AHNCorp is
W. J Brown
CEO All Headline News Corp.
Additional Disclosure - I do hold 200 shares of Google Stock. Do not own or have any interest in any other major search engine.
Don’t believe I was hiding anything. This information is also in the profile, you just need to look.
And here are some third party URLS discussing this topic
http://www.micropersuasion.com/2005/02/google_gets_awa.html
http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&url=autolink
So you’re saying the best way to subvert the Google autolink feature is to delete useful content from your site?
That’s a rather defeatist approach, to put it mildly… 
Just a few things:
Will Google say they are not altering the “message” of your content but rather the “meta-message” (by making certain content clickable)?
The current Toolbar will send information back to Google if you have the enhanced features enabled (i.e. PageRank meter and such). You had to agree to this when you enabled the enhanced features.
The circumvention of this new feature (if they do not provide an “off” switch of sorts) will revitalize the SEO folks (and maybe even create a new acronym).
Let us hope they do not pre-alter our page when they are scanning it for their SERPs (and thus filch PageRank from us)…this was a joke statement of course.
I can see linking addresses, package numbers, and maybe even dictionary entries but the linking to Amazon is a sleazy ploy by Google to gain revenue and become the biggest affiliate Amazon has. Nice.
Remove the features that hinder your other offerings and add the “off” switch. I think the Amazon aspect, even with an “off” switch, is still a bad idea…how does Amazon keep track of affiliate link URLs (i.e. expirations and such to know who gets the affiliate credit). I would hate for my Amazon affiliate “tick mark” to be usurped by Google’s Amazon affiliate “tick mark” because they are be-bopping and scatting around all over with Amazon links on web sites around the globe.
A little story:
:google: Search 
:google: Adsense 
:google: IPO :aparty:
:google: Toolbar hijinx :sick:
Not only that, but do you really believe google will stop with ISBN’s and adresses? Once this “test” content proves profitable the list will only continue to bloat…
I think this idea would have worked better as a subscription program like their paid links program, at least let us have the illusion of a choice in the matter
Thank you.
No disrespect intended.
I think claims that the opinions of the masses are irrelevant and won’t be factored into any decision Google makes are a little silly. I don’t doubt that Google is and will become more and more loyal to its shareholders, but its shareholders aren’t bringing in the money, and like any public company, Google will have to continue to tend to its consumer base.
Case in point, and relevant to this topic: when was the last time your life was affected by Smart Tags? As already alluded to in this thread, Microsoft was implementing a feature very similar to this, and because of the public’s outcry the feature was scaled back to something that automatically noticed when you were typing an address and offered to add it to Outlook or show it to you on a map. If Smart Tags do anything else, I haven’t noticed it.
The micropersuasion.com link states, “Google Gets Away With What Microsoft Couldn’t.” I don’t think Google has gotten away with anything yet. They’ve released a beta of a new toolbar with a controversial feature. The beta toolbar isn’t in wide circulation, and I’d hazard a guess that the vast, vast majority of Internet users don’t even know it exists yet.
Is the so-called feature troubling? Yeah, I think so. But there’s still plenty of time to let Google know you don’t approve, and I’m sure much of the Internet will be doing so in the coming weeks. I think the chicken little claims of total Internet domination and control that webmasters are powerless to stop are a little premature.
I’m not sure I see what the big uproar is.
First of all, you have to click a button to get any of these links to show up. It’s not like your page will load with all kinds of links already on the page.
Secondly, if you don’t want people to use this feature, start putting more content on your site! If people are going to be using this feature because they want a map to a resturant, put a map to the restaurant so people won’t need to click the button!
Totally right. If you expect any of the search engines to be your buddy for too long, you’re going to get hosed. Diversify.
Originally Posted by aspen
[i]Looking to the future things like this will only become more prominent, which is why its important that you diversify your income.
[/i]
Thats an excellent point!
Even if Google did offer webmasters the option of turning off the AutoLinks, it still forces us to add code to our site because they need to make money…
Notice all the people who pooh pooh this are not in any real ecommerce business where their next months rent depend on the revenue from their site…and if they are…then when Google’s toolbar antics slashes their revenue, I’ll laugh at them.
But then again, everyone paniced over Gmail’s scanning of email too…lol.
I don’t think the concerns that have been expressed in this forum are extreme. Vigilence and awareness of issues of this nature is good if not necessary to maintaining a free and open marketplace. Historical evidence shows us that as companies get large and powerful some of them tend to take advantage of their strength and influence. The utility companies easilly come to mind, but let me quit on that subject less I go off on a ranting tangent.
It’s self preservation that makes the conscious consumer and business owner speak up on practices that seem unfair. For those of a stronger moral fiber, it’s ethics.
And again I stress, educating the public is how you insure people don’t just “accept” privacy violations and unfair business practices like unthinking cattle.
GoldenElk’s posting brings up an interesting topic that is sure to create a firestorm of opinion.
Considering that Google holds a near monopoly in Search (and possibly soon in other areas) and given the fact that search is a core function of the web and is an essential service that is provided to the public.
Let’s use Google against itself here:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-45,GGLD:en&oi=defmore&q=define:utility
It would be arguable, given several of the defintiions on that URL, that Google could be considered a Utility Company. With the public services that they are providing being search.
Would it be perhaps advantangeous to consider regulation of Search Engines like other public utilities must undergo?
Perhaps regulation or other oversight is needed?
I don’t see it happening but your premise is appreciated. The government has been purposely stand-offish about regulating anything on the net (a mandate of the Clinton era). They haven’t even take measures to enforce P3P privacy policies beyond government created websites.
But this won’t last, I think they want to deal with the internet tax issue before anything else, you know, priorities.
When’s the storming of the Googleplex with torches and pitchforks?
GoldenElk, you seem to be overlooking that the internet is not only a USA thing, there are other countries with their own laws. The US could only rule about google in the US and since google has offices in other countries there would be nothing preveting from moving their services elsewhere and working around the law.
A Rock: It could stink for developers, perhaps, not knowing the full details it’s hard to say. Would the links actually show up on our pages? If so, where? How? This could be hurtful to certain websites. Again, I don’t all the facts.
Us: Web developers. We can live with it and absorb any harm it may cause us and even our visitors, or we find a way to turn it off, which is likely. A new meta tag perhaps:
<meta http-equiv=“googletoolbar” content=“no” />
<meta http-equiv=“googletoolbar” content=“false” />
…or whatever.
The Hardplace: If internet users like the Google toolbar (I imagine they do), they probably won’t like the idea of web developers turning the toolbar off. They might take it as an invasion of their privacy or an infringement of their rights. Ironic, huh?
I have read these posts. A bit dismayed I am. It is troubling based on the information offered herein. But I lack facts and have no solutions or answers.
sigh
Mike
Doesn’t Opera put AdSense? Why isn’t anyone whining about that?
It doesn’t look good, although it won’t affect us.
What maxor said is a good point tho, for the user to click on ‘your content’ they have to first click on the autolinks button and then click the link… Indicating they they allready had the intention of leaving to goto the new information…