While Amazon's Alexa and Google's Dot get all the ink in the connected world, a small piece of technology found inside of connected TVs is forever changing the future of marketing.

TVs enabled with Automatic Content Recognition technology can recognize when a specific ad is played and how long a viewer watched it. And as long as the TV is connected to same IP address as other devices in the home, marketers can track whether the ad led to an action like a search on a phone or even a sale.

The connected TV might not be the sexiest connected device in the home, but for the forward-thinking marketer, it could be the most powerful.