Originators of online content received a boost from Google last week when it launched an experiment that aims to improve the ability to connect authors with their content rather than simply content with a website.

Using the so-called "authorship markup," websites such as The New York Times can help the Google search engine highlight a journalist and then also link back to the original website, which could feature a biography and links to other material by the reporter, according to PC World.

"We know that great content comes from great authors, and we’re looking closely at ways this markup could help us highlight authors and rank search results," said software engineer Othar Hansson June 7 on Google's Webmaster Central Blog.

Writing for Search Engine Journal, Rob Young suggested Google's "authorship markup" has several implications for search engine optimization (SEO), including a way to influence the ranking of authors by popularity and how this may impact the ranking of news stories.