Patent Publication Number: US-2015081422-A1

Title: Service providing apparatus and service providing method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-194670 filed in Japan on Sep. 19, 2013. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     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. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     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 plan receiving unit configured to receive plan information indicating a plan of content planned by a content creator; a calculating unit configured to calculate the number of predicted views that is a predicted value of the number of times at which the content is viewed by a user; and a providing unit configured to present the number of predicted views calculated by the calculating unit and the plan information received by the plan receiving unit, and provides an auction service in which a bid target is a right to display an advertisement on the content. 
     The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical and industrial significance of this invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating an example of the service providing process according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary structure of a service providing system according to the embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary structure of a service providing apparatus according to the embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary auction storage unit according to the embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary history information storage unit according to the embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary list page according to the embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary auction page according to the embodiment; 
         FIG. 8  is a sequence diagram illustrating a service providing process by a service providing system according to the embodiment; 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary service providing process according to a modified example; 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary auction storage unit according to the modified example; 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary auction page according to the modified example; 
         FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary accounting process according to the modified example; 
         FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary auction page according to the modified example; 
         FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating exemplary content according to the modified example; and 
         FIG. 15  is a hardware block diagram illustrating an exemplary of a computer to realize the function of the service providing apparatus. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     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. 
     1. Service Providing Process 
     First, an example of the service providing process according to an embodiment will be described with reference to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating an example of the service providing process according to the embodiment. A service providing apparatus  100  illustrated in  FIG. 1  predicts the number of times at which content is delivered, when plan information of the content is received from a content creator. Then, the service providing apparatus  100  presents the predicted the number of times of distribution, and then provides an auction service in which a bid target, that is an item to be auctioned off, is right to display an advertisement on the content. Hereinafter, a moving image is given as an example of content. In the following description, in some cases, the number of times of distribution is referred to as a “number of deliveries”. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the service providing apparatus  100  receives plan information indicating a plan of a moving image and advertising space information relating to an advertising space which is set to the moving image by a content creator CP11, from the content creator CP11 who plans to create the moving image (step S 11 ). In the following description, in some cases, the plan of content (for example, the moving image) is referred to as a “content-plan”. In addition, the service providing apparatus  100  may receive the plan information and the advertising space information at the same time or at different times. 
     In the example illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the plan information transmitted by the content creator CP11 includes information indicating that the type of content is a moving image, the director of the moving image is “X1”, the actors of the moving image are “Y1”, “Y2” and “Y3”, and the summary of the moving image is “vivid melodrama”. In addition, 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. Here, the advertising space 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, after receiving the plan information from the content creator CP11, the service providing apparatus  100  predicts the number of deliveries of a moving image that is content being planned (step S 12 ). A process of predicting the number of deliveries will be described later, but the service providing apparatus  100  predicts the number of deliveries based on, for example, the plan information, a delivery history of a moving image having created previously, or the like. Note that the number of deliveries indicates, in other words, the number of times at which a moving image is viewed by the user. Hereinafter, the number of deliveries is described in some cases as “the number of PV (page view)” indicating the number of times at which content is viewed by the user. Furthermore, hereinafter, a predicted value of the number of PV may be described in some cases as “the predicted number of PV”. 
     Then, the service providing apparatus  100  presents the advertiser the predicted number of PV, and provides an auction service in which the right to display an advertisement on an advertising space to be set to the moving image is a bid target. That is, at a stage in which the content creator CP11 plans to create the moving image, the service providing apparatus  100  presents the predicted number of PV in content being planned, and holds an auction in which the bid target is the right to incorporate an advertisement into the moving image. 
     In the case of the example of  FIG. 1 , the service providing apparatus  100  presents the advertiser “120,000” as the predicted number of PV of content being planned by the content creator CP11. Furthermore, the service providing apparatus  100  opens the type, director, actor, and summary of content on the basis of the plan information, and individually provides an auction service related to each advertising space on the basis of the advertising space information. Specifically, the service providing apparatus  100  individually holds auctions for the advertising spaces A, B and C displayed in the beginning of the moving image and the advertising spaces D and E displayed in the main part of a moving image. 
     Subsequently, the service providing apparatus  100  receives bids from the advertisers in each auction (step S 13 ). 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 S 14 ). Then, the service providing apparatus  100  sends the winning bid amount received from the winning bidder to the content creator CP11 (step S 15 ). 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 CP11 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, at the stage in which the content creator is planning to create a moving image, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment presents a predicted number of PV of the moving image, and holds an auction. Thus, the service providing apparatus  100  enables the advertiser that is a bidder to apprehend the number of times at which an advertisement is likely to be viewed by the user. Specifically, in the auction service provided by the service providing apparatus  100 , a right to display an advertisement in a moving image at the planning stage is a bid target. For this reason, the advertiser that is a bidder cannot check a finished product of a moving image at the time of bidding, and thus it is difficult to predict the number of times at which a finished product of a moving image is delivered. However, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment provides the auction service while presenting the predicted number of PV, and thus, even when an auction is held at the stage of planning a moving image, can provide information serving as a reference at the time of bidding to the advertiser. As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  can provide a service having an value-added to the advertiser. 
     2. Structure of Service Providing System 
     Next, the structure of the service providing system according to the embodiment will be described with reference to  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of the service providing system according to the embodiment. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a service providing system  1  includes a creator terminal  10 , advertiser terminals  20   1  to  20   n , a distribution server  30 , user terminals  40   1  to  40   m , and the service providing apparatus  100 . The creator terminal  10 , the advertiser terminals  20   1  to  20   n , the distribution server  30 , the user terminals  40   1  to  40   m , and the service providing apparatus  100  are connected through a communication network  50  so as to communicate with each other wirelessly or by wire. In addition, the service providing system  1  illustrated in  FIG. 2  may include a plurality of creator terminals  10 , a plurality of distribution servers  30 , a plurality of service providing apparatuses  100 . 
     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  20   1  to  20   n  are information processing apparatuses used by advertisers. For example, the advertiser terminals  20   1  to  20   n  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  20   1  to  20   n , the advertiser terminals  20   1  to  20   n  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  40   1  to  40   m . 
     The user terminals  40   1  to  40   m  are information processing apparatuses used by users who view content. For example, the user terminals  40   1  to  40   m  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  40   1  to  40   m , the user terminals  40   1  to  40   m  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  FIG. 1 , the service providing apparatus  100  provides the auction service related to the advertising space which is incorporated into content in the planning stage. 
     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). 
     3. Structure of Service Providing Apparatus 
     Next, the structure of the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment will be described with reference to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment. As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the service providing apparatus  100  includes a communication unit  110 , an auction storage unit  121 , a history information storage unit  122 , and a control unit  130 . In addition, the service providing apparatus  100  may include an input unit (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like) which receives various types of operations from an administrator of the service providing apparatus  100  or the like or a display unit (for example, a liquid crystal display or the like) which displays various kinds of information. 
     The communication unit  110  is implemented by, for example, a network interface card (NIC). The communication unit  110  is connected with the communication network  50  in a wired or wireless manner. Then, the communication unit  110  transmits and receives information to and from the creator terminal  10 , the advertiser terminal  20 , or the distribution server  30  via the communication network  50 . 
     The auction storage unit  121  and the history information storage unit  122  are implemented by a semiconductor memory element, such as a random access memory (RAM) or a flash memory, or a storage device, such as a hard disk or an optical disk. 
     The auction storage unit  121  stores various kinds of information regarding an auction.  FIG. 4  illustrates an example of the auction storage unit  121  according to the embodiment. As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the auction storage unit  121  includes items such as “plan ID”, “creator ID”, “content-plan”, “predicted number of PV”, “auction ID”, “advertising space information”, “auction period”, “current price”, “bidder ID”, and “end date and time”. 
     The “plan ID” indicates identification information for identifying content which is planned to be created by the content creator. The “creator ID” indicates identification information for identifying the content creator. The “content-plan” indicates, for example, skeleton, details or the like of the content. The “predicted number of PV” indicates a predicted value of the number of times at which a finished product of content that is planned to be created by the content creator is viewed by the user. The “predicted number of PV” is calculated by a calculating unit  141  which will be described later. The “auction ID” indicates identification information for identifying the auction related to each advertising space. In other words, the “auction ID” indicates identification information for identifying an advertising space. 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 “current price” indicates the highest price of bid prices offered for the auction at the moment. The “bidder ID” indicates an advertiser ID for identifying an advertiser who is a bidder who has bid a highest price at the moment. The “end date and time” indicates date and time when the auction has ended. 
     Note that in  FIG. 4 , an auction for which the date and time is not stored in the “end date and time” indicates an auction that is being held or has not been held, and an auction for which the date and time is stored in the “end date and time” indicates an auction that has ended. Furthermore, when the date and time is stored in the “end date and time”, the current price corresponds to the winning bid price, and the bidder corresponds to a winning bidder. Furthermore, in the example of  FIG. 4 , the “creator ID” is assumed to correspond to a reference numeral given to the content creator illustrated in  FIG. 1 . For example, a creator ID “CP11” indicates the content creator CP11. Furthermore, hereinafter, information stored in the “bidder ID” illustrated in  FIG. 4  is used in some cases as a reference numeral of an advertiser. For example, the advertiser identified by a bidder ID “C11” is described in some cases as an “advertiser C11”. 
     That is,  FIG. 4  illustrates an example in which the content creator CP11 is planning content identified by a plan ID “P101”, and content-plan is a moving image or the like. Furthermore,  FIG. 4  illustrates an example in which the predicted number of times at which the content being planned will be viewed by a user is 120,000 times. Furthermore,  FIG. 4  illustrates an example in which the five advertising spaces A to E are incorporated into the content. Furthermore,  FIG. 4  illustrates an example in which an auction related to the advertising space A is identified by an auction ID “AU11”, and similarly, auctions related to the advertising spaces B to E are identified by auction IDs “AU12”, “AU13”, “AU14”, and “AU15”, respectively. Furthermore,  FIG. 4  illustrates an example in which the auctions related to the advertising spaces A to E are being held or is not held yet. As described above, the auction storage unit  121  stores an auction ID corresponding to each advertising space incorporated into content in association with one plan ID (that is, content at the planning stage). 
     Note that information stored in the auction storage unit  121  is not limited to the example illustrated in  FIG. 4 . For example, the auction storage unit  121  may store a “buyout price” indicating a price at which a successful bid for a bid target can be immediately made, a “lowest winning bid price” indicating a minimum price at which a successful bid for a bid target can be made, or the like for each auction ID. For example, the “buyout price” and the “lowest winning bid price (reserve price)” are included in the advertising space information to be transmitted from the creator terminal  10  to the service providing apparatus  100  and set by the content creator. 
     The history information storage unit  122  stores various kinds of information related to content having created previously by the content creator.  FIG. 5  illustrates an example of the history information storage unit  122  according to the embodiment. As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the history information storage unit  122  includes items such as “creator ID”, “created content”, “category”, “viewing date and time”, and the “views”. 
     The “creator ID” corresponds to the creator ID illustrated in  FIG. 4 . The “created content” indicates content created in the past by the content creator.  FIG. 5  illustrates an example in which conceptual information such as “CD11” is stored in the “created content”, but practically, content such as a moving image, a file path name indicating a storage location of content, or the like is stored. 
     The “category” indicates the category to which the created content belongs. Examples of the category of the created content include a drama, a fiction, and an animation. Note that for example, a content category is included in the plan information, and set to the content creator. However, a content category may be set by an administrator of the service providing apparatus  100  or the distribution server  30  that has checked finished content. The “viewing date and time” indicates a date and time on which content was viewed. In other word, the “viewing date and time” indicates a date and time on which content was browsed. In the example of  FIG. 5 , information indicating a year and a month among a year, a month, a date, a time, a minute, and a second is stored in the “viewing date and time”. The “views” indicates the number of times at which content has been viewed. In other words, the “views” indicates the number of times at which content (actually, composite content which will be described later) has been delivered to the user terminal  40  by the distribution server  30 .  FIG. 5  illustrates an example in which the monthly views is stored in the “views”. 
     That is,  FIG. 5  illustrates an example in which content “CD11” and content “CD12” have been created previously by the content creator CP11. Furthermore,  FIG. 5  illustrates an example in which the content “CD11” is content (for example, a moving image) related to a drama. Furthermore,  FIG. 5  illustrates an example in which the content “CD11” was viewed 35,000 times on June 2013, viewed 35,000 times on July 2013, and viewed 45,000 times on August 2013. 
     Note that the history information storage unit  122  may not store a viewing date and time. Specifically, the history information storage unit  122  may store only a total of the numbers of views up to the present point in time since delivery of created content started. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 3 , for example, the control unit  130  is implemented such that a central processing unit (CPU), a micro processing unit (MPU), or the like executes various kinds of programs (corresponding to an exemplary service providing program) stored in an internal storage device of the service providing apparatus  100  using a RAM as a working area. Furthermore, for example, the control unit  130  is implemented by an integrated circuit such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and a field programmable gate array (FPGA). 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the control unit  130  includes a plan receiving unit  131 , a service providing unit  132 , a winning bid amount managing unit  133 , a content receiving unit  134 , a generating unit  135 , a transmitting unit  136 , the calculating unit  141 , and an acquiring unit  142 , and implements or executes a function or an operation of information processing which will be described below. Note that an internal configuration of the control unit  130  is not limited to the configuration illustrated in  FIG. 3 , and may have other configuration as long as it is a configuration of performing information processing which will be described later. Furthermore, a connection relation of the respective processing units of the control unit  130  is not limited to the connection relation illustrated in  FIG. 3  and may be other connection relation. 
     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 the plan information indicating content-plan and the advertising space information related to an advertising space to be set to content by the content creator from the content creator. Then, when the plan information and the advertising space information is received, the plan receiving unit  131  allocates a new plan ID, and allocates an auction ID for each advertising space to be set to content. Then, the plan receiving unit  131  stores the plan information in the “content-plan” of the auction storage unit  121  in association with the plan ID. Furthermore, the plan receiving unit  131  stores the auction ID for each advertising space in the auction storage unit  121  in association with the plan ID, and further stores the advertising space information in the “advertising space information” of the auction storage unit  121  in association with each auction ID. At this time, the plan receiving unit  131  stores the creator ID corresponding to the content creator that is a transmission source of the plan information and the advertising space information, in the auction storage unit  121  as well. For example, the creator ID is transmitted by the content creator together with the plan information and the advertising space information. Alternatively, when a login process is necessary in using various kinds of services provided by the service providing apparatus  100 , a login ID of the content creator or the like may be used as the creator ID. 
     Note that for example, the plan receiving unit  131  analyzes the plan information, and thus extracts information corresponding to each item such as the type, the director, and the actor of the content. For example, when the plan information is described in a markup language such as XML (Extensible Markup Language), the plan receiving unit  131  can easily extract information corresponding to each item from the plan information. Furthermore, when the plan information has a predefined format, the plan receiving unit  131  can easily extract various kinds of information from the plan information based on the predefined format. Similarly, when the advertising space information is described in a markup language or when the advertising space information has a predefined format, the plan receiving unit  131  can easily extract various kinds of information from the advertising space information. 
     Furthermore, the plan receiving unit  131  may receive the advertising space information including the auction period set by the content creator. In this case, the plan receiving unit  131  stores the auction period included in the advertising space information in the auction storage unit  121 . However, the plan receiving unit  131  is not limited to this example, and may store a predefined auction period in the auction storage unit  121 . For example, the plan receiving unit  131  may use a period of time until a predetermined number of days elapses from a date and time on which the advertising space information was received, as the auction period. 
     Furthermore, the plan receiving unit  131  may provide a submission site for inputting the plan information and the advertising space information to the content creator. For example, the plan receiving unit  131  provides a submission site for inputting a type of content, content-plan, and the like. Furthermore, for example, the plan receiving unit  131  provides a submission site for inputting a temporal position where an advertising space is reproduced (hereinafter, may be written as a reproduction position), reproduction time of the advertising space, display size of the advertising space, or the like. In this case, the plan receiving unit  131  receives various kinds of information input in the submission site as the plan information and the advertising space information. 
     Note that when the plan information is acquired by the plan receiving unit  131 , the calculating unit  141  according to the embodiment calculates a predicted number of PV of content. Processing by the calculating unit  141  will be described later. 
     The service providing unit  132  presents the predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit  141  which will be described later and the plan information received by the plan receiving unit  131 , and provides an auction service in which a right to display an advertisement on an advertising space to be set to content by the content creator is a bid target. 
     Specifically, when a request for an auction page is received from the advertiser terminal  20 , the service providing unit  132  provides an auction page to the advertiser terminal  20 . At this time, the service providing unit  132  provides an auction page including the predicted number of PV, content-plan of content, and information related to an auction for each advertising space. 
     For example, the service providing unit  132  acquires various kinds of information related to content being planned from the auction storage unit  121 . In the case of the example of  FIG. 4 , the service providing unit  132  acquires content-plan, a predicted number of PV, advertising space information for each auction ID, a current price, a bidder ID, an end date and time, and the like for each plan ID from the auction storage unit  121 . At this time, the service providing unit  132  acquires only various kinds of information corresponding to a plan ID having one or more auctions being held. Specifically, the service providing unit  132  specifies a plan ID corresponding to an auction ID that has the present date and time included in the auction period and that has no date information stored in the end date and time, and acquires various kinds of information corresponding to the specified plan ID from the auction storage unit  121 . 
     Then, the service providing unit  132  generates a list page that is a web page on which a list of various kinds of information related to content being planned is displayed. Then, the service providing unit  132  transmits the generated list page to the advertiser terminal  20 . As a result, the service providing unit  132  receives an acquisition request including a plan ID corresponding to content being planned selected from the list page from the advertiser terminal  20 . In this case, the service providing unit  132  generates an auction page on which content-plan and the like are posted using various kinds of information corresponding to the plan ID included in the acquisition request, and provides the generated auction page to the advertiser terminal  20 . 
     Furthermore, the service providing unit  132  receives bid information including a bidding price from the advertiser terminal  20  through the auction page. In this case, the service providing unit  132  stores the bidding price included in the bid information in the auction storage unit  121  in association with an auction ID indicating a bid target auction. At this time, the service providing unit  132  also stores a bidder ID corresponding to a bidder that is a transmission source of the bid information in the auction storage unit  121 . Note that the service providing unit  132  may receive the bidder ID together with the bid information, or may use a login ID of the bidder or the like as the bidder ID. Furthermore, when an auction has been successfully performed, the service providing unit  132  stores a date and time on which the auction ended in the end date and time of the auction storage unit  121 . 
     Here,  FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary list page according to the embodiment. As in the example illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the service providing unit  132  posts a list of a content creator that is planning to create content, a predicted number of PV of content, and a plan overview on a list page W10. Furthermore, the service providing unit  132  posts a “next” button for selecting content being planned on the list page W10. Note that the plan overview corresponds to a part or all of content-plan stored in the auction storage unit  121 . 
     Then, when any of content being planned is selected in the list page W10 illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the service providing unit  132  delivers an auction page W20 illustrated in  FIG. 7  to the advertiser terminal  20 .  FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating an example of the auction page W20 according to the embodiment.  FIG. 7  illustrates an example of the auction page W20 corresponding to the plan ID “P101” illustrated in  FIG. 4 . As in the example illustrated in  FIG. 7 , the service providing unit  132  posts content-plan stored in the auction storage unit  121  on a plan display field R11 of the auction page W20. Furthermore, the service providing unit  132  posts the predicted number of PV stored in the auction storage unit  121  in association with the plan ID “P101” on a bidding display field R12 of the auction page W20, and posts the advertising space information for each auction ID and the like. Furthermore, the service providing unit  132  posts an image diagram in which a reproduction position of an advertising space is visible on an image display field R13 of the auction page W20. As described above, when information related to a plurality of advertising spaces is included in the advertising space information, the service providing unit  132  posts all the advertising space information on the auction page W20, and individually holds an auction related to each advertising space. 
     Furthermore, here, although not illustrated, when a bidding button displayed on the bidding display field R12 is pressed down, the service providing unit  132  provides a bidding page for inputting a bidding price to the advertiser terminal  20 . As a result, the service providing unit  132  receives the bid information including the bidding price from the advertiser terminal  20  through the bidding page. 
     Then, when all auctions related to the advertising spaces end, the service providing unit  132  assumes that all auctions have been officially completed. Specifically, even when some auctions among auctions related to the advertising spaces have ended, the service providing unit  132  assumes that such some auctions are provisionally completed, until all auctions are completed. In the case of the example illustrated in  FIG. 7 , the service providing unit  132  holds five auctions related to the advertising spaces A to E. Here, when a period of time of holding each auction is different or when a buyout price is set to each auction, the five auctions do not necessarily end at the same time. For example, among the five auctions, only an auction related to the advertising space A is assumed to have ended. In this case, the service providing unit  132  assumes that the auction related to the advertising space A is provisionally completed and a winning bidder is provisionally decided, until all the five auctions are completed. Then, after all the five auctions have ended, the service providing unit  132  assumes that all auctions have been officially completed, and finally settles a winning bidder of each auction. That is, the service providing unit  132  stores the end date and time in the auction storage unit  121  each time a winning bidder is decided and an auction ends, but when the end dates and times corresponding to all auction IDs among a plurality of auction IDs associated with one plan ID are stored, all auctions are assumed to have been officially completed. 
     Here, when some auctions among a plurality of auctions are not completed, the service providing unit  132  may assumes that all auctions are not completed. Examples of the aspect where an auction is not completed include a case in which the number of bids is none and a case in which the highest amount of a bidding price does not reach a lowest winning bid price. 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 completed. At this time, the service providing unit  132  may set a lowest winning bid price lower than the last lowest winning bid price in an auction to be held again. Alternatively, when some auctions among a plurality of auctions have not been completed, the service providing unit  132  may notify the content creator of the fact. Then, the service providing unit  132  may hold all auctions again or may decide whether only some auctions that have not been completed are held again, according to an instruction from the content creator. 
     Note that the list page W10 illustrated in  FIG. 6  is not limited to the illustrated example. For example, the service providing unit  132  may post a name of a content creator and the like. Furthermore, the auction page W20 illustrated in  FIG. 7  is not limited to the illustrated example. For example, the service providing unit  132  may post a name of a content creator and the like on the plan display field R11. Furthermore, for example, the service providing unit  132  may display information (for example, a company&#39;s name or a type of business) related to a bidder that is bidding the highest price. Furthermore, for example, the content creator may set a target amount of a winning bid price in the plan information as an assumed amount of a cost for creating content. In this case, the service providing unit  132  may post the target amount of the winning bid price on the plan display field R11. Furthermore, for example, the service providing unit  132  may post a period of time of holding an auction on the bidding display field R12. Furthermore, for example, the service providing unit  132  may not post an image diagram on the image display field R13. 
     The winning bid amount managing unit  133  manages the winning bid amount received from the winning bidder who has successfully bid the right. Specifically, even when the winning bid amount is received from the winning bidder, the winning bid amount managing unit  133  instantly stores the entire winning bid amount, without sending the winning bid amount to the content creator. Whenever the content creator charges for the creation of content, the winning bid amount managing unit  133  sends the amount of money corresponding to the charge from the stored reserve price to the content creator. For example, the winning bid amount managing unit  133  receives, from the creator terminal  10 , charge data, such as clothing expenses, filming expenses, or food expenses which have been actually used to create content, or food expenses which will be used to create content immediately. Then, the winning bid amount managing unit  133  sends the amount of money corresponding to the received charge data to the content creator. In addition, the winning bid amount managing unit  133  manages winning bid amount using the current price (that is, the highest bid price) stored in the auction storage unit  121 . 
     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  FIG. 1  and the like, are set to the content. 
     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 . 
     The calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV that is the predicted value of the number of times by which content being planned is viewed by users. Specifically, when the plan information is received by the plan receiving unit  131 , the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV based on the received plan information and various kinds of information stored in the history information storage unit  122 . Then, the calculating unit  141  stores the calculated predicted number of PV in the auction storage unit  121 . 
     As an aspect, the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV of content corresponding to the plan information based on the views of content having created previously by the content creator that has transmitted the plan information. Specifically, the calculating unit  141  specifies created content corresponding to a creator ID of the content creator that has transmitted the plan information among the created content stored in the history information storage unit  122 . Then, the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV of content being planned based on the views corresponding to the specified created content. For example, the calculating unit  141  calculates an average value of the views corresponding to the created content as the predicted number of PV. This is because the number of PV of the content, which is created by the same content creator, is considered to be within a certain range. 
     The above calculation process will be described with reference to the example of  FIG. 5 . Here, the plan information is assumed to be transmitted by the content creator CP11. In this case, the calculating unit  141  specifies the created content “CD11” and “CD12” having the creator ID of “CP11”. Then, the calculating unit  141  calculates a sum “115000” of the numbers of views of the created content “CD11”, and a sum “125000” of the numbers of views of the created content “CD12”. Then, the calculating unit  141  calculates an average value “120000” of both sums as the predicted number of PV. Note that the calculating unit  141  may calculate a value obtained by subtracting a predetermined percentage from the average value of the views as the predicted number of PV. 
     Furthermore, as another aspect, the calculating unit  141  according to the embodiment calculates the predicted number of PV of content corresponding to the plan information based on the views of created content corresponding to the plan information received by the plan receiving unit  131  among all created content (that is, created content having created previously by various content creators as well as the content creator that has transmitted the plan information) stored in the history information storage unit  122 . Specifically, the calculating unit  141  specifies created content that is identical in a content category included in the plan information, and calculates the predicted number of PV based on the views corresponding to the specified created content. This is because the number of PV of content that is identical in a category is likely to be within a certain range. For example, content related to a drama is considered to tend to be generally viewed about 100,000 times, and a content related to an animation is considered to tend to be generally viewed about 50,000 times. 
     The above calculation process will be described with reference to the example of  FIG. 5 . Here, the content category included in the plan information is assumed to be a “drama”. In this case, the calculating unit  141  specifies the created content “CD11” and “CD21” having the category of a “drama”. Then, the calculating unit  141  calculates a sum “115000” of the numbers of views of the created content “CD11”, and calculates a sum “30000” of the numbers of views of the created content “CD21”. Then, the calculating unit  141  calculates an average value “72500” of both sums as the predicted number of PV. 
     The acquiring unit  142  acquires various kinds of information used when calculating the predicted number of PV of content. Specifically, the acquiring unit  142  stores the composite content generated by the generating unit  135  in the created content of the history information storage unit  122  so as to match the creator ID of the content creator. That is, the acquiring unit  142  stores the composite content generated by the generating unit  135  in the history information storage unit  122  as content created in the past by the content creator. However, the acquiring unit  142  is not limited to this example, and may store the content received by the content receiving unit  134  in the created content of the history information storage unit  122 . 
     Furthermore, the acquiring unit  142  periodically accesses the distribution server  30 , and acquires the number of deliveries for each piece of composite content from the distribution server  30 . Then, the acquiring unit  142  stores the number of deliveries of each piece of composite content in the views of the history information storage unit  122  in association with the composite content (created content). At this time, the acquiring unit  142  accumulates the number of deliveries for each piece of composite content acquired from the distribution server  30 , and stores the views for each predetermined period of time (for example, one month) in the views of the history information storage unit  122 . 
     4. Service Providing Process 
     Next, a service providing process by the service providing system  1  according to the embodiment will be described with reference to  FIG. 8 .  FIG. 8  is a sequence diagram illustrating the service providing process by the service providing system  1  according to the embodiment. Note that in  FIG. 8 , only one advertiser terminal  20  is illustrated, but practically, there is a plurality of advertiser terminals  20 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 8 , the content creator transmits the plan information and the advertising space information to the service providing apparatus  100  using the creator terminal  10  (step S 101 ). In this case, the service providing apparatus  100  stores the plan information and the advertising space information in the auction storage unit  121 . 
     Note that  FIG. 8  illustrates an example in which the content creator transmits the plan information and the advertising space information at the same time. However, the content creator may transmit the plan information and the advertising frame information at the different timing. For example, the content creator may transmit the advertising space information to the service providing apparatus  100  after transmitting the plan information. Furthermore, for example, the content creator may transmit the plan information and the advertising space information to the service providing apparatus  100  by inputting various kinds of information to the above-described submission site. In this case, the content creator may first input the plan information to the submission site and then input the advertising space information to the submission site on a different date or the like. 
     Subsequently, the service providing apparatus  100  calculates the predicted number of PV of content corresponding to the plan information based on the plan information received in step S 101  (step S 102 ). 
     Subsequently, the service providing apparatus  100  receives the request for an auction page from the advertiser terminal  20  (step S 103 ). For example, the service providing apparatus  100  receives the request for an auction page through the list page illustrated in  FIG. 6 . In this case, the service providing apparatus  100  provides an auction page on which the predicted number of PV of content and content-plan of content are posted to the advertiser terminal  20  (step S 104 ). Then, the service providing apparatus  100  receives bid information including a bidding price from the advertiser terminal  20  through the auction page (step S 105 ). In this manner, the service providing apparatus  100  receives the bid information from the plurality of advertiser terminal  20 . 
     Then, the service providing apparatus  100  determines a winning bidder based on the bid information received from the advertiser terminal  20  (step S 106 ). For example, the service providing apparatus  100  determines an advertiser that is bidding the highest price at a date and time on which a period of time of holding an auction expired, as the winning bidder. Then, the service providing apparatus  100  manages the winning bid amount paid by the winning bidder. Thereafter, when the content creator has asked for payment of a production cost, the service providing apparatus  100  remits the billed amount to the content creator from the winning bid amount. 
     Furthermore, the winning bidder transmits advertisement data to the service providing apparatus  100  using the advertiser terminal  20  (step S 107 ). Furthermore, when content has been created, the content creator transmits the content to the service providing apparatus  100  using the creator terminal  10  (step S 108 ). 
     Then, the service providing apparatus  100  generates composite content by incorporating the advertisement data received from the advertiser into the content received from the content creator, and transmits the generated composite content to the distribution server  30  (step S 109 ). 
     5. Modified Example 
     The service providing system  1  according to the above embodiment may be carried out in various different modes other than the above embodiment. Now, hereinafter, other embodiment of the service providing system  1  will be described. 
     5-1. Technique of Calculating the Predicted Number of PV 
     The above embodiment has described the example in which the service providing apparatus  100  calculates the predicted number of PV based on the prediction element, such as “views of created content matched with a content creator to content being planned” or “views of created content matched with a category of content being planned”. However, a calculating unit  141  of a service providing apparatus  100  may calculate the predicted number of PV using a plurality of prediction elements. 
     For example, the calculating unit  141  may calculate the predicted number of PV based on “views of created content matched with a content creator of content being planned” and “views of created content matched with a category of content being planned”. An example where the calculating unit  141  generates a regression model (hereinafter, referred to as a “PV number model M1”) from both the prediction elements and calculates the predicted number of PV from the generated PV number model M1 will be described below. 
     First, the calculating unit  141  generates the PV number model M1, which shows the predicted number of PV by the creator ID or the category, by performing regression analysis using the views stored in the history information storage unit  122  as a dependent variable (objective variable) and the creator ID or the category stored in the history information storage unit  122  as an independent variable (explanatory variable). For example, the PV number model M1 calculated by the calculating unit  141  is expressed by the following Expression (1). 
         pv=a 0· x 0+ a 1· x 1  (1)
 
     In the above Expression (1), “pv” indicates the views stored in the history information storage unit  122 . Furthermore, “x0” indicates the average value of the views for each creator ID. In the case of the example of  FIG. 5 , the views of the created content “CD11” created by the content creator CP11 is “115000”, and the views of the created content “CD12” is “125000”. Thus, “x0” corresponding to the content creator CP11 becomes “120000”. Furthermore, “x1” indicates an average value of the views for each category. In the case of the example of  FIG. 5 , the views of the created content “CD11” corresponding to the category “drama” is “115000”, and the views of the created content “CD21” is “30000”. Thus, “x1” corresponding to the category “drama” becomes “72500”. 
     For example, in the case of the created content “CD11” illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the number of “pv” is “115000”. Furthermore, as in the above example, “x0” corresponding to the content creator CP11 is “120000”, and, “x1” corresponding to the category “drama” is “72500”. In this case, the above Expression (1) is expressed as in the following Expression (2). 
         pv=a 0· x 0+ a 1· x 1  (1)
 
       115000= a 0·(120000)+ a 1·(72500)  (2)
 
     The calculating unit  141  also obtains the same expression as the above Expression (2) for the created content “CD12” and “CD21”. Then, the calculating unit  141  calculates “a0” and “a1” that approximately satisfy each expression by performing regression analysis on the expression corresponding to the respective created content, and generates the PV number model M1 by applying the calculated “a0” and “a1” to the above Expression (1). 
     Then, when plan information is received by a plan receiving unit  131 , the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV using the PV number model M1 expressed by the above Expression (1). Specifically, the calculating unit  141  substitutes an average value of the views of created content corresponding to the content creator that has transmitted the plan information into “x0” of the above Expression (1). Furthermore, the calculating unit  141  substitutes an average value of the views of created content corresponding to a category included in the plan information into “x1” of the above Expression (1). As a result, the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV of content indicated by the plan information. 
     As described above, the service providing apparatus  100  can calculate the predicted number of PV with a high degree of accuracy using a plurality of prediction elements. As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  can provide a service having a higher value-added to an advertiser. 
     Note that in the above Expression (1), a linear model has been described as an example, but the calculating unit  141  may use a “log linear” model as in the following Expression (3) instead of the linear model. 
         pv= 1/{1+exp(−( a 0· x 0+ a 1· x 1))}  (3)
 
     5-2. Update of Predicted Number of PV (1) 
     Furthermore, the plan receiving unit  131  of the service providing apparatus  100  may receive the plan information from the content creator more than once in a stepwise manner. In this case, each time new plan information is received by the plan receiving unit  131 , the calculating unit  141  may calculate the predicted number of PV based on the views of created content corresponding to the new plan information. In this case, the calculating unit  141  updates the predicted number of PV stored in the auction storage unit  121  to the newly calculated predicted number of PV. Furthermore, a service providing unit  132  presents the predicted number of PV newly calculated by the calculating unit  141 , and provides an auction service. This point will be described with reference to  FIG. 9 . 
       FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary service providing process according to a modified example. As illustrated in  FIG. 9 , the content creator CP11 first transmits plan information PD1 to the service providing apparatus  100  using a creator terminal  10 . The plan information PD1 includes information related to a type of content but does not include other information (for example, a director, an actor, and a summary). In this case, the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV of content that is being planned by the content creator CP11 based on the plan information PD1. For example, the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV using the views of created content having created previously by the content creator CP11. 
     Thereafter, the service providing unit  132  of the service providing apparatus  100  starts to provide an auction service. At this point in time, the service providing unit  132  posts the predicted number of PV calculated from the prediction element such as the “views of created content that is identical in a content creator to content being planned”, on an auction page. 
     Subsequently, the content creator CP11 transmits plan information PD2 to the service providing apparatus  100 . The plan information PD2 includes information related to a summary as well as a type of content. That is, the plan information PD2 includes information complementary to the plan information PD1. In this case, the calculating unit  141  newly calculates the predicted number of PV based on the plan information PD2. For example, the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV using the PV number model M1 described above. That is, the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV using more prediction elements than those at a point in time at which the plan information PD1 is received. Thus, the calculating unit  141  can calculate the predicted number of PV with a higher degree of accuracy than at a point in time at which the plan information PD1 is received. Then, the service providing unit  132  posts the predicted number of PV calculated from the PV number model M1 by the calculating unit  141  on an auction page to be delivered thereafter to the advertiser terminal  20 . 
     As described above, the service providing apparatus  100  may receive the plan information more than once in a stepwise manner. As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  can implement an auction service practical for the content creator. For example, even when content-plan is not sufficiently reviewed yet, the content creator transmits a brief version of the content-plan to the service providing apparatus  100  so that an auction can be held. Then, when the plan information is received in a stepwise manner, the service providing apparatus  100  updates the predicted number of PV each time the plan information is received. As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  can provide the predicted number of PV having a high hitting ratio to the advertiser (the bidder) each time the plan information is enriched. 
     5-3. Update of Predicted Number of PV (2) 
     Furthermore,  FIG. 9  has illustrated the example in which the service providing apparatus  100  updates the predicted number of PV when the plan information is received in a stepwise manner. However, the service providing apparatus  100  may update the predicted number of PV even when the plan information is not received in a stepwise manner. Specifically, the calculating unit  141  may periodically calculate the predicted number of PV based on the views of created content corresponding to auction information such as the number of bids or the highest bidding price while an auction service is being provided by the service providing unit  132 . In this case, the service providing unit  132  presents the predicted number of PV newly calculated by the calculating unit  141 , and provides the auction service. This point will be described with reference to  FIG. 10 . 
       FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating an example of an auction storage unit  123  according to the modified example. The service providing apparatus  100  according to the modified example includes the auction storage unit  123  illustrated in  FIG. 10  instead of the auction storage unit  121  illustrated in  FIG. 4 . As illustrated in  FIG. 10 , the auction storage unit  123  stores information such as the “total number of bids” and a “total winning bid price” as exemplary auction information. Note that although not illustrated in  FIG. 10 , the auction storage unit  123  stores the “content-plan”, the “advertising space information”, the “auction period”, the “current price”, the “bidder ID”, and the “end date and time” illustrated in  FIG. 4  as well. 
     The “total number of bids” indicates a sum of the numbers of bids that have been made in auctions corresponding to the plan ID. The “total winning bid price” indicates a total amount of the winning bid price in auctions corresponding to the plan ID. The “total number of bids” and the “total winning bid price” are stored by the service providing unit  132  after all auctions corresponding to the plan ID have ended.  FIG. 10  illustrates an example in which auctions corresponding to plan IDs “P11” and “P12” have ended, and auctions corresponding to a plan ID “P101” have not ended. That is, the auction storage unit  123  illustrated in  FIG. 10  stores various kinds of information corresponding to the plan ID “P11” and “P12” as history information. 
     Here, the calculating unit  141  generates a regression model (hereinafter, assumed to be a “PV number model M2”) for calculating the predicted number of PV from the total number of bids or a total winning bid price based on an auction that has ended and that is stored in the auction storage unit  123 . For example, the calculating unit  141  performs regression analysis, assuming that the views stored in the history information storage unit  122  is a dependent variable (an objective variable) and the total number of bids or a total winning bid price stored in the auction storage unit  123  is an independent variable (an explanatory variable), and thus generates the PV number model M2 representing the predicted number of PV by the total number of bids or a total winning bid price. 
     Then, the calculating unit  141  periodically updates the predicted number of PV using the PV number model M2 after provision of the auction service is held. Hereinafter, a process of updating the predicted number of PV will be described using the plan ID “P101” illustrated in  FIG. 10  as an example. Note that here, auctions corresponding to the plan ID “P101” are assumed to be being held. 
     First, the calculating unit  141  calculates the total number of bids and a total amount of the current price (hereinafter, assumed to be a “total bidding price”) in auctions being held that are identified by auction IDs “AU11” to “AU15” corresponding to the plan ID “P101”. For example, the total number of bids and the total bidding price are temporarily stored in a predetermined storage unit (that may be the auction storage unit  123  or the like) by the service providing unit  132  while the auctions are being held. 
     Then, the calculating unit  141  predicts the total number of bids when the auctions being held have ended, based on the calculated total number of bids. Specifically, the calculating unit  141  predicts the total number of bids and a total winning bid price at the time when the auctions ended, based on a period of time of holding an auction and the number of days elapsed from a date of holding an auction to the present date. For example, the calculating unit  141  can predict the total number of bids from a period of time of holding an auction and the number of elapsed days based on a history of auctions having held previously. For example, the service providing apparatus  100  is assumed to store a period of time of holding an auction and the total number of bids and a total bidding price for each number of elapsed days in each auction as auction history information related to an auction having held previously. In this case, the calculating unit  141  can predict the total number of bids and a total bidding price when each auction being held has ended from a period of time of holding an auction and the number of elapsed days in each auction being held by analyzing a relation between a period of time of holding an auction and the number of elapsed days and the total number of bids and a total bidding price stored in the auction history information. Then, the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV by substituting the predicted total number of bids and total winning bid price into the PV number model M2. 
     As described above, the service providing apparatus  100  may sequentially calculate the predicted number of PV based on various kinds of information (the number of bids or the bidding price) related to the auction while the auction service is being provided. Here, when content-plan is excellent, many users are expected to view content, and thus the number of bids and the winning bid price of an auction tend to increase. Then, when content-plan is actually excellent, many users generally tend to view content. That is, it can be said that the total number of bids and a total winning bid price predicted by the calculating unit  141  while an auction is being held indicate an evaluation index of content-plan. Then, it can be said that the above PV number model M2 indicates a relation between the evaluation index of the content-plan and the actual views. As a result, the calculating unit  141  can calculate the predicted number of PV with a high degree of accuracy using the PV number model M2. 
     5-4. Prediction Element Used in Prediction Process 
     Furthermore, the above embodiment has described the example in which the service providing apparatus  100  uses the “views of created content that is identical in a content creator to content being planned”, the “views of created content that is identical in a category to content being planned”, the “total number of bids”, the “total winning bid price”, or the like when calculating the predicted number of PV. However, the calculating unit  141  of the service providing apparatus  100  may calculate the predicted number of PV using a prediction element other than the above prediction elements. 
     For example, the calculating unit  141  may calculate the predicted number of PV using a prediction element such as the “views of created content matched with a director to content being planned”, the “views of created content matched with an actor to content being planned”, the “views of created content that is equivalent in a reproduction time to content being planned”, the “views of created content that is equivalent in the number of advertising spaces (within a range of a predetermined number) to be set to content being planned”, or the “views of created content that is similar in a position of an advertising space to be set to content being planned”. In this case, the calculating unit  141  generates the PV number model using these prediction elements, and calculates the predicted number of PV from the generated PV number model. 
     5-5. Predicted Number of PV for Each Period of Time 
     Furthermore, the above-described service providing apparatus  100  may calculate the predicted number of PV for each predetermined period of time. For example, the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV each time one month elapses after composite content has been delivered. This point will be described using the example of  FIG. 5 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the history information storage unit  122  stores the monthly views. The calculating unit  141  specifies created content having created previously by the content creator that has transmitted the plan information, when the plan information is received by the plan receiving unit  131 . Further, the calculating unit  141  acquires the views during a period of time until a first one month elapses after the created content has been delivered among the views corresponding to the specified created content. Then, the calculating unit  141  uses an average value of the views during the first one month corresponding to respective created content or the like as a predicted number of PV during the first one month in content corresponding to the plan information received by the plan receiving unit  131 . Similarly, the calculating unit  141  calculates the monthly predicted number of PV in content corresponding to the plan information using the monthly views in respective created content. In this case, the service providing unit  132  generates an auction page on which the monthly predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit  141  is posted. At this time, the service providing unit  132  may post a graph representing the monthly predicted number of PV on the auction page. 
     Note that the above example has described the example in which the monthly predicted number of PV is calculated. However, the calculating unit  141  may calculate the predicted number of PV for each predetermined period of time (for example, a week, two weeks, two months, or the like) rather than monthly. Furthermore, the above example has described the example in which the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV using the “views of created content that is identical in a content creator to content being planned”. However, the embodiment of calculating the predicted number of PV for each predetermined period of time can also be applied to [5-1. Technique of calculating predicted number of PV], [5-2. Update (1) of predicted number of PV], [5-3. Update (2) of predicted number of PV], or [5-4. Prediction element used in prediction process]. That is, the calculating unit  141  may calculate the predicted number of PV for each predetermined period of time using the “views of created content that is identical in a category to content being planned”, the “total number of bids”, the “total winning bid price”, or the like. 
     As described above, the service providing apparatus  100  calculates the predicted number of PV for each predetermined period of time, and thus can provide transition of the predicted number of PV in content being planned to the advertiser. For example, some advertisers may desire to display an advertisement on content in which an average number of PV is obtained for a long period of time. Furthermore, for example, some advertisers may desire to display an advertisement on content in which a large number of PV is obtained for a short period of time immediately after delivery. The service providing apparatus  100  calculates the predicted number of PV for each predetermined period of time, and thus can provide information serving as a reference at the time of bidding to such advertisers. As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  can provide a service having an value-added to the advertiser. 
     5-6. PV Guarantee 
     Furthermore, the service providing apparatus  100  may provide an auction service of guaranteeing a winning bidder the number of times at which an advertisement is viewed by a user (that is, the number of deliveries of composite content). 
     For example, the service providing unit  132  may guarantee the advertiser the number of PV obtained by subtracting a predetermined percentage from the predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit  141  (for example, a 20 percent decrease). For example, when the predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit  141  is “100000”, the service providing unit  132  may guarantee “80000” that is a 20 percent decrease from the predicted number of PV “100000”. At this time, the service providing unit  132  may set a time limit for achieving the guaranteed number of PV. For example, the service providing unit  132  sets a period of time from a delivery start date of composite content to a predetermined date as the time limit for achieving the guaranteed number of PV. 
     In this case, the service providing unit  132  generates an auction page on which the guaranteed number of PV is posted.  FIG. 11  illustrates an example of an auction page W30 generated by the service providing unit  132  according to the modified example. As in the example illustrated in  FIG. 11 , the service providing unit  132  posts the predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit  141  and the guaranteed number of PV calculated based on the predicted number of PV on a bidding display field R12 of the auction page W30.  FIG. 11  illustrates an example in which the PV number of 100,000 is guaranteed for six months after a delivery of composite content has started. 
     As described above, the service providing apparatus  100  provides the auction service of guaranteeing the number of PV, and thus can make the advertiser feel at ease about bidding. As described above, in the auction service provided by the service providing apparatus  100 , a right to display an advertisement on the content at a planning stage is a bid target. Thus, it is difficult for the advertiser that is a bidder to predict the number of deliveries of content at the time of bidding. However, since the service providing apparatus  100  guarantees the number of PV and thus can make the advertiser feel at ease about bidding, the service providing apparatus  100  can provide a service having a high value-added to the advertiser. 
     Note that, in the case of guaranteeing the number of PV, the service providing apparatus  100  may financially correspond to the advertiser that is a winning bidder, according to whether to having enabled the number of PV to be guaranteed. This point will be described with reference to  FIG. 12 .  FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary accounting process according to the modified example. In the example of  FIG. 12 , the guaranteed number of PV is assumed to be 100,000. Here, the guaranteed number of PV is assumed to be the number of PV that has to be achieved during a guaranteed period of time from a delivery start of composite content to a predetermined date. 
     Here, the number of PV (hereinafter, assumed to be an “actual PV number”) of actual advertisement data during the guaranteed period of time is assumed to have been 80,000 as illustrated in a case X of  FIG. 12 . In this case, a winning bid amount managing unit  133  of the service providing apparatus  100  calculates a deficiency number of PV N1 by subtracting the actual number of PV from the guaranteed number of PV. Then, the winning bid amount managing unit  133  calculates a refund amount corresponding to a part or all of a winning bid amount for the advertiser that is the winning bidder, according to the deficiency number of PV N1. For example, the winning bid amount managing unit  133  calculates an amount obtained by multiplying the deficiency number of PV N1 by a predetermined value as a refund amount. 
     Meanwhile, the actual number of PV during the guaranteed period of time is assumed to have been 130,000 as illustrated in a case Y of  FIG. 12 . In this case, the winning bid amount managing unit  133  calculates an excess number of PV N2 by subtracting the guaranteed number of PV from the actual number of PV. Then, the winning bid amount managing unit  133  may calculate an additional billing amount that is additionally billed to the advertiser that is the winning bidder, according to the excess number of PV N2. For example, the winning bid amount managing unit  133  calculates an amount obtained by multiplying the excess number of PV by a predetermined value as the additional billing amount. 
     Note that the service providing apparatus  100  may control so as to stop the delivery of advertisement data at a point in time at which the actual number of PV exceeds the guaranteed number of PV during the guaranteed period of time. Specifically, for example, a generating unit  135  of the service providing apparatus  100  generates composite content CD11 into which advertisement data G1 of the advertiser that is the winning bidder is incorporated and composite content CD12 into which the advertisement data G1 is not incorporated. At this time, the generating unit  135  may generate composite content CD12 into which advertisement data provided by the content creator is incorporated instead of the advertisement data G1, and may generate composite content CD12 in which an advertising space into which the advertisement data G1 is incorporated is skipped. Then, the service providing apparatus  100  transmits the composite content CD11 and CD12 to a distribution server  30  together with the guaranteed number of PV. As a result, the distribution server  30  delivers the composite content CD11 into which the advertisement data G1 is incorporated to a user terminal  40  until the actual number of PV reaches the guaranteed number of PV. Meanwhile, the distribution server  30  delivers the composite content CD12 into which the advertisement data G1 is not incorporated to the user terminal  40  after the actual number of PV reaches the guaranteed number of PV. 
     5-7. Prediction Accuracy of Number of PV 
     Furthermore, the service providing apparatus  100  described above may calculate prediction accuracy that is a probability that the predicted number of PV will be correct. For example, the calculating unit  141  stores a predicted number of PV having calculated previously for created content having created previously, a prediction element having used in calculating the predicted number of PV previously, the actual number of PV of created content, and an error number of PV that is an error between the predicted number of PV and the actual number of PV in a predetermined storage unit as prediction history information. Then, when the predicted number of PV of content being planned is calculated, the calculating unit  141  acquires the error number of PV corresponding to the prediction element used in calculating the predicted number of PV from the prediction history information. Then, the calculating unit  141  calculates the prediction accuracy of the predicted number of PV based on the error number of PV acquired from the prediction history information. For example, the calculating unit  141  calculates high prediction accuracy as an average value of the error number of PV acquired from the prediction history information decreases, and calculates low prediction accuracy as the average value of the error number of PV increases. 
     In this case, the service providing unit  132  generates an auction page on which the prediction accuracy is posted.  FIG. 13  illustrates an example of an auction page W40 generated by the service providing unit  132  according to the modified example. As illustrated in  FIG. 13 , the service providing unit  132  posts the predicted number of PV and the prediction accuracy calculated by the calculating unit  141  on the bidding display field R12 of the auction page W40.  FIG. 13  illustrates an example in which the predicted number of PV is 120,000, and the prediction accuracy of the predicted number of PV is 80%. 
     Note that the calculating unit  141  may calculate an achievement probability of reaching the number of PV for each predetermined number of PV using the calculated predicted number of PV and the error number of PV acquired from the prediction history information. For example, the calculating unit  141  uses a prediction accuracy corresponding to the calculated predicted number of PV as a reference achievement probability. Then, the calculating unit  141  obtains, for each predicted number of PV obtained by adding or subtracting a predetermined number to or from the calculated predicted number of PV, an achievement probability that deviates from the reference achievement probability as the addition value or the subtraction value increases. In this case, the service providing unit  132  may generate an auction page on which the achievement probability of each predicted number of PV is posted. At this time, the service providing unit  132  may post a graph representing a relation between the predicted number of PV and the achievement probability on the auction page. For example, the calculating unit  141  is assumed to have calculated “120,000” as the predicted number of PV for content being planned and have calculated “80%” as the prediction accuracy (that is, the reference achievement probability) of the predicted number of PV “120,000”. Then, the calculating unit  141  is assumed to calculate the achievement probability of the predicted number of PV “100,000” obtained by subtracting “20,000” from the predicted number of PV “120,000”. In this case, the calculating unit  141  calculates “0.83=(100,000/120,000)” that is a ratio of “100,000” to “120,000”, and calculates the achievement probability “66.6%” of the predicted number of PV “100,000” by multiplying the ratio “0.83” by the reference achievement probability “80%”. Similarly, the calculating unit  141  calculates achievement probabilities corresponding to predicted number of PVs “60,000”, “80,000”, “140,000”, “160,000”, and “180,000”. Then, the service providing unit  132  posts the achievement probability for each predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit  141  on an auction page. 
     As described above, since the service providing apparatus  100  posts the prediction accuracy of the predicted number of PV on an auction page and thus can visualize a risk in bidding even when an auction is held at the stage of planning content, the service providing apparatus  100  can provide a service having a high value-added to the advertiser. 
     5-8. Prediction Accuracy and PV Guarantee 
     Furthermore, in the case of guaranteeing the number of PV as in the examples of  FIGS. 11 and 12 , the service providing apparatus  100  may decide whether or not the number of PV is to be guaranteed based on the prediction accuracy. For example, only when the prediction accuracy is a predetermined accuracy threshold value or more, the service providing unit  132  may provide a PV guarantee service of guaranteeing the number of PV. As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  can present the number of PV having a high probability of being guaranteed to the advertiser, and thus can provide a service having an value-added to the advertiser. 
     Here, as in the above examples of  FIGS. 9 and 10 , when the service providing apparatus  100  periodically updates the predicted number of PV, the prediction accuracy becomes in some cases the accuracy threshold value or more while an auction is being held. At this time, even when the prediction accuracy becomes the accuracy threshold value or more while an auction is being held, the service providing unit  132  does not start provision of the PV guarantee service in the middle of the auction period. This is because if the PV guarantee service is provided in the middle of the auction period, it becomes unfair to the advertiser that has bidden with a risk before the start of provision of the PV guarantee service. However, even when the prediction accuracy becomes the accuracy threshold value or more while an auction is being held, if an auction has not been completed to be held again, the service providing unit  132  may provide the PV guarantee service from the beginning in the auction that is held again. 
     5-9. Prediction Process after Delivery 
     Furthermore, the service providing apparatus  100  described above may calculate various kinds of above-described predicted number of PVs (for example, a monthly predicted number of PV or the like) even after composite content has been delivered to the user by the distribution server  30 . Then, the service providing apparatus  100  may notify an advertiser having advertisement data incorporated into composite content of a predicted number of PV calculated after composite content is delivered. As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  can provide a service having an value-added to the advertiser even after the composite content has been delivered. 
     Note that the calculating unit  141  can use a prediction element other than the above-described prediction elements when calculating the predicted number of PV after composite content is delivered. For example, the calculating unit  141  may calculate the predicted number of PV from the “actual number of PV of the previous day” or an “average value of the actual number of PV until the previous day”. 
     5-10. Service Fee 
     Furthermore, the service providing apparatus  100  may presents the predicted number of PV to the advertiser as an optional service. For example, the service providing unit  132  may provide an auction page on which the predicted number of PV is posted only to an advertiser that has paid a predetermined service fee. 
     5-11. Type of Content 
     Furthermore, in the above embodiments, a moving image has been mainly described as an example of content. However, a type of content is not limited to a moving image. For example, the above-described content may be an application such as a game, a digital book, or a web page such as a weblog. For example, a content creator can use the above-described auction service when planning to create a game, a digital book, or a specialized web page. 
     Here,  FIG. 14  illustrates exemplary content according to the modified example.  FIG. 14  illustrates an example in which content is a game. In the example of  FIG. 14 , the content creator plans to create a game using icons of characters. Then, the content creator sets three icons among a plurality of types of icons as an advertising space. As described above, the above-described auction service can also be applied to content such as a game. 
     Note that in the case of the example of  FIG. 14 , similarly to product placement, the content creator receives an icon image for advertisement and the like from an advertiser that is a winning bidder, and creates a game using the received icon image and the like. Thus, the content creator can create composite content (a game in this example) including advertisement data. 
     5-12. Program 
     Furthermore, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the above embodiment is implemented, for example, by a computer  1000  having a configuration illustrated in  FIG. 15 .  FIG. 15  is a hardware block diagram illustrating an exemplary of a computer  1000  to realize the function of the service providing apparatus  100 . The computer  1000  includes a CPU  1100 , a RAM  1200 , a ROM  1300 , a HDD  1400 , a communication interface (I/F)  1500 , an input output interface (I/F)  1600 , and a medium interface (I/F)  1700 . 
     The CPU  1100  operates based on a program stored in the ROM  1300  or the HDD  1400 , and controls each unit. The ROM  1300  stores, for example, a boot program executed by the CPU  1100  when the computer  1000  is activated, or a program depending on hardware of the computer  1000 . 
     The HDD  1400  stores, for example, a program executed by the CPU  1100  and data used by the program. The communication interface  1500  receives data from other device via a communication network  50 , sends the data to the CPU  1100 , and transmits data generated by the CPU  1100  to other device via the communication network  50 . 
     The CPU  1100  controls an output device such as a display and a printer and an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse through the input output interface  1600 . The CPU  1100  acquires data from the input device through the input output interface  1600 . The CPU  1100  outputs generated data to the output device through the input output interface  1600 . 
     The medium interface  1700  reads a program or data stored in a recording medium  1800 , and provides the read program or data to the CPU  1100  through the RAM  1200 . The CPU  1100  loads the program onto the RAM  1200  from the recording medium  1800  through the medium interface  1700 , and executes the loaded program. Examples of the recording medium  1800  include an optical recording medium such as a digital versatile disc (DVD) and a phase change rewritable disk (PD), a magneto optical recording medium such as a magneto-optical disk (MO), a tape medium, a magnetic recording medium, and a semiconductor memory. 
     For example, when the computer  1000  functions as the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment, the CPU  1100  of the computer  1000  executes the program loaded onto the RAM  1200 , and thus implements the function of the control unit  130 . Furthermore, data in the auction storage unit  121  or the history information storage unit  122  is stored in the HDD  1400 . The CPU  1100  of the computer  1000  reads the program from the recording medium  1800  and then executes the program, but as other example, the program may be acquired from other device via the communication network  50 . 
     5-13. Others 
     Among the processes described in the above embodiment, some or all of the processes described as being automatically performed can also be manually performed, or some or all of the processes described as being manually performed can also be automatically performed by a known method. In addition, a process, a specific name, or information including various kinds of data or parameters described hereinabove or illustrated in the drawings can be arbitrarily changed unless set forth otherwise herein. 
     For example, various kinds of information illustrated in the figures are not limited to the illustrated information. Furthermore, for example, the above embodiments have described the example in which a plurality of advertising spaces are set to identical content, but a single advertising space may be set to identical content. 
     Furthermore, the above embodiments have described the example in which the content creator sets a reproduction position of an advertising space, a reproduction time, or the like in content. However, the service providing apparatus  100  may receive only the plan information from the content creator and may not receive the advertising space information. In this case, for example, the service providing apparatus  100  sets an advertising space of a predefined reproduction position or reproduction time in content. 
     Furthermore, the above embodiments have described the example in which the service providing apparatus  100  generates composite content, but the process of generating composite content may be performed by other device such as the distribution server  30 . In this case, the service providing apparatus  100  illustrated in  FIG. 3  may not include the generating unit  135  and the like. 
     Furthermore, for example, the above embodiments have described the example in which composite content including advertisement data incorporated into content is delivered to the user terminal  40 , but the advertisement data may be delivered to the user terminal  40  through an advertising server (not illustrated in  FIG. 2 ) (called an ad server or the like) each time content is displayed or played back by the user terminal  40 . Specifically, the generating unit  135  of the service providing apparatus  100  may generate the composite content by incorporating access information (for example, a uniform resource locator (URL)) to the advertising server into an advertising space of content. In this case, the user terminal  40  accesses the advertising server based on the access information set to the advertising space. Then, when there is access from the user terminal  40 , the advertising server delivers the advertisement data incorporated into the content to the user terminal  40 . At this time, the advertising server selects advertisement data to be delivered based on, for example, a user attribute of an access source user. Then, the user terminal  40  causes the advertisement data acquired from the advertising server to be displayed on the advertising space of content. Furthermore, in the case of this example, the advertiser may transmit access information for accessing, for example, a moving image or a still image that is an advertisement to the service providing apparatus  100 , as the advertisement data. 
     Furthermore, each component of each device illustrated in the drawings is conceptual one, and needs not be necessarily physically configured as illustrated in the drawings. That is, a specific mode of distribution or integration of each device is not limited to the illustrated one, and some or all thereof can be configured to be functionally or physically distributed or integrated by any unit according to various kinds of loads or usage. For example, the plan receiving unit  131  and the content receiving unit  134  illustrated in  FIG. 3  may be integrated with each other. Furthermore, for example, the above-described service providing apparatus  100  may be integrated with the distribution server  30 . 
     Furthermore, the above embodiments can be appropriately combined within a range in which processing content is not contradictory. 
     6. Effects 
     As described above, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment includes the plan receiving unit  131 , the calculating unit  141 , and the service providing unit  132 . The plan receiving unit  131  receives plan information indicating content-plan of content planned by a content creator. The calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV (corresponding to an example of the number of predicted viewing) that is a predicted value of the number of times at which content is viewed by a user. The service providing unit  132  presents the predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit  141  and the plan information received by the plan receiving unit  131 , and provides an auction service in which a right to display an advertisement on the content is a bid target. 
     As a result, even when an auction is held at the stage of planning content, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment enables the advertiser that is a bidder to apprehend a predicted number of times at which an advertisement will be viewed by the user. As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  can provide a service having an value-added to the advertiser. 
     Furthermore, in the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment, when the plan information is received by the plan receiving unit  131 , the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV based on the views of content having created previously by the content creator. 
     As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment can calculate the predicted number of PV from a previous record with a high degree of accuracy and thus can provide a service having a high value-added to the advertiser. 
     Furthermore, in the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment, when the plan information is received by the plan receiving unit  131 , the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV based on the views of created content corresponding to the plan information among created content that is content having created previously. 
     As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment can calculate the predicted number of PV from a previous record with a high degree of accuracy and thus can provide a service having a high value-added to the advertiser. 
     Furthermore, in the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment, the plan receiving unit  131  receives the plan information more than once in a stepwise manner. Furthermore, the calculating unit  141  newly calculates the predicted number of PV based on the views of the created content corresponding to new plan information each time the new plan information is received by the plan receiving unit  131 . Furthermore, the service providing unit  132  presents the predicted number of PV newly calculated by the calculating unit  141 , and provides the auction service. 
     As a result, when the plan information is received in a stepwise manner, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment can calculate the predicted number of PV with a high degree of accuracy using the latest plan information, and thus can provide a service having a high value-added to the advertiser. 
     Furthermore, in the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment, the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV based on the views of created content corresponding to auction information including the number of bids or the highest bidding price in the auction service among created content that is content having created previously while the auction service is being provided by the service providing unit  132 . 
     As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment can calculate the predicted number of PV with a high degree of accuracy using the latest auction information and thus can provide a service having a high value-added to the advertiser. 
     Furthermore, in the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment, the service providing unit  132  provides the auction service of guaranteeing a winning bidder a predetermined views in the content corresponding to the plan information based on the predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit  141 . 
     As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment can make the advertiser feel at ease about bidding, and thus can provide a service having a high value-added to the advertiser. 
     Furthermore, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment includes the winning bid amount managing unit  133  that calculates a refund amount to be refunded to the winning bidder according to a difference between the guaranteed number of PV and the actual number of PV when the actual number of PV of the content corresponding to the plan information does not reach the guaranteed number of PV that is guaranteed by the service providing unit  132 . 
     As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment can make the advertiser feel at ease about bidding, and thus can provide a service having a high value-added to the advertiser. 
     Furthermore, in the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment, the calculating unit  141  calculates prediction accuracy of the predicted number of PV calculated for the content corresponding to the plan information based on the predicted number of PV having calculated previously for created content that is content having created previously and the actual number of PV of the created content. Furthermore, the service providing unit  132  presents the predicted number of PV and the prediction accuracy calculated by the calculating unit  141 , and provides the auction service. 
     As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment can visualize a risk in bidding at the planning stage and thus can provide a service having a high value-added to the advertiser. 
     Furthermore, in the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment, when the prediction accuracy calculated by the calculating unit  141  is a predetermined accuracy threshold value or more, the service providing unit  132  provides the auction service of guaranteeing the predetermined views in the content corresponding to the plan information based on the predicted number of PV calculated by the calculating unit  141 . 
     As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment can present the number of PV having a high probability of being capable of being guaranteed to the advertiser and thus can provide a service having a high value-added to the advertiser. 
     Furthermore, in the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment, the calculating unit  141  calculates the predicted number of PV for each predetermined period of time. Furthermore, the service providing unit  132  presents the predicted number of PV for each predetermined period of time calculated by the calculating unit  141 , and provides the auction service. 
     As a result, the service providing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment can provide the transition of the predicted number of PV to the advertiser and thus can provide a service having a high value-added to the advertiser. 
     As above, some of the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above in detail based on the drawings, but the above embodiments are exemplary, and the present invention can be carried out in other modes in which various kinds of modification or improvement are made based on knowledge of a person skilled in the art, including the aspects described in the disclosure of the invention. 
     Furthermore, “section, module, or unit” described above can be interpreted as “means”, “circuit”, or the like. For example, the plan receiving unit can be interpreted as plan receiving means or a plan receiving circuit. 
     According to one aspect of an embodiment, such an effect is obtained that a service having an value-added can be provided to an advertiser. 
     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.