It's been in widespread use for decades. Back in the 90s there was Digimarc who inserted copyright details into photos and video by changing the shading of pixels in an unnoticeable pattern, and they even said the method could be applied to car paint. All you need is a high resolution scanner, and given that the cameras on your typical game console are high enough to see skin temperature variances and determine one's emotional state (best in combination with galvanic skin response), the scanners are everywhere. Think about that the next time someone complains about data tracking.
The glyph pattern in the link looks similar to the location grid that the Neo Smartpen [1] uses to encode page ID and location.
The dots idea is already implemented in most printers to track documents for forensic purposes.
The yellow dot patterns that you’re thinking of are different from the slanted halftone dots that DataGlyphs use. Two interesting approaches, though DataGlyphs have a much higher density than the yellow tracking dots that most color printers use.