BajiRav Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/11/google-users-shared-endorsements-ads/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000601 Google users, you're about to become shills. A major update to the company's Terms of Service agreement today could have some users' profiles showing up in ads across the web. These "shared endorsements," as Google is calling them, leverage any reviews, comments, +1s, follows or stars a user may have given to a business or brand by effectively placing that user's name, photo and any relevant comment in a personalized advertisement. It's worth nothing, however, that if you've set restrictions on your shared comments, personalized ads will only be shown to friends within that Google+ circle. We know what you're thinking: you want out. Google knows this too, which is why the company is allowing users the ability to opt-out, while also excluding any and all users under the age of 18. And any users that previously opted out of +1s will automatically be exempted. The ads are set to go live on November 11th, so there's still about a month to go before users will begin to see these "shared endorsements" pop up, giving Google ample time to explain the change across its suite of services and users the ability to take appropriate action (and give up on the internet altogether). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitins60 Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 time to party :laugh: google fan boys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Google Plus users, on the other hand, will be able to opt out of inclusion in ads on the social network?s settings page. All I needed to see. DConnell 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNeutrino Veteran Posted October 11, 2013 Veteran Share Posted October 11, 2013 not really seeing any issue with this being that you can opt out. DConnell 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Xinok Subscriber² Posted October 11, 2013 Subscriber² Share Posted October 11, 2013 Things like this are the reason why I avoid Google+ like the plague. Dot Matrix 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenwizard88 Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Someone told Google they need to focus on 1 thing, and do that 1 thing right - I think it was Jobs. Anyway, for whatever reason they decided to focus on "social", which is BS because I want "search", not "social". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SierraSonic Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 This should be forced to opt-in, unless you are getting paid for these adverts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dot Matrix Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 All I needed to see. Should never be opt-out by default, stuff like this should be opt-in. Max Norris, enroh and BajiRav 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exotoxic Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 If no one left any reviews/comments/+1 or people just left negative stuff, they would soon abandon the idea. Too bad it's impossible to organize such a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Pretty sure Facebook does this already unless you opt out. Was only a matter of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyarecomingforyou Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 If no one left any reviews/comments/+1 or people just left negative stuff, they would soon abandon the idea. I'm already doing that. As soon as Facebook started exploiting likes for advertising I went through my profile and removed everything I'd ever liked and any page I'd added to my profile. I removed thousands of items and strengthened my privacy settings. With Google Plus I made sure not to use my account for +1'ing pages and follow very few pages to avoid being bombarded with advertisements. That said, I'm still opposed to this. My identity is my own and I do not want to be used to promote products without my explicit consent. I like Google as a company but regulators need to put a stop to actions like these. I can't believe such a policy would comply with the EU's upcoming data protection law, so hopefully this will be a non-starter here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGar Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I'm not saying I like it, but at least they are giving us an option to opt out. People these days are too entitled to things, and everyone acts like it's a God given right to be able to use whatever you want for free, and pay nothing, AND have total privacy. Google's internet highway is not free, it's a toll-road. When it comes down to it, Google is a business that needs to make money to survive. Whether their long term goals are good or evil is unclear, but they are providing great services at $0 cost (for the most part), and have constantly been pushing for the advancement of technology. The fact is, everything costs something, whether it's time, money, or some other form of commodity, and in this case Google is charging us our privacy as currency. If you don't like it, then don't "pay" for their services and go somewhere else. No matter where you go though, just about every service will "cost" something. However these days we are are so reliant on web services (myself included) that this is not a realistic option, so the best thing we can do is just use the privacy controls we have, ask for more privacy controls, and reduce our online fingerprint (hiding birthdates, gender, interests, etc) as much as possible, all in an effort to reduce the "cost" of the services. Anibal P 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zinomian Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 How do we opt out? havent seen where i can do it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted October 11, 2013 Member Share Posted October 11, 2013 I'm gonna be a star. :woot: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 How do we opt out? havent seen where i can do it.... As soon as Google starts doing this I am sure the option will be available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNeutrino Veteran Posted October 11, 2013 Veteran Share Posted October 11, 2013 Its very easy to disable, just go to Google + go to settings and turn it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xendrome Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 This should be forced to opt-in, unless you are getting paid for these adverts. Well you are getting something, all of the Google services at no cost to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medhunter Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 What alternatives for affected google services? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primexx Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 So it only affects Google+ users? I don't even have a + profile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalint Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Hm... Probably should've read that earlier today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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