I Say Use the Controversial Google Toolbar Beta 3
The Google Toolbar Beta 3 has been stirring controversy and outright anger by many web site owners and advertisers since it was launched. This newest version of Toolbar introduced a new feature called Autolinks. Essentially, the new Google Toolbar scans each web page for certain information, such as street addresses, the ISBN book numbers, or car VIN numbers. If found, the Toolbar’s AutoLink button changes to read “Look for Map,” or “Show Book Info,” or “Show Auto Info.” Clicking one of these buttons turns these numbers into links that lead to sites programmed into the Toolbar, by default to Google’s own new map feature. In the case of book numbers, the links lead to Amazon.com. For car numbers, the links lead to Carfax, a company that sells reports detailing a car’s history.
What angers web site owners and advertisers about this is that these links can lead users away from their own site or advertisers. For example, Barnesandnoble.com is a Google advertiser, but in order to keep customers from being sent to competitor Amazon.com, they recently they had to add millions of links to every published ISBN number listed on its site.
Years ago, Microsoft was forced to pull a similar feature of theirs called Smart Tags after pundits like Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg created a firestorm of controversy. Well, today Mossberg weighed in on the Toolbar situation, bringing it to the forefront of national attention. He does believes it is a user convenience, but doesn’t like the idea of a browser creating and directing links. He said he’s spoken with Google officials and they are open to making some modifications.
My thought on Toolbar Beta 3 and Autolinks come from a user perspective. I say use it! Downloading and installing Google Toolbar takes literally minutes.It will give you a pop up blocker, spell check, word translator, autofill, highlighter, word find button, Google search field and more.
Look, the Google Toolbar is an optional download. Then, clicking on Autolinks is an optional step. At this point, I don’t believe Google is overreaching. If they become more heavy-handed in their “suggestions,” I could have a problem with it.
Now when Google comes out with a much-rumored Gbrowser and it becomes the world standard we’ll have to revisit how they are using their powerful hold of the user.
Note: All of this assumes you are still on the old-school Microsoft Internet Explorer, which is the only browser on which the Google Toolbar works. Come on, get with it and starting using the much better Firefox browser!
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It is *not* an option to the web site content owner which is the whole point of the critics.
I checked the options, and it let’s you change the Maps source. Maybe that’s all.
I’ll change that part fo the article until I check further.
I say don’t use it, EVER. It should be illegal.
Period. It’s as much theft as if I had a bricks and mortar store and another merchant put their products on my shelves.
It’s theft and I’m personally extremely disappointed that google is stooping to such behavior.
So your one of the three people that actually support this foolish autolink feature.
Here is the problem, we support this autolink and Google decides to cut a deal with some large company to send all of our hard earned and paid for traffic to their site. Google and this company make all the money yet were the ones that pay to get the visitor there.
So were advertising for Google and what ever company they have a deal with. Why would that be ok with anyone? The autolink isn’t much of a threat to most sites right now other then sending their traffic somewhere else, the threat is if it continues…where does it stop?
Jason Tor
I can see from the comments here, you are not finding many that will agree with you. This tool generates copyright violations and does not allow the content owner to enforce restrictions.
Any tool that hinders that standard reproduction of our copyrighted content should be required by law to include an indentifier in the Agent string sent along with the HTPP request so that we have the ability to block or modify our content for those using such tools. I am not one that likes to make new laws all the time, but this should be considered minimal to allow content providers to block those that are using this tool.
Copyright violations? What lawsuits are outstanding? I would assume that barnesandnoble.com, for example, would have the money and inclination to file immediately if there would be a valid legal claim.
Look, this blog serves users of Google. The Toolbar adds features that enhance their online experience. I recommend it’s use.
Also, the Toolbar is only available for IE (only 42% of my readers use IE), it must be downloaded and installed, and the Button needs to be pressed to convert the information to links. That’s going to be a very small number of page displays with Autolinks.
My gut feel is that Google will keep Autolinks but allow the option for the user to determine to which vendor he wants the Autolinks to point. That sounds like a good compromise between web site owners and Google users.
My suggestion is that Google provide a standard code for Web masters to include on pages where they want the Autolink feature work. That way, web site owners can “opt-in” rather than have it forced upon them.
That’s a good idea Dan.
Firefox? No thanks! I can’t understand why so many people are suddenly recommending it. Sure, it stops popups and (I gather) offers more protection against viruses and malware. However…. it trashes the appearance of many websites (displaying graphics and tables in the wrong places); it doesn’t work with various file upload systems; it doesn’t display various JavaScript effects - etc. After I began to use Firefox I kept coming across functions that didn’t work. For example when I tried to set up billing buttons on my iBill account, the scripts just don’t appear when I use Firefox. On another website, the “Upload File” button didn’t appear. Various “Set-Up Wizards” also didn’t work with Firefox. The forms in my Easyspace (server) also would not work with Firefox. The “change colour on hover” feature (on links) doesn’t work with Firefox. And so on. Again and again I had to keep opening Explorer to perform tasks that did not work when I used Firefox, until eventually I became so frustrated with it, I deleted it and went back to using Explorer.
Firefox has settings you can change with regards to the JavaScript behaviors. You can enable or disable many JavaScript functions. As with any other high-powered app, you have to visit the PREFERENCES menus and adjust them to your liking. And I have yet to see it ruin any sites on MY monitor, move tables and links, or “trash” anything else.
If you have a problem with Firefox, then learn how to adjust the preferences and settings like you would with any Micro$oft app. Having been in the IT support field now for nearly 20 years in various capacities and functions, I’ve learned one thing holds true in nearly every instance; “It won’t work like I want it to” almost ALWAYS means “I’m too lazy to learn how to use it properly.”
And the google toolbar DOES work on Firefox, if you care to download the Firefox extension. (but you have to learn about that too, so you might forego the trouble of figuring it out.)
The Googlebar for FireFox is not the same as the one for IE. There is no PR and no AutoLinks. Some other differences I believe.
So what’s to stop Google from turning this into an Adwords type of marketing? Is it going to be ok when the user is able to click a button and add my links to my competitors content for the keywords and phrases that I’m bidding on? As an internet marketer I would love to have the user add a link to my site from a competitors. However, I would hate it if my competitors link was added to my content.
The only winner here is Google. Do you really think they haven’t thought of this? Do you really think Google is going to do anything just for the user anymore? Google is now all about making a profit. All their doing is testing the waters to see how the internet community feels about this.
If we allow it, they will start the bidding.
Jason Tor
What’s to stop them? Public outcry. It’s very loud already. IMO, they’ve already taken it as far as they can get away with–it’s too tight a race with Yahoo to risk business over this.
I’m certain they feel the pressure to back off when people like WSJ’s Walt Mossberg and other heavy hitters get on them. In fact, I’ll bet that they soon allow the user to customize to whom the Autolinks point.
>Kate Lennon says:
>Firefox? No thanks! I can’t understand why so many
>people are suddenly recommending it.
Here’s why Kate, it’s a better browser. Internet Explorer is about 5/6 years old which in internet terms is centuries. Firefox has so many more features and is a far more solid tool.
Your problems with Firefox are not the browsers fault. Internet explorer does not display web pages as it should so web designers have developed bad habits in order to get their sites to load. Firefox displays web pages as exactly as they’re supposed to, so when it gets sloppy code from a site it doesn’t always display it correctly. This is the fault of the designer of the web page being too lazy to accommodate a modern browser. I am pleased to say that as Firefox continues to grow in popularity these sites are getting less.
Firefox and other next generation browsers are not trying to make money; they are trying to make the web a better place. Features such as tabbed browsing, popup blocking, improved security, user themes, adblocking and a million and one other extensions far outweigh the odd site which doesn’t format properly. Change is difficult to everyone but so long as there are people like you we are going to see less and less advancements in web site development.
On the subject, here’s a very interesting read…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1260994,00.html
Kate, in addition to explorer being an arcane browser - it is microsoft (The Evil Empire).
Of course - this would not be a valid reason alone - if, if Explorer was a better browser, I would say go for it. But it is not. So I say go for firefox. Firefox has an extremely large growing community, and the great thing about this open-source project is that it is one of the first that can be handled by non-uber-geeks.
Furthermore, Firefox can do so much more cool stuff. Such as (one of my favorites) display Animated Favicons. Which you can see in action at mozillanews.org or my blog that I really should post more to… Anyways, firefox has so many cool extensions (I eventually plan on talking about my favorite on my blog) such as DictionarySearch, Adblock, ForecastFox, several mouse gesture extenions, and BandwithTester.
Another really useful feature of firefox is the ability to browse the web in tabs. Tabs are a nifty cool little thing that allow you to browse multiple sites at the same time - in the same window, thus saving yourself the messy clutter of explorer windows. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Firefox is superior in every way I can think of. Thunderbird is another really cool mozilla piece of software - and I personally find it far better than Outlook, plus it has way more potential. But I am running out of breath. Take back the Web. Get Firefox.
Respekt! Ein wirlich gelungene Seite.
This nice is very good, i will recomend it to my friends and partners
This is great, look forward to looking into every area. Thanks for being there.
Firefox is bad it’s buggy and sluggish. It has 101 settings plugins extensions and other geek mumbo jumbo that no average computer user is interested in setting (a la Kate) and belive me we average people are the majority.
Why will Micro$oft win all the software battles in the end(if they already haven’t by now)? Answer is simple .. they make things simple for us average folks..we are the majority who dole $$… we rule the world.
if you want all that firefox and other gizmo go get it…live with it…applaud urself for having it…in the end die with it.
Truth hurts fellow uber geeks … get over it.
Jennifer