Jump to content
  • Checkout
  • Login
  • Get in touch

osCommerce

The e-commerce.

WARNING!!!!Don?t let Microsoft steal your visitors.


Guest

Recommended Posts

This is a very serious matter now that Micosoft is now using.

Let's all STOP IT.

 

Smart tags are the latest way Microsoft WILL take over the net. The only question is will your site help them or not.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Smart tags are something Microsoft cooked up to sell the content on your site and steal your traffic without you even knowing it. After the great success they had winning the browser wars (A very important first step in controlling the web) they are now moving forward with the next step in dominating the web space. One of the great promises of the web was that it was going to be an even playing field. Well that is no longer the case.

 

Microsoft was able to run MSN from a looser to a winner by simply directing every browser to their site. If you only check your site using IE then you helped Microsoft turn MSN profitable. Where's your cut? They virtually killed Netscape. You say Netscape is still around, but I beg to differ. Netscape is now owned by AOL and you can only imagine what type of hidden agenda they have with their web browser. What is needed is an independent web browser. However, even if there was such a thing it could not displace IE. Why? Simply because people are lazy and uninformed. They would never think of spending time looking for any other browser.

 

So what's next? The so called Smart Tags. What they do is add hyper links to your site as the user views the page. Hyper links that you did not add. When someone clicks on the newly added link they are swooped away to the top bidder and never return to your site. So if you've been working hard for the past several years to build up your traffic then you've helped Microsoft generate a new stream of income.

 

What can you do?

 

You have to add a new meta tag to each of your pages. Here is the new meta tag:

 

<meta name="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing" content="TRUE">

 

This needs to be placed in your catalog/catalog/default.php ........ between <head> and </head>

 

We are hoping that this is the correct tag and that Microsoft won't change it later. Microsoft is putting out a lot of confusing press about Smart Tags just to keep us all guessing. They say that they have pulled Smart Tags, but from where and what capability and for how long? It seems they did take is out of the OS but kept it in OfficeXP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This may be off-topic on actual osc, but I believe it IS important to osc store owners. It just should probably be moved to General Chit-Chat instead of here in General Support.

 

Personally, I appreciate the info(although have yet to verify it).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's very important. My Hyperlinks are mine. They are part of the content of my site. I am very careful about what I hyperlink to and HOW I hyperlink to them (for instance, do I Target=_blank or not).

 

Consider that I own a site that has math flashcard drills. This site has no advertising on it and my only off-site links are either to cybersaffari (open in a new window) where I am one of their clues or to a content provider of information within the drill game (50states.com for my US Geography game, which is also a target=_blank).

 

Now, I am planning on adding a store to this education site that will stock about 3000 products on-line (22,000 availabale offline) and may include on some of the pages links directly into the store for specific products (a link to decks of math flashcards on the math flashcards site).

 

Now imagine if smarttags were used to create a link on the <h2> I use for the page title and they created a link from the word "Flashcards" to a site they are involved with that sells math flashcards. On top of that they do so as a target=_top so that selecting the link moves the person off my site.

 

They have modified MY content.

 

On top of that, on my store, let's say they do the same thing.

 

This is my copyright content. They have no right to add/modify it without my permission, and more than that they have no right to change words into links within my site that would take potential customers off my site.

 

It's wrong. It's important that every site be made aware of it and be told how to stop it. In fact, it should be a requirement that Microsoft get sites to opt-in, rather than opt-out of this technology.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very important information. I have gotten calls from angry clients about unauthorized links appearing on their sites. Fortunately, they are very understanding when I explain, but then I still have to go back and add the tag to all their pages . . . what a pain! Thanks again, Microsoft!

 

My other computer is a MAC, and it has NEVER mistreated me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also,

 

There are a couple of softwares that can install themselves to your browser and do the same thing. You can read more on this and check to see if they have installed themselves on your browser by going to http://www.scumware.com/

 

Brandon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...