Every web service provider, web application, content site and what not likes to collect data. Collecting data helps web sites to better understand their users, popular content, usage patterns, and whatever obscurities that are out there.

I was just browsing Netflix and noticed that they have chosen to track something very odd, and at first (and second) sight not too informative. When you search for a movie at the top-right corner, it will actually log WHERE on the ‘Search’ button you have actually hit. So, if you’ve hit the top-left area or the bottom-right area of the button, NetFlix will know.

What does this give them? well, they could calculate what is the average point at which users hit the button, and errrrrr, just know it. Or they could generate a nice little heat-map representing the different areas on the button where people hit most often (for info on heat-maps see Rafael Mizrahi’s wonderful Feng-GUI, and they could ehhhhhh print the heat map and ehhhh nail it to the wall.

Beats me, in any case, just an observation worth sharing, or not.