Pay-per-gaze with Google Glass, eBay shares consumer data, brands pull Ask.fm ads, worst hackers ever?
Google has had a set of patents approved for using eye-tracking advertising technology, which could tell when a consumer is looking at an ad, either online or off, as well as what their emotional response to it is likely to be.
As this would have to be used via a headset of some description, it seems likely that the patents are to do with Google Glass. It’s thought that the technology will relay information to a server, which in turn can be used for “pay-per-gaze”, a similar model to “cost-per-click”.
The technology measures emotional responses by tracking how the pupils react. It’s also thought that Google will be able to tell if someone is looking directly at an ad, as well as how long for. Advertisers will be charged based on this and according to Marketing Week, “Google could also charge advertisers for accumulated analytics garnered from multiple users of the platform, for a “premium fee”.
According to the 2011 patent application, which has just been approved this week: “To date, eye tracking systems have been mostly limited to research endeavours because of the intrusiveness, high cost, and reliability of these systems. A technique and system that can provide a reliable, low cost, and unobtrusive eye tracking system could have a variety of useful everyday applications.”
It’s thought that personal identifying data will be encrypted to allow for privacy and advertisers would be provided with anonymous information for analytics.
”We hold patents on a variety of ideas. Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don’t. Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patents,” a spokeswoman for Google said.
eBay shares consumers data
Auction site bigwigs eBay has announced a new service designed to help prop up the struggling high street, which helps retailers to understand customer shopping habits. The Retail Associate Platform is an optional service which allows PayPal customers to check in when they enter a store.
The information they have on their mobile will then be shared with shop assistants in order to help them to give consumers a more personalised shopping experience. This will include information such as their purchase history, product preferences and will allow assistants to contact other stores if they don’t have items in stock.
In order to assess the service before launch, eBay carried out research which revealed that 85% of retailers don’t have enough customer information for them to be able to customise the in store experience.
According to David Geisinger, head of retail business strategy at eBay Enterprise, this will be important when it comes to saving high street brands.
“With more traditional retail models, if a customer walks in and doesn’t buy, the retailer has no idea they even exist. Even if they do buy with a credit card, the information they have is very minimal. With this new technology, retailers will be able to gather more detail that can help them understand the customer and compete in a crowded commerce landscape,” he said.
It’s thought that the service will reach the UK some time before the end of 2014 and is currently being rolled out across North America.
Brands pull ads from Ask.fm
Following the recent tragic suicide of teen Hannah Smith, Ask.fm is seeing a slew of advertisers leave due to the site’s apparent lack of decent policies to protect its users.
Hannah Smith took her own life after she was bullied on the platform and since then, brands such as BT, The Sun, Specsavers and Vodafone have all pulled their advertising. The move once again highlights the fact that brands often have no idea what content their ads are appearing alongside following the recent Facebook issue that saw ads appearing from major brands alongside content that promoted violence to women.
UK’s most visited sites of 2013
The index for the top 50 retail sites in July saw travel sites take a fall in visits, while the fastest growing sites included Netflix, Asda Direct and Halfords.
See the table below for which sites were most visited overall:
Source: eConsultancy
Worst hackers ever?
The following video is the top worst hacking scenes in movie history, many of which are very laughable, it has to be said.
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