Patent Abstract:
This document describes, among other things, systems and methods for generating advertisements for use in broadcast media. A method comprises receiving an advertisement script at an online system; receiving a selection indicating a voice characteristic; and converting the advertisement script to an audio track using the selected voice characteristic.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This is a non-provisional patent application related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 60/744,325, titled “SYSTEM FOR AND METHOD OF REWARDING SELLERS OR SUPPLIERS OF GOODS OR SERVICES” and 60/857,618 titled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ORGANIZING AND DISTRIBUTING AUDIO INFORMATION”. Further, it is related to U.S. Non-Provisional patent applications Ser. No. 11/469,719 titled “SYSTEM FOR AND METHOD OF VISUAL REPRESENTATION AND REVIEW OF MEDIA FILES”, Ser. No. 11/469,731 titled “DIRECT RESPONSE SYSTEM FOR AND METHOD OF SELLING PRODUCTS”, Ser. No. 11/469,737 titled “SYSTEM FOR AND METHOD OF STREAMLINING COMMUNICATIONS TO MEDIA STATIONS”, and Ser. No. 11/469,743 titled “ADVERTISING PLACEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD”, Ser. No. ______ titled “SELLING KEYWORDS IN RADIO BROADCASTS”, Ser. No. ______ titled “BROKERING KEYWORDS IN RADIO BROADCASTS” and, Ser. No. ______ titled “SEARCH RESULTS POSITIONING BASED ON RADIO METRICS” all of which (e.g., both the provisional and non-provisional patent applications) are incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    This patent document pertains generally to advertising, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a system and method for generating advertisements for use in broadcast media. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Media stations, such as radio stations and television stations, typically devote a portion of broadcast time to advertisements. This advertisement broadcast time is sold to advertisers, frequently through advertising agencies, and the sold broadcast time generates revenue for the media station. 
         [0004]    Advertisers use various marketing strategies to test and track advertisements to ensure that less effective advertisements are discontinued in favor of more effective advertising. Because of high production costs, advertisers may be limited to test marketing a small number of advertisements and hoping for the best. A system is needed to address these types of issues. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an advertisement production system in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  is a data flow diagram of an advertisement product system in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for creating an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0008]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for creating an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0009]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for creating an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0010]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for suggesting a modification to an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0011]      FIG. 7  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for presenting audio track options to a user in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0012]      FIG. 8  is a graphical user-interface illustrating a script edit screen for creating or editing an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0013]      FIG. 9  is a graphical user-interface illustrating a script edit screen for editing script features in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0014]      FIG. 10  is a graphical user-interface illustrating a script suggested revisions screen for suggesting revisions to a script in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0015]      FIG. 11  is a graphical user-interface illustrating a search results screen for providing search results in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0016]      FIG. 12  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for revising an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. 
           [0017]      FIG. 13  illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine capable of performing the methods or implementing the systems/devices described herein. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    In the following detailed description of example embodiments of the invention, reference is made to specific example embodiments of the invention by way of drawings and illustrations. These examples are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and serve to illustrate how the invention may be applied to various purposes or embodiments. Other embodiments of the invention exist and are within the scope of the invention, and logical, mechanical, electrical, and other changes may be made without departing from the subject or scope of the present invention. Features or limitations of various embodiments of the invention described herein, however essential to the example embodiments in which they are incorporated, do not limit other embodiments of the invention or the invention as a whole, and any reference to the invention, its elements, operation, and application do not limit the invention as a whole but serve only to define these example embodiments. The following detailed description does not, therefore, limit the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the appended claims. 
         [0019]    For the purposes of clarity, in some cases, reference is made to a single object (e.g., machine, module, unit, or other component) in the included drawings. However, unless expressly designated, a reference to an object is not to be construed as a being limited to a singular instance of the object, but rather that at least one object may be included in the system, apparatus, process, or computer-readable medium described in the drawings. 
         [0020]    Described herein is a system and a method that provides an interface between advertisers and media stations (e.g., radio and television stations). In an embodiment, the interface facilitates a wide-area network-based production model. In a further embodiment, the model allows an advertiser to modify advertisement content at or near real-time. For the purposes of this description, “radio” and “radio transmissions” include terrestrial or satellite audio transmissions. 
         [0021]    Referring to the figures,  FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an advertisement production system  100  in accordance with an example embodiment. The advertisement production system  100  includes an audio advertising system  102 , a fulfillment system  104 , a client computer  106 , a broadcast station  108 , and a voice-over user computer  110 , all communicatively coupled via a network  112 . In an embodiment, the advertisement production system  102  includes a web server  114 , a messaging server  116 , an application server  118 , a database server  120 , an operations database  122 , an audio database  124 , and an advertising performance database  126 . In an embodiment, the database server  120  is used to manage at least one of the operations database  122 , audio database  124 , or advertising performance database  126 . The audio advertising system  102  may be implemented as a distributed system, for example one or more elements of the audio advertising system  102  may be located across a wide-area network from other elements of the audio advertising system  102 . 
         [0022]    The fulfillment system  104  may include businesses, such as call centers, warehouses, distribution centers, production houses, storage facilities, shipping facilities, rebate management, billing facilities, and the like. The fulfillment system  104  can be used to handle customer inquiries, fulfill orders, and handle product returns or other customer issues. In some embodiments, the fulfillment system  104  includes two or more businesses acting in cooperation with each other. For example, a call center, a warehouse, and a shipping company may act together to receive orders, package merchandise, and ship packages to the customer. 
         [0023]    The client computer  106  may be used to access the audio advertising system  102  to create, manage, and track advertisements. For example, using a user-interface, such as an internet web browser, a user at the client computer  106  can access the web server  114  in the audio advertising system  102 . The client computer  106  may also be used to track inquiries, sales, and other performance data from the fulfillment system  104 . The client computer  106  may also be used to track advertising activity at the broadcast station  108 , such as when an advertisement was aired, who the active demographic was when the advertisement was aired, and other advertising metrics related to the advertisement&#39;s transmission. 
         [0024]    The broadcast station  108  may include a radio stations, a television station, a satellite radio station, a high-definition radio station, an internet broadcast station, or other business that broadcasts content over a broadcast medium. The broadcasted content may be distributed over the network  112 , for example as a streaming radio broadcast. The broadcasted content may also be broadcasted over terrestrial or satellite networks using radio frequency (RF) transmission. 
         [0025]    The voice-over user computer  110  may be used by a voice-over performer (not shown) to access the audio advertising system  102 , as described in more detail below. The voice-over computer  110  may include a personal computer, a hand-held computer, a mobile computer, or any other suitable network-capable computing device. The voice-over computer  110  may be a part of a recording studio or recording system. 
         [0026]    The network  112  may include local-area networks (LAN), wide-area networks (WAN), wireless networks (e.g., 802.11 or cellular network), the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) network, ad hoc networks, personal area networks (e.g., Bluetooth), virtual private networks (VPN), or other combinations or permutations of network protocols and network types. The network  112  may include a single local area network (LAN) or wide-area network (WAN), or combinations of LAN&#39;s or WAN&#39;s, such as the Internet. The various devices coupled to the network  112  may be coupled to the network  112  via one or more wired or wireless connections. 
         [0027]    Turning now to the components of the audio advertising system  102 , the web server  114  may be configured to publish or serve files. The web server  114  may also communicate or interface with the application server  118  to enable web-based presentation information. For example, the application server  118  may consist of scripts, applications, or library files that provide primary or auxiliary functionality to the web server  114  (e.g., multimedia, file transfer, or dynamic interface functions). In addition, the application server  118  may also provide some or the entire interface for the web server  114  to communicate with one or more of the other servers in the audio advertising system  102 , e.g., the messaging server  116  or the database management server  120 . 
         [0028]    The operations database  122  may include data used to administer user accounts, security information (e.g., passwords, personal identification number (PIN)), billing data, or the like. The audio database  124  may include data used to present, store, and track audio tracks and files used in advertising. The advertising performance database  126  may include data used to store, track, and manage advertising metrics, such as how many times an advertisement was broadcasted, over what period of time, to what audience demographic, and what sales resulted from the broadcasted advertising. Other advertising metrics may be stored in the advertising performance database  126 , some of which are described below. 
         [0029]    The advertising performance database  126  may also include tracking data such as when an advertisement was broadcasted, where the advertisement was broadcasted (e.g., radio station, geographic region), advertising response statistics, or other performance metrics related to an advertisement or an advertising campaign. 
         [0030]    Databases in the audio advertising system  102 , including the operations database  122 , the audio database  124 , and the advertising performance database  126 , may be implemented as a relational database, a centralized database, a distributed database, an object oriented database, or a flat database in various embodiments. 
         [0031]    During operation, in an embodiment, a user can use the client computer  106  to connect with the audio advertising system  102  via the network  112 . Using a user-interface provided by the audio advertising system  102 , such as via the web server  114 , the user can construct an advertisement. In an embodiment, the user can provide a script to the audio advertising system  102 . The script may be stored in the operations database  122  for later reference. The audio advertising system  102  may access the audio database to present pre-recorded voice samples or other audio samples to the user. In addition, the audio advertising system  102  may provide information describing available live performers (e.g., voice-over performers). The user can then select a voice sample, audio sample, or live performer that is suitable and generate an audio advertisement. If the user chooses a live performer, then an order request can be generated and communicated to a voice-over user at the voice-over user computer. The live performer can record their rendition of the script and transmit it to the audio advertising system  102 , which may store it in the audio database  124 . In some embodiments, the user may select more than one voice samples, audio samples, or live performers to use in combination. The user can then test the audio advertisement and make adjustments using the user-interface provided by the web server  114 . The test can be performed in an online medium. This may be advantageous to reduce costs or to increase exposure. Online test results can be stored in the advertising performance database  126 . Periodically, the user can revise the advertisement and continue testing in the online environment. Once the user is satisfied with the quality of the advertisement, the user can publish it to a broadcast station  108 . In another example embodiment, the audio advertising system  102  may automatically determine that the advertisement is of sufficient quality and transmit the advertisement to the broadcast station  108  for use in a commercial context. 
         [0032]    The broadcast station  108  may broadcast the advertisement on a periodic or recurring schedule. The advertisement may contain a way to contact the advertiser, such as a web site address, a telephone number, or other means. A listener who is interested in the advertised material can contact the fulfillment system  104  to obtain more information about a product or service, place an order, or manage an existing order. The broadcast station  108  and the fulfillment system  104  can transfer advertising data to the audio advertising system  102 , which may store the data in the advertising performance database  126  for analysis. Advertising data may include data such as the advertisement broadcasted, the time of the broadcast, the broadcast station that broadcasted the advertisement, the demographic of the broadcast station, the number of contacts, the contact method used, the result of the contact (e.g., inquiry or order), the cost of the advertisement, and the like. Using this data, the audio advertising system  102  can analyze and compile advertising performance metrics, such as advertisement cost per order. The advertising performance metrics may be presented to the user at the client computer  106 , who may then revise the advertisement or construct new advertisements. 
         [0033]      FIG. 2  is a data flow diagram  200  of an advertisement product system in accordance with an example embodiment. At  202 , an audio advertisement is generated. In an embodiment, a user can access the audio advertising system  102  to generate an audio advertisement. At  204 , the audio advertisement is tested online. For example, the audio advertisement may be presented to online users via a network, such as network  112 , using technologies such as webcasting using streaming audio. In other examples, an audio file may be presented using a plug-in player, such as WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER as provided by MICROSOFT, Inc. or QUICKTIME as provided by APPLE, Inc. The audio file may be formatted using industry-standard formats, such as MPEG-1 (Moving Picture Experts Group) Audio Layer 3 (*.mp3), Waveform Audio Format (*.wav), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) (MPEG-4 Part 3), or Windows Media Audio (*.wma), as well as other digital media formats. The effectiveness of the online testing can be measured, tracked, and stored (block  218 ). If the effectiveness of the online test is below a threshold value (e.g., based on response rate, click through traffic, or resulting orders or inquiries), then the advertisement may be revised manually or automatically. The revised advertisement can then be tested again in the online medium. 
         [0034]    At  206 , after testing, the advertisement is moved to the broadcast station  108 . The broadcast station  108  can then broadcast the advertisement to an online user  208  or a listener  210 . The online user  208  and listener  210  are examples of people that may receive the broadcasted advertisement. Typically, a listener  210  is a person who is receiving an audio broadcast over a radio frequency transmission, such as radio broadcasting, while an online user  208  is a person who is receiving an audio broadcast over a network, such as the Internet. 
         [0035]    At  212 , the broadcast station can transfer broadcast metric data to the advertising performance database  126  associated with the audio advertising system  102 . Broadcast metric data may include data such as play times, estimated audience size or demographic, cost of airtime, and the like. 
         [0036]    At  214 , after hearing the broadcasted advertisement, the online user  208  or the listener  210  may wish to inquire or order the product or service advertised. In an embodiment, the online user  208  or listener  210  may contact the fulfillment system  104 , for example, by using a toll-free phone number provided in the advertisement. The fulfillment system  104  can then obtain the order information and arrange for the advertised service to be rendered or the advertised product to be shipped. 
         [0037]    At  216 , information related to inquiries or orders is communicated to the advertising performance database  126 . By correlating the broadcast times or geographies with fulfillment system information, the advertiser can gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of the advertisement. 
         [0038]    At  218 , the effectiveness of an advertisement can be measured during various times during the process. Depending on the result of the measurement, the advertisement may be revised. For example, after receiving fulfillment system data, an advertiser may revise or replace an advertisement at the process block  202 . As another example, during online testing, at process block  204 , an advertiser may revise or replace an advertisement based on test results. 
         [0039]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  300  for creating an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. At  302 , an advertising script is received. The advertising script may be formatted in a standardized interface language, such as Extensible Markup Language (XML), or as a plain text file, in various embodiments. The advertising script may be submitting using an internet-enabled user-interface, such as a web browser HTML form. 
         [0040]    After receipt of the script, at  304 , one or more user selections are detected, where the user selections indicate corresponding voice characteristics. In an embodiment, a user-interface can be presented to a user via a web browser and the user can select one or more options that represent voice characteristics. In various embodiments, the voice characteristics may include aspects such as the gender, age, language, accent, style, identity, or notoriety of the speaker. 
         [0041]    At  306 , audio tracks are searched to find close or exact matches of voices that correlate to the selected voice characteristics. In an embodiment, the audio tracks are stored in the audio database  124 . In further embodiments, the audio tracks may include a voice sample, a synthesized voice sample, or a recorded voice track. 
         [0042]    At the decision block  308 , if results are found, then at  312 , the results are presented to a user. If, however, there are no results that match or are closely correlated, then at  310 , an error message is presented. In various embodiments, the error message may include a suggestion of how to improve or modify a query such that the query will result in at least one search result. 
         [0043]    At  314 , a selected search result is received. The selected search result may include one or more voice tracks, in an embodiment. At  316 , the script is used in combination with the selected voice track to compile an advertisement. 
         [0044]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  400  for creating an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. The method described in  FIG. 4  is similar to the method shown in  FIG. 3 , except that in the event that no search results are found, at  411 , a modification of one or more search parameters is suggested to the user. For example, if the initial search parameters (voice characteristics) were “male,” “Brooklyn accent,” and “youthful,” which when used did not result in any matching voice tracks, then a suggested modified search may include “male” and “youthful,” which would provide search results. Various methods may be employed to suggest alternative queries to a user that may result in a non-empty search result set, such as ranking search terms by their popularity, ranking search terms by the number of hits, grouping search terms in combinations that provide a threshold number of results, and the like. In an embodiment, the analysis and suggested modification is performed using a neural network. In general, a neural network is capable of using heuristic programming or fuzzy logic to approximate a learning system. In another embodiment, discrete analysis is used to determine a modified search. 
         [0045]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  500  for creating an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. The method described in  FIG. 5  is similar to the method shown in  FIG. 3 , except that after the script is provided (block  502 ) and one or more user selections are detected (block  504 ) the method  500  may suggest modifications (block  505 ). The method  500  may suggest modification to the script&#39;s copy, voice characteristics selected by the user, or other advertisement information. In an embodiment, using advertising performance database  126 , the method may determine a correlation between a particular voice characteristic and advertising performance. The advertising performance may be an estimate based on past result or past performance of the same or similar advertisements. For example, if a user selects “male,” “British accent,” and “mature voice,” as voice characteristics, the method  500  may determine that using a mature British voice is generally less successful than using a youthful British voice. The method  500  may provide such information to the user and suggest a modification or revision of the selected voice characteristics. As another example, an advertisement for a weight loss treatment may include the phrase “lose weight.” Using past performance of similar advertising, the method  500  may determine that the use of the phrase “get fit” has been observed to be more effective than using the phrase “lose weight.” Using this information, the method  500  may provide a suggested revision to the script&#39;s copy along with statistics to allow the user to make an informed decision whether to revise the script. Similar to the method in  FIG. 4 , in some embodiments, block  505  may be implemented using a neural network, discrete analysis, or other analysis technique. 
         [0046]    In some embodiments, the suggested modification or revision blocks of  FIG. 4  (block  411 ) and  FIG. 5  (block  505 ) may be used in combination to provide a user more guidance and input during the advertisement creation or revision process. 
         [0047]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  600  for suggesting a modification to an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. The suggested modification may include a change in advertising copy (e.g., words or phrases) or a change in selected voice characteristics. In various embodiments, the method  600  may be used at block  411  in  FIG. 4  or block  505  in  FIG. 5 , or at both steps. 
         [0048]    At  602 , an advertising context is determined. The advertising context may be formed by one or more advertising characteristics, such as the type of advertisement, the target market, the product being advertised, the length of the advertisement, and the like. The advertising context may be obtained, at least in part, by analyzing the advertisement script. For example, the advertisement script may be searched for one or more key words that identify a product or service being sold or advertised, a target market, an advertisement genre, or other advertising characteristics. The advertisement context may also be obtained, at least in part, by analyzing an advertisement profile. An advertisement profile may be one or more parameters that describe the advertisement script. The one or more parameters may be input by a user using a user-interface, such as one described with reference to  FIG. 9 . 
         [0049]    At  604 , the advertisement script is analyzed. The analysis may be performed using a neural network, discrete analysis, or other analytical techniques, in various embodiments. In an embodiment, the analysis includes deconstructing the advertisement script into a plurality of words, determining an estimated efficacy of each word in the plurality of words, and replacing a word when the estimated efficacy is below a threshold value. For example, each word in a script can be classified into a grammatical category, such as noun, verb, adjective, adverb, object or the like. Some common words or connecting words, such as the conjunctions “and” and “or” may be ignored by the analysis. Words may then be ranked or otherwise sorted by effectiveness based on a corresponding advertising context. Words may also be sorted and grouped by grammatical categories, which may then be ranked or otherwise sorted by effectiveness based on a corresponding advertising context. In an embodiment, for each word, a database can be searched for a corresponding word and the estimated efficacy of the word being analyzed and the corresponding word found can be compared using an advertisement context based on an advertisement feature. In an embodiment, the advertisement feature may include an advertisement type, a product, a sub-product, an advertisement length, a target market, and a target platform. Thus, the estimated efficacy of a word may be dependent on the advertising context or advertising feature. For example, a word&#39;s efficacy may differ when viewed in the context of an advertisement of a particular product versus an advertisement for a particular target market. 
         [0050]    In another embodiment, the analysis (block  604 ) includes deconstructing the advertisement script into a plurality of phrases, determining an estimated efficacy of each phrase in the plurality of phrases, and replacing a phrase when the estimated efficacy is below a threshold value. Phrase analysis may be more effective in some situations where individual words are too generic to analyze. For example, the phrase “I wanna be like Mike” is a powerful catch phrase from GATORADE commercials featuring Michael Jordan, but each word individually may lack marketing substance. Determining the estimated efficacy of each phrase may include for each phrase, searching a database for a corresponding phrase, and comparing the estimated efficacy of each phrase to an estimated efficacy of the corresponding phrase, using a advertisement context based on an advertisement feature, wherein the advertisement feature is selected from the group of advertisement features consisting of an advertisement type, a product, a sub-product, an advertisement length, a target market, and a target platform, in embodiments. 
         [0051]    Advertisement types can include modes, such as radio, television, or internet; production styles such as film, commercial, animated, or documentary; or themes such as parody, comedic, political, satirical, informational, or storyline, in various embodiments. The advertisement length may be dependent on the mode of the advertising, for example, a television advertisement may be standard thirty seconds, while an internet advertisement may be shorter or longer, depending on the context. An advertising market may be defined using a target demographic. A target platform can include the intended broadcast medium for the advertisement, such as radio, television, webcast, etc. 
         [0052]    The threshold value used to determine whether a word or phrase is preferable may be set by a user (e.g., an administrator or advertiser) or automatically by the system  102 . The threshold value may be a function of advertisement response (e.g., number of orders per thousand impressions), advertisement usage (e.g., the reliability of corresponding performance data may be dependent on the number of times an advertisement is broadcast), or other advertising statistics. 
         [0053]    In embodiment, revisions may be based on analysis that includes comparing the advertisement script to a corpus of previously used scripts. For example, the corpus of scripts may include scripts of a similar genre, scripts from the same or similar advertiser, or scripts for the same or similar product. Other similarities may be used to determine a relevant corpus of scripts. The corpus of previously used scripts may be stored in the advertising performance database  126 , along with advertising performance metrics. Using the advertising performance metrics, the method  600  may provide a revision of the advertisement script. 
         [0054]    At  606 , using the advertising context determined at block  602 , one or more revisions may be determined and provided to the user. The revisions may include modifications or additions to the script&#39;s text, organization, or theme, in various embodiments. The revisions may further include modifications or additions to selected voice characteristics, in embodiments. The revisions can be based on the characteristics identified in an effort to maximize the efficacy of an advertisement for the particular advertising context. 
         [0055]      FIG. 7  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  406  for presenting audio track options to a user in accordance with an example embodiment. At  702 , one or more voice characteristics are received. In an embodiment, the voice characteristics are those selected by a user, such as in step  404  in  FIG. 4 . Voice characteristics may include the accent, gender, age, language, style, or identity of a speaker. Voice characteristics may further include whether the voice is a recorded human voice or a synthesized voice. 
         [0056]    At  704 , a database is searched for pre-recorded voice tracks. Pre-recorded voice tracks may include words or phrases that, when concatenated, can form a full audio version of an advertising script. Pre-recorded voice tracks may also include individual syllables to combine, concatenate, or arrange to create an audio version of the advertising script. In an embodiment, pre-recorded voice tracks are associated with one or more voice characteristics in the database, such that when searching for a particular voice characteristic, the associated voice track can be identified and retrieved. 
         [0057]    At  706 , those voice tracks that match or correspond with the provided voice characteristics are added to a search result. The search result may be sorted, grouped, or otherwise arranged into rankings, classifications, or categories, to provide conceptual or visual organization to a user when the search result is presented. 
         [0058]    At  708 , a database is searched for synthesized voice tracks. Synthesized voice tracks may include computer-generated voice samples or acoustically-modified, recorded human voices. Similar to the pre-recorded voice tracks, the synthesized voice tracks may be associated with one or more voice characteristics to enable searching, sorting, and organizing. At  710 , those synthesized voice tracks that match or correspond with the provided voice characteristics are added to the search result. 
         [0059]    At  712 , a database is searched for live performers that have voice characteristics similar to those specified. Live performers are typically voice-over artists that can professionally read an advertisement script for a broadcast medium. In some cases, live performers may include famous or notorious people that are willing to provide a voice-over track for compensation or charity. At  714 , those live performers that match or correspond with the provided voice characteristics are added to the search result. 
         [0060]      FIG. 8  is a graphical user-interface illustrating a script edit screen  800  for creating or editing an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. The script edit screen  800  includes a script title control  802  and a script text control  804 . A user can input a script title using the script title control  802  to later identify and recognize the script. The script title control  802  may be programmatically controlled to constrain an attribute of the script title control  802 , such as the length or content. For example, a maximum length of eighty characters may be imposed on the script title. As another example, certain characters, such as special characters like “!,” “@,” or “̂” may be prohibited in a script title. 
         [0061]    The script text control  804  may be similarly controlled to constrain the content, length, or other attribute. After a user inputs a script title and text, activating the save control  806  can save the inputted content. If the user decides to discard the content, for example, when making changes to the script and then deciding later to abandon those changes, the user can activate the cancel control  808  to exit the script edit screen  800 . 
         [0062]      FIG. 9  is a graphical user-interface illustrating a script edit screen  900  for editing script features in accordance with an example embodiment. The script edit screen  900  may include one or more script features, organized into a general portion  902 , a speaker portion  904 , and a background portion  906 . The general portion  902  may include general features associated with a script. For example, the advertisement type  908 , the product being advertised  910 , the sub-product  912 , the length of the advertisement  914 , the target market  916 , and the target platform  918 . In the example shown, these various controls are provided as drop down lists. In other examples, the input controls may include other forms, such as radio buttons, check boxes, text fields, and the like. 
         [0063]    The speaker portion  904  of the script edit screen  900  may include attributes of a speaker or a recorded voice. For example, the attributes or characteristics may include an accent  920 , a gender  922 , an age,  924 , a language  926 , a style  928 , or an identity  930 . In some embodiments, when an identity is selected using the identity control  930 , the other controls are disabled or ignored. In other embodiments, controls specifying a particular voice attribute may be combined with a personality voice to create a derivative voice. For example, if a user selected “Captain Kirk” as a famous voice using the identity control  930  and an accent of “Scottish” using the accent control  920 , the system may provide a derivative voice using the combination of the two. 
         [0064]    The background portion  906  includes controls to designate background noises or music. For example, the background portion  906  may include a music control  932  and an environmental control  934 . The music control  932  can be used to select a jingle, music theme, or other sound track to be played in the background during a script&#39;s narration. The environmental control  934  can be used to designate a different type of background noise. Examples of environmental noises include cooking sounds, car traffic, airplane engines, discussions or talking, running water, wind, or the like. 
         [0065]    After a user inputs script features, activating the save control  936  can save the features. If the user decides to discard changes, the user can activate the cancel control  938  to exit the script edit screen  900 . 
         [0066]      FIG. 10  is a graphical user-interface illustrating a script suggested revisions screen  1000  for suggesting revisions to a script in accordance with an example embodiment. The script suggested revisions screen  1000  may include a script text control  1002  to present a marked up version of the script text to a user. In the example shown, a suggested revision of replacing the word “hate” with the word “dislike” is presented in the script text control  1002 . The suggested revision may be based on analysis, such as that described above with relation to  FIG. 6 . The user may make further revisions to the text using the script text control  1002  and accept the changes using the accept control  1004  or reject the suggested revisions using the ignore control  1006 . 
         [0067]      FIG. 11  is a graphical user-interface illustrating a search results screen  1100  for providing search results in accordance with an example embodiment. The search results screen  1100  may include a recorded voices portion  1102  and a voice-over speakers portion  1104 . The recorded voices portion  1102  may include pre-recorded human voices and synthesized voices. The voice-over speakers portion  1104  may include names or identities of voice-over performers that match or correspond with provided voice characteristics. Each voice sample, voice track, or identified voice-over performer may include a brief description  1106  of the voice sample or speaker and a playback control  1108  to listen to a sample of the voice sample or speaker. Also, each voice sample can include a selection control  1110  to select a particular voice sample. In the example shown, the selection control  1110  is a radio button, which restricts the user to choosing a single selection. In other examples, a checkbox control may be used as the selection control  1110 , which can allow a user to choose two or more voice samples. The system may use the selected voice sample in a duet-like narration or other combination. 
         [0068]    The user may indicate the selected voice sample using the select control  1112  or cancel the search using the cancel control  1114 . Activating the select control  1112  can submit the selected voice sample or voice samples to be used in the advertisement. 
         [0069]      FIG. 12  is a flow diagram illustrating a method  1200  for revising an advertisement in accordance with an example embodiment. At  1202 , an advertisement is received. The advertisement may be the result of a process, such as that described in  FIGS. 4-6 . At  1204 , the advertisement is presented in an online medium, such as in a webcast over the Internet. Other examples of online media include an audio file served in a web page, an audio advertisement played over a cellular phone, or an audio advertisement delivered over satellite or high-definition radio. An indicia of effectiveness is received at block  1206 . The indicia may be the number of sales that are a result of the advertisement. The indicia may include other data, such as the number of inquiries of an advertised product or service, a number of web page hits, a number of phone calls received, a number of promotional coupons redeemed, or the like. Other indicia may include professional product reviews, editor comments or reviews, consumer reviews, news stories or other articles that mention, describe, praise, or criticize the advertised product or service, or other press. In an embodiment, if the effectiveness of an advertisement is over a threshold value, the advertisement can be delivered to a broadcast station for commercial use. 
         [0070]    The indicia of effectiveness is stored (block  1208 ) and analyzed (block  1210 ). The indicia may be stored in the advertising performance database  126 , in an embodiment. The indicia may be compared to one or more threshold values, such as a predicted number of sales, to determine whether, or to what extent, the advertisement campaign can be considered successful. In an embodiment, the analysis includes parsing the text-based advertisement script to determine a characteristic, such as a type of advertisement, a type of content, a target market, an advertisement structure, and a target advertising platform. Using the characteristic, the method  1200  can determine a revision that may make the advertisement more effective. 
         [0071]    At  1212 , the advertisement is revised. In an embodiment, the advertisement script is automatically revised by the method  1200 . In an embodiment, the revised advertisement script is presented to a user for approval before a revised advertisement is generated. The revised advertisement script may be presented in a user-interface, such as the one illustrated in  FIG. 10 . In an embodiment, an audio characteristic associated with the advertisement is revised by the method  1200 . Audio characteristics may include features such as those described in  FIG. 9 . For example, if the unmodified advertisement used a mature female voice, the method  1200  may determine that a youthful male voice may be more effective and suggest the revised features. Determining what revisions may be appropriate to increase the effectiveness of the advertisement can be performed by a neural network, in an embodiment. For example, a neural network may analyze the data stored in the advertising performance database  126  and determine that for a particular type of advertisement broadcast over a particular type of medium, a textual or audio modification may produce better advertising results. 
         [0072]    At  1214 , statistics and data can be reported to the user. For example, sales data, impression data, and other performance data can be collected and presented. The user may desire to make other modifications to the advertisement using the presented data. 
         [0073]      FIG. 13  illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine  1300  capable of performing the methods or implementing the systems/devices described herein. In alternative embodiments, the machine may comprise a computer, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a set-top box (STB) or any machine capable of executing a sequence of instructions that specify actions to be taken by that machine. 
         [0074]    The machine  1300  includes a processor  1302 , a main memory  1304 , and a static memory  1306 , which communicate with each other via a bus  1308 . The machine  1300  may further include a video display unit  1310  (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The machine  1300  also includes an alphanumeric input device  1312  (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device  1314  (e. g., a mouse), a disk drive unit  1316 , a signal generation device  1318  (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device  1320  to interface the computer system to a network  1322 . 
         [0075]    The disk drive unit  1316  includes a machine-readable medium  1324  on which is stored a set of instructions or software  1326  embodying any one, or all, of the methodologies described herein. The software  1326  is also shown to reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory  1304  and/or within the processor  1302 . The software  1326  may further be transmitted or received via the network interface device  1320 . 
         [0076]    For the purposes of this specification, the term “machine-readable medium” or “computer-readable medium” shall be taken to include any medium which is capable of storing or encoding a sequence of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one of the methodologies of the inventive subject matter. The term “machine-readable medium” or “computer-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic disks, and carrier wave signals. Further, while the software is shown in  FIG. 13  to reside within a single device, it will be appreciated that the software could be distributed across multiple machines or storage media, which may include the machine-readable medium. 
         [0077]    Method embodiments described herein may be computer-implemented. Some embodiments may include computer-readable media encoded with a computer program (e.g., software), which includes instructions operable to cause an electronic device to perform methods of various embodiments. A software implementation (or computer-implemented method) may include microcode, assembly language code, or a higher-level language code, which further may include computer readable instructions for performing various methods. The code may form portions of computer program products. Further, the code may be tangibly stored on one or more volatile or non-volatile computer-readable media during execution or at other times. These computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, hard disks, removable magnetic disks, removable optical disks (e.g., compact disks and digital video disks), magnetic cassettes, memory cards or sticks, random access memories (RAM&#39;s), read only memories (ROM&#39;s), and the like. 
         [0078]    Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement that achieves the same purpose, structure, or function may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the example embodiments of the invention described herein. It is intended that this invention be limited only by the claims, and the full scope of equivalents thereof. 
         [0079]    The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), which requires that it allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Also, in the above Detailed Description, various features may be grouped together to streamline the disclosure. This should not be interpreted as intending that an unclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim. Rather, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a particular disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6