(Photo: Google)
Many Google users were recently annoyed to find that their user names and profile pictures may soon appear next to ads and listings called shared endorsements across various Google pages. From ABC News:
The day after Facebook announced that it was removing a privacy option that would make all of its users searchable, Google made its own announcement for adding an option called “Shared Endorsements.”
The new option would display Google users’ names and profile pictures beside advertisements for businesses and products that they’ve endorsed with a review, a +1, or even a follow. Google account holders were concerned about how these changes could be exploited, but Google is giving its users the option to opt out early.
While users can opt-out of the practice in their settings, Google has warned that users’ comments and follows may no longer be visible to connections on Google+ if they do so. In response, some have a far more creative idea for protesting Google’s new practice. And it involves making executive chairman Eric Schmidt a face to be seen all across the web.
From BBC News:
Google is facing a backlash over plans to put people’s faces and comments about products and places into adverts.The “shared endorsements” policy change starts on 11 November and covers the comments, “follows” and other actions people do on Google+.One protest involves people swapping their profile pictures for that of Google boss Eric Schmidt so his image rather than their own appears on ads.
Secretly, I kind of love the idea.
You can check out what some of the changes look like at this post, Eric Schmidt’s Face Shows Up All Over Google+ In Protest Of New Ads.
Of course, if you’d prefer not to avi up as Eric Schmidt, you can learn more at Google about how to turn on or off shared endorsements on ads.
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