Scott,

I thought this might be of interest to you if you haven't read it yet.  It simply reinforces what we've known all along at NetConversions (especially the last 2 bullet points that I highlight). 

The Poynter Institute is very much involved in eye-tracking research and they recently came out with a study regarding how users view online content.

• Smaller type encourages focused viewing behavior (that is, reading the words), while larger type promotes lighter scanning.
• For headlines -- especially longer ones -- it would appear that the first couple of words need to be real attention-grabbers if you want to capture eyes.
• We found that ads in the top and left portions of a homepage received the most eye fixations.
• Text ads were viewed most intently, of all the types we tested.
• We noticed that people often clicked on photos -- even though on our test pages that got them nowhere (and indeed, clicking on photos does nothing on many sites).

Here's the article.  I recommend it when you have free time, but take it with a grain of salt as it isn't a thorough study on eye movements:  http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/main.htm

In any case, just wanted to touch base with you.

Joel