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`US 20020165773Al
`
`(19) United States
`(12) Patent Application Publication
`Natsuno et al.
`
`(10) Pub. No.: US 2002/0165773 Al
`Nov. 7, 2002
`( 43) Pub. Date:
`
`(54) METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR
`DISTRIBUTING ADVERTISEMENTS OVER
`NETWORK
`
`(76)
`
`Inventors: Takeshi Natsuno, Tokyo (JP);
`Takayuki Sato, Tokyo (JP); Daisuke
`Nagatsuma, Tokyo (JP)
`
`Correspondence Address:
`BRINKS HOFER GILSON & LIONE
`P.O. BOX 10395
`CHICAGO, IL 60610 (US)
`
`(21) Appl. No.:
`
`10/048,338
`
`(22) PCT Filed:
`
`May 30, 2001
`
`(86) PCT No.:
`
`PCT/JPOl/04537
`
`(30)
`
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`
`May 31, 2000
`
`(JP) ...................................... 2000-163838
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(51)
`
`Int. CI.7 ..................................................... G06F 17/60
`
`(52) U.S. Cl. ................................................................ 705/14
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A communication terminal sends an access request to a
`WWW server connected to a network to a relay server in the
`network. The relay server sends this access request to the
`WWW server and receives display data from the WWW
`server and sends an advertisement ID specifying an adver(cid:173)
`tisement satisfying a predefined condition to the communi(cid:173)
`cation terminal together with the display data. The commu(cid:173)
`nication terminal displays a screen by this display data and
`sends an advertisement data request including an advertise(cid:173)
`ment ID received from the relay server through the relay
`server to an advertisement distribution server. When receiv(cid:173)
`ing an advertisement data request, the advertisement distri(cid:173)
`bution server sends the advertisement ID contained in the
`advertisement data request to the communication terminal
`through the relay server. When receiving the advertisement
`data, the communication terminal displays an advertisement
`corresponding to the advertisement data along with the
`screen corresponding to the display data.
`
`11
`
`15
`
`18
`
`17
`
`MOB I LE COMMUN I CAT I ON
`TERMINAL
`
`ADVERT I SEMEN!
`DI STR I BUTI ON SERVER
`
`ACCESS REQUEST ACCESS REQUEST
`HTML DATA
`S4
`
`S1
`
`CONTENT
`SERVER
`S2
`-1 s3
`_.,
`USER
`IP ADDRESS. DES I RED
`RECEIVED ADVERTISEMENT
`CONDIT I ON. USER
`INTRODUCTION DA l A
`
`S42
`
`S41
`
`SEARCH THROUGH
`DATABASE
`
`ADVERTISEMENT
`
`ID
`
`S43
`
`HTML DATA
`(+ADVERTISEMENT
`
`ID)
`
`S6
`
`S5
`
`DI SPLAY
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`ADVERTISEMENT
`DATA REQUEST
`
`S8
`
`S7
`
`ID -
`USER
`USER
`IP ADDRESS
`ADVERTISEMENT DATA REQUEST
`
`S10
`
`S9
`
`SEARCH THROUGH
`DAT ABASE AND COUNT
`NUMBER OF ACCESSES
`S 11
`ADVERTISEMENT DATA
`
`S12
`
`IP ADDRESS
`USER
`-USER ID
`S14 ADVERTISEMENT DATA
`
`DISPLAY
`HOMEPAGE AND
`ADVERT I SEMENT
`
`S13
`
`Twitter Exhibit 1031
`Twitter, Inc. v. BlackBerry Ltd.
`Page 00001
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 7, 2002 Sheet 1 of 8
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`Patent Application Publication Nov. 7, 2002 Sheet 3 of 8
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`Patent Application Publication Nov. 7, 2002 Sheet 4 of 8
`
`US 2002/0165773 Al
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`FIG. 4
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`Page 00005
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`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 7, 2002 Sheet 5 of 8
`
`US 2002/0165773 Al
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`FIG. 5
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`ADVERTISEMENT DATA
`
`174
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`
`Page 00006
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 7, 2002 Sheet 6 of 8
`
`US 2002/0165773 Al
`
`FIG. 6
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`Page 00007
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 7, 2002 Sheet 7 of 8
`
`US 2002/0165773 Al
`
`____ \~
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`FIG. 7
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`S13
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`
`Page 00008
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 7, 2002 Sheet 8 of 8
`
`US 2002/0165773 Al
`
`112
`
`FIG. 8
`
`[! PR]=====
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`Page 00009
`
`

`

`US 2002/0165773 Al
`
`Nov. 7, 2002
`
`1
`
`METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTING
`ADVERTISEMENTS OVER NETWORK
`
`BACKGROUND ART
`
`[0001] 1. Technical Field
`
`[0002] The present invention relates to a system and server
`for distributing advertisements of a high advertising to effect
`for advertisers to a plurality of user terminals through a
`network.
`
`[0003] 2. Prior Art
`
`[0004] Known in the art is an advertisement distribution
`system which provides so-called banner advertisements to
`users accessing homepages on the WWW (World Wide
`Web). The banner advertisements provided by this type of
`advertisement distribution system are displayed as parts of
`the display screen of the homepages. The user can click on
`or otherwise operate the display of a banner advertisement
`to jump to another homepage using a URL (universal
`resource locator) buried in the banner advertisement so as to
`obtain more detailed advertisement information.
`
`[0005]
`In general, however, an advertisement should be
`provided in a timely manner along with the presentation of
`a new product or service. Further, when the ability of a
`product or service to win over new customers has been
`exhausted, it is necessary to market another product or
`service. Therefore, the advertisements inserted into home(cid:173)
`pages have to be changed frequently. If it is necessary to
`frequently change the advertisements inserted in homepages
`in this way, however, an extremely heavy burden is placed
`on the providers of the homepages.
`
`[0006] Further, the users viewing homepages have diverse
`preferences. Even if a homepage provider sacrifices precious
`area on the homepage to insert a banner advertisement, it
`will often not be welcomed by some users. For such users,
`the rise in the cost of data communications due to the
`unwanted advertisement and the slower response in the
`display on the communication terminal due to the display of
`the unwanted advertisement are big inconveniences. Further,
`since distribution of advertisements of products or services
`costs money, the advertisers want to distribute their adver(cid:173)
`tisements to users of groups (age groups, gender, etc.) which
`could use those products or services. This is because even if
`advertisements are distributed to users other than those
`groups, there would be no response to the advertisements
`and the costs of distribution could not be recovered.
`
`[0007] Therefore, providers of homepages are asked to
`distribute advertisements tailored to the preferences of the
`users and the desires of the advertisers.
`
`[0008] From the user's perspective, however, the user has
`to notify the provider of the homepage of his preferences in
`order to get advertisements meeting the preferences distrib(cid:173)
`uted to him and therefore his privacy is invaded. Therefore,
`users not desiring an invasion of their privacy can no longer
`get the desired advertisements distributed to them.
`
`[0009] Further, to distribute advertisements meeting the
`preferences of users and desires of advertisers, the providers
`of homepages are required to select the advertisements of
`the advertisers believing the accessing users to be sources of
`demand, select ones meeting the preferences of users from
`among them, and insert those advertisements in the home-
`
`pages. This work is tremendously troublesome and places an
`excessive burden on the providers of homepages.
`[0010] Further, other problems arise when distributing
`advertisements covering also mobile phones and other com(cid:173)
`munication terminals. That is, mobile phones differ in dis(cid:173)
`play capabilities depending on their model, so even if
`distributing advertisements meeting the preferences of the
`users, the inconvenience may arise that the advertisements
`cannot be suitably displayed on the display units of the
`mobile phones of those users. Further, sometimes the data of
`an advertisement is of an excessive quality for the mobile
`phone receiving it. For example, when distributing color
`image data as the data of an advertisement, some mobile
`phones receiving it will have a color display capability while
`others will have only a black and white display capability.
`Even if mobile phones having only a black and white display
`capability receive image data for a color display, they can
`only display the advertisements in black and white. With
`this, there is no meaning in incurring expensive communi(cid:173)
`cations costs in order to distribute color image data. In the
`final analysis, distributing image data for black and white
`displays, which is smaller in the amount of data, to mobile
`phones only having a black and white display capability
`conversely can save on communication costs and reduce the
`burden on advertisers. Here, when the communication ter(cid:173)
`minal receiving the advertisement is a personal computer
`etc., it is possible to upgrade by changing the advertisement
`display software or hardware and improve the display capa(cid:173)
`bility. Mobile phones, however, differ from personal com(cid:173)
`puters in that they are comprised almost entirely of built-in
`systems. Therefore, after mobile phones have appeared on
`the market, it is generally difficult to get users to change the
`software or hardware to improve the advertisement display
`capability.
`
`DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
`[0011] A first object of the present invention is to provide
`a homepage including an advertisement to a user which
`accesses the homepage without placing an excessive burden
`on the provider of the homepage. A second object of the
`present invention is to distribute advertisements tailored to
`the tastes of the users and desires of the advertisers. A third
`object of the present invention is to prevent an invasion of
`privacy of the user when distributing advertisements tailored
`to the tastes of the users and desires of the advertisers. A
`fourth object of the present invention is to distribute suitable
`data commensurate with the display capability of the com(cid:173)
`munication terminal of a user as data for display of an
`advertisement.
`[0012] To achieve the above objects, the present invention
`provides a method of distribution of an advertisement com(cid:173)
`prising having a communication terminal send an access
`request to a WWW server connected to a network to a relay
`server in the network, having the relay server send the access
`request to the WWW server, receive display data of a
`homepage from the WWW server, and send the display data
`to the communication terminal and receive advertisement
`data from an advertisement distribution server connected to
`the network and send it to the communication terminal, and
`having the communication terminal display a screen corre(cid:173)
`sponding to the display data and advertisement correspond(cid:173)
`ing to the advertisement data.
`[0013] According to this method of distribution of an
`advertisement, if an advertiser stores advertisement data in
`
`Page 00010
`
`

`

`US 2002/0165773 Al
`
`Nov. 7, 2002
`
`2
`
`an advertisement distribution server, when a user of a
`communication terminal sends an access request to a WWW
`server, a relay server acquires the display data of the
`homepage from the WWW server, acquires the advertise(cid:173)
`ment data from an advertisement distribution server, sends
`the display data and the advertisement data to the commu(cid:173)
`nication terminal, and displays the same on the communi(cid:173)
`cation terminal. Therefore, it is possible to display a home(cid:173)
`page and advertisement on the communication terminal of
`the user without placing a burden on the advertiser or the
`provider of the homepage.
`[0014]
`In a preferred embodiment, in the method of dis(cid:173)
`tribution of an advertisement provided according to the
`present invention, a communication terminal sends an
`access request to a WWW server connected to a network to
`a relay server in the network, the relay server sends the
`access request to the WWW server, receives display data of
`a homepage from the WWW server, receives from an
`advertisement distribution server connected to said network
`an advertisement ID of an advertisement, a desired sent user
`condition defined in advance for an advertiser of said
`advertisement being satisfied by a user of said communica(cid:173)
`tion terminal and a desired received advertisement condition
`defined in advance for said user of the communication
`terminal being satisfied by said advertisement, and sends it
`along with the display data to the communication terminal,
`the communication terminal displays a screen corresponding
`to the display data and sends an advertisement data request
`including the advertisement ID to the advertisement distri(cid:173)
`bution server through the relay server, the advertisement
`distribution server sends advertisement data corresponding
`to an advertisement ID included in an advertisement request
`which is received to the communication terminal through the
`relay server, and the communication terminal receives the
`advertisement data and displays both a screen corresponding
`to the display data and an advertisement corresponding to
`the advertisement data.
`[0015] According to this method of distribution of an
`advertisement, it is possible to distribute an advertisement
`satisfying both the desires of a user of a communication
`terminal and the desires of an advertiser. Further, according
`to this method of distribution of an advertisement, since the
`display data of the homepage and the advertisement ID are
`sent to the communication terminal, then the advertisement
`data corresponding to the advertisement ID is sent to the
`communication terminal, even if the communication band(cid:173)
`width between the relay server and the communication
`terminal is limited, it is possible to sent display data of the
`homepage and the advertisement data to the communication
`terminal without problem. Further, according to the method
`of distribution of an advertisement, it is possible to produce
`still another advantage by making various types of improve(cid:173)
`ments to the communication terminal. That is, an improve(cid:173)
`ment is made to the communication terminal so as to return
`the advertisement ID to the relay server through the adver(cid:173)
`tisement server even if received from the relay server when
`a predetermined operation is performed to set the terminal to
`refuse to receive advertisements. The user of such an
`improved communication terminal sets the communication
`terminal in advance as to whether to send back to the relay
`server an advertisement ID sent together with the display
`data of a homepage so as to receive just a homepage or
`receive both a homepage and an advertisement as the user
`himself desires.
`
`[0016] The relay server may also receive the advertise(cid:173)
`ment ID from the advertisement distribution server and send
`the display data to the communication terminal only when
`display data received from the WWW server includes adver(cid:173)
`tisement display area designation data, and the communi(cid:173)
`cation terminal may also display an advertisement corre(cid:173)
`sponding to the advertisement data on a display area
`designated by the advertisement display area designation
`data in the display data.
`[0017] According to this method of distribution of an
`advertisement, the user of the communication terminal
`receives the advertisement only when accessing a homepage
`where carrying an advertisement is desirable. Homepages
`include ones where advertisements are desirable and ones
`where advertisements are not desirable. According to this
`method of distribution of an advertisement, only display
`data of homepages where advertisements are desirable
`include advertisement display area designation data. The
`advertisement ID is sent to the communication terminal
`along with the display data only when the display data of
`such a homepage is sent to the communication terminal.
`[0018]
`In a preferred embodiment, the communication
`terminal communicates data with the relay server using a
`user ID specifying the user of the communication terminal
`and the relay server converts the user ID of the communi(cid:173)
`cation terminal to a data communication address by a
`predefined correspondence table or conversion method and
`uses the data communication address to communicate data
`with the advertisement distribution server.
`[0019] According to this method of distribution of an
`advertisement, the user ID of the communication terminal is
`not transmitted to the advertisement distribution server.
`Therefore, it is possible to distribute advertisements satis(cid:173)
`fying the desires of a user and the desires of an advertiser
`without invading the privacy of the user.
`
`[0020]
`In a preferred embodiment, the advertisement dis(cid:173)
`tribution server has a plurality of counters corresponding to
`various combinations of a plurality of data communication
`addresses and a plurality of advertisement IDs and incre(cid:173)
`ments the count of a counter corresponding to a combination
`of the data communication address and advertisement ID
`when receiving an advertisement data request including a
`certain advertisement ID from data communications using a
`certain data communication address.
`[0021] According to this method of distribution of an
`advertisement, the advertisement distribution server counts
`the number of times of reception of advertisement data
`requests for each combination of a data communication
`address and advertisement ID, so it is possible to analyze the
`state of reception of advertisement data requests for each
`advertisement and what kind of advertisements each user is
`interested in. Further, while the advertisement distribution
`server can obtain a grasp of what kind of advertisement a
`certain user is interested in, it only knows the data commu(cid:173)
`nication address of the user and does not know the user ID,
`so cannot identify who exactly the user interested in such
`advertisements is. Accordingly, the privacy of the user is not
`invaded. Further, when the communication terminal is a
`mobile phone, there is the effect that the relay server or the
`advertisement distribution server can permanently identify
`the users having specific preferences without invading their
`privacy. The reason is that a mobile phone is in principal
`
`Page 00011
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`

`

`US 2002/0165773 Al
`
`Nov. 7, 2002
`
`3
`
`individually owned. Further, it is possible to identify the
`mobile phone network to which each belongs for each
`mobile phone. Therefore, by the relay server obtaining a
`grasp of the relationship between the user ID of each mobile
`phone and data communication address and the advertise(cid:173)
`ment distribution server storing information relating to the
`preferences of the users of the mobile phones (about count)
`and data communication addresses corresponding to the
`mobile phones linked with each other, it is possible to obtain
`a permanent grasp of the relationship with the preferences of
`the users of the mobile phones. Accordingly, targeted adver(cid:173)
`tising and the collection of market data, which used to be
`impossible, now become possible.
`[0022] Various methods may be considered for distribut(cid:173)
`ing advertisements satisfying the desires of a user and the
`desires of an advertiser. The following for example may also
`be used. That is, the relay server may send a desired received
`advertisement condition predefined for the user of the com(cid:173)
`munication terminal and information relating to the user
`when receiving an access request to the WWW server from
`the communication terminal, and the advertisement distri(cid:173)
`bution server may store the desired sent user condition for
`distributable advertisement data and send to the relay server
`an advertisement ID satisfying the desired received adver(cid:173)
`tisement condition in the advertisements provided with the
`desired sent user conditions satisfied by the information
`relating to the user when receiving the desired received
`advertisement condition and the information relating to the
`user from the relay server.
`[0023] The advertisement distribution server may send an
`advertisement ID of other advertisement data included in the
`advertisement data, and the communication terminal may
`send an advertisement data request including the advertise(cid:173)
`ment ID included in the advertisement data in accordance
`with an instruction from the user when receiving the adver(cid:173)
`tisement data through the relay server.
`[0024] Sometimes a user receiving a homepage carrying
`an advertisement wants to obtain more detailed information
`on the advertisement. According to this method, the user can
`perform a suitable operation to send an advertisement data
`request including an advertisement ID contained in the
`advertisement data to the relay server and obtain the adver(cid:173)
`tisement data of the more detailed advertisement.
`[0025]
`In a preferred embodiment, in the method of dis(cid:173)
`tribution of an advertisement provided according to the
`present invention, a plurality of advertisement data corre(cid:173)
`sponding to the advertisement IDs and for distribution to a
`plurality of different models of communication terminals are
`stored in a database for the advertisement distribution server,
`the relay server sends model data specifying the model of the
`communication terminal to the advertisement distribution
`server included in the advertisement data request when
`receiving an advertisement data request from the commu(cid:173)
`nication terminal, and the advertisement distribution server
`reads advertisement data corresponding to the advertisement
`ID and model data included in the advertisement data
`request from the database and sends it to the relay server.
`[0026] According to this method of distribution of an
`advertisement, advertisement data suitable for the commu(cid:173)
`nication terminal of a user receiving it is distributed.
`[0027] The communication terminal may be a mobile
`communication terminal served by a mobile communication
`
`network, and the relay server may obtain a grasp of a current
`location of the communication terminal by a report from the
`mobile communication network and receive from the adver(cid:173)
`tisement distribution server and send to the communication
`terminal an advertisement related to the current location of
`the communication terminal when receiving an access
`request to the WWW server from the communication ter(cid:173)
`minal.
`[0028] Further, the relay server may receive from the
`advertisement distribution server and send to the commu(cid:173)
`nication terminal an advertisement related to a time band
`when receiving an access request to the WWW server from
`the communication terminal.
`
`[0029] Further, another preferred embodiment of the
`method of distribution of an advertisement according to the
`present invention comprises having a communication ter(cid:173)
`minal send an access request to a WWW server connected
`to a network to a relay server in the network, having the
`relay server send the access request to the WWW server,
`receive display data of a homepage from the WWW server,
`add information for accessing the advertisement distribution
`server connected to the network, and send the same to the
`communication terminal, and having the communication
`terminal receive the display data and display the homepage,
`use information for accessing the advertisement distribution
`data to acquire advertisement data from the advertisement
`distribution data through the relay server, acquire the adver(cid:173)
`tisement data from the advertisement distribution server, and
`display an advertisement together with the homepage in
`accordance with the advertisement data.
`[0030] The present invention can not only be worked in
`the form of use of the method of distribution of an adver(cid:173)
`tisement explained above, but can also be worked in the
`form of the manufacture and sale of a relay server required
`for using the method of distribution of an advertisement or
`in the form of the manufacture and sale of a communication
`terminal able to receive a service by this method of distri(cid:173)
`bution of an advertisement. Further, the present invention
`can be worked in the form of the recordal of a program run
`for a commercial terminal to receive a service by this
`method of distribution of an advertisement in a computer
`readable storage medium and distribution of the same to the
`users or distribution of such a program through a telecom(cid:173)
`munications line.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`[0031] FIG. 1 is a view of the configuration of a network
`system in which the method of distribution of an advertise(cid:173)
`ment according to an embodiment of the present invention
`is worked.
`[0032] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of the
`configuration of a mobile communication terminal in the
`above system.
`
`[0033] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of the
`configuration of a relay server in the above system.
`
`[0034] FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the content of a
`database for a relay server in the above system.
`
`[0035] FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the content of a
`database for an advertisement distribution server in the
`above system.
`
`Page 00012
`
`

`

`US 2002/0165773 Al
`
`Nov. 7, 2002
`
`4
`
`[0036] FIG. 6 is a view of a group of advertisement data
`in the database.
`[0037] FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram of the operation of
`the above embodiment.
`[0038] FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are views of examples of the
`display of a mobile communication terminal in the above
`embodiment.
`
`BEST MODE FOR WORKING THE INVENTION
`
`[0039] FIG. 1 is a view of the configuration of a network
`system in which the method of distribution of an advertise(cid:173)
`ment according to a first embodiment of the present inven(cid:173)
`tion is worked.
`[0040]
`In FIG. 1, a mobile communication network 13
`includes a not shown base station controller and packet
`subscriber processor and other various apparatuses for pro(cid:173)
`viding packet communication services. The mobile commu(cid:173)
`nication network 13 also has a large number of wireless base
`stations 12 connected to it.
`[0041] The mobile communication terminals 11 are for
`example portable phones, PHSs (Personal Handy-phone
`system phones), and other telephones by themselves or
`combinations of these with PDAs (Personal Digital Assis(cid:173)
`tants) and other portable data processing devices. The
`mobile communication terminals 11 can engage in voice
`communications and packet communications with other
`parties through the wireless base stations 12 and the mobile
`communications network 13.
`[0042] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of the
`configuration of the mobile communication terminal 11. In
`FIG. 2, a control unit 111 is the center of control of the parts
`of the mobile communication terminal 11. A display unit 112
`is a device for display of various information under the
`control of the control unit 111 and for example is a liquid
`crystal display panel. An operating unit 113 is comprised of
`pushbuttons or other operating parts arranged on the mobile
`communication terminal 11. The control unit 111 detects an
`operation performed on the operating unit 113 to interpret
`instructions given from the user. The communication unit
`114 establishes a wireless link with the wireless base station
`12 of the area in which the mobile communication terminal
`111 is located under the control of the control unit 111 and
`communicates with other parties through this. A voice
`input/output unit 115 is a device consisting of mainly a
`speaker, microphone, and CODEC and is used for inputting
`the voice of the user and outputting the voice of the other
`party in the conversation when conversing by voice by the
`mobile communication terminal 11. A memory 116 stores
`various types of control programs or application programs
`executed by the control unit 111. An application program
`stored here includes a browser. The control unit 111 receives
`instructions from the user in accordance with the browser,
`accesses and obtains data from the site instructed from the
`user by the communication unit 114, and displays it on the
`display unit 112. A predetermined memory area of the
`memory 111 is used as the work area by the control unit 111.
`The above forms the mobile communication terminal 111.
`[0043]
`In FIG. 1, a relay server 15 functioning as a
`gateway is interposed between the mobile communication
`network 13 and the Internet 14. FIG. 3 is a block diagram
`of an example of the configuration of the relay server 15.
`
`In FIG. 3, a control unit 151 is the center of control
`[0044]
`of the parts of the relay server 15.
`
`[0045] A first communication unit 152 establishes a com(cid:173)
`munication link with any mobile communication terminal 11
`through the mobile communication network 13 under the
`control of the control unit 151 and communicates with this
`mobile communication terminal 11.
`
`[0046] Further, a second communication unit 153 engages
`in packet communications with another party through the
`Internet 14 under the control of the control unit 151.
`
`[0047] A memory 154 stores a group of programs
`executed by the control unit 151. The group of programs
`includes a program for conversion of communication pro(cid:173)
`tocol between the mobile communication network 13 and
`the Internet in FIG. 1 or a program for relaying data
`communications between the mobile communication termi(cid:173)
`nals 11, between a mobile communication terminal 11 and a
`content server 18, or between a mobile communication
`terminal 11 and the advertisement distribution server 17.
`Further, the group of programs includes control programs
`for the management of user information, IP information,
`charging information, etc., the collection of an operation log,
`the provision of mail functions, and the control of the
`distribution of advertisements.
`
`[0048] A database access unit 155 has a database server 16
`shown in FIG. 1 connected to it. The database access unit
`155 acquires variou