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Google’s Screenwise research project announced back in February is designed to collect data on more than just Internet behavior. In addition to custom wireless routers that gather information on participants’ browsing and downloading habits, the recently mailed recruiting brochure describes a device “a little bigger than a smartphone” called Screenwise TV Tab. TV Tab “captures audio signals that enables the study to identify which TV programs are being viewed.”

The information TV Tab collects includes:

• Identity of person logging into the Screenwise TV Tab
• Timestamps indicating time of log-in and log-out
• Duration of television usage per session
• The total amount of time a television is used in the household

[source: Screenwise Select privacy policy]

I haven’t seen the device, but I think it could be based on Android and powered by this TV Tab app developed by Mobile Research Labs.  Android market lists the number of installs for this app at between 10 and 50.

In addition, a different Screenwise app (which looks like a version of Lumi’s AnalyzeMe) captures participants’ smartphone habits. Among the more interesting things the app collects are:

• Frequency of use of device calendar
• Battery status
• Whether you are using your smartphone inside or outside your home
• How long music is played, and the title and artist for each song
• Timestamp and duration of any video viewed on smartphone
• all URL’s and advertisements viewed
• When a Panelist opens or closes an application

[source: Screenwise Select privacy policy]

Google, who is conducting this research together with GfK, is offering a sign-up incentive of $100 with up to an additional $50 for each month the participating household stays in the study.

Some people who were randomly selected to receive a recruiting mailer (accompanied with a crispy two-dollar bill), are concerned it might be a scam, or worse: “The money is real too! A $2 Dollar bill? SO weird man… never heard of anything like this.”

Google has been busy registering several domain names in recent days that could be signs of things to come. A couple seem to relate to some kind of lab-related project(s), some are AdWords-related and others are related to the Google Screenwise program that I wrote about earlier this week….



Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Google has been busy registering several domain names in recent days that could be signs of things to come. A couple seem to relate to some kind of lab-related project(s), some are AdWords-related and others are related to the Google Screenwise program that I wrote about earlier this week….



Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Google has “quietly” launched a new project called Google Screenwise, which is part of the Google Knowledge Networks program.
Google will pay you $25 for them to track your every move online.

As part of a project called Screenwise, Google is paying normal people to install a Chrome extension and browse the web as usual.

“Panelists,” as these average-Joe-and-Jane users are called, will be paid in Amazon gift cards — one $5 gift card every three months, to be exact. (Google notes that Amazon is not part of the program.)

The Chrome extension will track what these people do around the web, the sites they use, and what they do on those sites. Google says it will use the data it gathers over the course of the project to “help us improve Google products and services and make a better online experience for everyone.”

The research project could continue for longer than a year. The human guinea pigs who sign up may or may not see their gift card amounts change after the one-year mark.

It’s not the most heavyweight bribe in the world, but it’s what Google partner Knowledge Networks is offering. Google tapped the market research firm to conduct the Screenwise project.

Participants must be Google Account holders and must be 13 or older.

We’ve contacted Google for more details on the kinds of data it’s collecting, and we’ve asked specifically if it plans to make any distinction between adult participants and minors who download the Screenwise extension.

Image courtesy of Denis Vrublevski, Shutterstock

Filed under: VentureBeat

Google is quietly taking requests from web users who want to get paid to surf the web using the Chrome browser while sharing data with Google. The program is called Screenwise and, though we’re not aware of any official announcement, Google has a signup page at…



Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.