Starbucks Most Photographed Logo on Instagram

A new startup, GazeMetrix, can identify brand logos in Instagram photos. The service, which uses image recognition software, was originally developed to detect which apps people have on their devices by pointing them at each other. When that effort didin't pan out, the developers redirected their efforts.

The service, which will eventually rollout to Facebook and Twitter, makes it easy for brands to contact Instagram users who have posted branded logos and ask permission to reuse them on their own branded channels.

GazeMetrix offers brands yet another metric to, in a way, gauge consumer interest. While the prevalence of a photographed logo may not directly translate to brand recognition, brand recall or sales, that never stopped any company from measuring stuff and marketers flocking to it like lemmings in search of the next cliff.

Oh and by the way, it's really no surprise Starbucks is currently the most photographed logo on Instagram.