JP2006085474A - Item search device, method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an item search device outputting a proper candidate for an item according to an optional relevant keyword even if a part or none of a name of a content/commodity is known. <P>SOLUTION: A list of item names serving as candidates is previously stored in an item list 203. A URL search part 201 searches a web page on the Internet based on the keyword. A text extraction part 202 acquires text information related to the keyword. A score counting part 204 counts a frequency of appearance of the item name included in the item list from the text information. An output part 205 outputs the items in the order of the frequency of appearance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an item search device, an item search method, and an item search program for searching for items such as contents such as music works and video works such as CDs and DVDs and various products.

  Conventionally, as a system for searching for contents to be rented and sold such as video (video), music, books, games, etc., the title, author name (director, writer, performer), production date, performer name, distributor Searching for a desired content (item) by using a store terminal or accessing a server such as a store via the Internet using a preset attribute such as (label, publisher) or the like as a keyword. ing.

  In addition, as a system for searching for handled products at an online store using the Internet, a desired product (item) is searched using a predetermined attribute such as a product name, a manufacturer name, and a price as a keyword. ing.

  For example, content related to music can be searched via store terminals and the Internet using keywords and classification factors such as performer name, album name, song title, genre (Japanese music, Western music, rock, classical music, etc.) and label. Thus, the desired content can be searched.

  The conventional search method described above, for example, when purchasing an album, forgot the album name, but knows the performer and the song name. Thus, a desired content (album) is searched from a content database in which various attributes are set.

  However, as a search for items, there is a demand for searching from an arbitrary keyword instead of searching for a predetermined attribute as a keyword. For example, you want to search for a CD that contains a song used in a TV commercial for the product XX, want to know the title of the theme song of the drama △△, or the title of a movie that won the △△ award at the XX Film Festival There are also requests for searching such as wanting to know, or searching for books written about management philosophy. However, there has been no means for searching for items using keywords that are not included in such attributes.

  This invention is made in view of the above, Comprising: It aims at providing the item search device, the item search method, and the item search program which can search a desired item using arbitrary keywords. .

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an item search device according to the first aspect of the present invention relates to an item list storage means for storing item names to be output as candidates, and items to be searched. In the input means for receiving the keyword input, the search means for acquiring the content of the web page related to the keyword input by the input means from the Internet, and the content of the web page acquired by the search means, the item list storage A counting unit that counts the number of item names stored in the unit for each item name; and an output unit that outputs the item name based on the number of appearances counted by the counting unit. And

  The item search device according to the second aspect of the invention includes a temporary search list storage unit that stores a primary search list that stores primary search candidates for primary search, and an attribute that classifies items for each primary search candidate. Attribute item list storage means for storing an item list, input means for receiving an input of a keyword related to an item desired to be searched, and a search for acquiring contents of a web page related to the keyword input by the input means from the Internet And a primary score counting means for counting the number of appearance of primary search candidates stored in the primary search list storage means for each primary search candidate in the content of the web page acquired by the search means, and the primary score counting means The number counted by the score counting means and stored in the attribute item list storage means Item list generating means for generating an item list that lists item names that may be output as candidates based on the attribute item list, and the item list in the content of the web page obtained by the search means Based on the item list generated by the generating unit, a secondary score counting unit that counts the number of occurrences of the item name for each item name, and an item based on the number of appearances counted by the secondary score counting unit Output means for outputting a name.

  An item search method according to a third aspect of the invention includes an input step of receiving an input of a keyword related to an item desired to be searched, and contents of a web page related to the keyword input by the input step on the Internet And a count for counting, for each item name, the number of item names stored in the item list for storing item names to be output as candidates in the contents of the web page acquired by the search step And an output step of outputting an item name based on the number of appearances counted by the counting step.

  An item search method according to a fourth aspect of the invention includes an input step of receiving an input of a keyword related to an item desired to be searched, and contents of a web page related to the keyword input by the input step on the Internet A primary score counting step for counting the number of primary search candidates for primary search appearing for each primary search candidate in the content of the web page acquired by the search step, and the primary score counting An item list generation step for generating an item list that lists item names that may be output as candidates based on the number counted in the step and an attribute item list in which items are classified for each primary search candidate; In the content of the web page acquired by the search step, the item Based on the item list generated by the list generation step, a secondary score counting step for counting the number of occurrences of the item name for each item name, and based on the number of occurrences counted by the secondary score counting step And an output process for outputting an item name.

  An item search program according to a fifth aspect of the present invention causes a computer to execute any one of the item search methods according to the third or fourth aspect.

  According to this invention, a list of candidate item names is stored in advance, a web page on the Internet is searched based on a keyword, text information related to the keyword is obtained, and an item list is obtained from the text information. Counts the number of occurrences of item names included in, and outputs them in descending order of their appearance counts, so just specify any keyword related to that item and estimate and output the item name The effect that the item search device to perform can be provided is produced.

  In addition, according to the present invention, after searching a web page on the Internet based on a keyword, the search is performed based on a list of primary search candidates, so that the number of items is enormous. In addition, there is an effect that it is possible to provide an item search device capable of processing at high speed.

  Exemplary embodiments of an item search device according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the entire system including an item search device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is a server provided with the item search apparatus according to the present embodiment, 102 is the Internet including a huge amount of information such as a web page, and 103 is connected to the server 101 through a network such as a LAN. 104 is a personal computer or PDA that can be connected to the Internet.

  In this system, first, a user who wants to search for an item operates the input / output terminal 103 and inputs items related to the item as keywords. For example, when searching for a song name, the name of the commercial product in which the song is used, or the drama name if used for the theme song of the drama. Multiple keywords can be specified. Next, the keyword is sent to the server 101. Upon receiving the keyword, the item search device in the server 101 searches information on the Internet 102 with the keyword, obtains an item name candidate based on the result, and sends the result to the input / output terminal 103. The item name candidates are displayed on the input / output terminal 103.

  Instead of the input / output terminal 103, an information processing terminal 104 such as a personal computer or a PDA that can be connected to the Internet can be used. Such a form is used when searching via the Internet, such as online shopping, without placing the search terminal in a store. Similarly, a keyword relating to an item is input from an information processing terminal 104 such as a personal computer or a PDA, transmitted to the server 101 including the item search device via the Internet, and item candidates are received from the server 101 via the Internet. Note that a plurality of information processing terminals 104 such as the input / output terminals 103 and personal computers or PDAs may be provided on the network.

  As another system configuration, a part or all of the functions of the server 101 may be provided in the input / output terminal 103, and a part of the item search device is provided in the information processing terminal 104 such as a personal computer or a PDA. You may do it.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram functionally showing the configuration of the item search device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The item search device according to the first embodiment includes a URL search unit 201, a text extraction unit 202, an item list 203, a score counting unit 204, and an output unit 205.

  The URL search unit 201 performs a search from a vast amount of information obtained from a web page on the Internet based on the received keyword, acquires a plurality of URLs of the web page including the keyword, and stores the URL as a URL list. This is output to the extraction unit 202. The URL search unit 201 can be realized by using the technology of an existing Internet search engine (Google (registered trademark), Yahoo! (registered trademark), etc.). The number of URLs to be obtained may be set in advance, or may be specified separately by the user.

  In addition, in order to improve search efficiency, you may search including the fixed keyword according to the search objective in addition to the received keyword. For example, “Song” is used for searching for a song title, and “Book” is used for searching for a book.

  The text extraction unit 202 sequentially accesses the URL addresses according to the URL list, and acquires (extracts) the text information of the page. Here, as the text information, if the web page is in the HTML format, the information obtained by removing the tag information from the web page can be used. Note that only the text information around the keyword may be extracted without acquiring all the text information. As the periphery, a predetermined number of characters and words before and after the keyword can be used.

  Further, not only the surrounding text but also the title character string may be added to the text information. This is because the title of the web page also has an important meaning. Moreover, you may leave the information which shows the structure and attribute of contents, such as a title, among text information in tag information. The structure and attribute information included in the text information can be used for weighting when obtaining a score. In this way, the text extraction unit 202 outputs the acquired text information to the score counting unit 204.

  Note that the contents of the URL can be stored in the cache in advance without accessing the URL address each time. In this case, text information may be acquired from the cache instead of extracting text information via the Internet.

  The item list 203 stores item names that can be candidates in a list form. In this case, a large number of item names may be simply stored side by side. For example, when searching for album names of CDs, all album names that can be candidates are stored in a list. At this time, not only the album name but also a unique ID number for identifying the album may be assigned. This ID number can be used to display additional information such as the label name and price in addition to the album name when outputting the result.

  Here, the item widely includes items to be searched in addition to contents such as music works such as CDs and DVDs, video works, books, games, and various products. Therefore, the item name widely includes the name of the item. That is, as the item name, when the item to be searched is content such as CD, DVD, book, game, etc., the title of the content can be specified as the item name. In the case of a product, the product name or model number may be stored as an item name.

  In addition, there is a method for storing a plurality of item names depending on what is a search candidate even for the same item. For example, even when searching for an item called CD, if the album name is an output candidate, the album title is the item name, and if the song name is an output candidate, the song name included in the CD is the item name. If the name is an output candidate, the artist stores the item name.

  The score counting unit 204 collates the text information with the item list 203 and counts the number of occurrences of the item name in the text information for each item name. This number is output as a score for the item.

  The output unit 205 outputs a specified number of item names in descending order of score. In addition to the item name, information related to the item (for example, when searching for the album name of a CD, in addition to the album name, artist name, price, genre, release date, jacket image, etc.) May be output.

  The URL search unit 201, text extraction unit 202, score counting unit 204, and output unit 205 function as the CPU executes a program stored in a ROM, RAM, hard disk, or removable storage medium (not shown). To realize.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the item search apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the flowchart of FIG. 3, first, a keyword is input (step S301). Here, in the case of a system configuration of a terminal and a server, the server receives a keyword from the terminal. A plurality of keywords can be designated as AND conditions, OR conditions, or NOT conditions.

  Thereafter, a search is performed from information on a large number of web pages on the Internet based on the input keyword, and a plurality of URLs of web pages including the keyword are acquired (step S302).

  Subsequently, the URL obtained in step S302 is accessed to obtain text information of the web page (step S303). Here, the entire text may be acquired, or only the text in the vicinity where the keyword appears may be extracted. In the case where the URL search unit 201 is provided with a cache function for storing the text information of the web page, the cache data may be read from the storage unit without accessing the Internet.

  Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the text information of all URLs in the URL list obtained in step S302 has been acquired (step S304). If it is determined that the text information has not been acquired to the end (step S304: No), step S303 is performed. Return to. On the other hand, when it is determined that the URL list has been acquired to the end (step S304: Yes), the process proceeds to step S305.

  Subsequently, the item names are read one by one from the item list 203, the number of appearances of how many of the item names are included in the text information acquired in step S303 is counted, and the number is used as a score for the item ( Step S305).

  Thereafter, it is determined whether or not all item names have been read from the item list 203 (step S306). If it is determined that all items have not been acquired (step S306: No), the process returns to step S305. On the other hand, if it is determined that all item names have been read from the item list (step S306: Yes), the process proceeds to step S307.

  Note that it is possible to speed up the processing by performing the processing of step S305 and step S306 in parallel using a character string search technique such as using a hash table without counting item names one by one.

  Subsequently, the item names are output in order from the highest score (step S307), and the series of processing ends. In the case of the system configuration as shown in FIG. 1, the item names are transmitted to the input / output terminal 103, the information processing terminal 104 such as a personal computer or a PDA.

  When not only outputting the item name but also outputting additional information related to the item, the corresponding additional information is read from the means for storing additional information for each item in the item list 203 and output together with the item name. That's fine.

  Next, an example of an input / output screen of the item search device according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. The input / output screen may be dedicated to the system of the present invention, or may be performed by an existing browser for browsing web pages. Here, a CD album search will be described as an example. FIG. 4 is an example of an input screen. Here, an input box 401 is a part for inputting a keyword, and various keywords relating to an item to be searched are input here. When entering multiple keywords, separate them with spaces or tabs. A button 402 is a button for instructing a search. When the search button is pressed after inputting a keyword, the keyword is sent to the server and the search process is started. After the search process, the screen moves to the output screen of FIG.

  FIG. 5 is an example of an output screen. Here, in the output 501, item candidates are displayed in descending order of score. As shown in FIG. 5, not only items (here, album names) but also additional information related to the items, such as artist names, genres, etc., may be displayed simultaneously. Moreover, you may make it display the additional information regarding the item by selecting an item. When the button 502 is selected, candidates for the next rank are displayed.

  According to the first embodiment described above, a list of candidate item names is prepared in advance, and information on web pages that are scattered on the Internet and automatically updated daily is used as a database. Thus, item candidates can be output from any keyword.

  In addition, it is different from the conventional method that keywords are not matched in the site, but is matched with the item name from the information searched by the keyword, and items can be searched from various keywords with high accuracy.

  In addition, since Internet information is used in the database instead of in-site information, it is always possible to search from new information.

  In addition, after acquiring text information by the text extraction part 202 of FIG. 2, the morphological analysis of text information may be performed and only the part of the part of speech (for example, a proper noun or an unknown word) regarding an item may be extracted beforehand. Thereby, the processing in the score counting unit 204 can be speeded up.

  In addition, item lists are prepared for each field (for example, genre for CD album search, Western / Japanese film for movie search, etc.), and the field can be specified along with keyword specification. You can also get the score only for the list. As a result, the search process can be speeded up and a more desired search result can be obtained.

  Also, if you can specify multiple attributes of the item you want to search (for example, genre, male artist or female artist for CD album search), extract only the items that match the specified attribute from the entire item list. You may make it search with the subset of a list. As a result, the search process can be speeded up and a more desired search result can be obtained.

(Embodiment 2)
In the second embodiment described below, the search for an item is divided into two stages to speed up the search process. For example, when the item to be searched is a CD song name, this number may be two or more digits longer than the artist name. In such a case, the search is speeded up by performing a primary search using the artist name.

  FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram functionally showing the configuration of the item search device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 6, the item search apparatus according to Embodiment 2 includes a URL search unit 601, a text extraction unit 602, a primary score counting unit 603, a primary search list 604, an item list generation unit 605, an attribute item list 606, and a secondary score count. A unit 607 and an output unit 608.

  The URL search unit 601 and the text extraction unit 602 are the same as the URL search unit 201 and the text extraction unit 202 of the first embodiment, respectively, and thus description thereof is omitted here.

  The primary search list 604 stores character strings (primary search candidates) that are primary search candidates in a list form. This primary search candidate can be, for example, an artist name in the case of song name search, or an author name in the case of book search.

  The primary score counting unit 603 collates the text information with the primary search list 604, and counts the number of appearances of the text information in each primary search candidate (artist name or author name). This number is output as a score for the primary search candidate.

  The attribute item list 606 is a classification of items for each primary search candidate. For example, in the case of a song name search, the artist's song name is stored in a list for each artist. In the case of searching for books, the author's works (book names) are stored in a list for each author.

  The item list generation unit 605 selects a certain number of primary search candidates with high scores from the output of the primary score counting unit 603, takes out corresponding primary search candidate items from the attribute item list 606, collects them as one Output as a single item list.

  The secondary score counting unit 607 collates the text information with the item list, and counts the number of occurrences of the item in the text information for each item. This number is output as a score for the item.

  The output unit 608 outputs a specified number of items in descending order of score. In addition to the item, information related to the item (for example, when searching for the album name of a CD, in addition to the album name, artist name, price, genre, release date, jacket image, etc.) You may make it output.

  Next, FIG. 7 is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process of the item search device concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention. In the flowchart of FIG. 7, the process from the keyword input in step S701 to the last determination in the URL list in step S704 is the same as that in steps S301 to S304 in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  After the text information is acquired by repeating step S703, primary search candidates are read one by one from the primary search list 604, and how many primary search candidates are included in the text information acquired in step S703, and the number of appearances. The number is counted and the number is set as a score for the primary search candidate (step S705).

  Thereafter, it is determined whether or not all primary search candidates have been read from the primary search list 604 (step S706). If it is determined that all the candidates have not been acquired (step S706: No), the process returns to step S705. On the other hand, when it is determined that all primary search candidates have been read from the primary search list 604 (step S706: Yes), the process proceeds to step S707.

  Subsequently, an item list is generated from the primary search candidates with higher scores. For this, the attribute item list 606 is referred to, a plurality of item names are acquired from the respective primary search candidates, and these item names are combined into one item list (step S707).

  Subsequently, the item names are read one by one from the item list generated in step S707, the number of appearances of the item names included in the text information acquired in step S703 is counted, and the number of the item names for the item is counted. A score is set (step S708).

  Thereafter, it is determined whether all item names have been read from the item list (step S709). If it is determined that all items have not been acquired (step S709: No), the process returns to step S708. On the other hand, if it is determined that all item names have been read from the item list (step S709: Yes), the process proceeds to step S710.

  Subsequently, item names are output in descending order of score (step S710), and the series of processes is terminated. In the case of the system configuration as shown in FIG. 1, the item names are transmitted to the input / output terminal 103, the information processing terminal 104 such as a personal computer or a PDA.

  In addition to outputting the item name, when outputting additional information related to the item, the corresponding additional information is read from the means for storing additional information for each item in the attribute item list 606 and output together with the item name. do it.

  In the second embodiment, when searching for a song title, an artist name may be designated as a primary search candidate and a song title may be designated as an item name. When searching for an album name such as a CD, the artist name may be designated as the primary search candidate and the album name may be designated as the item name. When searching for books, the author name may be specified as the primary search candidate, and the book name may be specified as the item name. When searching for a product, a manufacturer name may be specified as a primary search candidate, and a product name may be specified as an item name.

  Since the input / output example of the item search device according to the second embodiment of the present invention is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the description thereof is omitted.

  According to the second embodiment described above, by performing the search in two stages, the search process can be performed at high speed even when the number of items to be searched is large.

  Note that the score counting unit 204 in FIG. 2 or the primary score counting unit 603 and the secondary score counting unit 607 in FIG. 6 may perform matching in consideration of not only complete matching of character strings but also notation fluctuations. .

  Further, in the score counting unit 204 in FIG. 2 or the primary score counting unit 603 and the secondary score counting unit 607 in FIG. 6, the weight of the score when the matched item name or primary search candidate is a title in the web page May be increased. Thereby, a search with higher accuracy becomes possible.

  The item search method described in this embodiment can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, and a DVD, and is executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. Further, this program may be a transmission medium that can be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  As described above, the item search device according to the present invention is suitable for estimating the item name from various keywords related to the item in a situation where the name of the desired item is unknown.

  Moreover, the item search apparatus according to the present invention can be used for searching for content to be rented in a rental shop.

  In addition, the item search device according to the present invention can be used for searching for content to be sold at a record store, a music download site, or the like.

  The item search device according to the present invention can be used for searching for books to be sold in a bookstore.

  Moreover, the item search apparatus according to the present invention can be used for library collection search.

  Moreover, the item search apparatus concerning this invention can be utilized for the search of the music in a karaoke shop.

  Moreover, the item search device according to the present invention can be used for searching for merchandise at a store.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a block diagram which shows the whole system concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows functionally the structure of the item search device concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process of the item search device concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the input screen concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the output screen concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows functionally the structure of the item search device concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process of the item search device concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Server including the item search apparatus of the present invention 102 Internet including web page 103 Input / output terminal 104 Information processing terminal 201 URL search unit 202 Text extraction unit 203 Item list 204 Score counting unit 205 Output unit 401 Input for inputting a keyword Box 402 Button for instructing search 501 Output result display 502 Next selection button 601 URL search unit 602 Text extraction unit 603 Primary score counting unit 604 Primary search list 605 Item list generating unit 606 Attribute item list 607 Secondary score counting unit 608 Output unit

Claims (5)

Item list storage means for storing item names to be output as candidates;
An input means for receiving an input of a keyword related to an item desired to be searched;
Search means for acquiring the contents of a web page related to the keyword input by the input means from the Internet;
In the content of the web page acquired by the search means, a counting means for counting the number of occurrences of item names stored in the item list storage means for each item name;
Output means for outputting an item name based on the number of appearances counted by the counting means;
An item search device comprising: Temporary search list storage means for storing a primary search list for storing primary search candidates for primary search;
Attribute item list storage means for storing an attribute item list in which items are classified for each primary search candidate;
An input means for receiving an input of a keyword related to an item desired to be searched;
Search means for acquiring the contents of a web page related to the keyword input by the input means from the Internet;
In the content of the web page acquired by the search means, a primary score counting means for counting the number of primary search candidates stored in the primary search list storage means for each primary search candidate;
Item list generation for generating an item list that lists item names that may be output as candidates based on the number counted by the primary score counting unit and the attribute item list stored in the attribute item list storage unit Means,
In the content of the web page acquired by the search means, based on the item list generated by the item list generation means, a secondary score counting means for counting the number of appearances of the item names for each item name;
Output means for outputting an item name based on the number of appearances counted by the secondary score counting means;
An item search device comprising: An input process for receiving an input of a keyword related to an item desired to be searched;
A search step of acquiring the content of a web page related to the keyword input by the input step from the Internet;
In the content of the web page acquired by the search step, a counting step of counting the number of item names stored in the item list storing the item names to be output as candidates for each item name;
An output step of outputting an item name based on the number of occurrences counted by the counting step;
The item search method characterized by including. An input process for receiving an input of a keyword related to an item desired to be searched;
A search step of acquiring the content of a web page related to the keyword input by the input step from the Internet;
In the content of the web page acquired by the search step, a primary score counting step for counting the number of primary search candidates for primary search that appear for each primary search candidate,
An item list that generates an item list that lists item names that may be output as candidates based on the number counted by the primary score counting step and an attribute item list that classifies items for each primary search candidate. Generation process;
In the content of the web page acquired by the search step, based on the item list generated by the item list generation step, a secondary score counting step of counting the number of appearance of the item name for each item name,
An output step of outputting an item name based on the number of occurrences counted by the secondary score counting step;
The item search method characterized by including. An item search program that causes a computer to execute any one of the item search methods according to claim 3 or 4.

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