Chrome ScrollToTextFragment Enables Deep Links in Web Pages

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Chrome ScrollToTextFragment Enables Deep Links in Web Pages

engine

1:02 pm on Feb 24, 2020 (gmt 0)

Google's Chrome 80 has ScrollToTextFragment that enables deep links in web pages, and raises concerns over privacy and web linking.

But an anchor has to be created by the web page author. ScrollToTextFragment doesn't require prior declaration. It can be created by anyone providing or entering a link, such as a search engine and anyone sharing a link.

Its syntax piggybacks on the anchor element (#) and contains additional parameters, which can consist of a specific word or several words, and additional modifying directives.

[theregister.co.uk...]

lammert

2:52 pm on Feb 24, 2020 (gmt 0)

This is a W3C proposal, not something Google designed themselves. I can see a good use for it in the SERPs to jump to a specific location on a page best matching a search query. It gives a much better user experience IMO.

engine

2:56 pm on Feb 24, 2020 (gmt 0)

It's also interesting that, so far, no other browser maker has implemented this.

lammert

3:49 pm on Feb 24, 2020 (gmt 0)

This feature by itself is not interesting for browser makers at the moment. It only works if sites link to other sites through text fragments but general sites will only start to do that if it is supported by browsers. A classic chicken and egg problem.

The only exceptions are automatically generated links based on variable context where text fragment links are generated on the fly. Practically seen, these are search engine links. With that in mind, Microsoft is maybe the second to implement it to use it in combination with Bing.