Calvin Klein recently launched a new range of scents for technosexuals called "CK in2u." The tag-line on the billboard reads "She likes how he blogs, her texts turn him on."This "blogger perfume" story was published on the New York Times ("How to Bottle a Generation") that was later linked by hundreds of blogs including the popular Gizmodo.
The Gizmodo story carries an image of the CK in2u perfume advertisement that was taken from the NYT piece [page 2]. But if we follow the credit link from Gizmodo website, we reach the print-friendly version of the NYT webpage that has no ads or images, just plain text.
Are we giving enough credit to the source by linking to webpages that were actually designed for the printer and not for on-screen reading.
And since print pages are generally stripped of advertising, the visitors aren't generating any potential revenue for the source [NYT in this case].
Is it a good linking practice ? Probably not. Blogs should be linking to the actual newspages and if their visitors are interested in reading the "print-friendly" version, they can do that on their own by clicking the Print icon.
Related: Tutorial: Create a Print Friendly Version of your Blog
Reader Comments
Sure, some many consider it harmful to the newspaper, but the fact of the matter is that many newspapers are plastered with banners and often have popups (sometimes two or more).
Bloggers are trying to save the visitors by relieving them from this bombardment of ads.
Written on 13/3/07 4:53 PM
I have to agree. It makes sense to link to the original version rather than the printer-friendly one (although I've done this myself several times for my readers' convenience).
Written on 13/3/07 5:18 PM
I agree whole heartedly. Linking to the printer optimized article url is in my view, comparable to link-jacking without accrediting the author. I haven't done any such things in my blife(blog-life) and hope to stay clear of such acts ;)
Written on 13/3/07 11:26 PM
I agree. While I'm a big fan of printer-formated, they're designed for the printer. I'm glad sites like the New York Times provide readers with a way to save ink. But with newspapers losing circulation for their print editions, we should be encouraging their efforts to obtain revenue from their online publications.
Written on 14/3/07 1:31 AM
I must disagree. Granted it hurts their revenue, but if they are behind the time and need a "print view" button, tough!
A good designer will have the page pull up a "print" stylesheet when the print button is pressed.
What's worse (or I should say more stupid) is when they DO make a print stylesheet WITH an ad made specifically for the print view and the ad doesn't have a URL or other contact information. It's a worthless ad then. Lots of map sites make this blunder (although it's more the advertiser who screws up as they paid for a worthless ad).
Written on 10/5/07 12:34 PM