer data and the cooperation history data. The client includes: a service information display means for displaying information acquired from the service servers; a cooperation module selection/execution means for selecting and executing the cooperation modules stored in the cooperation module storage means; and a cooperation history transmission means for notifying the cooperation history storage means of the executions of the cooperation modules.
The incentive-based server cooperation method of the present invention includes:
in a cooperation server which cooperates a plurality of service servers, storing business entity data related to business entity of the respective service servers in a business entity data storage means;
in the cooperation server, storing cooperation modules which achieve cooperation between the respective service servers in a cooperation module storage means;
in the cooperation server, storing developer data related to developers of the cooperation modules;
in the cooperation server, storing cooperation history data of the cooperation modules in a cooperation history storage means; and
in the cooperation server, calculating and paying an incentive amount by referring to the business entity data, the developer data and the cooperation history data.
The incentive-based server cooperation method further includes:
in a client which uses the service servers, displaying information acquired from the service servers on a display screen;
in the client, selecting and executing the cooperation modules stored in the cooperation module storage means; and
notifying the cooperation history storage means of the execution of the cooperation modules by the client.
The provision of the function of paying incentives for the cooperation server makes it possible for a business entity who runs a service server to pay an incentive only by registration to the cooperation server, eliminating the need for supporting the incentive paying function by the service server to be cooperated with.
A description is given of a first embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.
As shown in
The service servers 311 to 31n provide services via a network 351. It should be noted that each of the service servers 311 to 31n includes service applications (not shown) for providing services as their components.
The cooperation server 321 provides cooperation between the service servers 311 to 31n via the network 351. The cooperation server 321 includes a business entity data storage section 322, a developer data storage section 323, a cooperation module storage section 324, a cooperation history storage section 325 and an incentive settlement section 326.
The client 352 is a client terminal to be operated by a user. The client 352 includes a service information display section 353, a cooperation module selection/execution section 354 and a cooperation history transmission section 355.
These components each operate schematically as follows:
The business entities 301 to 30n run the service servers 311 to 31n. Here, each of the business entities 301 to 30n is assumed to have a communication terminal or communication device for communicating with the service servers 311 to 31n and the cooperation server 321. In other words, the “business entity” can be interpreted as a “business entity terminal”. It should be noted that, when a business entity directly operates a service server, the service server or an input device thereof operates as the business entity terminal. Various data necessary for settlement are registered in the business entity data storage section 322 in response to operations by the business entities 301 to 30n or an operator (not shown) of the cooperation server 321. The various data include, for example, names of the business entities, incentive amounts, and account numbers of financial institutions used for settlement.
The cooperation module developers 331 to 33n develop cooperation modules 341 to 34n and provide the cooperation modules 341 to 34n to the cooperation server 321.
Here, each of the cooperation module developers 331 to 33n is assumed to have a communication terminal or communication device for communicating with the cooperation server 321. In other words, the “cooperation module developer” can be interpreted as a “cooperation module developer terminal”. It should be noted that, when a cooperation module developer directly operates the cooperation server, the cooperation server or an input device thereof operates as the cooperation module developer terminal. Various data necessary for settlement are registered in the developer data storage section 323 in response to operations by the cooperation module developers 331 to 33n. The various data include, for example, names of the developers and account numbers of financial institutes used for settlement. In addition, the cooperation module storage section 324 stores the cooperation modules 341 to 34n developed by the cooperation module developers 331 to 33n, in response to operations by the cooperation module developers 331 to 33n or the operator (not shown) of the cooperation server 321.
The user uses the service server 311 to 31n via the network 351 by operating the service information display section 353 of the client 352. Here, the cooperation module selection/execution section 354 may select and execute the cooperation modules 341 to 34n stored in the cooperation module storage section 324 in response to operations by the user, to achieve cooperation between multiple service servers. When the cooperation modules 341 to 34n are selected and executed, the cooperation history transmission section 355 acknowledges that the user uses the cooperation modules 341 to 34n and transmits the use histories of the cooperation modules 341 to 34n to the cooperation server 321 to store the use histories in the cooperation history storage section 325.
The incentive settlement section 326 determines the amounts of incentives to be paid to the cooperation developers 331 to 33n and performs settlement processes via bank accounts and the like, referring to the use histories of the cooperation modules 341 to 34n stored in the cooperation history storage section 325 and the incentive amounts of the respective business entities stored in the business entity data storage section 322.
It should be noted that the service servers 311 to 31n may be web servers outputting web pages (HTML documents) or servers which provide services for external systems by using various protocols. Examples of such services may include a web service using SOAP (simple object access protocol) or a web API based on REST (representational state transfer) architecture.
Examples of the service servers 311 to 31n and the cooperation server 321 may include PCs (personal computers), servers of thin client systems, computers such as, work stations, main frames, and super computers. The service servers 311 to 31n and the cooperation server 321 may be virtual machine (VM) environments established on computers.
Examples of the business entity data storage section 322, the developer data storage section 323, the cooperation module storage section and the cooperation history storage section 325 may include semiconductor memory devices such as RAMs (random access memories), ROMs(read only memories), EEPROMs (electrically erasable and programmable read only memories) and flash memories, auxiliary memory units such as HDDs (hard disk drives) and SSD (solid state drives), and removable disks and memory media such as DVD (digital versatile disk) and SD memory cards (secure digital memory cards). The business entity data storage section 322, the developer data storage section 323, the cooperation module storage section and the cooperation history storage section 325 are not limited to memory devices incorporated in a computer; these sections may be implemented as a peripheral device (an external HDD and the like), a storage device provided in an external server (a file server and the like), a DAS (direct attached storage), an FC-SAN(fibre channel—storage area network), an NAS(network attached storage), or an IP-SAN(IP-storage area network).
Examples of the incentive settlement section 326 may include a processor such as a CPU (central processing unit) and a micro processor, and a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) having the similar function. It should be noted that the incentive settlement section 326 may be a program which causes a computer to execute the incentive settlement process.
Also, the network 351 maybe the Internet, a LAN (local area network), a wireless LAN, a cable television (CATV) line, a fixed telephone network, a cell phone network, a lease line, a serial communication line or a data bus.
Although only one client 352 is shown in
The client 352 maybe a PC (personal computer), a thin client terminal, a work station, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a cell phone, a television with the datacasting reception function, a car navigation system, a portable video game machine, a home video game machine, a digital tuner, a digital recorder, an information home appliance, an OA (office automation) appliance. The client 352 may be mounted on a movable body such as a vehicle, a ship, and an airplane.
The service information display section 353 may be a web browser which shows web pages or software having the function of acquiring data described in accordance with a specific specification from a server and displaying the data on the screen. Such software may be implemented as, for example, an email application, an online map application which acquires map data from a server or an Internet radio application.
The service information display section 353 and the service applications on the service servers 311 to 31n may constitute a client-server system in which data in a specific format are exchanged. Also, a service server function (service application) may be implemented on the client 352.
Examples of the cooperation module selection/execution section 354 and the cooperation history transmission section 355 may include a processor such as a CPU and a microprocessor, and a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) having the similar function. It should be noted that the cooperation module selection/execution section 354 and the cooperation history transmission section 355 may be a program which causes a computer to execute the respective functions thereof.
In this embodiment, the cooperation module selection/execution section 354 includes an input device for accepting an operation by the user. Examples of the input device may include a keyboard, a keypad, an on-screen keypad, a touch panel, a tablet, and reading devices of an IC chip and a storage medium. Alternatively, the input device may be an interface (I/F) which acquires data from an external input device or storage device.
It should be noted that, the actual implementation is not limited to these examples.
Next, a description is given of the overall operation in the present embodiment, with reference to the flowcharts shown in
First, a description is given of a registration process of various data with reference to
Various data necessary for settlement are registered in the business entity data storage section 322 in response to operations by the business entities 301 to 30n who run the service servers 311 to 31n and the operator (not shown) of the cooperation server 321.
Also, various data necessary for settlement are registered in the developer data storage section 323 in response to operations by the cooperation module developers 331 to 33n and the operator (not shown) of the cooperation server 321.
The developed cooperation modules 341 to 34n are registered in the cooperation module storage section 323 in response to operations by the cooperation module developers 331 to 33n. It should be noted that steps All to A13 are not necessarily implemented in this order; the respective business entities and developers may perform the registration operations appropriately. The order of the registrations of the various data may be random.
Next, a description is given of the cooperation process, with reference to
The service information display section 353 acquires information from any one of the service servers 311 to 31n and displays the information on the screen.
When the user desires to achieve cooperation with another service server, the cooperation module selection/execution section 354 displays a list of the cooperation modules 341 to 34n registered in the cooperation server 321 in response to an operation by the user.
Furthermore, the cooperation module selection/execution section 354 selects one cooperation module from among the cooperation modules 341 to 34n displayed in a list, in response to an operation by the user.
The cooperation module selection/execution section 354 acquires the selected cooperation module 341 to 34n from the cooperation module storage section 324 via the network 351 and executes the acquired cooperation module 341 to 34n.
The selected cooperation module 341 to 34n extracts necessary information from the information already acquired from the service server 411 to 41n which is the cooperation source upon starting the execution of the selected cooperation module 341 to 34n.
The selected cooperation module 341 to 34n controls the service information display section 353 as determined in advance for each cooperation module. The service information display section 353 acquires information by transmitting necessary information to the cooperation destination service server under control of the selected cooperation module 341 to 34n and displays the acquired information on the screen.
Finally, the cooperation history transmission section 355 transmits data necessary for calculation of the amount of the incentive, such as, data indicating which of the cooperation modules 341 to 34n is used (data indicating the used cooperation module) to the cooperation history storage section 325 and records the data in the cooperation history storage section 325.
It should be noted that the cooperation module acquired in step A24 maybe stored in the cache in the client 352 in case of execution of the same cooperation module in future.
The data extraction at step A25 may be achieved by specifying any field of a formed document (data), such as XML, or by text pattern matching of non-formed document (data) such as HTML. It should be noted that the actual implementation is not limited to these processes.
Furthermore, cooperation with other service servers may be achieved by repeating the procedure of steps A22 to A27, on the basis of the information acquired from the cooperation destination service server at step A26.
Also, the data to be transmitted to the cooperation history storage section 323 at step A27 may be accumulated in the client 352 to some extent and then collectively transmitted, instead of being immediately transmitted by the cooperation history transmission section 355.
Next, a description is given of the settlement process with reference to
The cooperation server 321 starts a settlement process at a desired timing, for example, every day, once a month and the like. At this time, the incentive settlement section 326 acquires the past cooperation histories from the cooperation history storage section 325.
Furthermore, the incentive settlement section 326 acquires data necessary for the settlement from the business entity data storage section 322 and the developer data storage section 323.
The incentive settlement section 326 then calculates incentive amounts in accordance with a predetermined method.
The incentive settlement section 326 achieves payment of the incentives from the business entities 301 to 30n to the cooperation module developers 331 to 33n, through processes, such as withdrawal or cash transfer from accounts of financial institutes.
It should be noted that steps A31 and A32 may be implemented in the reverse order. The cooperation modules 341 to 34n may be created by the business entities 301 to 30n who run the respective service servers or the operator (not shown) of the cooperation server 321, and they receive the incentives.
Furthermore, although the payment destinations of the incentives are the cooperation module developers in the present invention, the payment destinations may include a business entity who runs a service server. The system may be modified so that incentives are exchanged among business entities; for example, an incentive is paid from the cooperation destination service server to the cooperation source service server.
The incentives may be paid to the developers of the cooperation modules from the business entity who runs the cooperation source service server instead of from the business entity who runs the cooperation destination service server, or from the both.
In addition, a settlement process may be implemented every when a cooperation module is used by a user, or the operator of the cooperation server collects charges for service.
The present embodiment requires the business entities to only perform business entity registration into the cooperation server, instead of to provide the incentive payment function for their own service servers, in order to allow the cooperation server to perform the payment processes of the incentives, and this results in that many business entities who run service servers can pay incentives to the developers of cooperation modules.
If many business entities who run service servers come to pay incentives to the developers of cooperation modules, this motivates developers to create cooperation modules, resulting in creation and provision of many cooperation modules; this makes it possible for users to use cooperation modules of various service servers, improving the convenience.
Also, the improvement of the user convenience results in that many users uses this system, causing various effects to the business entities of the service servers, such as an increase in the number of users and an increase in the sales of products.
Furthermore, the system can be configured so that business entities as well as the developers of the cooperation modules acquire incentives; this encourages many business entities of the service servers to perform business entity registration into the cooperation server, and accordingly allows the business entities to pay incentives to the developers of the cooperation modules.
Next, a description is given of a second embodiment of the present invention, with reference to the attached drawings. The present embodiments is different from the first embodiment of the present invention in that the incentives are changeable depending on the manner and effect of the cooperation; the incentives are not fixed.
As shown in
The service servers 411 to 41n provide services via a network 351. It should be noted that each of the service servers 411 to 41n includes a service application (not shown) for providing services as a component thereof.
As shown in
The cooperation server 421 achieves cooperation of the service servers 411 to 41n via the network 351. The cooperation server 421 includes a business entity data storage section 322, a developer data storage section 323, a cooperation module storage section 324, a cooperation history storage section 325, an incentive settlement section 326 and an incentive amount storage section 422.
The client 451 is a client terminal to be operated by a user. The client 451 includes a service information display section 353, a cooperation module selection/execution section 354, a cooperation history transmission section 355 and a cooperation identification data transmission section 452.
Compared to the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention shown in
These components each operate schematically as follows:
When users use the service servers 411 to 41n by operating the service information display section 353 so as to achieve cooperation between the service servers 411 to 41n, the cooperation identification data transmission section 452 of the client 451 transmits identification data for identifying which of the cooperation module 341 to 34n are executed to the incentive data determination/notification section 492 of the cooperation destination service servers.
The incentive data determination/notification section 492 determines the amounts of incentives on the basis of the transmitted identification data, and notifies the amounts of the incentives to the incentive amount storage section 422 in cooperation server 421. The identification data of the cooperation modules and data of the service servers of the cooperation sources, and, if the user have bought commercial products in the cooperation, the sales of the products are used in order to the amounts of the incentives. It should be noted that the service servers of the cooperation sources can be identified from the identification data of the cooperation modules which have been used in the cooperation.
The incentive settlement section 326 determines the amounts of the incentives to be paid to the cooperation module developers 331 to 33n by referring to the amounts of the incentives stored in the incentive amount storage section 422 and the use histories of the cooperation modules 341 to 34n stored in the cooperation history storage section 325, and performs settlement processes via bank accounts and the like.
Next, a description is given of the overall operation of the present embodiment, with reference to flowcharts shown in
First, with respect to the registration process of various data shown in
Next, a description is given of a cooperation process with reference to
The service information display section 353 acquires information from any one of the service servers 411 to 41n in response to an operation by the user, and displays the information on the screen.
When the user desires to achieve cooperation with another service server, the cooperation module selection/execution section 354 displays a list of the cooperation modules 341 to 34n registered in the cooperation server 421 in response to an operation by the user.
The cooperation module selection/execution section 354 selects one cooperation module from the list of the cooperation modules 341 to 34n in response to an operation by the user.
The cooperation module selection/execution section 354 acquires the selected cooperation module from the cooperation module storage section 423 via the network 351 and executes the acquired cooperation module 341 to 34n.
When executed, the cooperation module 341 to 34n extracts necessary data from the information already acquired from the cooperation source service server 411 to 41n.
The cooperation module 341 to 34n controls the service information display section 353 as predetermined for each cooperation module 341 to 34n. The service information display section 353 transmits data necessary for acquiring information from the cooperation destination service server 411 to 41n under the control of the cooperation module 341 to 34n. In this case, the cooperation identification data transmission section 452 also transmits data for identifying the currently-executed cooperation module 341 to 34n (cooperation identification data) to the cooperation destination service server 411 to 41n.
The service information display section 353 then acquires information from the cooperation destination service server 411 to 41n and display the acquired information on the screen.
The cooperation history transmission section 355 then transmits data necessary for calculating the incentive amount, such as data indicating which cooperation module is used among the cooperation modules 341 to 34n (data indicating the used cooperation module) to the cooperation history storage section 325 and records them into the cooperation history storage section 325.
Also, the cooperation destination service server 411 to 41n determines the amount of the incentive on the basis of the identification data of the cooperation module received from the cooperation identification data transmission section 452, data of the cooperation source service server 411 to 41n and data of the profit obtained from the user by the cooperation destination service server 411 to 41n, such as the sales, and notifies the determined amount of the incentive to the incentive amount storage section 422 of the cooperation server 421.
It should be noted that the cooperation destination server 411 to 41n may achieve cooperation with another service server based on data acquired at Step B27 from the cooperation destination service server by repeating the procedure of Steps B22 to B29.
It should be also noted that the determination and notification of the incentive amount by the service server at step B29 may be collectively performed after accumulating necessary data, instead of being performed each when a cooperation module is used.
Next, a description is given of a settlement process with reference to
The cooperation server 421 starts the settlement process at desired timings, for example, every day, once a month and the like. The incentive settlement section 326 then acquires the incentive amounts stored in the incentive amount storage section 422. It should be noted that the incentive amounts are notified from the service serves 411 to 41n from step B29.
The incentive settlement section 326 acquires the cooperation histories of the past from the cooperation history storage section 325.
Furthermore, the incentive settlement section 326 acquires data necessary for settlement from the business entity data storage section 322 and the developer data storage section 323.
The incentive settlement section 326 then calculates the amounts of the incentives in accordance with a predetermined scheme.
The incentive settlement section 326 achieves payment of the incentives from the business entities 301 to 30n to the cooperation module developers 331 to 33n, through processes, such as withdrawal or cash transfer from accounts of financial institutes.
It should be noted that the order of steps B31 to B33 may be changed. It should be also noted that the cooperation modules 341 to 34n may be created by the business entities 301 to 30n who respectively run the service servers and the operator of the cooperation server 421, and the incentives may be paid to them.
The service servers 311 to 31n of the first embodiment of the present invention, for which the incentives are fixed, maybe additionally provided. When the cooperation destination is such a service server, steps B26 and B29 are omitted, and the calculation of the incentive amounts at step B34 is performed in the same way as the first embodiment of the present invention for such a service server; the data stored in the incentive amount storage section 422 are not used.
Furthermore, although the destinations of the payment of the incentives are determined as the cooperation module developers in the present embodiment, the destinations of the payment may include a business entity who runs a service server; the incentives may be paid mutually among the business entities, for example, from the cooperation destination service servers to the cooperation source service servers.
Also, the incentives to be paid to the developers of the cooperation modules may be paid from business entities who run the cooperation source service servers in place of business entities who run the cooperation destination service servers, or from the both.
It should be noted that, when the incentives are paid by the cooperation source service servers, the transmission destinations of the data for identifying the cooperation modules are transmitted to the cooperation source service servers at step B26 and the cooperation source service servers perform the determination/notification process of the incentive amounts at step B29.
In addition, a settlement process maybe implemented, every when a cooperation module is used by a user, or the operator of the cooperation server collects charges for service.
The present embodiment is configured so that the amounts of the incentives from the business entities who run the service servers to the developers of the cooperation modules are changeable depending on the way and effect of the cooperation, and this makes it possible to perform an operation in which, when a user bus a commercial product on a cooperation destination service server, for example, the amount of the incentive is determined as a predetermined ratio of the price.
Next, a detailed description is given of a third embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. An incentive-based server cooperation system of the third embodiment of the present invention includes service servers 311 to 31n, a cooperation server 321 and a client 352, as is the case with the first embodiment shown in
As shown in
Compared to the cooperation server 321 of the first embodiment shown in
These sections each operate schematically as follows:
The cooperation module developer 33n configures a desired incentive condition (for example, the unit price of the incentive) by operating the incentive condition presentation section 502, when registering the developed cooperation module 34n by operating the cooperation module storage section 324. In other words, the cooperation module storage section 324 is registered with the developed cooperation module 34n in response to an operation by the cooperation module developer 34n. At this time, the incentive condition presentation section 502 configures the incentive condition in response to an operation by the cooperation module developer 33n.
The configured incentive condition is stored in the incentive condition storage section 503 and notified to the business entity 30n who runs the service server for which the relevant cooperation module provides cooperation. In other words, the incentive condition storage section 503 stores the configured incentive condition. The presented condition notification section 502 notifies the configured incentive condition to the business entity 30n who runs the service server for which the relevant cooperation module provides the cooperation.
The business entity 30n considers incentive conditions presented by one or more developers (at least one developer) and the functions of the created cooperation modules and determines whether to accept or to refuse respective presented incentive conditions by operating the incentive condition determination section 505. At this time, the incentive condition determination section 505 determines whether to accept or to refuse each of the incentive conditions presented by one or more developers, in response to an operation by the business entity 30n.
The incentive settlement section 326 determines the amounts of the incentives on the basis of the incentive conditions stored in the incentive condition storage section 503, when settling the incentives.
Although
Also, the incentive condition stored in the incentive condition storage section 503 may be modified under an agreement with the cooperation module developer 33n, when the business entity 30n determines whether to accept the incentive condition by operating the incentive condition determination section 505. In other words, the incentive condition determination section 505 may modify the incentive condition stored in the incentive condition storage section 503 in response to an operation by the business entity 30n based on an agreement with the cooperation module developer 33n, when determining whether to accept the incentive condition. Alternatively, the incentive condition determination section 505 may accept an operation by the cooperation module developer 33n and modify the incentive condition stored in the incentive condition storage section 503 in response to respective operations by the business entity 30n and the cooperation module developer 33n.
In notifying the business entity 30n, if his/her contact address is stored in the business entity data storage section 322, the presented condition notification section 504 may use the contact address; if his/her contact address is no stored in the business entity data storage section 322, the presented condition notification section 504 may prompt to input the contact address of the business entity 30n when the developer 33n inputs the condition into the incentive condition presentation section 502.
In the present embodiment, the cooperation module developer can present the desired incentive condition, since the present embodiment is configured so that the incentive condition can be determined by the cooperation module developer and the business entity who runs the service server. Also, business entities do not necessarily pay incentives for any cases; if a business entity does not accept an incentive condition, it is not necessary for them to pay the incentive.
Next, a description is given of operations in best modes for implementing the present invention, on the basis of specific examples.
As shown in
The restaurant search site 603, the train route search site 604, the cooperation server 611 and a computer 632 are connected via the Internet 631.
The cooperation server 611 provides a web site cooperation function. The computer 632 is a computer operated by a user. That is, the computer 632 is a client terminal. The financial institutes 641 to 64n are financial institutes used for payment of incentives. The financial institutes 641 to 64n are assumed to have communication terminals or communication devices.
Business entities 601 and 602, who respectively run the restaurant search site 603 and the train route search site 604, have registered business entity data 651 and 652 as shown in
In this example, a cooperation module developer 621 first creates a cooperation module 622 which extracts the nearest station from the contents of a shop detail page of the restaurant search site 603 and makes a search for the route from one's home to the shop on the train route search site 604, as an extension function of the web browser 633.
In this example, the cooperation module 622 includes a means for performing an extraction process of the name of the nearest station (which is a specific character string) from the shop detail page (web page) and a means for performing a generation process of a search URL for the train route search site. Examples of the extraction process of the specific character string from the web page may include text pattern matching or a method of operating a DOM (document object model).
The cooperation module developer 621 registers the created cooperation module into the cooperation server, as well as developer data 671 as shown in
Then, a user uses the restaurant search site 603. An extension function for selecting, acquiring and executing a cooperation module from the cooperation server 611 has been incorporated into the web browser 633 of the user, in advance. As shown in
When the user selects the aforementioned cooperation module for making a search for the train route to the nearest station, the extension function incorporated into the web browser 633 acquires the cooperation module 622 from the cooperation server 611 and executes the cooperation module 622.
After the cooperation module 622 is executed, the search result of the train route to the nearest station is shown on the screen of the web browser 633 and the fact that the present cooperation module is executed is notified to the cooperation server 611 and recorded as the cooperation history. In other words, the web browser 633 displays the search result of the train route to the nearest station on the screen after the cooperation module 622 is executed. At the same time, the computer 632 notifies the fact that the present cooperation module is executed to the cooperation server 611. The cooperation server 611 records the contents of the notification as the cooperation history.
Also, the cooperation server 611 calculates the amounts of the incentives at the end of each month in accordance with the formulas 686 and 687 shown in
In the formulas 686 and 687, r(i: s→d) is the incentive which is received by the cooperation developer “i” from the web site “d” with respect to the cooperation module which provides cooperation from the web site “s” to the web site “d”. Ru(d) is the unit price of the incentive to be paid by the web site “d”. n (i: s→d) is the number of times of uses of the cooperation module from the web site “s” to the web site “d” created by the developer “i”. P (i) is the total sum of the incentives to be received by the developer “i”. It should be noted that it is assumed that n (i: s→d)=0 for cooperation modules which are not developed by the developer “i”.
According to the formulas 686 and 687, the developer 621 of the cooperation module 622 can receive the incentive of the amount obtained by multiplying the unit price of incentive configured in the business entity data 652 by the business entity 602 of the train route search site by the number of times of uses of the cooperation module 622, in the example of
Although the description is given here on the basis of the example in which one developer creates and registers cooperation modules related to two web sites and one user uses the cooperation modules, one would understand that there are various web sites and that many developers may create and register cooperation modules which achieves cooperation between the web sites in an actual implementation, while many users may use the cooperation modules.
The cooperation server 611 calculates the incentive amounts of the incentives and sums the amounts of the incentives, for each developer with respect to all the cooperation modules created by each developer.
In the above-described example, when a transfer occurs from another web site to the cooperation source restaurant search site 603 by using another cooperation module different from the cooperation module 622, the cooperation server 611 may resign to the developer of the other cooperation module apart of the incentive which has been determined as being to be received by the developer 621 of the cooperation module 622. That is, when cooperation modules are used in series, the cooperation server 611 may distribute incentives to be paid to developers of cooperation modules so that the incentives are handed over in the reverse direction of the series.
Although processes of cooperation modules are typically described in a programming language, such as “JavaScript” (registered trademark), in many cases, the cooperation modules may be instead created by describing character strings used for pattern matching or methods of generating URLs in a configuration file.
Also, different cooperation modules may be created for the character string extraction process and the URL generation process. This allows using the same process in cooperation modules related to the same cooperation source web site (or to the same cooperation destination web site).
Also, the incentives to be paid to the developers of the cooperation modules may be paid from business entities who run the cooperation source service servers in place of business entities who run the cooperation destination service servers, or from the both.
Next, a description is given of a second example for implementing the present invention. An incentive-based server cooperation system in the second example of the present invention includes various web sites (such as the restaurant search site 603 and the train route search site 604), a cooperation server 611 and a computer 632 operated by a user, as in the first example shown in
The difference between the first and second examples of the present invention exists in the calculation method of the incentive amounts.
The cooperation server 611 of the second example calculates the amounts of the incentives in the settlement process in accordance with formulas 691 and 692 shown in
The cooperation server 611 divides the total incentive amount Rt(d) configured for the cooperation destination web site “d” among the respective developers so that the allocations are proportional to the number of times of uses of the cooperation modules used for the cooperation to the web site. The cooperation server 611 calculates the allocations of the total incentive amount Rt(d) for each cooperation destination web site and finally calculates the individual incentive amount P(i) to be paid to each developer.
In the second example, the total incentive amount configured by each business entity is distributed to the developers of the respective modules, while the incentive amounts are calculated on the basis of the unit price of incentive in the first example. In this division, a developer of a cooperation module which is used by an increased number of users receives an increased amount of incentive from the business entity of the cooperation destination web site.
An advantage of this scheme is to avoid limitless increases of the incentive amounts to be paid by business entities in accordance with the number of times of uses.
Next, a description is given of a third example for implementing the present invention. An incentive-based server cooperation system of the third example of the present invention includes various web sites (such as the restaurant search site 603 and the train route search site 604), a cooperation server 611 and a computer 632 operated by a user, as in the first example shown in
The difference between the first and third examples of the present invention exists in the calculation method of the incentive amounts.
In the third example, operators of web sites (such as the business entities 601 and 602) register business entity data 701 including incentive unit price data shown in
When performing a settlement process, the cooperation server 611 calculates the amounts of the incentive on the basis of the incentive unit price data shown in
It should be noted that the configuration shown in
This scheme provides the business entity who runs the cooperation destination web site with an advantage in which the amounts of the incentives can be modified based on the way or effect of the cooperation; for example, an increased amount of incentive is paid for cooperation to a web page of increased importance and value.
Next, a description is given of a fourth example for implementing the present invention. An incentive-based server cooperation system of the fourth example of the present invention includes various web sites (such as the restaurant search site 603 and the train route search site 604), a cooperation server 611 and a computer 632 operated by a user, as in the first example shown in
The difference between the first and fourth examples of the present invention exists in the calculation method of the incentive amounts.
In the fourth example, the cooperation server 611 provides sorting of the display order in the list 635 of the cooperation modules which is displayed when the cooperation function start button 634 shown in
Specifically, the cooperation server 611 displays cooperation modules in which web sites run by business entities who configure higher incentive unit price are defined as cooperation destinations at upper locations. This causes the relevant cooperation modules to be easily perceived and used by users.
This scheme allows business entities to increase the number of times of uses of cooperation modules in which their own web sites are defined as destinations by configuring higher incentive amounts; it is expected accordingly that the number of users who are invited to their own web sites is increased. Therefore, this approach causes an effect of encouraging business entities to configure higher incentive amounts.
Next, a description is given of a fifth example for implementing the present invention. An incentive-based server cooperation system of the fifth example of the present invention includes various web sites (such as the restaurant search site 603 and the train route search site 604), a cooperation server 611 and a computer 632 operated by a user, as in the first example shown in
As shown in
The difference between the first and fifth examples of the present invention exists in that incentives are also paid to business entities who run cooperation source web sites (the business entities 601 and 602 and so on).
In performing a settlement process, the cooperation server 611 of the fifth example calculates the incentive amounts in accordance with formulas 935 to 937 shown in
The cooperation server 611 divides the total incentive amount R configured for the cooperation destination web site 931 in accordance with the formulas 935 to 937 among the operators of the cooperation source web sites (the business entities 601 and 602 and so on) so that the allocations are proportional to the number of times of transfers from the cooperation source web sites 932 to 934. The cooperation server 611 calculates the allocations of the total incentive amounts R for all the cooperation destination web sites, and finally calculates the individual total incentive amounts to be paid (or received) by the operators of the respective web sites (the business entities 601 and 602 and so on). In other words, the total incentive entity P is determined as the balance of payment (income and expenditure) of the operator of each web site.
This approach causes an effect in which an operator who runs a cooperation source web site which invites more users receives a higher incentive from operators who runs cooperation destination web sites.
It should be noted that the cooperation server 611 may configure an incentive amount per cooperation instead of configuring the total incentive amount and dividing it among cooperation source web sites. Also, the cooperation server 611 may change the total incentive amount to be paid (or received) by a cooperation destination web site, according to the profit actually acquired by the cooperation destination web site.
Furthermore, the present example, in which an incentive is paid to a cooperation source web site, may be combined with any of the first to fourth examples of the present invention, so that an incentive is paid to the developer of the cooperation module.
Next, a description is given of a six example for implementing the present invention. An incentive-based server cooperation system of the sixth example of the present invention includes various web sites (such as the restaurant search site 603 and the train route search site 604), a cooperation server 611 and a computer 632 operated by a user, as in the fifth example shown in
The difference between the fifth and sixth examples of the present invention exists in the calculation method of incentives paid to business entities who run cooperation source web sites (the business entities 601 and 602 and so on).
In performing a settlement process, the cooperation server 611 of the sixth example calculates the incentive amounts in accordance with formulas 945 to 947 shown in
In other words, a business entity who has configured an increased total incentive amount can receive more incentive than other web sites, when incentives of operators of cooperation destination web sites (business entities 601 and 602 and so on) are distributed.
Adversely, a business entity who has configured a reduced total incentive amount can receive only a reduced amount of incentive compared to other web sites in dividing the incentive.
This scheme causes an effect in which each business entity is encouraged to configure a higher incentive amount as long as their benefit acquired by using this system is reasonable.
Although the present invention is described above in accordance with the embodiments and examples, the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the above-described examples; it would be apparent that the present invention encompasses various changes and modifications, such as appropriate combinations, which would be achieved by the person skilled in the art within the scope of the present invention.
The present invention can be used for the purpose of distributing a profit obtained by a web site to concerned parties as incentives in a system which achieves cooperation on web browsers among multiple web sites over the Internet. Also, the present invention can be used for the purpose of distributing a profit obtained by a business entity who provides a service to other business entities as service,charges in a system which achieves cooperation between multiple servers which are connected to a computer network to provide services for other computers, by using another computer.
As thus described, the server cooperation system according to the present invention is a system for achieving cooperation between service servers such as web sites via a network such as the Internet, by using cooperation modules created by third parties. The server cooperation system according to the present invention relates to a system, method and program for feeding back profits obtained through cooperation of multiple service servers to developers of cooperation modules and business entities running the service servers as incentives.
The server cooperation system according to the present invention provides cooperation between at least two service servers; the cooperation server for achieving cooperation between service servers includes: a business entity data storage means for storing business entity data of service servers; a cooperation module storage means for storing cooperation modules for achieving cooperation between the service servers; a developer data storage means for storing developer data of the cooperation modules; a cooperation history storage means for storing cooperation history data of the cooperation modules; and an incentive settlement means for calculating an amount of an incentive and performing paying of the incentive by referring to the business entity data, the developer data and the cooperation history data.
A client for using the service servers includes: a service information display means for displaying information acquired from the service servers; a cooperation module selection/execution means for performing selection and execution of the cooperation modules stored in the cooperation module storage means and controlling the service information display means; and a cooperation history transmission means for notifying the cooperation history storage means of the execution of the cooperation modules.
The client may further include a cooperation identification data transmission means transmitting cooperation identification data for identifying the executed cooperation modules to the service servers.
The service servers may further include an incentive data determination/notification means for determining incentive data by referring the cooperation identification data received from the cooperation identification data transmission means and transmitting the incentive data to the server cooperation system.
The cooperation server may further include an incentive amount storage means for storing the incentive data received from the incentive data determination/notification means.
The cooperation server may further include: an incentive condition presentation means storing incentive conditions presented by developers of the cooperation modules; an incentive condition storage means for storing the incentive condition; a presented condition notification means for notifying the incentive conditions to business entities of the service servers; and an incentive condition determination means for instructing whether the business entities of the service servers accept the incentive conditions.
An objective of the present invention is to provide an incentive-based server cooperation system which eliminates the need for providing an incentive payment function for the service servers for which cooperation is to be provided.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an incentive-based server cooperation system with improved user convenience, in which various service server cooperation functions are provided by many cooperation modules.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide an incentive-based server cooperation system which allows business entities who run cooperation source service servers to obtain incentives.
In the present invention, the cooperation server is provided with the function of paying incentives and this allows business entities who run service servers to pay incentives by only performing registration; this eliminates the need for providing an incentive payment function for the service servers for which cooperation is to be provided.
Also, the present invention facilitates the function of paying incentives by providing the function of paying incentives for the cooperation server; therefore the present invention promotes many service servers to pay incentives, and allows the developers of the cooperation modules to acquire incentives for the service servers. This promotes developments of many cooperation modules by giving incentives to the developers of the cooperation modules and results in provision of various service server cooperation functions by using many cooperation modules, improving the user convenience.
Furthermore, the present invention, in which the function of paying incentives is provided for the cooperation server to allow flexibly designing the settlement scheme of the incentive amounts, enables business entities who run cooperation source service servers to acquire incentives.
It should be noted that the above-described embodiments and examples may be combined in an actual implementation.
Although embodiments of the present invention are described in detail in the above, actual implementations of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments; the present invention encompasses modifications within the scope of the present invention.
The present application claims the priority based on Japanese Patent application No. 2009-093871 and the disclosure of Japanese Patent application No. 2009-093871 is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-093871 | Apr 2009 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2010/056198 | 4/6/2010 | WO | 00 | 10/27/2011 |
