Comments on: Google gives big sites a free pass on author profile pictures http://www.malcolmcoles.co.uk/blog/google-automatic-author-pictures/ Where to find Malcolm Coles, reviews, and tips on how to do things I couldn't do. Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:22:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: dan barker http://www.malcolmcoles.co.uk/blog/google-automatic-author-pictures/#comment-29264 dan barker Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:22:08 +0000 http://www.malcolmcoles.co.uk/blog/?p=6434#comment-29264 I quite like the idea. *Sort of* turns SERPs into a non-linear version of twitter. I quite like the idea. *Sort of* turns SERPs into a non-linear version of twitter.

]]> By: Yousaf http://www.malcolmcoles.co.uk/blog/google-automatic-author-pictures/#comment-29263 Yousaf Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:21:33 +0000 http://www.malcolmcoles.co.uk/blog/?p=6434#comment-29263 I can see why Google is doing this but I think it is very biased. There are many trustworthy authors who post valuable content but they are not as big as the likes of Guardian, do they deserve to be sidelined? I hate it when websites with commercial motives i.e. Mashable get all these bells and whistles and their non-commercial equivalents don't get jack all. I can see why Google is doing this but I think it is very biased. There are many trustworthy authors who post valuable content but they are not as big as the likes of Guardian, do they deserve to be sidelined?

I hate it when websites with commercial motives i.e. Mashable get all these bells and whistles and their non-commercial equivalents don't get jack all.

]]> By: Joost de Valk http://www.malcolmcoles.co.uk/blog/google-automatic-author-pictures/#comment-29262 Joost de Valk Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:49:20 +0000 http://www.malcolmcoles.co.uk/blog/?p=6434#comment-29262 I actually do think they'll make this work for more people. Let's look at the rationale for Google for trying to do this in the first place: they've got a huge scraping problem, so much so, that they've solicited people to actually fill out forms to report scrapers because they have a tough time distinguishing them automatically. The scraping problem is forcing them to do huge updates like Panda and yet, those aren't solving all the issues. If they could figure out the original author of an article better, they'd have a handle to more easily find the original place of publication, thereby making it easier for them to distinguish scrapers. This is not just about Google wanting to show your pretty face in the SERPs, this is much more about Google wanting to use the social graph to prevent spam. The fact that it ties into Google+ is an added benefit: it helps spread the word about the social network and it helps Google convince authors that they need a profile. The fact that your +1's need to be public on your profile for you to qualify for author highlights is just as much a sign of that: you have to be comfortable with what you're doing online to not mind your +1's being public. So in essence, I think they'll try to make the author highlights easier for everyone, to gain data on authorship and thereby help them prevent scraping spam. I actually do think they'll make this work for more people. Let's look at the rationale for Google for trying to do this in the first place: they've got a huge scraping problem, so much so, that they've solicited people to actually fill out forms to report scrapers because they have a tough time distinguishing them automatically. The scraping problem is forcing them to do huge updates like Panda and yet, those aren't solving all the issues.

If they could figure out the original author of an article better, they'd have a handle to more easily find the original place of publication, thereby making it easier for them to distinguish scrapers. This is not just about Google wanting to show your pretty face in the SERPs, this is much more about Google wanting to use the social graph to prevent spam.

The fact that it ties into Google+ is an added benefit: it helps spread the word about the social network and it helps Google convince authors that they need a profile. The fact that your +1's need to be public on your profile for you to qualify for author highlights is just as much a sign of that: you have to be comfortable with what you're doing online to not mind your +1's being public.

So in essence, I think they'll try to make the author highlights easier for everyone, to gain data on authorship and thereby help them prevent scraping spam.

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