Controversy over Google AutoLink Feature
Yesterday, Google released a new version of its Toolbar for the IE browser.
There seems to be some controversy over a feature in that toolbar - the 'AutoLink' feature .
Apparently it is very similar to what Microsoft introduced in the past called "SmartTags" which were rejected by the community and forced out. The argument against it included the fact that the webpage content was being manipulated, may have been forced on users(?) and certain sites were favored.
This feature, if enabled - Google Toolbar seems to provide that option -, changes some content on webpages you browse to point to certain links like Google Maps for location, Amazon for ISBN information, etc ... some in the blogosphere have claimed this to be an anti-competitive practice that harms other companies that are left out (eg. competitors like Mapquest, other book publishers).
Updated 20/02/05: This story has now been slashdoted and there is an interesting discussion on potential patent problems given that MS patented SmartTags in 2000. Also Scobles has some interesting comments on this.
There seems to be some controversy over a feature in that toolbar - the 'AutoLink' feature .
Apparently it is very similar to what Microsoft introduced in the past called "SmartTags" which were rejected by the community and forced out. The argument against it included the fact that the webpage content was being manipulated, may have been forced on users(?) and certain sites were favored.
This feature, if enabled - Google Toolbar seems to provide that option -, changes some content on webpages you browse to point to certain links like Google Maps for location, Amazon for ISBN information, etc ... some in the blogosphere have claimed this to be an anti-competitive practice that harms other companies that are left out (eg. competitors like Mapquest, other book publishers).
Updated 20/02/05: This story has now been slashdoted and there is an interesting discussion on potential patent problems given that MS patented SmartTags in 2000. Also Scobles has some interesting comments on this.
posted by Alex Pilchin at 9:42 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home