Purpose of citation in <blockquote>?

[Intrepid 0]

So when you use the <blockquote> element, you can put a "cite" attribute, and a web address as a value.

 

e.g., <blockquote cite="http:.en.wikipedia......>

 

But when you look at it as a webpage, it doesnt display the web address or have any other way to access it apart from viewing the page source. So, I was wondering what is the main purpose of adding the citation?

 

My guess is its more for the SEO, or is there another reason for having it.

 

thanks

[tejasamrute 6]

It is purely for SEO.....but there is always a fear to use too much cite as google may take it as duplicate content and may affect your site ranking..

[Intrepid 0]

Interesting. thanks

[Wolverine 3]

And here I was thinking it was for such things as giving appropriate credit when you Cited something in a Academic Paper.

[Ingolme 1,019]

It's not intended primarily for SEO. It is just an attribute that tells where the quotation comes from. The fact that browsers decided not to show anything is just a design choice by the browser vendors themselves.

[valenciajoshua 0]

The cite attribute specifies the source of a quotation. Tip: It's a good habit to always add the source of a quotation, if any. The cite attribute does not render as anything special in any of the major browsers, but it can be used by search engines to get more information about the quotation.