Women move the mouse around more, even if a scroll wheel is available.
Such discoveries about gender differences in computer use are an offshoot of a new marketing technology being pushed by Predictive Networks Inc., a Cambridge, Mass., company that specializes in tracking and analyzing online behavior to customize ads to individual users. The technology can also be used to monitor the remote control on interactive television, a small but growing part of cable subscribership. Predictive's goal is to use that information as a sort of remote identifier that quickly differentiates among family members who may all use the same computer. But they can't always tell that the user who frequents, say, sports sites is the same person combing through personal-finance sites. Such an ability promises a raised level of micromarketing, giving advertisers a better chance of showing users an ad they will respond to.