Just when you thought Google's (GOOGL 0.04%) Glass couldn't get any crazier, the search king is now attempting to patent pay-per-gaze ads.
The idea is simple: Look at an ad, and Google gets paid. Whether it's a billboard or a digital pitch shown to you via the built-in Glass display, once you look the pennies start piling up.
Digitizing the real world in this way makes a lot more sense than you might think, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video. Google already tracks our online movements. Glass and pay-per-gaze adds real-world context, making the entire machine smarter -- and, presumably, more profitable.
Scared? You should be, Tim says. Pay-per-gaze is just another in a long line of data grabs. And not just by Google. Consider that Facebook (META -1.68%) uses Web browsing data to improve the ads and content shown in your newsfeed.
Google is going a step further by digitizing the real world, and in the end that's probably a good thing, Tim says. Not only is the company organizing all the world's information, but it's also doing stuff with the data it collects. Exactly what investors have come to expect.