When I read about Google's electronic billboard patent application last year, I thought it could be combined with Mini Cooper's RFID keyfob concept for an opt-in advertising program. Just as websites track visitors via cookies, Google's billboards would communicate with passers-by's key chains (on which users would store their preferences) and use the data to serve up targeted advertising.
On websites, though, advertisers could be reasonably assured that their messages would be placed within each visitor's field of vision. Not so with real world billboards. But I just read in Wired that a company called xuuk is coming out with...
"a palm-size video camera surrounded by infrared light-emitting diodes. It can record eye contact with 15-degree accuracy at a distance of up to 33 feet. A simple glance from a passerby scores an impression."
This means Google may soon be able to sell you precisely metered amounts of attention. Quick glances might cost X per millisecond, but prolonged eye contact would set you back 5X.
BTW, speaking of billboards, Frank Schilling recently mentioned this YouTube video about the subliminal power of ambient advertising. If it's actually true (I'm not convinced), billboards could become as big as a business as Adwords.
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