How does Google feel about addthis bookmarking?

[Roaming Gnome]

I have been looking for a social bookmark solution for my sites but I've noticed that a few of my sites that are not ranking well have addthis as the bookmark script.

Anyone have any knowledge on this?

What bookmarking script do you use on your sites (if you care to share.)

[numnum]

I'm using AddThis -- reluctantly -- under the principle that the service facilitates free advertising. Of course, I don't like the load-time factor -- watching your page twitch up or down when that button row finally loads. I tried putting the script in the HEAD, then down at the bottom of the HTML, and neither made a difference. Also, I had to perform a few CSS tricks to stop the buttons from wrapping in my layout.

I've read nothing definitive as to whether it hurts or helps in terms of the GA. That said, every day I wonder if this is the day I'll finally pull it from my site, just because the whole social bookmarking phenom annoys me to no end. Surely, many readers would find it refreshing to NOT see those d*amn thumbs-up and bluebird png's on a site's pages. In fact, they might find it so refreshing that they'd want to share the site with their friends. Oh, wait.

[freejung]

I roll my own, but not because of anything to do with Google. Have you read the AddThis terms? You have to give them and their users an unlimited, transferable license to reproduce your content in any medium without restrictions or conditions. No thanks.

[freejung]

From the AddThis TOS:

When you tag Content as Publisher Content, you authorize us to use, reproduce, distribute, publicly display and publicly perform the Publisher Content to the extent necessary or desired for us to provide the Services. If you are an End User, you similarly, authorize us to use, reproduce, distribute, publicly display and publicly perform the Content you provide or submit by using the Service.

[numnum]

@freejung,

What do you suppose is the intent of this provision? My imagination fails me as to why, in order to provide its services, Clearspring/AddThis might find it desirable, let alone necessary, to reproduce my content, apart from my URLs, page titles, and any description I provide in my AddThis code. (Into the AddThis script on my page I've inserted a brief description of my site. The description I provide is then automatically shared when someone shares the page's URL, at least when using some sharing services.)

This does not strike me as a perpetual license of my intellectual property, any more than I've licensed my IP to any search engine. Of course, by facilitating the sharing of a URL I'm also facilitating the copying of that content, if someone is inclined to infringe upon my copyright. But that's an entirely different matter, of course, and AddThis understandably requires that publishers hold it harmless for any such infringement.

Do you or anyone else have a different take on this?

[walkman]

Roaming Gnome, they definitely slow down the site but most sites use it. Maybe different rules apply to bigger sites? I don't use them, I just have FB and Twitter images linked. Not even their javascript. If they go down your site will hang for ages and the more you have the higher the chance of one failing at any one point.

[freejung]

I don't know, numnum, IANAL and I just thought it was easier to make my own social sharing links rather than worry about what it might mean.

[Roaming Gnome]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will remove the buttons from my sites and go back to the Cntl + D methods. Like numnum, it gives me a bad feeling.

[londrum]

If you are an End User, you similarly, authorize us to use, reproduce, distribute, publicly display and publicly perform the Content you provide or submit by using the Service.

its sounds like they are just talking about the link -- the URL that you actually submit. and any snippets or images that come with it. if they dont claim those then they obviously cant provide the service. they aren't talking about reproducing the entire page.

[tangor]

Might want to rethink AddThis, particularly for Wordpress.... recent versions have backdoors/malicious software:

The plugins affected include AddThis, WPtouch, and W3 Total Cache. Users who have updated any of those titles in the past 48 hours should uninstall them and update to a version currently hosted on the WordPress.org website. Indepented WordPress developer Adam Harley has technical details of the three maliciously modified plugins here.

[theregister.co.uk...]

[numnum]

Right, londrum, that was my take on the terms of service -- they need the URL and page title, and they would want a description or snippet. And thanks for the heads up, tangor.