Patent Application
20150081456
The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No 2013-194669 filed in Japan on Sep. 19, 2013.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a service providing apparatus and a service providing 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 called a program auction has been proposed. Specifically, in the program auction, sponsors bid for a given amount of investment money and 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, it is not always possible to provide value-added services for advertisers. Specifically, in the known art described above, advertisers simply compete for the broadcast rights for the CM space in the auction. For this reason, it is difficult to provide value-added services to the advertisers attending the auction.
It is an object of the present invention to at least partially solve the problems in the conventional technology.
According to one aspect of an embodiment, a service providing apparatus includes a receiving unit configured to receive advertising space information relating to an advertising space set to content by a content creator who creates the content and a targeting condition set to the advertising space by the content creator; and a providing unit configured to provide an auction service in which a bid target is a right to display an advertisement in the advertising space for each targeting condition on the basis of the advertising space information received by the receiving unit.
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, a service providing apparatus, a service providing method, and a service providing program according to exemplary embodiment (hereinafter, referred to as an “embodiment”) will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the service providing apparatus, the service providing method, and the service providing program are not limited by the embodiment. 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 the service providing process according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
In the case of the example of
Furthermore, the advertising space information transmitted by the content creator CP11 includes information relating to three advertising spaces which are set to the beginning of the moving image, an advertising space which is set to a scene in which a smart phone is used among various kinds of scenes included in the moving image, and an advertising space which is set to a café scene. Furthermore, in the case of the example of
Note that one of the aforementioned advertising spaces that is set to the scene in which a smart phone is used or the advertising space set to the scene of the café indicates a cast frame to make a product that an advertiser desires to advertise appear in the moving image. For example, an advertiser who has made a successful bid for the advertising space, which is set for the scene in which a smart phone is used, can make cast members appearing in the moving image use the smart phone to be advertised. Such a method of displaying an advertisement in the main part of the moving image so as to be associated with a specific scene or a cast member is called product placement or the like.
Subsequently, the service providing apparatus 100 presents the plan information received from the content creator CP11 and provides an auction service in which a bid target is the right to display an advertisement in the advertising space that is set to the moving image. At this time, for each advertising space and targeting condition, the service providing apparatus 100 provides the auction service to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement in the advertising space. As described above, the service providing apparatus 100 holds an auction in which the bid target is the right to incorporate an advertisement into a moving image in the stage in which the content creator CP11 plans to create the moving image.
In the case of the example of
For example, the service providing apparatus 100 holds three auctions relating to the advertising space A. More specifically, the service providing apparatus 100 holds the following auctions: an auction to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement in the advertising space A when the user attribute “sex” of the destination user of content (in practice, composite content to be discussed later) is male; an auction to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement in the advertising space A when the user attribute “sex” of the destination user is female; and an auction to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement in the advertising space A even when the user attribute “sex” of the destination user is either male or female.
Furthermore, as auctions relating to the advertising space B, the service providing apparatus 100 holds an auction to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement in the advertising space B when the user attribute “sex” of the destination user is male; and an auction to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement in the advertising space B when the user attribute “sex” of the destination user is female. Furthermore, since the advertising space C includes no setting of a targeting condition, the service providing apparatus 100 holds an auction to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement in the advertising space C regardless of the user attribute of the destination user. Furthermore, as with the advertising space C, the service providing apparatus 100 holds an auction relating to the advertising spaces D and E.
Subsequently, the service providing apparatus 100 receives bids from the advertisers in each auction (step S12). Then, the service providing apparatus 100 determines the advertiser who bids the highest price to be a winning bidder for the period for which the auction is being held and receives the winning bid amount from the winning bidder (step S13). Then, the service providing apparatus 100 sends the winning bid amount received from the winning bidder to the content creator CP11 (step S14). Although subsequent processes will be described in detail later, the service providing apparatus 100 generates a moving image to be distributed by incorporating advertisement data received from the winning bidder into the moving image created by the content creator after all auctions for respective advertising spaces are successful. In addition, although the advertisement of a different advertiser is displayed on a general web page for each access to the web page, only advertisement data corresponding to the winning bidder is incorporated into each advertising space set for the content such as a moving image according to the embodiment. That is, an advertiser who has become the winning bidder will monopolize the advertising space in which an advertisement is displayed.
As described above, the service providing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment holds an auction in which the bid target, that is an item to be auctioned off, is the right to display an advertisement for each advertising space and targeting condition which the content creator has set to the content. Thus, the service providing apparatus 100 allows advertisers to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement that is distributed to particular users. For example, some advertisers may desire to distribute an advertisement only to particular users. This will be explained by way of an example. An advertiser who sells goods such as cosmetics or the like that are targeted for females may desire to distribute an advertisement only to females. On the other hand, an advertiser who sells goods such as sporting goods that are targeted for males may desire to distribute an advertisement only to males. Such an advertiser can distribute an advertisement only to particular users by utilizing the service providing apparatus 100 which has been described above. In this respect, the service providing apparatus 100 is capable of providing value-added services to the advertiser.
Furthermore, the content creator who utilizes the aforementioned service providing apparatus 100 can procure more funds when auctions for each advertising space are held for each targeting condition rather than auctions are held for each advertising space. More specifically, since the advertisement is also distributed to unnecessary users when the advertising space includes no setting of a targeting condition, the advertiser who desires to distribute the advertisement to particular users may possibly reduce bid prices. However, since the aforementioned service providing apparatus 100 holds auctions for each targeting condition, thus it is possible to meet the needs of such an advertiser and increase bid prices. Thus, the service providing apparatus 100 allows the content creator to procure more funds. Furthermore, the content creator utilizing the service providing apparatus 100 can obtain winning bid amount for each targeting condition that is set to one advertising space, thus allowing for procuring more funds. In this context, the service providing apparatus 100 can provide value-added services not only to the advertiser but also to the content creator.
Next, the service providing 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 service providing 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 service providing 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 advertisers. For example, the advertiser terminals 201 to 20n are operated by the advertisers to acquire a web page (hereinafter, may be written as an “auction page”) related to the auction service from the service providing apparatus 100 or to transmit bid information or advertisement data to the service providing 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 service providing 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 or the like. The distribution server 30 receives distribution target content from the service providing apparatus 100. In addition, the distribution server 30 distributes the content received from the service providing apparatus 100 in response to the requests from the user terminals 401 to 40m.
The user terminals 401 to 40m are information processing apparatuses used by 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, 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 service providing apparatus 100 is, for example, a web server or the like. 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 phone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA).
Next, the structure of the service providing 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 by wire or wirelessly. In addition, 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 a random access memory (RAM) or the flash memory, or a storage device, such as a hard disk or the optical disk, for example. The auction storage unit 121 according to the first embodiment stores various kinds of information regarding an auction.
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 “creator ID” indicates identification information for identifying the content creator. The “auction ID” indicates identification information for identifying each auction which is held for each advertising space and targeting condition. The “advertising space information” indicates information related to the advertising space incorporated into the content. The “auction period” indicates the period for which the auction is held.
The “targeting condition” is set to the advertising space by the content creator, and indicates, for example, the user attribute of a destination user of the content. The user attribute is, for example, a psychographic attribute or a demographic attribute. The demographic attribute indicates the information of a demographic user attribute. For example, the demographic attribute applies to the user's “address”, “sex”, “age”, “annual income”, “occupation” or “family structure”. On the other hand, the psychographic attribute indicates the user's preference, sense of values, lifestyle, personality or the like. For example, the psychographic attribute applies to the field of user's preferences such as the “car”, “travel”, “clothing”, or “food”.
The “current price” indicates the highest bid price of bid prices offered for the auction at the moment. The “bidder ID” indicates an advertiser ID for identifying the advertiser or the bidder who has bid a highest bid price at the moment. The “end date and time” indicates date and time when the auction has ended.
In addition, in
That is,
In addition, the information stored in the auction storage unit 121 is not limited to the example of
Referring back to
As illustrated in
The plan receiving unit 131 receives the plan information and the advertising space information from the content creator (for example, the creator terminal 10) who plans to create content. Specifically, the plan receiving unit 131 receives, from the content creator, the plan information indicating the content-plan. Furthermore, the plan receiving unit 131 receives the advertising space information relating to the advertising space which is set to the content by the content creator and which is related to the targeting condition that is set to the advertising space by the content creator. Then, when the plan information and the advertising space information are received, the plan receiving unit 131 assigns a new plan ID and also assigns an auction ID for each advertising space and targeting condition. Then, the plan receiving unit 131 stores the plan information in the “content-plan” of the auction 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 and the targeting condition in the auction storage unit 121 so as to be associated with each auction ID. At this time, the plan receiving unit 131 also stores, in the auction storage unit 121, the creator ID corresponding to the content creator that is the sender of the plan information and the advertising space information. For example, The creator ID is transmitted together with the plan information and the advertising space information by the content creator. Alternatively, when login is required to use various services provided by the service providing apparatus 100, the login ID or the like of the content creator may be the creator ID.
In addition, the plan receiving unit 131 analyzes, for example, the plan information to extract information corresponding to each item, such as the type, director, and an actors of the content. For example, when the plan information is described by a markup language, such as XML (Extensible Markup Language), the plan receiving unit 131 can easily extract the information corresponding to each item from the plan information. In addition, when the format of the plan information is determined in advance, the plan receiving unit 131 can easily extract various kinds of information from the plan information based on the format determined in advance. Similarly, when the advertising space information is described by a markup language or when the format of the advertising space information is determined in advance, the plan receiving unit 131 can easily extract various kinds of information from the advertising space information.
In addition, the plan receiving unit 131 may receive advertising space information including the auction period set by the content creator. At this time, the plan receiving unit 131 may also receive the auction period for each advertising space or may also receive the auction period for each advertising space and targeting condition. In this case, the plan receiving unit 131 stores the auction period, which is included in the advertising space information, in the auction storage unit 121. However, the plan receiving unit 131 may store the auction period, which is determined in advance, in the auction storage unit 121 without being limited to this example. For example, the plan receiving unit 131 may set, as the auction period, a period until predetermined days pass from the date and time when the advertising space information is received.
In addition, the plan receiving unit 131 may also provide the content creator with a submission site for inputting the plan information or the advertising space information. For example, the plan receiving unit 131 provides a submission site for inputting the type, content-plan, or the like of the content. In addition, for example, the plan receiving unit 131 provides a submission site for inputting the temporal position where an advertising space is reproduced (hereafter, may be written as a reproduction position), reproduction time of the advertising space, display size of the advertising space, the targeting condition or the like. In this case, the plan receiving unit 131 receives various kinds of information input to the submission site as plan information and advertising space information.
The service providing unit 132 provides an auction service to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement in the advertising space for each targeting condition on the basis of the advertising space information received by the plan receiving unit 131.
Specifically, when a request for au auction page is received from the advertiser terminal 20, the service providing unit 132 provides the auction page to the advertiser terminal 20. In this case, the service providing unit 132 provides an auction page including the content-plan and information about the auction related to each advertising space, on the basis of the plan information and the advertising space information received from the content creator.
As an example, the service providing unit 132 transmits a list of the content-plan stored in the auction storage unit 121 to the advertiser terminal 20. Then, the service providing unit 132 receives an acquisition request including a plan ID which corresponds to the content-plan selected from the list, from the advertiser terminal 20. In this case, the service providing unit 132 acquires various kinds of information corresponding to the plan ID, which is included in the acquisition request, from the auction storage unit 121. In the example of
In addition, the service providing unit 132 receives the bid information including the bid price from the advertiser terminal 20 through the auction page. In this case, the service providing unit 132 stores the bid price included in the bid information in the auction storage unit 121 so as to be associated with the auction ID indicating the auction for which a bid is to be made. In this case, the service providing unit 132 also stores the bidder ID corresponding to the bidder, who is the transmission source of the bid information, in the auction storage unit 121. In addition, the service providing unit 132 may receive the bidder ID together with the bid information, or may consider the login ID or the like of the bidder as the bidder ID. In addition, when an auction is successful, the service providing unit 132 stores the date and time of the auction in the end date and time of the auction storage unit 121, and stores an advertiser ID for identifying the winning bidder in the bidder ID of the auction storage unit 121.
Here,
In addition, although not illustrated in the drawings, when a bid button displayed in the bid display field R12 is pressed, the service providing unit 132 provides a bid page for inputting the bid price to the advertiser terminal 20. Then, the service providing unit 132 receives bid information including the bid price from the advertiser terminal 20 through the bid page.
In addition, the auction page W10 is not limited to that illustrated in
Then, the service providing unit 132 assumes that, when all auctions for respective advertising spaces have ended, all of the auctions are successful formally. Specifically, the service providing unit 132 assumes that, even if some of the auctions for respective advertising spaces have ended, some of the auctions are temporarily successful until all auctions are successful. In the example illustrated in
Here, when some of the plurality of auctions are not successful, the service providing unit 132 may assume that no auctions have been successful. As a state where an auction is not successful, a case where there is no bid, a case where the highest bid price does not reach the minimum bid price, and the like can be mentioned. In this case, the service providing unit 132 may hold all auctions again. Alternatively, the service providing unit 132 may hold again only some auctions that have not been successful. In addition, the service providing unit 132 may also hold again each auction relating to the advertising space corresponding to some of the auctions that have not been successful. For example, in the example of
Now, a description will be made to the process for determining a winning bidder by the service providing unit 132. First, for an auction relating to an advertising space including no setting of a targeting condition or for an auction relating to an advertising space including no setting of overlapping targeting conditions, the service providing unit 132 determines that the advertiser who has put in the highest bid is accepted as a winning bidder. For example, the targeting conditions “male” and “female” which are set at the advertising space B illustrated in
On the other hand, when some of a plurality of targeting conditions having been set to the advertising space overlap each other, the service providing unit 132 gets, among a plurality of auctions corresponding to such multiple targeting conditions, a combination of auctions done, the combination of auctions in which mutual targeting conditions do not overlap and the total winning bid price is maximized. Referring to the examples of
In
Here, the targeting conditions “male” and “overall” partially overlap each other. More specifically, a user who is a male applies to some of all users including male and female users. Likewise, the targeting conditions “female” and “overall” partially overlap each other. On the other hand, the targeting conditions “male” and “female” do not overlap each other. In such a case, the service providing unit 132 makes a comparison between the total amount of winning bid prices for auctions corresponding to the targeting conditions that do not overlap each other and a winning bid price for an auction corresponding to a targeting condition that overlaps another targeting condition, and determines that an advertiser who tendered the higher winning bid price is accepted as the winning bidder.
In the case of the example of
On the other hand, in the example illustrated in
In this manner, when targeting conditions overlap each other, the service providing unit 132 determines the winning bidder on the basis of the winning bid prices so that the targeting conditions do not overlap each other. Thus, the service providing unit 132 allows the advertiser, who is the winning bidder, to have the exclusive right of displaying the advertisement as well as the content creator to procure more funds. Note that the aforementioned combined auction into which a plurality of auctions have been combined is designed, for example, by mechanism design.
Referring back to the description of
Thus, the winning bid amount managing 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 the request from the content creator. Therefore, the winning bid amount managing unit 133 can prevent the winning bid amount from being sent to the content creator who does not create content. As a result, the winning bid amount managing unit 133 can prevent the abuse of the auction service provided by the service providing apparatus 100.
In addition, 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 managing unit 133 is left over. In this case, the winning bid amount managing unit 133 may send the surplus money to the content creator after the content creator has created the content. Accordingly, since the winning bid amount managing unit 133 pays the content creator compensation for the completion of the content, it is possible to improve the creative impulse of the content creator.
In addition, although the example where the winning bid amount managing unit 133 transfers winning bid amount to the content creator is illustrated in the example described above, the winning bid amount managing unit 133 may perform only processing for calculating the amount of money transferred to the content creator. Then, the administrator or the like of the service providing apparatus 100 may transfer to the content creator the amount of money calculated by the winning bid amount managing unit 133.
The content receiving unit 134 receives the content corresponding to the plan information from the content creator (for example, the creator terminal 10). For example, when the content creator which has transmitted the plan information completes content, the content receiving unit 134 receives a completed content. In addition, the content receiving unit 134 receives advertisement data which is incorporated into the advertising space from the winning bidder (for example, the advertiser terminal 20).
Note that the winning bidder having the right of displaying an advertisement may transfer this right to another advertiser. In this case, the content receiving unit 134 receives advertisement data not only from the winning bidder but also from an advertiser who has the right of displaying an advertisement. Hereinafter, it is assumed that even when simply expressed as “the winning bidder”, the winning bidder can also include the advertiser to whom the right of displaying an advertisement has been transferred.
The generating unit 135 combines the content and the advertisement data received from the content receiving unit 134 to generate composite content. Specifically, the generating unit 135 generates composite content after all auctions corresponding to the predetermined plan information (plan ID) are successful in the auction service provided by the service providing unit 132. In this case, the generating unit 135 generates composite content by incorporating the advertisement data of the advertiser, who has made a successful bid for the right to display an advertisement in an advertising space set to the content created by the content creator, in the advertising space based on the advertising space information stored in the auction storage unit 121.
In addition, as described above, the advertising space for which the advertiser has made a successful bid may correspond to a cast frame in which an advertising product appears in an image, as in the product placement. In this case, for example, the content creator receives an advertising product from the advertiser, who is a winning bidder, and creates the content, such as a moving image, using the received advertising product. Therefore, when the advertising space is the product placement, the content creator creates composite content including the advertisement data. That is, the content received by the content receiving unit 134 may correspond to composite content. For this reason, the generating unit 135 does not perform the process of generating the composite content when the advertising space set to the content is only the product placement. In other words, the generating unit 135 performs the above process of generating the composite content when advertising spaces that can be incorporated into the finished product of the content, such as the advertising spaces A to C illustrated in
The transmitting unit 136 transmits the composite content generated by the generating unit 135 or the composite content received by the content receiving unit 134 to the distribution server 30. As a result, the distribution server 30 distributes the composite content, in which the advertisement data is incorporated, to the user terminal 40 in response to a request from the user terminal 40.
Here, referring to the example of
Next, the procedure of the service providing process of the service providing system 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
In addition, in the example of
Subsequently, the service providing apparatus 100 receives a request for an auction page from the advertiser terminal 20 (step S102). In this case, the service providing apparatus 100 provides the auction page having the content-plan and the targeting condition of content inserted thereinto to the advertiser terminal 20 (step S103). Then, the service providing apparatus 100 receives bid information including the bid price from the advertiser terminal 20 through the auction page (step S104). Thus, the service providing apparatus 100 receives bid information from a plurality of advertiser terminals 20.
Then, the service providing apparatus 100 determines a winning bidder on the basis of the bid information received from the advertiser terminal 20 (step S105). For example, the service providing apparatus 100 determines an advertiser who has bid the highest price at the end date and time when the auction period is expired, as a winning bidder. Furthermore, for example, when the targeting conditions overlap each other as in the example illustrated in
Furthermore, the winning bidder transmits advertisement data to the service providing apparatus 100 using the advertiser terminal 20 (step S106). Then, when the content has been created content, the content creator transmits the content to the service providing apparatus 100 using the creator terminal 10 (step S107).
Then, the service providing apparatus 100 incorporates the advertisement 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 S108).
As described above, the service providing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment has the plan receiving unit 131 and the service providing unit 132. The plan receiving unit 131 receives the advertising space information which relates to the advertising space that is set to the content by the content creator who creates the content and which relates to the targeting condition that is set by the content creator to the advertising space. The service providing unit 132 provides an auction service to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement in an advertising space for each targeting condition on the basis of the advertising space information received by the plan receiving unit 131.
Thus, the service providing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment allows an advertiser to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement, which is to be distributed to a particular target, and thus can provide a value-added service to the advertiser.
Furthermore, in the service providing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, when some of a plurality of targeting conditions set at the advertising space overlap each other, the service providing unit 132 establishes a combination of a plurality of auctions corresponding to the plurality of targeting conditions, the combination of the auctions having targeting conditions that do not overlap each other and providing the maximum total winning bid price.
Thus, the service providing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment enables the advertiser or the winning bidder to have an exclusive right of displaying the advertisement as well as the content creator to procure more funds.
A second embodiment will illustrate an example of providing an auction service for predicting, for each targeting condition, the number of times the content to be planned are viewed by users and than presenting the prediction result to the advertiser who is the bidder. Note that hereinafter, the number of times by which content is viewed by users may be written as “the number of PV (page view)” below. In addition, hereinafter, the predicted value of the number of PV may be written as “the predicted number of PV” below.
First, referring to
The “predicted number of PV” indicates the prediction value of the number of times the completed version, of the content that are planning to be created by the content creator is viewed by users. In other words, “the predicted number of PV” indicated in
The “creator ID” indicates identifying information for identifying the content creator. The “created content” indicates content created in the past by the content creator.
The “category” indicates the category to which the created content belongs. Example categories of created content may include the drama, the fiction, and the animation. Note that the category of content is included, for example, in the plan information and set by the content creator. However, the category of content may also be set by the manager or the like of the service providing apparatus 200 or the distribution server 30 who checked the content that was completed. The “targeting condition” indicates the targeting condition that was used by the distribution server 30 to determine the destination user of the created content. That is the “targeting condition” indicates the user attribute of the user to whom the distribution server 30 actually distributed the created content. The “views” indicates the number of times the content has been viewed. In other words, the “views” indicates the number of times the distribution server 30 has distributed the content (in practice, the composite content to be discussed later) to the user terminal 40.
That is,
Referring back to the description of
As an aspect, on the basis of the views of content created in the past by the content creator who transmitted the plan information, the calculating unit 241 calculates a predicted number of PV of the content corresponding to the plan information. More specifically, of the created content stored in the history information storage unit 222, the calculating unit 241 identifies the created content corresponding to the creator ID of the content creator who transmitted the plan information. Then, on the basis of the views, for each targeting condition, corresponding to the identified created content, the calculating unit 241 calculates the predicted number of PV for each targeting condition of the content being planned. For example, as the predicted number of PV, the calculating unit 241 calculates the average value of the views corresponding to the created content. This is because the number of PVs of content created by the same content creator is thought to lie within a certain range.
Now, referring to the example of
Furthermore, as another aspect, the calculating unit 241 according to the embodiment calculates the predicted number of PV on the basis of the views of the created content corresponding to the plan information received by the plan receiving unit 131 among all the created content stored in the history information storage unit 222 (i.e., the created content that is created in the past not only by the content creator, who transmitted the plan information, but also by various content creators). More specifically, the calculating unit 241 identifies the created content of which category coincides with that of the content included in the plan information, and calculates the predicted number of PV on the basis of the views corresponding to the identified created content. This is because the number of PVs of those content of the same category may often fall in a certain range. For example, it is thought to be true that content relating to the drama tend to be typically viewed 100000 times, while content relating to the animation tend to be viewed typically 50000 times.
Referring to the example of
The acquiring unit 242 acquires various types of information to be used to calculate the predicted number of PV of content. More specifically, the acquiring unit 242 associates the composite content generated by the generating unit 135 with the creator ID of the content creator so as to be stored in the created content of the history information storage unit 222. That is, the acquiring unit 242 stores the composite content generated by the generating unit 135 in the history information storage unit 222 as the content created in the past by the content creator. However, the invention is not limited to this example, and the acquiring unit 242 may also store content received by the content receiving unit 134 in the created content of the history information storage unit 222.
Furthermore, the acquiring unit 242 periodically accesses the distribution server 30 to thereby acquire, from the distribution server 30, the number of distributions for each targeting condition of the composite content. Then, the acquiring unit 242 associates the number of distributions for each targeting condition with the composite content (the created content) so as to be stored in the views of the history information storage unit 222.
The service providing unit 232 presents the predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit 241 as well as provides an auction service. More specifically, the service providing unit 232 provides an auction page on which the predicted number of PV stored in the auction storage unit 221 is publicized. Here,
As described above, the service providing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment has the calculating unit 241 and the service providing unit 232. When the plan receiving unit 131 has received the plan information, the calculating unit 241 calculates, on the basis of the plan information, the predicted number of PV which is a prediction value of the number of times the content corresponding to the plan information are viewed by users. The service providing unit 232 presents the predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit 241 as well as provides an auction service.
By doing so, the service providing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment allows the advertiser, who is a bidder, to grasp the prediction number of times the advertisement will be viewed by users even when the auction is held at the planning stage of the content. As a result, the Service providing apparatus 200 can provide the advertiser with a value-added service.
The aforementioned service providing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment may also be implemented in various different types of forms other than the aforementioned embodiments. In this context, a description will be made below to another embodiment of the service providing apparatus 200.
3-1. Calculation Technique of the Predicted Number of PV
The aforementioned second embodiment illustrates the example in which the service providing apparatus 200 calculates the predicted number of PV on the basis of a prediction factor: “the views of the created content of which content creator coincides with that of the content being planned”; or “the views of the created content of which category coincides with that of the content being planned”. However, the calculating unit 241 may also calculate the predicted number of PV using a plurality of prediction factors.
For example, the calculating unit 241 may calculate the predicted number of PV using both “views of the created content matched with a content creator of content being planned” and “views of the created content matched with a category of content being planned”. Now, a description will be made to the example in which the calculating unit 241 generates a regression model (hereafter referred to as the “PV number model M1”) for each targeting condition from both the prediction elements, and calculates the predicted number of PV from the generated ?V number model M1. Note that it is assumed below that the calculating unit 241 creates the PV number model M1 of the targeting condition “male”.
First, the calculating unit 241 generates the PV number model M1, which shows the predicted number of PV by the creator ID or the category, by performing a regression analysis using the views stored in the history information storage unit 222 as a dependent variable (object variable) and the creator ID or the category stored in the history information storage unit 222 as an independent variable (explanatory variable). For example, the PV number model M1 calculated by the calculating unit 241 is expressed by the following Expression (1).
pv=a0·x0+a1·x1 (1)
In the above Expression (1), “pv” indicates views stored in the history information storage unit 222. In addition, “x0” indicates the average value of the views for each creator ID. In the example of
For example, in the case of the created content “CD11” illustrated in
pv=a0·x0+a1·x1 (1)
160000=a0−(150000)+a1·(170000) (2)
Also for the created content “CD12” or “CD21”, the calculating unit 241 calculates the same expression as the above Expression (2). Then, the calculating unit 241 calculates “a0” and “a1”, which approximately satisfy each expression, by performing a regression analysis corresponding to each item of created content, and generates the PV number model M1 by applying the calculated “a0” and “a1” to the above Expression (1).
Then, when the plan information is received by the plan receiving unit 131, the calculating unit 241 calculates the predicted number of PV using the PV number model M1 expressed by above Expression (1). Specifically, the calculating unit 241 substitutes, for “x0” of Equation (1) above, the average value of the views of created content and the targeting condition “male” corresponding to the content creator who transmitted the plan information. Furthermore, the calculating unit 241 substitutes, for “x1” of Expression (1) above, the average value of the views of the created content and the targeting condition “male” corresponding to the category included in the plan information. This allows the calculating unit 241 to calculate the predicted number of PV of the content indicated by the plan information.
Thus, the service providing apparatus 200 can employ a plurality of prediction factors, thereby computing the predicted number of PV with high accuracy. As a result, the service providing apparatus 200 can provide the advertiser with a high value-added service.
In addition, in the above Expression (1), a linear model has been mentioned as an example. However, the calculating unit 241 may use a “log linear” model as in the following Expression (3) instead of the linear model.
pv=1/{1+exp(−(a0·x0+a1·x1))} (3)
3-2. Update of the Predicted Number of PV (1)
Furthermore, the plan receiving unit 131 of the service providing apparatus 200 which has been described above may also receive the plan information from the content creator multiple times in a stepwise manner. In this case, each time the plan receiving unit 131 receives new plan information, the calculating unit 241 may also calculate the predicted number of PV on the basis of the views of the created content corresponding to the new plan information. In case, the service providing unit 232 presents the predicted number of PV, which has been newly calculated by the calculating unit 241, and provides an auction service.
As described above, the service providing apparatus 200 may also receive the plan information multiple times in a stepwise manner. This allows the service providing apparatus 200 to implement a practical auction service for the content creator. For example, even when the content-plan has not been sufficiently studied, the content creator can transmit a simplified version of the content-plan to the service providing apparatus 200, thereby holding an auction. Then, the service providing apparatus 200 can calculate the predicted number of PV each time the plan information is received and thereby calculate the predicted number Of PV with high accuracy using the latest plan information, thus allowing for providing the advertiser with a high value-added service.
3-3. Update of the Predicted Number of PV (2)
On the other hand, the service providing apparatus 200 may also update the predicted number of PV even when the plan information is not received in a stepwise manner. More specifically, while the service providing unit 232 is providing an auction service, the calculating unit 241 may also periodically calculate the predicted number of PV on the basis of the views of the created content corresponding to the auction information such as the bid count or the highest bid price. In this case, the service providing unit 232 presents the new predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit 241 and provides an auction service. Referring to
The “total bid count” indicates the total number of bids that have been tendered in each auction corresponding to the plan ID. The “total bid price” indicates the total amount of winning bid prices in each auction corresponding to the plan ID. These “total bid count” and “total bid price” are stored by the service providing unit 232 after all the auctions corresponding to the plan ID are ended.
Hare, on the basis of the completed auctions stored in the auction storage unit 223, the calculating unit 241 creates a regression model (hereafter referred to as the “the PV number model M2”) for computing the predicted number of PV from the total bid count or the total bid price. For example, the calculating unit 241 employs the views stored in the history information storage unit 222 as the dependent variable (object variable) and employs the total bid count or the total bid price stored in the auction storage unit 223 as the independent variable (explanatory variable) in order to perform the regression analysis, thereby creating the PV number model M2 indicative of the predicted number of PV by the total bid count or the total bid price. At this time, the calculating unit 241 employs the dependent variable (object variable) as the views for each targeting condition, thereby creating the PV number model M2 for each targeting condition.
Then, the calculating unit 241 periodically calculates the predicted number of PV using the PV number model M2 after the provision of an auction service has been held. Now, referring to the plan ID “P11” illustrated in
First, the calculating unit 241 calculates the total bid count in each auction being held which corresponds to the plan ID “P11”, and the total amount of the current price (hereafter referred to as the “total bid price”). For example, these total bid count and total bid price are temporarily stored in a predetermined storage unit (which may also be the auction storage unit 223 or the like) by the service providing unit 232 while the auction is being held.
Then, on the basis of the calculated total bid count, the calculating unit 241 predicts the total bid count when each auction being held is ended. More specifically, on the basis of the auction period and the number of days elapsed from the auction starting day to the current day, the calculating unit 241 predicts the total bid count and the total bid price at the end of the auction. For example, on the basis of the history of auctions held in the past, the calculating unit 241 can predict the total bid count from the auction period and the number of elapsed days. Taking an example for illustration, it is assumed that as the auction history information relating to the auctions held in the past, the service providing apparatus 200 stores the period of the duration of each auction and the total bid count and the total bid price for each number of elapsed days. In this case, the calculating unit 241 analyzes the relation between the duration period and number of elapsed days and the total bid count and total bid price which are stored in the auction history information. This allows the calculating unit 241 to predict the total bid count and the total bid price at the end of each auction being held from the duration period and the number of elapsed days of each of such auctions being held. Then, the calculating unit 241 substitutes the predicted total bid count and total bid price for the PV number model M2 for each targeting condition, thereby computing the predicted number of PV for each targeting condition.
As described above, while the auction service is being provided, the service providing apparatus 200 may also sequentially update the predicted number of PV on the basis of various types of information relating to the auction (the bid count or the bid price). Here, since a lot of users are expected to view the content if the content-plan is outstanding, the bid count and the winning bid price of the auction tend to increase. And, when the content-plan is actually outstanding, the content generally tend to be viewed by an increased number of users. That is, the total bid count and the total bid price to be predicted by the calculating unit 241 while the auction is being held can be said to indicate the evaluation indicator of the content-plan. And, the aforementioned PV number model M2 can be said to indicate the relation between the evaluation indicator of the content-plan and the actual views. In this context, the calculating unit 241 can calculate the predicted number of PV with high accuracy using the PV number model M2.
3-4. Prediction Factor Used for Prediction
Furthermore, the aforementioned second embodiment illustrates the example in which employed by the service providing apparatus 200 as a prediction factor to be used to calculate the predicted number of PV are “the views of created content of which content creator coincides with that of the content being planned”, “the views of created content of which category coincides with that of the content being planned”, “total bid count”, and “total bid price”. However, the calculating unit 241 of the service providing apparatus 200 may also calculate the predicted number of PV using any other prediction factor than these prediction factors.
For example, the calculating unit 241 may also calculate the predicted number of PV using the following prediction factors: “the views of created content of which director coincides with that of the content being planned”, “the views of created content of which actor coincides with that of the content being planned”, “the views of created content of which reproduction time is equivalent to that of the content being planned”, “the views of created content of which number of advertising spaces is equivalent to that set to the content being planned”, or “the views of created content of which position of the advertising space is similar to that set to the content being planned”. In this case, the calculating unit 241 creates a PV number model using these prediction factors and then calculates the predicted number of PV from the created PV number model.
The service providing system 1 according to each of the aforementioned embodiments may also be implemented in various different types of forms other than those of the aforementioned embodiments. In this context, a description will now be made to other embodiments of the service providing system 1. Note that a description will now be made to other embodiments mainly by taking the service providing apparatus 100 as an example. However, the other embodiments to be described below can also be applied to the service providing apparatus 200.
The service providing apparatus 100 described above may also provide the content creator (i.e., the creator terminal 10) with a candidate targeting condition that is set to the advertising space. Now, a description will be specifically made to this point. Note that in the descriptions below, it is assumed that the service providing apparatus 100 holds the history information storage unit 222 illustrated in
First, of the created content stored in the history information storage unit 222, the plan receiving unit 131 identifies the created content related to the content that correspond to the plan intonation (hereafter referred to as the related content). For example, of the created content stored in the history information storage unit 222, the plan receiving unit 131 identifies, as the related content, the created content that is created in the past by the content creator who is the sender of the plan information. Subsequently, the plan receiving unit 131 acquires, from the history information storage unit 222, the targeting condition corresponding to the identified related content. Here, the targeting condition stored in the history information storage unit 222 can be said to be a user attribute of a user who viewed the related content. Thus, the plan receiving unit 131 is to acquire a user attribute from the history information storage unit 222. Then, the plan receiving unit 131 provides the content creator or the sender of the plan information with the targeting condition (the user attribute in this example) acquired from the history information storage unit 222. For example, the plan receiving unit 131 provides the content creator with a selection window on which the targeting condition acquired from the history information storage unit 222 can be selected. At this time, when having received the advertising space information that includes no targeting condition, the plan receiving unit 131 provides a selection window on which a targeting condition can be selected for each advertising space included in the advertising space information. Then, the plan receiving unit 131 receives, as the advertising space information, the targeting condition selected on such a selection window.
On the other hand, without being limited to the aforementioned example, the invention may also be configured such that of the created content stored in the history information storage unit 222, the plan receiving unit 131 may also identify, as the related content, those created content of which category coincides with that included in the plan information, and then provide the content creator with the targeting condition corresponding to the identified related content.
As described above, the service providing apparatus 100 can provide the content creator with the user attribute of a user who viewed the related content associated with the content being planned, thereby allowing the content creator to set an appropriate targeting condition to the advertising space. By doing so, the service providing apparatus 100 can provide the content creator with a high value-added service. Furthermore, the service providing apparatus 100 can prevent degradation in the effects of an advertisement by allowing the content creator to set an appropriate targeting condition to the advertising space. As a result, it is possible to provide the advertiser with a high value-added service.
Furthermore, the service providing apparatus 100 described above may present the user attribute relating to the destination user of the related content associated with the content corresponding to the plan information as well as provide the auction service which has been described above. Now, a description will be made specifically to this point. Note that it is assumed that like the aforementioned example, the service providing apparatus 100 retains the history information storage unit 222 illustrated in
First, like the plan receiving unit 131 of the aforementioned example, the service providing unit 132 references the history information storage unit 222 to identify the related content associated with the content corresponding to the plan information and then acquires the targeting condition (i.e., user attribute) corresponding to the identified related content. Then, the service providing unit 132 presents, to the advertiser, the user attribute that is the targeting condition acquired from the history information storage unit 222. For example, the service providing unit 132 publicizes, for example, the ratio of a user attribute on the auction page W10 illustrated in
As described above, the service providing apparatus 100 publicizes, on the auction page, the user attribute of users who viewed the related content associated with the content being planned, thereby providing the advertiser with information useful for bidding. For example, the advertiser can view the distribution of user attributes, thereby grasping the tendency of users who will possibly view the content being planned. For this reason, the advertiser can bid for the advertising space that includes the setting of the targeting condition that matches the needs of the advertiser. In this context, the service providing apparatus 100 can provide the advertiser with a value-added service.
Furthermore, the service providing apparatus 100 described above may present information relating to users for whom the content being planned are targeted as well as may also provide the auction service described above. More specifically, when planning the production of content, the content creator may often study on the target layer of the content. For example, the content creator may plan the production of female-oriented content; may plan the production of male-oriented content; or may plan the production of child-oriented content.
In this context, the plan receiving unit 131 receives the plan information that includes information relating to distribution target users of the content from the content creator. Then, the service providing unit 132 publicizes, on an auction page, information relating to those distribution target users on the basis of the plan information received by the plan receiving unit 131. For example, the service providing unit 132 publicizes “male-oriented content” or “female-oriented content” on the auction page.
As described above, the service providing apparatus 100 publicizes, on the auction page, the information relating to target users of the content being planned, thereby providing the advertiser with information that can be referred to for bidding. In this context, the service providing apparatus 100 can provide the advertiser with a value-added service.
Furthermore, the aforementioned embodiments have been described by illustrating, by way of example, the sex of users as the targeting condition that is set to the advertising space. However, the advertising space that is set to the targeting condition is not limited to the sex of users, but may also be another demographic attribute or a psychographic attribute. Furthermore, for example, as illustrated in
Furthermore, for example, as illustrated in
Also illustrated was the example in which the service providing apparatus 100 provides an auction service to bid for the advertisement right of displaying an advertisement in the content being planned. However, for example, the service providing unit 132 of the service providing apparatus 100 may also provide an auction service to bid for the right of displaying an advertisement not in the content being planned but in already completed content. Furthermore, the aforementioned embodiments have been described with, reference to the example in which the service providing apparatus 100 produces composite content. However, the production of the composite content may also be implemented by any other unit such as the distribution server 30. In such a case, the service providing apparatus 100 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.
In addition, in the example of
In addition, the service providing apparatuses 100 and 200 according to the embodiments described above are realized by a computer 1000 configured as illustrated in
The CPU 1100 operates based on a program stored in the ROM 1300 or the HDD 1400, and controls each unit. A boot program executed by the CPU 1100 at the start of the computer 1000, a program depending on the hardware of the computer 1000, and the like are stored in the ROM 1300.
The HDD 1400 stores a program executed by the CPU 1100 and data used by the program. The communication interface 1500 receives data from other apparatuses through the communication network 50 and transmits the data to the CPU 1100, and transmits the 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 an input device through the input/output interface 1600. In addition, the CPU 1100 outputs the generated data to an 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 it to the CPU 1100 through the RAM 1200. The CPU 1100 loads the program onto the RAM 1200 from the recording medium 1800 through the media interface 1700, executes the loaded program. The recording medium 1800 is, for example, 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, or a semiconductor memory.
For example, when the computer 1000 functions as the service providing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, the CPU 1100 of the computer 1000 realizes the function of the control unit 130 by executing the program loaded onto the RAM 1200. In addition, data in the auction storage unit 121 is stored in the HDD 1400. The CPU 1100 of the computer 1000 reads these programs from the recording medium 1800 and executes them. However, as another example, these programs may be acquired from other apparatuses through the communication network 50.
Among the respective processes described in the above embodiment, all or some of the processes described to be automatically performed can also be manually performed, or all or some of the processes described to be manually performed can also be automatically performed. In addition, information including the procedure, specific names, various kinds of data, or parameters, which are illustrated in the diagrams or specification described above, can be arbitrarily changed unless otherwise specified.
For example, the various kinds of information illustrated in the respective diagrams are not limited to the illustrated information. In addition, although the example where a plurality of advertising spaces are set on the same content is illustrated in each embodiment described above, one advertising space may be set on the same content, for example.
In addition, in the embodiment described above, an example is illustrated in which the content creator sets the reproduction position, reproduction time, or the like of the advertising space on the content. However, the service providing apparatus 100 may receive only plan information from the content creator, and may not receive advertising space information. In this case, the service providing apparatus 100 sets, for example, an advertising space of the reproduction position or reproduction time determined in advance on the content.
In addition, although the example where composite content obtained by incorporating advertisement data into content is distributed to the user terminal 40 is illustrated in each embodiment described above, for example, advertisement data may be distributed to the user terminal 40 by an advertisement server (called an ad server or the like), which is not illustrated in
In addition, each component of each apparatus illustrated in the diagrams is a functional and conceptual component, and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated in the diagrams. That is, specific forms of distribution and integration of each apparatus are not limited to those illustrated in the diagrams, and all or some of distributed and integrated components may be configured to be distributed and integrated functionally or physically in arbitrary units depending on various types of loads, use conditions, or the like. For example, the plan receiving unit 131 and the content receiving unit 134 illustrated in
In addition, the respective embodiment described above can be appropriately combined to the extent that the processing content is consistent.
In addition, the above-described sections, modules, units can be read as “means”, “circuits”, and the like. For example, the plan receiving unit can be read as a plan receiving unit or a planning receiving circuit.
An aspect of an embodiment produces an effect that value-added services can be provided to advertisers.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-194669 | Sep 2013 | JP | national |
