MoviePass has returned with an eyeball-tracking ad service.
The subscription service - which shut down over financial difficulties in 2019 - is making a return, but with an advertising service that will pause if users move their eyeballs away from the screen.
Founder Stacy Spikes said at an event: "It basically creates a transaction between you and the brand. What's cool about this is your phone, your device, uses your own facial detection. It’s a way to close that loop and make it far more efficient of a system."
Although no new prices have been announced yet, users can earn credits to buy movies by watching the ads on any device.
Stacy said: "We had an early version of this where you know what happened. People put the phone down and left and didn’t pay any attention to it. Right now 70 percent of video advertising is unseen. This is a way that advertisers get the impact they’re looking for but you’re also getting the impact yourself."
The subscription-based movie ticketing service - which closed when their initial $10 unlimited movies pass became unprofitable - is making a resurgence after Stacy found inspiration during the pandemic.
He told The Verge: "It's post-COVID. We're living in a different world. We're trying to get people back to going to movies, and all I kept thinking to myself was, 'Can we get back in the ring and try and help drive traffic to cinema."
