KR20010084605A - System and method for research on internet - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for internet research, wherein information collection programs for collecting information on the Internet usage status are installed on a computer of a plurality of internet users registered as a sample group, and the information collection program is used for the Internet use of the panel. Real-time information about the status is sent to the central server, and the transmitted information is stored in the database of the central server. The central server provides the stored information to the desired information consumer via the Internet or other means. According to the present invention, it does not rely on the response of the Internet user, and in particular, it is possible to accurately collect information on the user's Internet use status in real time without losing time of the Internet user, and the information value is processed by processing the collected information as needed. The data can be converted into large data to provide information on Internet usage to companies or individuals.

Description

Internet research system and method {SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RESEARCH ON INTERNET}

The present invention relates to an internet research system and method, wherein real-time information on the Internet usage status of an internet user is transmitted to a server to make a database, and this information is processed into useful information necessary for the internet market and provided to a customer.

With the spread of computers and the rapid increase of Internet users, various e-commerce through the Internet have been developed. Many companies that provide tangible goods or intangible services on the Internet have their own homepages that encourage Internet users to visit. Information about Internet users who visit their homepage is very important for cyber companies that want to provide product information or other information through their homepage and attract revenue by attracting advertisements to the homepage. For example, the number of users accessing a particular website, their age, gender and region, the number of times or hours of access, etc. are necessary to attract more advertising to the website or to establish a marketing strategy for internet commerce. Because it is.

Various methods can be used to collect information about Internet users. Conventional research methods generally use questionnaires or telephones to ask individual individuals questions and answer them. However, this method requires a lot of time and manpower, so it is difficult to obtain a large amount of information in a short time, which is not suitable for investigating the internet usage of the Internet users.

In recent years, Internet research, which performs research directly on the Internet, has been widely used. Research through the Internet can be viewed as online research, such as telephone research, but it has advantages over general online research in that research can be conducted in large quantities in a short time in cyberspace. However, such internet research uses a method of sending a survey content to an Internet document (usually a Hypertext Markup Language document) and receiving a response from an Internet user, so the research is not much different from the traditional research method. Because it depends on the user, there is a limit to collecting accurate information. In particular, since surveys through the Internet take time away from the Internet users, it may be difficult to expect an active response from the Internet users to the surveys. On the other hand, domestic and overseas Internet sites provide access statistics by counting the number of log-ins of users who visit their homepages, but these statistics lack objectivity and have limitations in obtaining more detailed user information. .

Companies or individuals who are doing business or preparing for the Internet are urgently needed to use the website more accurately and faster. Therefore, in addition to providing real-time information on the number of times Internet users access various Internet sites, users accessing specific sites, etc., this information is processed into useful forms and processed through the Internet or other means. The system to provide is required.

Therefore, the present invention accurately collects information on the user's Internet usage status in real time without losing time of the Internet user, and processes the collected information as necessary to deliver the information on the Internet usage status to the desired company or individual system And to provide a method.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an internet research system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing components of the panel system of FIG. 1.

3A and 3B are schematic diagrams illustrating the central server of FIG. 2.

4 is a schematic diagram showing a plurality of panel systems communicating with a central server.

5 is a flowchart for explaining an embodiment of the installation process of the information collection program of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of the process of collecting, transmitting, and processing information of the present invention.

*** Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing ***

10: Panel system 11: Browser

12: Operating System 13: Information Collector

20: Central server 21: Process

22: Database 23: Website

According to the present invention, an information collection program is installed on a computer of a plurality of Internet users (hereinafter referred to as panels) registered as a sample group to collect information on the Internet usage status. The information collection program transmits real-time information on the Internet usage status of the panel to the central server through the Internet transmission network, and the transmitted information is stored in the database of the central server. The central server provides the stored information to the desired information consumer via the Internet or other means. The central server may process the information stored in the database as needed to provide the information consumer with the processed information.

The information on the Internet usage provided in real time may be used by various companies or individuals who want to do business based on the Internet, sell goods on the Internet, or advertise on the Internet, and based on such information, It is possible to objectively investigate visitor tendency analysis and Internet market share.

Referring to the Internet research system according to the present invention.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an internet research system according to the present invention. The panel system 10, such as the panel's personal computer, or the like, accesses the websites 31, 32, and 33 via a web browser such as Netscape, Explorer, or the like. Indeed, the website to which the panel system connects may be much more than shown in the figures. The central server 20 transmits the information collection program to the panel system 10, and the information collection program installed in the panel system 10 checks the web site connection status in real time and transmits it to the central server 20. The information collection program enables data transmission and reception in both directions between the panel system and the central server. Thus, the information gathering program may not only transmit information to the central server but also receive updated programs, advertisements, questionnaires, and other data from the central server. The central server 20 stores the website connection status received from the information gathering program of the panel system 10 in a database, and transmits the stored information to the information consumer 40.

The components of the panel system 10 are shown in detail in FIG. The browser 11 makes it possible to access a website through internet surfing. The information collection program 13 transmitted from the central server (20 in FIG. 1) modifies the browser setting of the operation system 12 of the panel system, for example, in the case of Windows, by modifying the registry. The server is registered as a proxy server, interfaces with the browser 11, and checks web browsing to collect information. As another information collection method, the information collection program 13 may collect necessary information by a message hooking method for detecting all events (clicking a keyboard or clicking a mouse) in the panel system. . In this case, after collecting all the information that occurs in the operating system, it extracts the information related to the use of the Internet from the collected information and discards the remaining information.

The central server 20 of Figure 1 is shown in more detail in Figure 3a. The central server 20 is a process 21 for controlling the overall information processing of the Internet research system according to the present invention, a database 22 for storing information transmitted from the information collection program 13 to the central server, and stored information. It is composed of an information processing unit 23 for processing to meet the needs of customers. If necessary, the central server 20 may operate a website 24. 3B shows another embodiment, where the central server 20 and the database 22 are separated, and the network load can be reduced when the panel is large. In addition, if the panel is large, it is possible to operate several servers. In this case, each server can individually manage the panel group and collect information.

Hereinafter, the Internet research method according to the present invention will be described in order of securing a panel, installing a program, collecting information, transmitting information, and processing and providing information.

Securing of panels

It is important to have an appropriate panel group as the first step for Internet research. Conducting Internet research for any Internet user may be subject to lack of objectivity. In particular, panel groups may be concentrated on young people who use the Internet or those who are engaged in computer related fields. Therefore, the panel should be recruited evenly by region, occupation, age, and gender. The securing of the panel may be made through a website 24 running on a central server, or other methods may be possible. 4 illustrates a number of panel systems 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d in communication with a central server 20. The more panels, the more objective the collected information is. However, the more information, the less processing power of the system or the processing of the collected information. In selecting an Internet user as a panel, the anxiety of leaking information related to an individual's personal information to a third party is eliminated by not requiring important personal information such as a name or a social security number. In addition, a panelist may be paid for the transmission of his web surfing status to the outside. For example, an Internet user may be encouraged to voluntarily join a panel by providing a discount coupon for internet fees or providing gift certificates on a regular basis. An ID is issued to a user registered as a panel, and the ID is registered in the operating system of the panel system while the information collection program is installed in the panel system.

Installation of the program

The information collection program 13 is downloaded from the central server 20 to the panel system 10 such as the computer of the Internet user selected as the panel. The program is automatically installed in the panel system 10 as soon as it is downloaded. In this process, the panel must input the same ID as registered in the web page of the central server. After the program is installed, it is automatically started when the operating system 12 is executed, and can be automatically updated while communicating with the central server 20. Therefore, when the version of the browser 11 or the operating system 12 of the panel system is changed, the information collecting program 13 is updated by the central server with a function suitable for the new version of the browser or the operating system.

Since the information gathering program is installed in the panel system, the following points should be particularly considered. First of all, the transmission speed of the panel system should not be reduced so as not to disturb the panel's internet use, and it should not occupy excessive capacity on the panel system's hard disk. In the present invention, the information collecting program occupies less than 5% of the system resources of the panel system. In addition, it is important to prevent the user from recognizing the existence of the information collection program while using the Internet. This is to prevent the user from stopping the operation of the program by himself. For this purpose, the program does not adopt a graphical user interface (GUI) method, and in the process of installing the program, modifying the operating system settings to modify the operating system, for example, to change the registry or reinstall the operating system. The program cannot be modified unless the method is used and does not appear in the list of running programs. Therefore, the panel cannot check whether the program is running under an operating system such as Windows, and the program does not appear even when the control key on the keyboard is pressed together with the Alt and Del keys (Ctrl + Alt + Del).

The installed information gathering program reads the ID set in the panel system and modifies the browser setting of the operating system 12 of the panel system so that the browser recognizes the program as a proxy server. Therefore, a web browser such as Explorer or Netscape will perform web browsing through the program. The program installation process described above is shown in FIG. As described above, the information gathering program may collect all the necessary information after detecting all the events in the panel system by the message hooking method.

Collection of information

Information about Internet usage is collected by proxy or message hooking. In the proxy method, the proxy server of the browser is set as the information collection program to manage and control all data going out of the browser to various websites.

The data consists of the website's address (domain name), the directory and page path within the website, and the website's access time. These data are obtained by setting up routines that collect the data sent to the website and extract the necessary parts.

The information gathering program is executed only once, and part of it is processed by the process method, and the part requiring multiple tasks is executed by the thread method. In this way, the load on the panel system can be reduced.

It also uses a threaded approach to collecting information. Each thread accepts one web browsing request, and at the same time runs another thread to wait for another web browsing request. When a web browsing request comes in, it collects data that conforms to the HTTP protocol format. The website address, website path, etc. are extracted from the data, and the inspection is performed according to the conditions required by the central server. For example, unwanted website information is filtered out and processed into only the information you need. This process takes a very short time and does not affect the panel's use of the Internet. The information collection and the information transmission and processing described later are shown in FIG. 6.

Transmission of information

Once collected, the data is stored in a buffer and is not sent directly to the central server. This can reduce the network load, and can prevent the same data from being transmitted multiple times, especially in the case of continuous transmission and reception of data such as a chat site. The transmission of data is also performed by a thread method. It is preferable to transmit the data to the central server at regular intervals. As a preferred example, data is transmitted every 5 to 10 minutes. As another example, the maximum number of visited sites may be set in advance, and when the number is exceeded, data may be automatically transmitted to the central server.

If data transfer is impossible due to a problem with the central server or a network error, the collected information is temporarily stored in the data file. The temporarily stored information is designed to retry transmission after a certain period of time.

When transmitting the collected information, it is preferable to compress and transmit the data, and may encrypt and transmit the data to prevent leakage of the information.

Processing and Providing Information

The information sent to the central server is stored in a designated part of the database corresponding to each panel's ID. That is, the respective data is stored in the website address portion, website route portion, and access time portion of the corresponding ID. In addition, the stored information can be processed according to various purposes. For example, you can create a separate set of data on a survey of young people's preferences for media sites, the status of product purchases through the Internet by region, and the purchase status by age for specific products. Such information processing may be performed in the information processing department in the server, or may be processed more professionally by statistical experts. Such information may be provided to information consumers, such as Internet-related companies, companies or individuals who wish to do business via the Internet, or through the Internet, or by other means.

According to the present invention, it does not rely on the response of the Internet user, and in particular, it is possible to accurately collect information on the user's Internet use status in real time without losing time of the Internet user, and the information value is processed by processing the collected information as needed. The data can be converted into large data to provide information on Internet usage to companies or individuals. Such information enables transparent and objective market evaluation of the Internet market, and information providers and e-commerce companies on the Internet can use the above information for marketing, and Internet advertising companies, agencies, and other investment companies It can be used as a basis for investment strategy.

Claims (13)

A central server comprising a process for controlling the overall information processing, a database for storing the transmitted information, and an information processing unit for processing the stored information to meet the needs of the customer; An operating system, a browser that enables access to a website via internet surfing, and a real-time information about the current state of Internet usage through the browser, sent from the central server and registered with a proxy server by modifying the settings of the operating system. A plurality of panel systems including an information collection program for collecting and transmitting to the central server; And an internet transmission network connecting the central server and the plurality of panel systems. A central server comprising a process for controlling the overall information processing, a database for storing the transmitted information, and an information processing unit for processing the stored information to meet the needs of the customer; An operating system, a browser that enables access to a website through internet surfing, and all the events in the operating system are detected and collected by the message hooking method transmitted from the central server. A plurality of panel systems including an information collecting program for extracting real-time information on the internet usage status through the browser and transmitting the extracted information to the central server; And an internet transmission network connecting the central server and the plurality of panel systems. The Internet research system of claim 1, wherein the central server further comprises a website. The Internet research system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the information comprises a website address (domain name), a website path, and a website access time. The Internet research system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the information collecting program transmits and receives data in both directions with the central server. Download and install an information gathering program that collects information about Internet usage on a panel system, such as a computer of a panel, a number of Internet users registered as a sample group, The information collection program transmits real-time information on the Internet use status of the panel to the central server, Internet research method comprising storing the transmitted information in a corresponding database of each panel of the central server. The Internet research method according to claim 6, wherein the panel is registered as a sample by accessing a website of the central server and inputting ID and personal information. The method of claim 6, wherein the information comprises a website address (domain name), a website path, and a website access time. The Internet research method according to claim 6, wherein the information gathering program is registered as a proxy server by modifying a setting of an operating system of the panel system. According to claim 6, The information collection program detects all events in the operating system of the panel system by message hooking (message hooking) method and collects the corresponding information, among which the real-time regarding the current state of Internet use through the browser Internet research method, characterized in that the extraction of information. The method of claim 6, wherein the information collecting program stores the collected data in a buffer and transmits the collected data to a central server after a predetermined time. The method of claim 6, wherein the central server further comprises processing information stored in a database as needed. 13. The method of claim 6 or 12, wherein the central server further comprises providing the stored information to a desired information consumer via the Internet or other means.