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Remove UI requirement for <a ping> #11309

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@zcorpan

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@zcorpan

What is the issue with the HTML Standard?

The spec says

When the ping attribute is present, user agents should clearly indicate to the user that following the hyperlink will also cause secondary requests to be sent in the background, possibly including listing the actual target URLs.

For example, a visual user agent could include the hostnames of the target ping URLs along with the hyperlink's actual URL in a status bar or tooltip.

Chrome and Safari support ping but don't show any UI. I think it's probably a bad idea to do so, for a few reasons:

  • Other hyperlink auditing mechanisms exist that don't show UI. If site owners are bothered by browsers showing UI, it's a disincentive to using ping.
  • The new UI might be abused, e.g. to trick users that a malicious link is trustworthy.
  • It might confuse users.
  • It's possible to circumvent, by adding the ping attribute right before navigating.

I think this should be downgraded to a "may", or dropped completely.

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