AP proposes new article formatting for the Web

AP via SFGate ^ | 7/10/9 | ANDREW VANACORE, AP Business Writer

[SmithL]

The Associated Press is proposing that publishers attach descriptive tags to news articles online in hopes of taming the free-for-all of news and information on the Web and generating more traffic for established media brands.

Tags identifying the author, publisher and other information — as well as any usage restrictions publishers hope to place on copyright-protected materials — would be packaged with each news article in a way that search engines can more easily identify.

By doing so, the AP hopes to make it easier for readers to find articles from more established news providers amid the ever-expanding pool of content online. That, in turn, could lead to more traffic and more online advertising revenue for a beleaguered news industry.

If widely adopted, the tags should help computers better understand more information about a story, allowing Google and others to develop smarter search tools.

"As things stand, an awful lot of information on a news article is completely invisible," said Martin Moore, director of Media Standards Trust, which jointly developed the new rules with the AP. "A search engine is not able to tell a byline from someone who is referred to in an article."

[Rebelbase]

Here’s one for you AP, just require all articles to be published in flash or java to prevent copy and paste. Only the more computer savvy will be able to repeat what you write.

[TomGuy]

from more established news providers

Translation: edited, sanitized, slanted, so as not to confuse the reader.

[a fool in paradise]

Ah but you have people like GGLiddy and Rush Limbaugh READING articles and parts thereof on talk radio programs.

[Mark was here]

This is a good approach, they can tag their product however they want. Simply because it is theirs. They then then have a better plan on marketing their wares. Simply the market place in action. The other thing I like about this is no government action needed.

[exist]

Here’s one for you AP, just require all articles to be published in flash or java to prevent copy and paste.

Won't that make it hard to find the articles in search engines?

[BenLurkin]

in a way that search engines can more easily identify.

The craven cretins at Google will be more than happy to divert news searches over to the pinko media's sites.

[null and void]

Won't that make it hard to find the articles in search engines?

If they really wanted the articles read, they'd make it easy to copy and disseminate them.

[SonOfDarkSkies]

Won't that make it hard to find the articles in search engines?

If they really wanted the articles read, they'd make it easy to copy and disseminate them.

Precisely!

All they are doing is grabbing at straws in hopes it somehow generates more revenue...and it won't.

As Rupert Murdoch says, the news is still great business, it's just that the mode of delivery is shifting and with that shift there will be a shift in how revenue is generated. The first to sort it out are going to make a bundle and the stragglers are going to lose.

Standard business evolution!

[Moonman62]

Maybe this is a good thing. Wouldn’t it be easier to block the garbage from the AP?

[max americana]

Hard to block the AP 5th column when one goes to check on Yahoo mail for instance..

My news source is either FR or Drudge and have never watched a 6 pm newscast in 4 years.