Disclosed is an article information providing system that includes a portable terminal to which an information demander inputs a desire for an article as demand information and that receives information corresponding to the demand information from an information provider. The article information providing system also includes a mediate apparatus provided with: registration means for registering each information provider and a keyword previously so as to allow the information and the keyword to correspond to each other; retrieval means for retrieving the keyword from the demand information; delivery destination determination means for determining the information provider as a delivery destination of the demand information, the information provider being registered in said registration means while corresponding to the keyword when the keyword is retrieved from the demand information; and transmission means for transmitting information to the information demander, the information being provided from the information provider determined by the delivery destination determination means and corresponding to the demand information.