Rel Author

[priceseo]

Should I be linking to the author's G+ profile or their Google Places for the rel author tag? It's my understanding that Google Plus profile is different from G Places and hence two different urls.

If I'm linking to the profile page of the author and not their Google Places, does this have any negative impact in terms of SEO?

[Christy-Correll]

The Rel Author tag is used to link content created by an individual (on a blog, for instance) to  the author's personal G+ profile. Andy is correct, the author needs to specify in their G+ profile that they area contributor to the site (thereby linking back to the site where their content is) to complete the author verification process.

You should not use Rel Author in conjunction with Google Places.

Hope this helps!

[SEOAndy]

author = person

publisher = person or place

• to your other question using the authoring "script" is an addon / seo and so would likely improve things in general but not doing it wont mean you get marked down (you just wont be marked up). The other thing to think about is linking to a persons profile ensure they list themselves within G+ as a contributor to your site (this helps activate the profile pics in search and lets google know you site is trustworthy, assuming that person is).