Smart Tag Creator Behind Google's New Autolink Feature

UPDATED 2/23: Robert now says this is in fact not true.

Robert Scoble left a comment on my last post that Jeff Reynar at Google is behind the Google Toolbar's controversial new Autolink feature. Ironically, he's the same person who was behind the similar SmartTag feature that Microsoft tried to build into IE. Reynar co-authored Microsoft's Smart Tag FAQ in 2001 and his home page identifies him as a current Google program manager.

Scoble also weighed in at length today on the whole issue, saying that he agrees with Dave Winer and I, but that Google can get away with lots of things Microsoft can't. That said, I think he somewhat underestates Google's ability to set a prescedent. They're no Microsoft. But if they get away with this it might set up Microsoft and Yahoo to follow in their footsteps.

Comments

[The One True b!X]

At least M$ eventually allowed for a meta tag dictating not to use the "smart" tag functionality on your pages. Will we see Google be as, well, smart?

[Randy Charles Morin]

There are too many dissimilarities to say GOOG is getting away w/ something M$FT couldn't.
-Not installed w/ OS
-Can be easily uninstalled
-Does not happen w/out user intervention
MHO.

[Dave]

I said it early on in your first post on this non-issue, and I'll say it again... much ado about nothing.

(1) Any comparison between Microsoft's Smart Tags and Google's Autolink, beyond the likely creator, is simply ill-conceived. An apple and an orange are both fruits. But to make an issue over how one climate won't support an orange tree - after all, they are both trees, right? - is simply not giving due diligence to the differences.

(2a) The "A" list bloggers who are up in arms seem to want things both ways. The symantic web, browsers complying with standards, web pages that validate - these are technical things to allow the content creators to control how their pages render. But then they also want the freedom to influence Google rankings with "nofollow"....

(2b) The "A" list bloggers also seem to complain - a reply right here to my earlier comment in fact - about Google changing an advertisement on my site, using a competitor... um, yes Dave Winer, they could - and then I'd remove the ad and suck up the loss of revenue. Much ado about nothing! The more general context is with advertisements and such. Let's see.... bloggers who were paid during the presidential campaign, Marqui paying bloggers to blog about their product, banner ads... ah yes, citizen journalism at it's best.

(2c) Then there's that term - citizen journalism - and how the "A" list bloggers seem to embrace it. Look, there's two things at work here: credibility and power. On the subject of credibility, I'm VERY impressed with the discussion here. No real name calling, reasoned points, and adult discourse. But on the subject of power... sometimes bloggers - and Steve here you are guilty too - seem to sound like you have this "right" to have a discussion with Google! Um, no. The closet you could get to having this right is to be a stockholder. Yet I see it time and again - bloggers thinking they have a right to influence things well beyond what they do.

[Dave]

Oops. I meant to make one final point. :-)

(3) It seems funny to me how the blogosphere embraces aggregators right and left - and then not one mention of it in relation to Google Autolink. Huh? But wait, there's been comment after comment here over how this feature that requires an explicit install and an explicit click will alter a site's content! But no it won't - not if you're Robert Scoble who "reads" 1000 blogs a day through his aggregator.

[Robert Scoble]

I've heard from someone I trust that Jeff Reynar didn't work on this feature at Google. I'm sorry about this. The information I had originally was correct, I thought.

[MattB]

Does anyone know if smart tags will be supported in Office 12?