Patent ID: 8209324

Claim:
A server device comprising: a storage unit that stores keywords and predetermined positions in a virtual space, the keywords being associated with a plurality of announcement information items, and the plurality of announcement information items being respectively associated with the predetermined positions; a first obtaining unit that obtains a position indication information item and a search word from a client terminal, the position indication information item indicating one of a position of an avatar representing a user of the client terminal in the virtual space and a position in the virtual space associated with an announcement information item being referred to by the user via the client terminal, and the search word being used for searching for one or more announcement information items related to the search word; a specifying unit that specifies a position included in a predetermined range from the position indicated by the position indication information item obtained by the first obtaining unit, from among the plurality of the predetermined positions stored in the storage unit, thereby to specify an announcement information item associated with the specified position; an extraction unit that extracts one or more keywords relevant to the search word obtained by the first obtaining unit, from among the plurality of keywords stored in the storage unit, thereby to extract one or more of the plurality of announcement information items which are associated with the extracted one or more keywords, the predetermined positions with which the plurality of announcement information items are respectively associated not being variable by the extraction of one or more of the plurality of announcement information items, the one or more keywords extracted by the extracting unit including a term that is identical to the search word or has a meaning that is equal to or similar to the meaning of the search word; a notification unit that notifies the client terminal of one or more of the predetermined positions associated with the one or more of the plurality of announcement information items extracted by the extraction unit; a second obtaining unit that obtains an identification information item from the client terminal notified of the one or more of the predetermined positions by the notification unit, the identification information item being capable of identifying one of the plurality of announcement information items which is associated with one of the notified one or more of the predetermined positions; an association unit that associates a link information item with the announcement information item specified by the specifying unit, the link information item linking to the announcement information item identified by the identification information item obtained by the second obtaining unit; and an output unit that outputs the link information item associated by the association unit.