If folks were using just their eyes, they'd be calling users in to watch them interact with the software, calling users up to perform user surveys, doing all sorts of live-user testing.
But, that costs money: folks don't generally like to do surveys for free, don't like to come to your site (or have you come to theirs) for free, don't like to participate in tests for free... and the caliber of person who can design and orchestrate all that is _notably_ expensive.
So, companies have discovered that it's far, far cheaper to shove remote eyes into their products. No need to schedule user observation sessions, pay for transportation and participation, have to bother with hiring people who are capable of coming up with a good set of questions and scenarios to walk through.
Except that those remote eyes don't look at what a person would look at. They know if a feature was used but they cannot see the frustration on the face of a user when some feature is missing or does not work as expected or is hard to find.
But, that costs money: folks don't generally like to do surveys for free, don't like to come to your site (or have you come to theirs) for free, don't like to participate in tests for free... and the caliber of person who can design and orchestrate all that is _notably_ expensive.
So, companies have discovered that it's far, far cheaper to shove remote eyes into their products. No need to schedule user observation sessions, pay for transportation and participation, have to bother with hiring people who are capable of coming up with a good set of questions and scenarios to walk through.