Microsoft implementing 'Smart Tags' in IE release

Posted on June 06, 2001

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by Isaac (isaac)

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Isaac

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User since: December 13, 1998

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A recent article on the Wall Street Journal site might be a preview of the Microsoft features still to arrive in our browsers. Dubbed "Internet Explorer Smart Tags", they could reignite the Third Voice-style debate from the past.

Smart Tags, like the infamous Third Voice plugin, result in your audience seeing your site in a manner not intended by you. Imagine your site littered with links (to Microsoft, and Microsoft-preferred sites) taking your visitors away. Not many people would be too happy with that. Let's try that again: Would anyone be happy with that?

Microsoft is making assurances that Smart Tags will be disabled by default, and that site owners will be able to "block" them from effecting their audience with a simple meta tag, but shouldn't this process be reversed? Shouldn't site owners place a meta tag if they want Smart Tags to impact them?

One reason behind the offering (and you can bet that it isn't the primary goal!), according to Microsoft, is that it will help "under-linked" sites. Some sites might be under-linked for a reason, or they might purposefully place their links in a sidebar or footer to avoid cluttering the content area. Additionally, under-linked content areas are hardly a bad thing � content full of distracting links can impede reading. Some content, like JWZ's grouchy pages, hardly need any more links� ;)

It's a smart play by Microsoft. Many older sites and unaware developers won't place the Smart Tag blocking meta tag, and subsequently become littered with Microsoft-happy links, substantially raising the number of visits to their web properties. Also, it is possible that many re-branded ISP-releases of Internet Explorer could come with this feature enabled by default.

Smart and helpful for Microsoft perhaps, but I can hardly imagine the web development community being too pleased with the introduction of this feature.

Read the full WSJ article and see what you think.

Would this help any of your sites at all? Would it help you as a user of the web? Add a comment below and share your opinion.

isaac
www.triplezero.com.au

Isaac is a designer from Adelaide, South Australia, where he has run Triplezero for almost a decade.

He was a member and administrator of evolt.org since its founding in 1998, designed the current site, and was a regular contributor on evolt.org's direction-setting discussion list, theforum.

On the side, he runs Opinion, Hoops SA, Confessions, Daily Male, and Comments, as well as maintaining a travel gallery at Bigtrip.org.

14 comments on this article. Log in to add your comment | Rate this article:

some more links

Submitted by r937 on June 8, 2001 - 07:52.

[Cnet] Windows XP may steer users' Web choices
[Microsoft] Smart Tags for the Professional
[Microsoft] Smart Tags
[Microsoft] Adding Smart Tags to Web Pages

Under linked sites?

Submitted by djc on June 8, 2001 - 09:19.

The only underlinked sites I can see it helping are bcentral.com, encarta.com and any other MS owned sites that they want to drive traffic to. I really can't imagine a link for 'personal finance' going to Joe the local CPA instead of moneycentral.com, do they think that people actually believe that kind of double talk?

In the end, if web developers see no benefit from including these extensions into their websites, they will more than likely stop using them. I mean, whats the benefit for the common webmaster or corprate website to drive traffic to Microsoft owned sites? Its a total one way street, one that I personally, will be avoiding..

Developers have no choice

Submitted by isaac on June 11, 2001 - 04:44.

djc, the "extensions" are included in your Web site whether you like it or not... As a browser-user, you can enable or disable the feature, but the owner of a site can only use a meta tag to block the "smart"-linking. Forgotten sites, or those of people unaware of "smart tags" will not have this opportunity.

I can imagine that if you had a pro-Linux page for example, and had neglected to place this meta tag, that people surfing with new versions of IE may well find that page linking to Microsoft's Linux (mis)information. To avoid this one-way street, you'll have to place this meta-tag on every single one of your sites/pages.

I have read opinions that suggest that these tags only occur within Office XP or within HTML documents authored by Office XP, but this image suggests otherwise.

Big Brother Bother

Submitted by adriank on June 11, 2001 - 19:26.

Who do MS think they are?

Do you see anyone ediiting the TV that you see - as you view it? Sure you do, you get annoying icons in the bottom of your screen etc - which I find REALLY annoying. Yay more avertising and other stuff which I DID NOT ask for.

Which is really the whole point isn't it?

As a user - I don't want third parties sticking their noses in where it's not specifically asked for. If a site is underlinked or not upto the standards that I set - then I will leave and I will make that choice.
As a web developer - I do not spend hours and hours of my time - whether it be paid development for a client or my own private work - making something for other people to de-face. If I de-faced an art work I'd get arrested right?
As the owner of a website - I'm paying the money, it's my site and only what I want on it goes on it, and that includes all references to other resources.

The word from Jakob

Submitted by isaac on June 12, 2001 - 01:49.

Currently running on the frontpage of useit.com, you'll find this text about smart tags:

There is no doubt that "smart tags" are useful. There are just two problems with the implementation:
Use of squiggly underlines as link anchors: in rich hypertext you don't want visible link anchors since they will clutter up the screen and reduce reading speed. When most things are linked, you don't need marks. Use a technique similar to HyperCards and display the anchors when the user holds down a modifier key.

If the link destinations are all Microsoft properties, then the feature obviously becomes an abuse of power. It is good for the browser to include hooks for implicit links, but users should subscribe to a variety of services for the destinations.

Some more links on this topic

Submitted by isaac on June 12, 2001 - 03:17.

Nice piece from ZDNet that might help explain why "smart tags" aren't necessarily a good thing in their proposed/current incarnation: Microsoft Tries To Get Smart

And another from ZDNet favouring Microsoft, outlining the many advantages of "smart tags" but neglecting to mention that their effect on Web sites should be opt-in rather than opt-out. That is, site owners should have to place a meta tag to allow this feature, rather than do so to avoid it.

The smart-tag-stopping Meta Tag

Submitted by Larke on June 13, 2001 - 15:35.

What I'd like to know is, simply, what is the Meta Tag syntax for disabling this "feature?" So far I've been unable to discover it, but I figure it's never too soon to soon to start adding it to my key sites.

Nobody knows where the meta tag is

Submitted by r937 on June 13, 2001 - 17:40.

Smart tags seem to be the topic du jour (de la semaine, du mois, de l'ann�e, take yer pick) everywhere -- see scripting.com for a running commentary -- and on several discussion lists, people have reported searching for the mysterious meta tag that would turn the smart tags off, and coming up empty... Somebody said it was a PR weenie thinking fast that came up with the meta tag concept, and you can bet there are folks in Redmond right now figuring out how to create this meta tag, because they never dreamed that there would be any opposition to the idea of smart tags... On a completely unrelated subject -- not really, though -- I read today that there are insurance companies that cover your web site against being hacked... well, some are starting to raise premiums 5 - 15% if your web server runs MS products...

somebody knows where the meta tag is

Submitted by ironclad on June 15, 2001 - 03:18.

The META tag to prevent parsing is discussed here: http://www.allmyfaqs.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Microsoft_SmartTags

User can override the META tag

Submitted by bmason on June 15, 2001 - 11:46.

The big problem with the META tag is that the user can override it! In IE6's Internet Tools/Options/Advanced/Smart Tags, the user can select to always have Smart Tags regardless. See http://w3future.com/pics/smarttagopts.gif for a screen shot. Credit for this discovery goes to Robert Scoble on the webdesign-L list.

This has been done before by third parties

Submitted by bheerssen on June 15, 2001 - 15:13.

A company called third voice (http://www.thirdvoice.com) used to offer a service that allowed users to tag websites with their own comments. It worked in a similar manner to the way that Microsoft's Smart Tag must work. Using a plugin, the browser would query the thirdvoice database for comments left on the site that the user has just downloaded. Of course MSIE 6 would not need any such plugin as that functionality would exist already. Considerable contention erupted over thirdvoice's software, with people claiming very many of the things people are now saying about smart tags - that they allow users to "change" the appearence of the site or it's content, in violation of copyright laws. Thirdvoice software was also found to contain a number of very serious security holes, including one in a Netscape version that would allow an attacker to gain virtual control over a victim's computer. Not that I think MSIE's smart tags would do so, but anything is possible. I also noticed today that Thirdvoice has shut down as of April 2, 2001 - with no explanation. Coincidental to Microsoft's efforts in this direction? I can only leave that for speculation. There are, apparently, some fundamental differences between the two technologies, but their similarities are striking and the fallout from thirdvoice's fiasco might well be a foreshadowing of developing events over at microsoft. Grab your hat, we may be in for a bumpy ride.

Update on user override of META

Submitted by bmason on June 16, 2001 - 23:56.

Again credit to Robert Scobie on the Webdesign-L list for some news.

In response to the uproar in the web developer community over Smart Tags, MS has made 2 decisions that will start showing up in later beta builds and into gold:

Smart Tags will definitely be off by default.

The META tag will be the final word. If the META tag to turn off Smart Tags is on a page, the user will not be able to override that.

Robert credits a source he knows at MS for this info, and expects it to turn up in more mainstream news sources soon.

No meta tag...no smart tags!

Submitted by kwilson on June 19, 2001 - 09:08.

What bothers me most is the suggestion I keep hearing that being able to include a meta tag to disable Smart Tags is somehow acceptable. Smart Tags may well be a wonderful option for those that wish to spend their time and money actively promoting MS sites. However, MS should make it work so that Smart Tags only function for those sites that have SPECIFICALLY INCLUDED a meta tag authorizing them to "re-edit" a site. If no meta tag is present, smart tags don't work. Ken

Smart Tags dropped

Submitted by bmason on June 28, 2001 - 00:16.

Microsoft announces that the final release of IE6 will not have Smart Tag functionality at all.

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