Google Toolbar adds comments with Sidewiki

Sidewiki--shown on the left-hand side of this page--lets Google Toolbar users add comments to any Web page.

(Credit: Google)

Google plans to try its hand at the bane of many a Web publisher's existence: comment moderation.

Sidewiki is a new addition to the Google Toolbar that will let users read comments on any Web site and add their own in a special interface on the left hand side of the screen enabled by the toolbar. This idea has been tried before by others, but Google is proposing to use an algorithm to rank comments by quality and to link comments to a user's Google Profile.

Google has developed an algorithm that it says can filter out obvious spam, naughty words, and the classic all-caps technique employed by some of the Internet's more unhinged pundits, said Caesar Sengupta, group product manager at Google. As comments build over time, a recursive algorithm can analyze the quality of past comments using reader votes on the comment's usefulness.

You can share your comments with your Facebook or Twitter accounts, and can post a link to a blog item discussing that Web page with a snippet of the text, Sengupta said. Only Google Toolbar users will be able to see the comments on the Web page, obviously, but Google plans to work on an API (application programming interface) that will allow developers to use Sidewiki in other places.

This kind of service will likely sink or swim on the strength of its ranking algorithms, but could give readers a way to discuss, correct, or clarify static Web pages that don't allow reviews or comments directly on the page.

Google Toolbar is available for Internet Explorer and Firefox, and you'll need to download the toolbar to get started with Sidewiki. Current Google Toolbar users will see the Sidewiki button shortly as Google works out a few kinks in the delivery process, but they can re-download the toolbar if they want to get started.

[Police_States_of_America]

I have a bad feeling this there is going to be no "anonymous" option, which is makes giving criticism to certain websites dangerous for fear of reprisal or just court costs of some idiot wants to sue you for sharing an honest experience with said product/service.

[craigmoliver]

Perhaps that's good, it'll keep the trolls out.

[Police_States_of_America]

trolls? perhaps. people trying to warn you of a bad deal or scam? yes

[Vegaman_Dan]

I foresee this quietly disappearing without any real notice by the public.

I also wonder what sort of money Google will 'request' to have certain web sites excluded from the comment feature? I can see it now...


"sure, we want everyone to be able to post comments about any website for any reason. What's that? You want to disable this on your website because you don't like having comments pop up on the same page as your own page with zero control over what some crackpot posts? Why sure! We can do that, no problem! There *is* a small fee, of course. You know, maintenance fees and such that are needed to make sure the system is custom configured to exclude your site. Blackmail? Oh sir, that's such an ugly term. We prefer 'service fee' these days."

[jeffyablon]

It's a little disturbing:

Google now does search, and decides what qualifies to BE searched.

Ouch.
[CNET editors' note: URL removed]

[cs1380]

So Google thinks it has the right to decide what appears on any website in the world? We go to great lengths to prevent comment spam and Google steals control and opens everyone to spam from porn sites, online "pharmacies" and competitors who just want to trash their rivals. Until this goes away or there is an option for sites to opt out, responsible webmasters will be blocking every visitor with Google Toolbar installed.

[cs1380]

Until Google dumps this or provides an opt out, web site owners who'd like to retain control of what appears on their own site can block all Google Toolbar users by adding the following to their htaccess file. The "notoolbar.php" points to a file explaining Google's bad behavior and instructing the visitor to uninstall Google Toolbar in order to proceed. You can create your own file and name it whatever you like, just be sure to change the code below to make it match the file name you've chosen.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} GTB [NC]
RewriteRule .* notoolbar.php [L]

[phill_grey]

STORM-SLAMS.TK