Background Art It seems that mobile communication services will continuously develop together with the commercialization of the IMT2000. Namely, mobile communication services are expected to further meet the needs of users by being equipped with intelligence, Videotext, and multimedia functions. In particular, it is expected that mobile communication services connected to the Internet will be more actively researched and developed, thus improving the quality of life of users.

A free telephone call service related to mobile communication has two types, that is, a first type of discounting a communication fee, which is given when an Internet banner advertisement is clicked, and a second type of accumulating cybermoney after advertisements are announced by voice through a mobile communication terminal.

However, the above-mentioned service types are not in widespread use since the users of mobile communication terminals find them to be inconvenient.

In the case of the first type, in which a certain amount of money is deducted from the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal when an Internet banner advertisement is clicked, a certain amount of time must be taken to use a computer connected to a network or to view the banner advertisement by connecting to the advertising site.

In the case of the second type, in which cybermoney is accumulated by a user when the user receives an advertisement by voice and the cybermoney is deposited in the bankbook of the user when a certain amount of cybermoney is accumulated, the user cannot answer another phone call while listening to the advertisement and the electronic sound of the advertising comment is not familiar to the user. Also, the user does not feel that the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal is reduced since the cybermoney is deposited in the bankbook of the user only when a certain amount of cybermoney is accumulated.

Namely, the user does not feel that the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal is reduced since it is not directly reduced.

Disclosure of the Invention To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved advertising method, in which a mobile communication terminal currently possessed by one out of two people is used as an advertisement medium.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved advertising method, in which a user of a mobile communication terminal can receive advertising comments without his or her phone call being disturbed.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved advertising method, in which the user of a mobile communication terminal can feel that the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal is reduced.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an

advertising method, in which advertisements in the form of letters and moving pictures are provided to the user of the mobile communication terminal using a message receiving function of the mobile communication terminal, and the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal is reduced.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an advertising service system and advertising service apparatus, which is suitable for the advertising method.

Accordingly, to achieve the first through fourth objects, there is provided an advertising service method using a mobile communication terminal, comprising the steps of (a) receiving information on a member including the telephone number of the mobile communication terminal from the member who requests an advertising service through the mobile communication terminal, and storing the information, (b) receiving the content of an advertisement from an advertiser, and (c) transmitting an advertising message which may include moving pictures, which is suitable for the content of the advertisement, to the mobile communication terminal of the member.

To achieve the fifth object, there is provided an advertising service system using a computer network and a mobile communication terminal, comprising a member database for receiving information on members including at least the telephone number of a mobile communication terminal from the members, who request advertising services be provided to the mobile communication terminal through the computer network, and storing the information, an advertisement receiver for receiving the content of an advertisement from an advertiser, an advertisement transmitter for transmitting an advertising message which may include moving pictures, which is suitable for the content of the advertisement and the telephone type of the member, to a mobile communication enterprise and receiving a transmission result from the mobile communication enterprise, a message server installed in the

mobile communication enterprise, the message server for transmitting the advertising message transmitted from the advertisement transmitter to the telephone number, and a discount on fee for telephone call DB for storing the discount on the fee for telephone calls of the member according to the transmission result received by the advertisement transmitter, and providing the stored discount to the mobile communication enterprise.

There is provided an advertising service apparatus using a computer network and a mobile communication terminal, comprising a member DB for receiving information on members including at least the telephone numbers of the mobile communication terminals from the members, who request advertising services through the mobile communication terminal, through the computer network, an advertisement receiver for receiving the content of an advertisement from an advertiser, an advertisement transmitter for transmitting advertising messages which may include moving pictures, which are suitable for the content of the advertisement, and the telephone numbers of the members to a mobile communication enterprise for transmitting the requested advertising messages to the telephone numbers, and a discount on fee for telephone call data base for storing a discount on a fee for telephone call of the member according to the transmission result received by the advertisement transmitter and providing the discount in the mobile communication enterprise.

In the advertising method according to the present invention, the advertiser gives advertisement orders to an Internet site which provides an advertising service and the Internet site provides a customized advertisement to the member through the mobile communication enterprise. The member who receives the advertisement gets a discount on part of the fee charged by the mobile communication enterprise.

In the advertising method according to the present invention, since the advertisement is given to the owner of the mobile

communication terminal whose identity is guaranteed and the customized advertisement made by using information about the member is given, the advertiser can expect the advertisement to be reliable and to have a high marketing effect.

In the the advertising method according to the present invention, the mobile communication enterprise can increase profits by maintaining regular customers who regularly receive the message service, and through call back calls.

In the advertising method according to the present invention, the user of the mobile communication terminal can get a discount on the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal by receiving messages, which do not disturb his or her voice communication.

In the advertising method according to the present invention, the advertising service provider can lead a great number of mobile communication subscribers to subscribe to his site.

The advertising service provider provides the user with the convenience of free phone calls and fee reduction to the highest degree by including a customer authenticating function, a short message service (SMS) message transmitting function, a receipt confirming function, a voice recording function, and statistics function of fees and by including a message number assigning function, an address book and group managing function, a receipt group designating function, and an address book Web synchronizing function, etc., as additional functions, thus simplifying a series of steps of transmitting advertisements to the mobile communication terminal reducing the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal, and receiving a bill for the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal, etc., with transmitting advertisements to the mobile communication terminal.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above objects and advantages of the present invention will

become more apparent by describing in detail a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which: FIG. 1 conceptually shows an advertising method according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of an embodiment of an advertising system according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of another embodiment of an advertising system according to the present invention; and FIG. 4 shows the structure of the site Mallnmalls. com.

Best mode for carrying out the Invention The structure and operation of the present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 conceptually shows an advertising method according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an advertiser or an advertising agent 10 (hereinafter, an advertiser) requests an advertisement, an advertising service site 20 (mfree. com) provides the advertisement requested by the advertiser 10 to a mobile communication enterprise according to the advertising method of the present invention, and the mobile communication enterprise 20 provides advertising messages requested by the advertising service site 20 to a mobile communication terminal 40.

The advertising service site 20 includes an advertiser customer data base (DB) 22 for storing information related to the advertiser, an advertisement DB 24 for storing the contents of the advertisements, which are requested by the advertiser 10, and a member DB 26 for storing information on members.

The advertising method according to the present invention is performed as follows.

The advertiser 10 transmits the content and the object of the

advertisement to the advertising service site 20. The content of the advertisement is preferably restricted to the maximum capacity of the mobile communication terminal 40. Namely, when the number of letters of the message that can be held by the mobile communication terminal 40 is forty, the content of the advertisement consists no more than forty letters. Also, it is preferable to transmit a connecting place (hereinafter, CallBack), to which the user of the mobile communication terminal can be directly connected in order to obtain detailed information on the advertisement, and the Internet address (hereinafter, URL CallBack), through which the user can connect to a wireless Internet site of the advertizer 10, together with the advertising message.

The advertising service site 20 transmits the advertising message corresponding to the content of the advertisement requested by the advertiser 10 to the mobile communication terminal 40 through the mobile communication enterprise 30. A voice communication of the user of the mobile communication terminal 40 is not disturbed at all since the content of the advertisement is received not through voice but through a text message.

The advertising service site 20 refers to the member DB 26 in order to select the object of the advertisement requested by the advertiser 10.

The mobile communication enterprise 30 checks whether the user of the mobile communication terminal, who is designated by the advertising service site 20, received the advertising message.

The result checked by the mobile communication enterprise 30 is reported to the advertising service site 20.

The advertising service site 20 provides an amount of money corresponding to the number of times an advertising message is received by each user of a mobile communication terminal to the mobile communication enterprise 30. The mobile communication enterprise 30 deducts the amount of money provided by the advertising service site 20

from the bill for the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal.

By doing so, the user can directly feel the effect of reduction of the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal since the user of the mobile communication terminal 40 is exposed to advertisements in the form of the text messages, which do not disturb his or her voice communication, and gets a discount on the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal by receiving the advertisements.

The users of the mobile communication terminal may be dissatisfied with the transmission of the conventional simple text messages. This prevents the advertising market from growing.

Therefore, it is possible to boost the conventional simple text message advertising market by transmitting the advertisements to only the invited members using the Internet.

The users who receive the advertisements are divided into two groups, that is, conventional advertiser members and general members invited by the Internet. The advertisements can be simultaneously transmitted to the first and second groups of users or to either the first group of users or the second group of users. A discount on the fee can be differentially given.

According to the present invention, the efficiency of the advertisements can be increased since the advertisements are transmitted in a customized form on the basis of a rapid and correct database. Additionally, it is possible to obtain additional information since the user can connect to the wireless Internet site by CallBack using a 080 service or the mobile communication terminal.

The advertising enterprise can maximize advertisement effect considering expenses, improve its image by providing discount on the fee, preoccupy mobile communication terminals prior to rival companies, etc., through the on-line advertisement by mobile messenger and a web (assist), rather than through conventional off-line advertisements found in newspapers and a pamphlets.

And, the communication enterprise can increase sales and gainings due to an increase in phone calls through Call Back service using wireless application protocol (WAP).

And, the user gets benefit of reducing the fee on his/her mobile communication terminal.

And, the advertiser can expect to increase sales due to an increase in loyalty and can expect the effect of obtaining publicity simultaneously.

Advertisements in the form of text and moving pictures can be sent to the members of the advertiser. Information on the members of the advertiser is stored in the advertiser customer DB 22. The information on the members, which is stored in the advertiser customer DB 22 is provided by the advertiser 10.

Most advertisers 10 operate their own home pages and provide various services to the members who subscribe to the home pages. The advertising service site 20 gives the advertisements in the form of text and moving pictures to the members who subscribed to the home pages of the advertisers 10.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of an embodiment of the advertising system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an advertiser 10 (or an advertising agent), an advertisement receiver 32, a member DB 26, an advertisement object extractor 34, an advertisement transmission DB 36, an advertisement transmitter 38, a mobile communication enterprise 30, a member terminal 40, and a discount on fee for telephone call DB 39.

The advertisement receiver 32 receives information on the content and object of the advertisement, which is provided by the advertiser 10.

The content of the advertisement can include a reference with respect to the advertisement and the URL CallBack.

The member DB 26 stores information on the members who requested a discount on the fee for telephone calls in return for receiving

advertisements. The information on the members stored in the member DB 26 includes items required for giving the customized advertisements.

For example, the information on the members includes resident registration numbers, jobs, a place of residence, the type of the users' mobile communication terminals, and telephone numbers.

The advertisement object extractor 34 extracts the members suitable for the information on the object of the advertisement received through the advertisement receiver 32 from the member DB 26. The extracted information on the members includes the member IDs, the telephone numbers of the mobile communication terminals, and the resident registration numbers, etc.

The advertisement transmission DB 36 stores the content of the advertisement received through the advertisement receiver 32 and the information on the members, which is extracted by the advertisement object extractor 36.

The advertisement transmitter 38 provides the content stored in the advertisement transmission DB 36 to a mobile communication enterprise 30 and receives the transmission result from the mobile communication enterprise 30.

The mobile communication enterprise 30 transmits the advertising message corresponding to the content of the advertisement to the telephone numbers provided by the advertisement transmitter 38. The advertisement is transmitted in the form of a short message service (SMS). The member terminal 40 receives the advertisement in the form of the SMS. Since the SMS service does not disturb voice communication, the user of the mobile communication terminal 40 need not spend additional time in order to receive the advertisement.

The discount on fee for telephone call DB 39 stores the discount on the fee for the mobile communication terminal according to the advertisement transmission result transmitted from the advertisement transmitter 38.

The operation shown in FIG. 2 will be described in detail.

In step (a), the advertiser 10 transmits the content and object of the advertisement to the advertisement receiver 12.

In step (b), the telephone numbers of members suitable for the object and content of the advertisement are extracted.

In step (c), the telephone numbers of the members suitable for the objects of the advertisement and the content of the advertisement are stored in the advertisement transmission DB 36.

In step (d), the telephone numbers and the content of the advertisement are transmitted to the advertisement transmitter 30.

In step (e), the types of the mobile communication terminals of the members are investigated. The reason why the types of the mobile communication terminals of the members are investigated is that messages are transmitted in the form of URL CallBack in the case of the mobile communication terminals that support URL CallBack and that only messages in the form of the SMS are transmitted to the mobile communication terminals that do not support the URL CallBack.

In step (f), the telephone numbers and the advertising messages are transmitted to the mobile communication enterprise 32.

In steps (g) and (h), the advertising message is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal of the member. At this time, in step (g), the message is in the form of the SMS. In step (h), the message is in the form of the SMS+URL CallBack.

In step (i), when the transmission is completed, the mobile communication enterprise 30 transmits the report of completion of the transmission to the advertisement transmitter 38.

In step (j), the advertisement transmitter 38 that receives report of the completion of the transmission accumulates the discount on the fee for the telephone call of the member in the discount on fee for telephone call DB 39.

In step (k), when the message in the form of the SMS+URL

CallBack is transmitted, the member connects to the corresponding wireless home page. This step selectively proceeds according to the selection of the member.

In step (I), the discount on the fee for the telephone call is transmitted to the mobile communication enterprise 30.

Table 1 shows types of the advertising messages received by the mobile communication terminals.

Table 1

Department store Bargain sale at Lotte department store from May 1, 2000 to May 2,2000 (two days). Jewelry is 20% additionally discounted. Call 080-123-7891 for more information (CailBack). Connect to the Internet (www. LOTTE. com). Insurance Special insurance of Samsung fire Insurance Co., Ltd., Millennium free automobile insurance. Preferential treatment will be given if you apply for insurance now. Call 080-123-7777 for more information. Connect to the Internet (www. ssinsu. com). Movies/Theaters"Messenger eye 001", which is most popular, is now showing at Myoungbo theater. 100 seats are left. 10% discount will be given. Call 080-123- 7777 for reservations. Connect to the Internet (www. younghwa. co. kr). 700 Stock price is increasing 10 points according to market conditions. Unknown important stocks are recommended and guided. Call 700-1234 for more information. Fashion/Garment Nix jeans are specially sold cheap today. Call 080- 123-4567 to order (CallBack). Connect to the Internet (www. nix. co. kr).

The advertising messages consist of the SMS message and the CallBack message. In the department store advertising message, "Bargain sale at Lotte department store from May 1,2000 to May 2, 2000 (two days). Jewels are 20% additionally discounted. Call 080-123- 7891 for more information (CallBack). Connect to the Internet (www. LOTTE. com)" is the SMS message.

The CallBack message is the telephone number or the wireless Internet address, which is not shown, however, to which the user of the mobile communication terminal, who received the message may directly connect by pressing a send button.

Table 2 shows the file format of fee receipt materials.

Table 2 Serial ID (the ID of the The number of a Resident Amount Process number member of an mobile registration of money result (type advertising site) communication number of error) terminal 10 12 bytes 11 bytes 13 bytes 12 bytes 4 bytes bytes

Examples of errors are as follows.

(a)"JL01" : non-coincidence of the resident registration number (b)"JL02" : the number of the mobile communication terminal does not exist (c)"JL03" : non-coincidence between the resident registration and the number of the mobile communication terminal (d)"JL05" : subscriber cancellation

(e)"JL05" : PPS subscriber (f)"JL06" : others The fee receipt materials are provided through the Internet and can be provided offline.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of another embodiment of the advertising system according to the present invention.

Detailed description of the components shown in FIG. 3 that perform the same operations as corresponding components shown in FIG. 2 will be omitted.

The system shown in FIG. 3 further includes an advertiser customer DB 22 which the system shown in FIG. 2 does not include.

The advertiser customer DB 22 stores information on the members of the advertiser 10. The information on the members, which is stored in the advertiser customer DB 22 is provided by the advertiser 10.

The advertisement receiver 32 receives the content of the advertisement, the advertisement object, and the information on the members of the advertiser, which are provided by the advertiser 10. The content of the advertisement can include the reference of the advertisement and the URL CallBack. The information on the members of the advertiser is stored in the advertiser customer DB 22.

The advertisement object extractor 34 extracts the members suitable for the advertisement object information received through the advertisement receiver 32 from the advertiser customer DB 22 and the member DB 26.

The advertisement transmission DB 36 stores the content of the advertisement received through the advertisement receiver 32 and the member information extracted by the advertisement object extractor 36.

The advertisement transmitter 38 provides the content stored in the advertisement transmission DB 36 to the mobile communication enterprise 30 and receives the transmission result from the mobile communication enterprise 30.

The discount on fee for telephone call DB 39 stores the discount on the fee for the mobile communication terminal according to the advertisement transmission result transmitted from the advertisement transmitter 38.

In the present invention, the users can easily obtain additional information by gathering representative advertisers in an additional Internet site (the Mallnmalls. com site). This is a model, in which the mobile communication terminal is connected to the Internet so that the users can be easily connected.

The Mallnmalls. com site is for relieving inconvenience of the users, which is caused by excessively various information items that exist in current search sites, and for meeting needs of the users to find the best service site.

Therefore, the object of the Mallnmalls. com site is to gather the best site in each field and to make most of the sites of the advertisers of the advertising service site (mfreei. com).

FIG. 4 shows the structure of the Mallnmalls. com site.

The Mallnmalls. com site is divided into a shopping Mallnmalls related to direct sales and a Service Mallnmalls related to indirect sales.

Both the shopping Mallnmalls and the Service Mallnmalls are divided into detailed malls.

In the advertising method according to the present invention, the representative advertisers are gathered in the Mallnmalls. com site and the Mallnmalls. com site is connected to the advertising service site.

Accordingly, it becomes easier to invite members.

Industrial Applicability As mentioned above, according to the present invention, the user of a mobile communication terminal need not connect to an Internet site in order to view advertisements and to exert additional temporal and spatial efforts in order to view advertisements, since advertisements are

automatically transmitted to the mobile communication terminal along with a discount on the fee for the mobile communication terminal.

And, contribution to the advertiser is very high since the advertiser can transmit customized advertisements according to age, area, tendency, etc. Since target marketing can be performed, exposure rate to the advertisement can reach almost 100%, and connection to an Internet site using Call Back or mobile communication is possible.

The loyalty of the advertiser increases since a discount on the fee for use of the mobile communication terminal is given.

The communication entrepreneur can obtain additional gains due to the CallBacks of users. Also, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the use of the wireless network.