Making the web more relevant

For those of you concerned that some of the time you spend on the web is a complete waste of time, you may now sleep at night. It turns out that the countless hours we devote to browsing the web and using web-hosted applications will benefit us in a new way—every minute we invest in using the internet will pay off in an increasingly relevant experience.

Programmers are leveraging APML (Attention Profiling Mark-Up Language) to allow users to share their “attention profile”—a compressed file of Attention Data such as browsing history, shared photos, blog posts, tweets, social bookmarks, and more—to reveal their ranked interests in order that they may receive more relevant information from content providers. Put simply, Attention Data tells content providers what we pay attention to the most so that they can align their efforts with our exact tastes.

Sounds brilliant? It is. Attention profiling has the potential to revolutionize an individual’s browsing experience. Currently, we are in an age of hyper-saturation in which searching for relevant content is a burdensome task. The APML standard will give you greater control over your Attention Data, allowing you to choose what is recorded in your attention profile—favorite websites, frequently used search terms, content you link to—and share it with your favorite websites and online services.

APML will provide marketers with a highly coveted wealth of information and users with a better web experience and control over their personal information in order to prevent exploitative data mining. The benefits are clear, which is why many new and existing sites, including many popular social media and networking utilities that collect a magnitude of information, are on board. For a good example of how powerful it can be, check out Idiomag, the beautifully designed, highly interactive music magazine that shows you music news and media relevant to your favorite musicians.

Here’s a couple of links with more details about APML and other revolutionary open standards to appease the inner geek in you.