Quote Originally Posted by Romeyo07
the search engine spiders not only meta tags but content on sites as well
If there's not a meta tag then it does the content, my old site setup i had meta tag's but don't currently and it uses the html text for it's description.

The metatag is there so you can right an accurate description without saying that on the page. It's only going to use the first few lines anyways so if you have text hidden at the bottom it probably won't pick it up unless that the first text written (as if there was a flash above it)