April 12, 2005, 11:25 AM ET
Why Greasemonkey is good for publishers
Greasemonkey was mentioned on Poynter's online-news mailing list, which targets managers of online news sites. I just posted this message to the list, after another person brought up the topic.
Greasemonkey rules. Not only for users, but for publishers, too.
The reason it's good for users is obvious: It gives them total control over customizing content within their browsers. If you don't like the layout of a Web page, you can change it. If you want to add features to a particular site, you can. If something on a Web site bothers you, you can remove it.
The reason it's good for publishers is more subtle: It's free usability testing and free product development.
(And let's ignore ad removal for a moment. That technology has already been available, for years, in many other ways -- notably browser plugins such as Adblock. There's nothing novel about ad removal via Greasemonkey, from a publisher's standpoint.)
Look at the Greasemonkey script repository. Aside from the ad-removing scripts, each site-specific script falls into one of two categories:
- Fixes a usability problem
- Adds a feature
If I were a site manager whose site were the subject of a Greasemonkey script, I'd be thrilled to get the free feedback! Not only would I have a very detailed report of what somebody doesn't like about my site, or a requested feature -- it'd already be implemented for me, for free! (Granted, it'd be implemented in JavaScript, because Greasemonkey scripts are written in JavaScript, but it'd still be helpful.)
These types of readers should be embraced, not shunned. It's the technological equivalent of Dan Gillmor's well-known line, "My readers know more than I do."
