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Search Engine Optimization II
Meta author
Both Public and Private search engines allow you to search for content based on the author of the content. When developing content the author tag should be used.
PICS-Label via the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA)
There are many search engines that will not index a site for inclusion unless the pics-label exists within a website's meta tags, an example of these search engines is Surfsafely.com. PICS stands for Platform for Internet Content Selection. The best place to obtain a pics-label is from the ICRA. The following information and desciption of content ratings is taken directly from the ICRA website:
The Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) is an international, non-profit organization of internet leaders working to make the internet safer for children, while respecting the rights of content providers. ICRA has long believed the best approach to protecting children online is through "user empowerment" - giving families the tools to control their online experience. When used voluntarily, tools like ICRA's empower families to match their online experience with their values, without compromising free expression or undermining other users' access to information.
The centrepiece of the organization is the descriptive vocabulary, often referred to as "the ICRA questionnaire." Content providers check which of the 45 elements in the questionnaire are present or absent from their websites. This then generates a short piece of computer code known as an ICRA label that the webmaster then adds to his/her site.
Users, especially parents of young children, can then use filtering software to allow or disallow access to web sites based on the information declared in the label. A key point is that the Internet Content Rating Association does not rate internet content - the content providers do that, using the ICRA labelling system. ICRA makes no value judgement about sites.
The descriptive vocabulary was drawn up by an international panel and designed to be as neutral and objective as possible. Most of the items in the questionnaire allow the content provider to declare simply that a particular element, such as bare breasts, gambling or chat facilities, is present or absent. The subjective decision about whether to allow access to that content is then made by the parent.
NetInsert metadata
NetInsert is the first fully automated web directory where the users organize and describe the web themselves. In order to appear in their directory, one must add a proprietary meta tag generated from their website. This tag enables netinsert to determine the appropriate category in which to categorize a website.
GeoTags metadata
This appears to be a relatively new concept, made popular by GeoTags and geourl. Its a great concept for mapping websites to geographic locations. One option is that a site must use a meta tag stating the site's longitude and latitude, aka "ICBM" or "geo.position". The ICBM tag is a reference to intercontinental ballistic missile address.
Another option is based on the Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN), which offers a comprehensive database of cities and other geographical entities. One can include the TGN id number and name to reference the site's location.
Posted by BrianMcGinnis, November 17, 2004 09:02 PM