Don't look now, but you're totally being checked out

Some warn the world that ‘big brother’ is watching and nothing is private nowadays. However, now with the Patriot Act, we cannot really call those people paranoid without a shred of doubt.

So, upon reading about how ads now are looking us as much as we are looking at them, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Small cameras can now be embedded in the screen or hidden around it, tracking who looks at the screen and for how long. The makers of these set-ups say the software can determine the viewer's gender, approximate age range and, in some cases, ethnicity. The craziest thing of all is that the software can then change the ads accordingly. This can mean that wherever I go, I could be confronted with make-up, clothes and cleaning supplies ads.

In spite of that horrifying image, this set-up is a HUGE advancement in accountability and the ability to measure ROI and the true effectiveness of ads. No more estimates of if we are truly reaching the target market. Just roll the footage of who is stopping or even glancing in the direction of the ad. The manufacturers say their systems can accurately determine gender 85 to 90 percent of the time! That is amazing. This provides the ability to put a concrete and founded percentage of audiences based on gender.

“So a video screen might show a motorcycle ad for a group of men, but switch to a minivan ad when women and children join them,” said Vicki Rabenou, the chief measurement officer of Tampa, Fla.-based TruMedia Technologies Inc., one of the leaders in this technology.

Whether you agree with this technology or not, you can’t deny that its going to be controversial and potentially as a result, incredibly popular.