The Evil Google Toolbar Debate

<div id="dougal"> <h1>The Google Toolbar and AutoLink Debate</h1> <div id="dmenu"> <ul> <li><a href="#e1">Google AutoLink</a></li> <li><a href="#e2">Arguments For And Against</a></li> <li><a href="#e3">Google AutoLink Discussions</a></li> <li><a href="#e4">Anti-AutoLink</a></li> </ul> </div> <p> Dougal created this section after DougalGuy discovered some negative comments about a similar toolbar on <a href="http://www.threadwatch.org" target="_new">ThreadWatch</a> and <a href="http://www.searchguild.com/autoblink/" target="_new">Search Guild</a> <p> You didn't seriously think we were going to talk about Dougal AutoThink did you? </p> <h2><a name="e1">Google AutoLink</a></h2> <p>AutoLink is a feature on the new Google Toolbar version 3 beta.</p> <p> When the user views a website containing an address or ISBN the AutoLink button offers to show more information. The user decides whether to click the button or not. When the user clicks the AutoLink button the web page is changed to link to sites that supposedly contain more or better information. The user then has the choice to click the link or not. Sounds innocent enough? Read on! </p> <h2 style="background-color:#339966"><a name="e2">Arguments For And Against</a></h2> <h4>Usability</h4> <div class="in"> <b>For:</b> <p> Users benefit by giving them more detailed information. </p> <b>Against:</b> <p> But do they really benefit?<br> When an ISBN is found the AutoThink button changes to "Show Book Info". The ISBN's are simply changed to point to the Amazon page for that book. At no point does the user know where they will be taken. Most people know Amazon sell books and can find it for themselves. The "show book info" implies there is more info to be found than the page you are on, when you could already be reading a much better review than found on Amazon. </p> </div> <h4>Google are giving users what they want</h4> <div class="in"> <b>For</b> <p> Users would not use AutoLink unless it was useful. </p> <b>Against</b> <p> Give users what they want as long at it does not negatively affect a perfectly good website. </p> <p> If users wanted a button to turn off AdSense and AdWords would Google give them that?<br> What if users asked for a button to take them to the top ranking website that matched the publisher's content? Sound good? Well for search Google is ranked 7th. Still sound good? </p> </div> <h4>User choice</h4> <div class="in"> <b>For</b> <p> Users are not forced to use the toolbar or AutoLink, it's completely optional </p> <b>Against</b> <p> Gator and other adware providers use the same argument, they know your average internet user is not web savvy. Users will confuse publisher's content with Google's altered content. </p> </div> <h4>Web publisher greed</h4> <div class="in"> <b>For</b> <p> Only greedy web publishers will not want to enhance the user experience. </p> <b>Against</b> <p> For the same reason Google places ads on its search results, other web site owners publish ads with their content. Anything that encourages users to avoid user friendly ads from the publisher is bad for the web site owner. </p> </div> <h4>The toolbar already changes content</h4> <div class="in"> <b>For</b> <p> The toolbar already changes content. No one complained about the highlight feature. </p> <b>Against</b> <p> The highlight feature aided usability without harming the web publisher. </p> </div> <h4>Fuss about nothing</h4> <div class="in"> <b>For:</b> <p> AutoLink only changes ISBN's and provides links to maps, what is all the fuss about! </p> <b>Against:</b> <p> Web publishers unaffected by the current AutoLink feature know when all the fuss has died down it will not be long before other words are targeted and other toolbar providers do the same. Just look at the words <a href="/" target="_parent" >Dougal</a> targets for a glimpse of the future. </p> </div> <h2 style="background-color:#ddad08"><a name="e3">Google AutoLink Discussions</a></h2> <h4>Forums</h4> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.threadwatch.org" target="_new">Thread Watch</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.searchguild.com/tpage19006-0.html" target="_new">Search Guild</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.cre8asiteforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=22067" target="_new">Cre8asite Forums</a></li> </ul> <h4>Blogs</h4> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.threadwatch.org" target="_new">Threadwatch</a></li> <li><a href="http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050225-104317" target="_new">Search Engine Watch</a></li> </ul> <h4>News</h4> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1032364,00.html" target="_new">Time - Google Tricks</a></li> <li><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4287539.stm" target="_new">BBC - Google's toolbar sparks concern</a></li> </ul> <h2 style="background-color:#aa1002"><a name="e4">Anti-AutoLink</a></h2> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.threadwatch.org/node/1562" target="_new">Threadwatch - Serverside Solutions</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.searchguild.com/autoblink/" target="_new">Search Guild - JavaScript AutoLink killer</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?autolink" target="_new">Petition to Google</a></li> </ul> <div id="footer"><a href="/" target="_parent">Home</a> | <a href="/faq/" target="_parent" title="Frequently Avoided Questions">FAQ</a> | <a href="/kennel/" target="_parent" title="Publicity">Publicity</a> | <a href="/debate/" target="_parent" title="The Debate">The Debate</a></div> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> </div>