Facebook tracks cursor in game of digital cat and mouse

It appears a new layer of consumer tracking has been discovered after Facebook announced that it is testing software that can follow the minute movements of a cursor as it moves around a screen.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the social networking giant is to begin experimenting with collecting data on user interactions with on-screen content, including how long a user’s cursor hovers over a particular part of the site, and whether the newsfeed is in a viewable area.

During an interview last week, Facebook analytics chief, Ken Rudin, explained that expanding Facebook’s scope of data analytics could help product development and allow for more precise ad targeting.

So far Facebook collects demographic and behavioural data; if implemented, the new technology hopes to give brands a more in-depth understanding of the behaviour of Facebook’s users.

However, Rudin stated that there is no definite roll-out planned and whether Facebook will run the software will be decided in the next few months.