Disabling Google’s Autolink Functionality

A recent post by Jeffrey Zeldman alerted me to the fact that Google’s new IE toolbar inserts links into Web sites. While the idea sounds useful for the user, it could prove quite troublesome to the owners of the site. The concept is no different than what Microsoft attempted to do back in 2001. Ultimately, I take issue with Google, or any other company adding content or links to a site that I created, maintain and/or own. Luckily, as Mr. Zeldman’s post on this issue notes, there are PHP, Perl and JavaScript solutions to disable Google’s autolink functionality. Hopefully Google, will listen to the developer feedback, and provide a better method for disabling this functionality in their search bar. Google is a great company, that has had an amazing impact on the Web. I would truly hate to see their shiny reputation tarnished by a poor decision like this one.