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Google Nabs Patent To Monitor Your Cursor Movement

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-see-what-you-did-there dept.

bool2 writes "Google has been awarded a patent for displaying search results based on how you move your mouse cursor on the screen... Google's plans are to monitor the movements of the cursor, such as when a user hovers over a certain ad or link to read a tooltip, and then provide relevant search results, and ads, based on that behaviour. It means that it does not require users to actually click a link to know that they were interested in it, opening a world of opportunity for even more focused ads."

4 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. A great user experience awaits in 2030 by ciaran_o_riordan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Thanks Google, for the disclosure of this invention which society will be free to benefit from in 2030.

    Some will say that the game is broken and Google is just obliged to play the game too, but in that case, they could make a promise not to use this patent aggressively. Since there's no such promise, all we can say is that they're stockpiling dangerous patents.

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    1. Re:A great user experience awaits in 2030 by john83 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I do recall seeing an interview in which a Google executive (I forget which one) was asked about patents. He replied that Google was only interested in defensive patents. Of course, that statement isn't exactly binding, but even the links you've given claim that Google has never sued anyone for patent infringement.

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      Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
  2. Good luck with that ... by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wiggle the mouse and randomly highlight text while I'm reading -- it used to confuse and baffle co-workers. Mostly it's just keeping my hand busy.

    If they can infer anything meaningful from what is essentially doodling with the mouse, good luck with that. What I'm highlighting or hovering over has little to do with how they might be able to advertise to me. Heck, I think it would be funny to see the results.

    And, I somewhat agree with the observations in TFA that there might be some privacy issues here. I already block google analytics on most of my machines.

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    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  3. Legally by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What is the difference between this and a keylogger?

    It's one thing to record commands I have sent to their computers by clicking. It's another thing entirely to track things I do on MY computer. I foresee a lot of legislation in Google's future.

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    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.