Google creates a new META tag for "original-source"?

[gotmetoo]

Google now offers us to use a new Original Source meta-tag. 

meta name=”original-source” content=http://www.somedomain.com/article1.htm


?

How is this going to help us? I am sure it is going to help a highly-automatic-human-tester-driven-new-hamster-wheel-turning algo, but do we really need to augment hypertext markup language with another corporate cue?

[tedster]

I assume you're talking about this news from November 2010 [webmasterworld.com] - it's for Google News, as I understand it, not the web at large.

[g1smd]

That's a relief.

[TheMadScientist]

It's probably good to note the original page on Google's blog was updated Feb. 11, 2011, and changes the implementation slightly. It also covers what should happen when rel=canonical is used:

We've had a lot of interest in these meta tags, particularly in how the syndication-source tag relates to rel=canonical. After evaluating this feedback, we’ve updated our system to use rel=canonical instead of syndication-source, if both are specified...

They also say <link> is preferred to <meta> now.

[googlenewsblog.blogspot.com...]