Patent Publication Number: US-2020286129-A1

Title: Advertisement output decision system and advertisement output decision method

Description:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
     The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-039493 filed on Mar. 5, 2019 including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a technique that decides an output of advertisement information. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-97094 (JP 2015-97094 A) discloses a real-time bidding system that adjusts pricing and distribution of an advertisement placement using a competing economic valuation model in response to a request to place an advertisement. The real-time bidding system automatically adjusts a channel for distributing an advertisement or a position for placing an advertisement based on data of advertisement performance and predicts the price for an advertisement placement opportunity based on data of advertisement performance and the past bidding price. 
     SUMMARY 
     In a case where a providing vehicle that can provide a food service or a commodity sales service is moving, it is preferable that an advertisement relating to the providing vehicle is effectively output. 
     The disclosure provides a technique for effectively outputting advertisement information relating to a providing vehicle providing a service. 
     A first aspect of the disclosure relates to an advertisement output decision system. The advertisement output decision system includes an acquisition unit and a decision unit. The acquisition unit is configured to acquire positional information or scheduled route information of a providing vehicle providing a service. The decision unit is configured to, based on the positional information or the scheduled route information of the providing vehicle, decide advertisement information to be output to a display provided in the providing vehicle or a terminal device of a user who is able to place an order for the service. 
     A second aspect of the disclosure relates to an advertisement output decision method. The method includes a step of acquiring positional information or scheduled route information of a providing vehicle providing a service, and a step of, based on the positional information or the scheduled route information of the providing vehicle, deciding advertisement information to be output to a display provided in the providing vehicle or a terminal device of a user who is able to place an order for the service. 
     According to the aspects of the disclosure, it is possible to provide a technique for effectively outputting advertisement information relating to a providing vehicle providing a service. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like elements, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view schematically showing a providing vehicle according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram showing the outline of the functional configuration of an advertisement output decision system; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the advertisement output decision system; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram showing a scheduled route of the providing vehicle; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram showing advertisement-use information that is held in an advertisement-use information holding unit; and 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart showing sales processing of an advertisement distribution right. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view schematically showing a providing vehicle  10  according to an embodiment. The providing vehicle  10  provides a service determined in advance. Examples of the service include a food service, a commodity sales service, a financial service, a medical service, an energy providing service, an administrative service, a transit service, and the like, but are not particularly limited. Articles that are mounted in the providing vehicle  10  are set according to a service to be provided. 
     The providing vehicle  10  is, for example, an electric vehicle and can travel in an autonomous driving mode, but is not particularly limited. In a case where the providing vehicle  10  can perform autonomous driving, the providing vehicle  10  travels in an autonomous driving mode along a route set in advance, and an occupant of the providing vehicle  10  can provide a service without driving the providing vehicle  10 . 
     The providing vehicle  10  includes a door  12  and a plurality of displays  14 . The door  12  is provided, for example, on at least one side surface of the providing vehicle  10 , and is slid to be opened and closed. The displays  14  are provided on a front surface, both side surface, and a rear surface of the providing vehicle  10 , and on the door  12 . The displays  14  may be provided inside the vehicle as well as the outside of the providing vehicle  10 . The displays  14  may display video related to the service to be provided by the providing vehicle  10  as advertisement information or may display video of other services. For example, in a case where the providing vehicle  10  provides a food service, specifically, a pizza sales service, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the displays  14  display characters “Pizza” and an image of a pizza related to the pizza sales service, and display advertisement information of the service to be provided by the providing vehicle  10 . 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram showing the outline of the functional configuration of an advertisement output decision system  1 . The advertisement output decision system  1  includes a plurality of in-vehicle devices  20 , a plurality of user terminal devices  16 , and a server device  40 . 
     The in-vehicle devices  20  are mounted in the providing vehicle  10  and are connected to the server device  40  through a network. The in-vehicle devices  20  executes autonomous driving control of the providing vehicle  10 , transmission of positional information to the server device  40 , output control of the displays  14 , and the like. The in-vehicle devices  20  receives an order of provision of the service to an orderer through the server device  40 . 
     The user terminal devices  16  are smartphones, smart speakers, or the like, and are connected to the server device  40  through the network. The user terminal devices  16  can execute an application program for using the service to be provided by the providing vehicle  10 . 
     For example, in a case where the service to be provided by the providing vehicle  10  is the pizza sales service, the user terminal devices  16  can output advertisement information “Will you order a pizza?” of the providing vehicle  10  and can place an order to the providing vehicle  10  for a pizza. The user terminal devices  16  function as advertisement distribution destination terminals of the service. 
     The server device  40  receives the order for the service to be provided by the providing vehicle  10  and outputs advertisement information relating to the service to the user terminal devices  16 . The server device  40  may sell a right to distribute the advertisement information to the user terminal devices  16  to a service provider of the providing vehicle  10 . 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the advertisement output decision system  1 . In  FIG. 3 , elements that are described as functional blocks for executing various kinds of processing can be constituted of a circuit block, a memory, and other LSIs in terms of hardware or are implemented by a program or the like loaded in a memory in terms of software. Accordingly, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that the functional blocks can be implemented in various forms by hardware solely, software solely, or a combination of hardware and software, and are not limited to either one. 
     Each of the in-vehicle devices  20  has a position acquisition unit  22 , an input unit  24 , a driving controller  26 , an output controller  28 , and a communication unit  30 . The server device  40  has an acquisition unit  42 , a decision unit  44 , an order reception unit  46 , a sales unit  48 , a terminal information holding unit  50 , an advertisement-use information holding unit  52 , a distribution unit  54 , and a communication unit  56 . 
     The position acquisition unit  22  of the in-vehicle device  20  acquires positional information of the providing vehicle  10  using a global positioning system (GPS) and an acquisition time of the positional information. The position acquisition unit  22  may acquire the positional information of the providing vehicle from an in-vehicle navigation device. Furthermore, the position acquisition unit  22  may acquire scheduled route information indicating a movement route for scheduled traveling from the navigation device. In the scheduled route information, a scheduled arrival time to a destination may be included. The providing vehicle  10  may be set so as to travel along a circulating route in advance in a case where an order for the service is not placed, may receive the circulating route, that is, the scheduled route information from the server device  40 , and may move according to the scheduled route information. The positional information and/or the scheduled route information of the providing vehicle  10  is transmitted to the server device  40  through the communication unit  30 . 
     The input unit  24  receives an input from the service provider. For example, the input unit  24  receives an input for purchasing the right (hereinafter, referred to as an “advertisement distribution right”) to distribute the advertisement information to the user terminal devices  16 . Input information indicating purchase is transmitted to the server device  40  through the communication unit  30 . Even though the advertisement distribution right is not purchased, the advertisement information may be distributed to the user terminal devices  16 . 
     The driving controller  26  performs autonomous driving along a scheduled route set in advance. The driving controller  26  makes the providing vehicle  10  travel based on information of an in-vehicle camera, information of a millimeter-wave radar, information of a sound wave sensor, or the like. The output controller  28  performs control such that the advertisement information is displayed on the displays  14 . 
     The order reception unit  46  of the server device  40  receives the order for the service from the user terminal devices  16 . Order information for the service includes details of the service to be ordered, positional information of an order source, a scheduled time when the provision of the service is desired, and the like. For example, in the pizza sales service, the kind of a pizza, an address of the order source to which the pizza is delivered, and a scheduled arrival time to the order source are received as the order information for the service. 
     The acquisition unit  42  acquires the positional information and/or the scheduled route information of the providing vehicle  10  through the communication unit  56  and transmits the positional information and/or the scheduled route information to the decision unit  44 . The acquisition unit  42  acquires a preparation time of the service to be provided by the providing vehicle  10 , for example, a cooking time in a case where food is provided, and transmits the cooking time to the decision unit  44 . 
     The decision unit  44  decides advertisement information to be output to the user terminal device  16  based on the positional information and/or the scheduled route information of the providing vehicle  10  and advertisement information to be output to the displays  14 . The advertisement information to be output to the user terminal devices  16  is to prompt the use of the service, and in a case of the pizza sales service, is output, for example, like “A pizza will be distributed at 12:00, and will you order a pizza?”. The decision unit  44  derives an area where the providing vehicle  10  can provide the service based on the positional information or the scheduled route information of the providing vehicle  10  and outputs the advertisement information to the user terminal devices  16  in the providable area. With this, it is possible to advertise the service to customers within a range in which the providing vehicle  10  can provide the service. 
     In the embodiment, there are a method of distributing advertisement information sold by the sales unit  48  described below and a method of distributing advertisement information decided by the decision unit  44  without passing through the sales unit  48 . The advertisement information of the service provider is distributed even though the advertisement distribution right is not purchased by the sales unit  48 ; however, in a case where the service provider desires more advertisement information, the advertisement distribution right is purchased from the sales unit  48 . 
     A timing of advertisement distribution may be every one hour, every several hours, or twice in the afternoon and evening. The advertisement information is distributed to the user terminal devices  16  about twice a day. The decision unit  44  generates a list of user terminal devices  16 , to which the advertisement information of the providing vehicle  10  is distributed, from a plurality of user terminal devices  16  positioned in an area where the providing vehicle  10  can provide the service. 
     The decision unit  44  generates the list of the user terminal devices  16 , to which the advertisement information of the providing vehicle  10  is distributed, based on the scheduled route information of the providing vehicle  10  and the positional information of the user terminal devices  16 . For example, the decision unit  44  distributes the advertisement information with priority to the user terminal devices  16  positioned near the scheduled route of the providing vehicle  10 . 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram showing the scheduled route of the providing vehicle  10 . The providing vehicle  10  moves along a scheduled route  59  from a vehicle position  58  toward a destination  60 , and is scheduled to pass through a first area  62 , a second area  64 , a third area  66 , and a fourth area  68 . 
     The decision unit  44  derives a providable area, in which the service can be provided, based on the scheduled route  59  of the providing vehicle  10 . In a case where the pizza sales service is provided, the decision unit  44  excludes the first area  62  and the second area  64  near a current position in relation to the cooking time of a pizza, derives the third area  66  and the fourth area  68  as a providable area of the service, and distributes the advertisement information to the user terminal devices  16  positioned in the third area  66  and the fourth area  68 . In this way, the providable area may be derived based on the cooking time for providing the service, in addition to the scheduled route  59 . With this, the service provider in the providing vehicle  10  can perform cooking during movement and can arrive at the order source after cooking is completed. 
     The advertisement information that is output to the user terminal device  16  is to make the user place an order for the service to be provided by the providing vehicle  10 . Any user views the advertisement information and places an order, and the order reception unit  46  receives an order of provision of a service from the user terminal devices  16  positioned at a point A and a point B. 
     For example, in a case where there are first providing vehicles  10  that are operated by X company and second providing vehicles  10  that are operated by Y company, advertisement information that is output to the user terminal devices  16  is distributed while distinguishing between placing an order to the first providing vehicles  10  for a service and placing an order to the second providing vehicles  10  for a service. That is, different advertisement information is distributed to each providing vehicle  10 . In a case where the number of first providing vehicles  10  that are operated by X company is five, common advertisement information related to the five first providing vehicles  10  may be distributed. 
     The driving controller  26  receives an order from the point A and the point B, changes the route from the scheduled route  59  to a delivery route  70 , and directs the providing vehicle  10  toward a destination  60  by way of the point A and the point B. An occupant of the providing vehicle  10  receives the order during movement and prepares for service provision, such as cooking in the vehicle. 
     Returning to  FIG. 2 , the decision unit  44  may derive the providable area of the service based on the positional information of the providing vehicle  10  and may output the advertisement information to the user terminal devices  16  positioned in the providable area. In a case where the providing vehicle  10  is on standby, the periphery of a standby position of the providing vehicle  10  is derived as the providable area of the service. 
     In generating the list of the user terminal devices  16  to which the advertisement information of the providing vehicle  10  is distributed, the decision unit  44  refers to user information held in the terminal information holding unit  50 . 
     The terminal information holding unit  50  holds a terminal ID of the user terminal device  16 , preference information of the user, an order history of the user, and the positional information of the user terminal device  16  in association with one another. The preference information of the user is generated according to an order history from the user terminal device  16 , for example, an order frequency of the ordered service. The positional information of the user terminal device  16  may be address information set in advance by the user or may be acquired by a GPS. The terminal information holding unit  50  may hold behavior information of the user, and the behavior information may be schedule information of the user or a behavior history based on the positional information of the user terminal device  16 . As the advertisement information is distributed based on the behavior information of the user, it is possible to distribute advertisement information relating to a meal at a timing before the user has a meal. 
     The decision unit  44  refers to the preference information of the user and the order history of the user, and generates the list of the user terminal devices  16 , to which the advertisement information of the providing vehicle  10  is distributed, according to the degree of similarity of the service to be provided by the providing vehicle  10  and the preference information of the user, and an order time period based on the order history of the user. 
     The decision unit  44  may generate the list of the user terminal devices  16 , to which the advertisement information of the providing vehicle  10  is distributed, based on advertisement-use information. The advertisement-use information is information generated based on the order history, and shows the degree of demand for the service. 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram showing the advertisement-use information that is held in the advertisement-use information holding unit  52 . The advertisement-use information is information in which each order is associated with the kind of the ordered service, the ordered time period, the area of the order source, the age of the order source, the sex of the order source, and the like. As the decision unit  44  refers to the advertisement-use information, for example, it is possible to derive how many “pizza” or “noodle” is ordered on average in the first area  62  in a time period of 12:00 to 13:00. The age or sex of the order source may be acquired as user information of the order source from the terminal information holding unit  50 . 
     The decision unit  44  generates the list of the user terminal devices  16 , to which the advertisement information of the providing vehicle  10  is distributed, with reference to the degree of demand for the service indicated in the advertisement-use information. The decision unit  44  calculates the ratio of the degree of demand of an order kind, such as “noodle”, “pizza”, or “buckwheat noodle”, for each area and each time period, and generates the list of the user terminal devices  16  with allocation of the number of the user terminal devices  16  according to the ratio of the degree of demand of the order kind for the service provider of each of “noodle”, “pizza”, “buckwheat noodle”, and the like. For example, in a case where the ratios of the degrees of demand for “noodle”, “pizza”, and “buckwheat noodle” are 50 percent, 30 percent, and 20 percent, respectively, a list in which 50 percent of the user terminal devices  16  in a predetermined area are allocated to the service provider of “noodle” is generated, a list in which 30 percent of the user terminal devices  16  are allocated to the service provider of “pizza” is generated, and a list in which 20 percent of the user terminal devices  16  are allocated to the service provider of “buckwheat noodle” is generated. With this, it is possible to output the advertisement information according to the degree of demand. 
     Returning to  FIG. 2 , the sales unit  48  sells the advertisement distribution right to the service provider of the providing vehicle  10 . For example, the advertisement distribution right to a predetermined number of user terminal devices  16  in the first area  62  at 11:00 a.m., the advertisement distribution right to a predetermined number of user terminal devices  16  in the second area  64  at 6:00 p.m., or the like is sold. In the advertisement distribution right, the number of user terminal devices  16 , to which an advertisement is distributed, an advertisement distribution time, and an advertisement distribution area are set. 
     In a case where there are the first providing vehicle  10 , with which X company performs a pizza sales service, and the second providing vehicle  10 , with which Y company performs a pizza sales service, and in a case where the service provider of the first providing vehicle  10  purchases the advertisement distribution right, advertisement information that prompts to make an order to the first providing vehicles  10  is distributed. 
     The sales unit  48  may transmit the advertisement-use information held in the advertisement-use information holding unit  52  to the in-vehicle device  20  and may make the service provider read the degree of demand for the service on the display  14  inside the vehicle. With this, the service provider can view the degree of demand for the service indicated in the advertisement-use information and can purchase the advertisement distribution right. The input unit  24  receives an input for purchasing the advertisement distribution right. The decision unit  44  may derive the providable area of the service based on the positional information or the scheduled route information of the providing vehicle  10 , and the sales unit  48  may sell the advertisement distribution right to the providable area to the service provider of the providing vehicle  10 . With this, the service provider can bid solely the advertisement distribution right that is distributed in the providable area of the providing vehicle  10 . 
     The sales unit  48  may decide the price of the advertisement distribution right based on the advertisement-use information. With this, it is possible to decide the advertisement distribution right according to the degree of demand for the service. The sales unit  48  may calculate the number of potential customers based on the advertisement-use information for each area and may calculate the price of the advertisement distribution right based on the calculated number of potential customers. Alternatively, the sales unit  48  may derive the degree of demand for the service based on the number of potential customers of each area and may set the advertisement distribution right. 
     The number of potential customers may be derived based on the number of user terminal devices  16  in the area and the order history or may be derived based on a movement route of the providing vehicle  10  in a predetermined area and a predetermined time period. For example, the number of potential customers may be calculated to be greater as a frequency in which movement routes of a plurality of providing vehicles  10  pass through a predetermined area in a predetermined time period is greater. As the number of potential customers of each area is derived, it is possible to effectively advertise in an area where the number of potential customers is large. The number of potential customers in each area and each time period may be held as the advertisement-use information in the advertisement-use information holding unit  52 . 
     The sales unit  48  may sell the advertisement distribution right in an auction form at each predetermined time. In the advertisement distribution right, the time period, the distribution area, the number of terminals to which the advertisement is distributed are decided. For example, in a case where the number of providing vehicle  10  that provides the pizza sales service is ten, ten service providers make a bid the individual advertisement distribution right. The service provider that makes a bid at the highest price successfully bids the advertisement distribution right. As the advertisement distribution right is sold in an auction form, it is possible to sell the advertisement distribution right at high price. 
     The decision unit  44  sets the advertisement distribution right based on the advertisement-use information held in the advertisement-use information holding unit  52 , and the sales unit  48  sells the set advertisement distribution right. The decision unit  44  sets the advertisement distribution right with allocation of the number of the user terminal devices  16  according to the ratio of the degree of demand for the service with reference to the degree of demand for the service indicated in the advertisement-use information. The decision unit  44  sets the advertisement distribution right such that many advertisement distribution terminals are allocated to the kind of the service having the high degree of demand in the predetermined area and the predetermined time period. 
     The sales unit  48  may sell the advertisement information that is output to the displays  14  on the outside of the providing vehicle  10 . The decision unit  44  may decide the advertisement information to be output to the displays of the providing vehicle  10  based on the scheduled route information of the providing vehicle  10 . With this, the providing vehicle  10  functions as an advertising vehicle. The decision unit  44  receives a sales result of the sales unit  48  and decides an output of advertisement information according to the sales result. 
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart showing sales processing of the advertisement distribution right. The sales unit  48  starts auction processing at a predetermined timing (S 10 ). The predetermined timing may be, for example, every one hour or every two hours. 
     The acquisition unit  42  acquires the positional information or the route information of the providing vehicle  10  from the in-vehicle device  20  (S 12 ), and acquires the cooking time of the service to be provided by the providing vehicle  10  (S 14 ). 
     The decision unit  44  derives a providable area of the service based on the positional information or the route information of the providing vehicle  10  (S 16 ). The sales unit  48  sets a biddable advertisement distribution right for each service provider of the providing vehicle  10  based on the derived providable area (S 18 ). The service provider confirms the biddable advertisement distribution right and makes a bid through the input unit  24  (S 20 ). 
     In a case where the service provider cannot successfully bid the advertisement distribution right (in S 22 , N), the present processing ends. In a case where the service provider can successfully bid the advertisement distribution right (in S 22 , Y), distribution of an advertisement is decided, and the distribution unit  54  distributes the advertisement to an area set in the advertisement distribution right, a time period, and the list of the user terminal devices  16  (S 24 ). 
     The disclosure has been described above based on the above-described embodiment. The embodiment is intended to be just illustrative, and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modification examples can be made to a combination of components or processes and that such modification examples also fall within the scope of the disclosure. 
     In the embodiment, although an aspect in which the order reception unit  46  is provided in the server device  40  has been described, the disclosure is not limited to the aspect, and the configuration of the order reception unit  46  may be provided in the in-vehicle device  20 .