Is Google opting out of "Don't Be Evil" clause?

March 1, 2005 —

Google is well known for its unofficial motto "Don't be evil". The company has a well-earned reputation for making the right decisions on issues that concern the way its tools work, and the way it does business.

The latest version of Google's toolbar, though, is drawing the ire of site owners, because of the way the toolbar adds new links into web pages.

The toolbar's AutoLink option inserts links to sites like Amazon and Mapquest into web pages, shifting control over a page's content away from web builders. For example, if your site includes a US address, Google's toolbar AutoLinks to a map service. If the page mention's a book's ISBN number, the toolbar AutoLinks to Amazon.

Google's designers see AutoLink as a tool for improving the browsing experience:

"The online review of a great new restaurant has the place's address but no map. You could type the restaurant's street, city, and ZIP code into the search box, but why bother, when clicking the Toolbar's AutoLink button will automatically create a link to an online map (US addresses only)? AutoLink can also link package tracking numbers to delivery status, VIN numbers (US) to vehicle history, and publication ISBN numbers to Amazon.com listings."

Who Owns Your Web Page?

AutoLinks create a significant problem for sites that sell books or that are affiliated with Amazon. When AutoLink was introduced, people browsing at Barnes & Noble would see AutoLinks that would take them to the related page at Amazon. Smaller sites that rely on Amazon affiliate income could be hurt, too. The toolbar can inserts new links that take readers to Amazon without sending an affiliate ID.

AutoLink raises other significant issues. If Google inserts links into your web page, you lose a degree of control over the user's experience. Most AutoLinks will be to pages that you wouldn't have otherwise linked to. The AutoLinks might help the user, but still detract from their impression of your site and your ability to meet your site goals.

For all site owners, AutoLink raises a larger issue: who owns your web page? For ten years, site builders have had a reasonable expectation that they had control over how their site appears in a web browser. Most developers have had to do significant testing to ensure that their site looks and behaves the way they want it to.

Finally, there's the issue of copyright. It's unclear whether changing the user's browsing experience violates a publisher's copyright. It is clear, though, that it violates 10 years of web precedent, and has the ability to cause publishers significant financial loss.

AutoLink inserts Google between the site developer and the site visitor. Many developers see this as monopolistic, greedy and even evil. Forums about web topics are busy with postings, many of which are from developers concerned about AutoLink.

At the SearchEngineWatch forum, Chris argues, "Toolbars that change these web pages are causing temporary defacement. They alter the choices made by the page's designer and create associations and contexts that were not initially there." Another poster, Brad, is concerned that "if Autotags goes through, then there has to be a reexamination of links, accountability and liability for linking on the Web."

These postings are typical. Developers are calling Google AutoLinks "evil", and viewing AutoLink as "Son of Smart Tags". Smart Tags was a similar technology that was so reviled that Microsoft had to bury it.

Fixing AutoLink

AutoLink is not without its benefits. It has the potential to make it easier for users to find the information they need on the Web.

In its current incarnation, though, AutoLinks will not be supported by most developers, which will result in an inconsistent user experience at best.

There are several things Google could do to make AutoLink palatable to web developers. One option would be to let developers opt-in, and for Google to provide revenue sharing. Google would take responsibility for inserting the most relevant links into a page. Google would also provide affiliate income in exchange for the right to modify a site's content. This is similar to the approach taken with AdSense, which has been embraced by site owners. A simple way to do this would be to provide a Meta tag that site owners could set to their AdSense ID.

Google appears to have broader hopes for AutoLinks, though. If this is the case, Google needs to look for a way to display the AutoLink information that does not interfere with the integrity of web pages.

One approach would be to have AutoLinks displayed within the toolbar. An AutoLink icon could be enabled whenever there were links for the current page. Clicking the icon would activate a drop-down menu with the related links. This would let interested users get the information they wanted, without inserting Google between the site owner and the user.

It's clear that many developers do not support AutoLink in its current implementation. Google needs to take AutoLink back to the drawing board, or it developers may think that Google has opted out of its "Don't be evil" clause.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Google: You can make money without doing evil

Google links spark blogger storm

Who Owns Webpages?

ITworld.com, Ecommerce in Action