Came across this little gem at AdAge west. Going on their second year in existence, GazeHawk is an eye tracking technology company that provides consultative research and reports to publishers and advertisers to improve ad effectiveness. Their technology accesses a users webcam, asks for permission to track their visual patterns, and then runs that user through a quick calibration test. After that, it's open season. GazeHawk can determine which ad units on a page are most effective aka get the most exposure to the eye, and then passes back that info to the pub/advertiser.
For a publisher, you can see this being a HUGE asset when it comes to valuing their ad space, charging premiums for the units with more attention, and vice versa. For an advertiser, you can better determine what you should be paying for those same units.
On the macro level, this is in fact a big step away from using click throughs as a measurement of success. As a player in the video space this is music to my ears. My only drawback is that they ask for permission from the user. This absolutely needs to be an opt-in system, however as soon as the user knows what you are studying, their behavior changes. There is no way around that.
Detractors from The Hawk (are they not using that nickname yet?) will press on the creepyness factor here, which is in no way helped by their aggressive company name. But if you talk to the fat cats in Washington, opt-in makes it a free zone, so Gaze on my friends.
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