a media content item is evaluated for its “ sentiment states .” that is , segments of the content item are determined to be , for example , “ happy ,” “ exciting ,” “ sad ,” “ funny ,” and the like . a “ sentiment map ” is created that delimits segments of the content item and contains the sentiment - state keywords associated with the segments . some maps include an amplitude for each assigned sentiment keyword and a confidence value for the segment delimitation and for each keyword . as an exemplary use of the sentiment map , an advertisement broker matches the sentiments of his advertisement offerings with segments of a content item in order to place appropriate advertisements at times when they would be most favorably received . in another example , a recommender system recommends to a user a content item whose sentiment map compares favorably to that of a content item already enjoyed by the user .