Introduction to Microformats
As web standards start to become, well, the web standard, we can start to use some of the power that this structured approach to web development affords us. Microformats, that is, standardised chunks of web pages that represent data, will allow machines to not only read our published data, but to understand it.
As an example, hCard is one of the more established microformats. The hCard is used to represent people or organisations and can be used in situations where you would traditionally offer a vCard file. As support for microformats in browsers grow, the browser would automatically detect the contact details and ask if you would like to add the contact to your address book. Taking it one step further, search engines could 'know' that your contact page contains information to contact you. The search engine then becomes a massive online public contacts database (Although in the future this could be abused to help find John Connor).
Likewise, selling online has a potentially interesting future under microformats. Rather than posting a classified advert on an online marketplace (such as eBay) simply add an advert to your own website. The next time the search engine spider visits your website, it understands the advert microformat that you are using to display your classified ad and uses the information accordingly. Your advert could then be added to a global (and local) searchable shop-window without any further effort on your behalf.
Microformats make your organisation's information more accessible to the Internet. Right now, the support isn't there, but it is coming. Both Microsoft and Mozilla are expected to support microformats with the next major version of their browser and who knows, desktop software (such as Outlook or Thunderbird) may follow. For those keen to have an early preview of microformats in action, Mozilla Labs released Operator, a Firefox extension to detect microformats as you browse.
With the momentum behind the microformats movement, understanding the concept and potential of microformats can only benefit those involved in the website procurement process.
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Agreed. They really are a clever use of existing technologies, and I see a lot of potential for them in the future.