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Facebook Testing Screen-Tracking Software For Users

Posted by timothy on from the happy-pre-hallowe'en dept.

cagraham writes "Facebook is currently testing software that would track user's cursor movements, as well as monitor how often a user's newsfeed was visible on their mobile phone, according to the Wall Street Journal. The additional data from such tracking would potentially let Facebook raise their ad prices, as they could deliver even more information about user's on-site behavior to advertisers, such as how long users hovered over specific ads. In order to analyze the extra data, Facebook will utilize a custom version of Hadoop."

8 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. The product... by mythosaz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Remember folks, you're not the customer, you're the product.

    1. Re:The product... by kilfarsnar · · Score: 3

      Remember folks, you're not the customer, you're the product.

      No kidding. Facebook: not even once.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    2. Re:The product... by TheCarp · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This is exactly why I have taken the attitude I have: If I am the product then I will make sure they get what they paid for!

      I mostly ignore the ads, but I look for the ones I "like", and by "like" I mean the ones that annoy me, or make me feel like they are dishonest or even just, giving out a messgage that I dislike. Then.... I comment on them.

      The beauty of this? I hover over them... a lot, I click on them a lot, then I spew out trollish comments intended to convince people other than what the advertisement was shooting for. The beauty of this is,....it brings me more of the same kinds of ad, so I can take my hobby forward to the next round!

      The "criminal justice schools" ads are the best, especially since they never remove comments or block anyone. The MA state lottory tried advertising to me, and they actually removed my comments and blocked me. Apparently they don't like being told that they lie about the odds (if a casino offers me a bet, pays that bet and taxes out taxes for the state, thats one thing... when the state does it themselves, they are actually fraudulently stating the payout, and thus the pot odds) or that even if they didn't their odds of wining are abysmal.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    3. Re:The product... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Fuckerberg should just go jump off a cliff without a parachute. The world will be much better off.

      Uh, sorry, but I find far more blame in the 100 million users lining Fuckerberg's pockets. The world would be much better off without mass ignorance. Fuckerberg just created a tool. Ignorance towards privacy and security ensured its survival.

      Learn to put blame where it belongs, and recognize what truly made him rich.

  2. Wonder if this will be used to ferret out adblock. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Wonder how long it will be until FB accounts start getting banned because users use AdBlock with this techology...

    3...2..

  3. And this is why we block adverts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And this is why we block adverts.

    I felt bad at first blocking adverts so I didn't do it.
    But then websites abused that over and over.
    A few text adverts ok, that's just about acceptable.
    Just when pages have multiple graphic or even video adverts that's not.
    And when they start profiling and tracking you then that's simply abuse.

    I now agressively block advertising and tracking on every website I can.
    And it's because they didn;'t know when to stop.

  4. Imagine if you will... by TheCastro1689 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    a world where once you leave your local shopping store a man follows you around all day, recording where you go, what you look at, what you buy, the music you listen to, the tv shows you watch, which commercials you pay attention to, which ones you don't. There's no law against this, and if you tell him to leave you alone he ignores you. You file an opt out form and he still follows you, but now he hides in the bushes. This is what is happening, but to all of your online life. Thanks for reading.

  5. Progress! by Krishnoid · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So ... we'll be moving from click-fraud to hover-fraud?