Washingtonpost.com Tinkers with Links

Look, but don't click.

That's the idea behind a new hyperlink technology rolling out on parts of WashingtonPost.com Tuesday morning. Two of the paper's blogs, The Fix and Celebritology, will introduce links powered by a tech start-up called Apture. By rolling the cursor over a link, readers can see what's at the destination -- be it an article, photo or video -- without clicking through.

Driving adopting of the technology are two related business aims: keeping readers on the Post's site as long as possible, and generating new ad inventory. Jim Brady, the site's executive editor, says extending a reader's stay will be increasingly important as advertisers demand proof of engagement rather than simple page views. "We want to give people the ability to find related content that doesn't necessarily take you to another page," he says. "This allows them to keep our articles in focus as opposed to sending them to a wholly different page that requires a back-button functionality."

Then there's the ad component: Each little pop-up window contains a little banner ad -- an ad the Post collects money for, even though, in some cases, it will be adjacent to content from an outside site. "Anything we do needs to have an ad strategy these days, as it should," says Brady. He says editors will avoid creating Apture links to any content that might post rights issues, such as network TV clips. "Obviously, that's one of the big discussions we had."

Another was how readily links should sprout windows. After some back and forth, it was decided that a "delayed hover" of the cursor should launch a pop-up, rather than require an actual click -- even though unwanted pop-ups can be a major annoyance to readers. (Slate press critic Jack Shafer recently said "links that come alive when you mouse over them" have a special place on his "hate list.")

"Some people don't like the action on rollover," acknowledged Brady. "It's something we're going to look at to see the impact on our readers. God knows they're not shy about telling us what they think of new features."

If all goes well, he adds, "We're planning on implementing it throughout the blogs and most articles over time."

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