that anti-autolink petition

[littleman]

URL in question:
http://www.petitiononline.com/autolink/petition.html

Are you going to sign it? If not, why?

[hardball]

I'm to afraid of errr.. I mean to in love with google.

[littleman]

I'm to afraid of errr.. I mean to in love with google.
>I'm chicken

I suspect you are not the only one. That really says something about the nature of Google's reach and how the typical seo/sem is too intimidated to speak his/her mind.

[hardball]

Sounds like they are going after more stuff.

UPCs..... hold on to your feathers!

more auto link grabs (http://www.micropersuasion.com/2005/03/google_plans_up.html)

[littleman]

This is just the beginning, autolink isn't out of beta and already they are going to do UPCs. I wish you all would get off your behinds and start organizing and acting. Two years from now when MSIE has smarttags and you all are having to bid to get into MSN shopping and Froogle will you all still be debating the slippery slope effect?

This is the crack in the dam, and it is your asses on the line.

[Gurtie]

well said LittleMan, if barcodes are OK then everyones accepted them linking to product, but your average site would be much more useful if it linked from the text wouldn't it, and we can't complain then because the principals the same, and once product names link then services are actually products.....

The only place to draw the line is now. If you can't be bothered to stand up and say something now then you never will.

Sign the petition, complain to Google, use the meta tag, install the javascript, tell people about the viral stuff. The more people that protest the less likely Google is to penalise people for doing so. ;)

[PhilC]

>I'm chicken

I suspect you are not the only one. That really says something about the nature of Google's reach and how the typical seo/sem is too intimidated to speak his/her mind.
I can't believe that anyone would be afraid of standing up and being counted. And I don't believe for one second that Google would lift a finger against anyone who spoke up against what they do. Heck I've been doing it for years and it hasn't had any negative effect. So sign the petition or you'll have to accept it if they get away with autolinks.

And don't forget - this *is* the thin end of a very big wedge.

[DaveAtIFG]

An email encouraging clients to sign might be helpful as well.

[seobook]

An email encouraging clients to sign might be helpful as well.
signed:cool:

will try to throw it in the old newsletter and see if I get any gripes from them.

[St0n3y]

I'm not afraid to sign it. I think Google would respect this kind of feedback.

[enigma]

I believe in following ethical rules of conduct in all things.

In my opinion, the autolink idea crosses the boundaries of proprietary rights and therefor ethical practices. I own my web sites outright. Nobody (other than me) has the right to add or delete code of any kind.

I am not saying that Google has evil designs in regards to its intended use of the autolink, but if allowed to proceed, what of its possible future use? In the wrong hands, a seemingly innocent concept can become perverted over time.

Those who would allow this programme to go forward without saying anything are, by omission, condoning whatever uses may evolve from what might be an innocent and perhaps even benevolent concept.

By allowing your site's code to be altered in any way, you are handing over the reigns to Google for its own (good or evil) purposes. This can't be permitted. We have to speak up before its too late and the precedent has been set. I've signed the petition and I urge others to do the same if you feel you have the right to control the content of your sites.

This is not the time to sit on the fence. Speak up!

[PhilC]

The only difference between autolinks and the abhorrent scumware, such as the Yellow Peril, is that, with autolinks, the site visitor has to click a button for it to activate - currently. Both things can be done because they have a program running in the visitor's computer; both things modify webpages and put alternative destinations in front of the visitors' eyes.

Compared to the Yellow Peril, autolinks is low key at the moment, but Google have already talked about the possibility of not requiring the visitor to click the button, based on the particular user's use of the button. They have already talked about adding more and more things to the list of targets. They say, and I believe them, that there is nothing of a profit nature in it at the moment, but I am forced to wonder how long that will last. Certainly, Amazon are on a big financial winner at the expense of other book sellers' sites (sites where the visitors were hijacked from), and I am sure that more companies will benefit financially as more targets are added to the list. I wonder how long it will be before Google benefits from some of the profits that autolinks will deliver.

We are talking about Google, but Google is only one of the companies that will include this kind of thing if Google succeeds with it. There are other popular toolbars out there (Yahoo!, Alexa), and surely MS will come back with a modified SmartTags if they see Google succeeding. What we have now is the thin end of what will become a very big wedge.

If Google succeeds, the idea will become the norm, and we will learn to accept that it happens. Google must *not* succeed, and the time to act is now. So, if you haven't already done it, sign the petition and make your voice heard.

One point: the idea is good for site visitors because it gives them more choices, so don't expect the whole Internet world to be up in arms against it.

[hardball]

The thing might have a bit more credibilty if the adsense came off. Why talk all lofty when the thing (petition) looks like a sell out?

Anyway, I signed it, I don't like being a chicken. Can't be hardball and a chicken ya know.

[hardball]

Actually, if publishers were wise, they would do occasional adsense "blackouts" just to show the plex who has the crunch. We don't like your policy, so we are turning off your cash for a day. My guess is this scumware stuff would go away real quick.

[enigma]

I agree with you about the ads. It does look a little cheesey.

[hardball]

The Wall Street Journal just ran a negative article on autolink.

I would paste the entire article but it is subscription and I guess I should:

Respect the publisher

here is a snippet:

"Google Toolbar Inserts Links in Others' Sites, And That's a Bad Idea

Walt Mossberg

March 10, 2005

What if you had worked hard to design a Web page, carefully placing links just where you wanted them and carefully selecting the Web destinations to which those links led? And then, what if a company with great power on the Web started adding its own links to your page, drawing visitors away from your page to other sites of its own choosing?"