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Starting this Friday, Google sent out a terms of service update specifically around how Google will display your details and information in their content and ads. This is part of the "Shared Endorsements" change, which Google really has not published much detail over, except on an FAQ page over here.
Searchers are given notice of this change on the top blue bar on Google's home page and on their Google+ notification center and possibly also via email.
Here is the home page:
Here is the Google+ notification:
In short, Google can use your picture or name and the places you've been online, shared, +1ed, etc within their ads.
Here is how that may look:
Don't like that your information will be on Google ads? You can opt out at the bottom of the page over here.
Danny Sullivan has more details over here.
Forum discussion at Cre8asite Forums and Google+.
Comments:
John Edward Doyle
10/14/2013 01:08 pm
JustConsumer
10/14/2013 04:16 pm
I can't understand one thing about this ... Lets say I have ten friends. 9 of them don't like certain product, but 1 does recommend it. If I understand correct, Google will show me recommendation by one friend and ignore dislikes by others. How this can help me ? I would prefer to see the "dislikes", rather than "likes". Otherwise it looks like propaganda to say at least. Also I expect the increase of the requests to accept as a friend with the nice looking, smiling photos. Imagine nice looking person is asking you to be a "friend". Would you refuse ? Obviously not, because you want to be polite and don't want to offence anyone. Right? And later this nice looking "friend" will recommend you this and that from the bottom of the heart. Before you had just couple of "uncles and aunts" on TV recommending you all around from the bottom of their hearts, now you will have tens of "friends" doing this. False friends, false recommendations, false quality ........ false internet ??
Durant Imboden
10/14/2013 04:22 pm
"How this can help me ?" It isn't supposed to help you. It's supposed to help the advertiser. I can't keep from wondering how effective such "endorsements" are, though. On Facebook, I often get ads that purport to be from family members, and since I know my family members aren't trying to sell me on home improvements or whatever the subjects of the ads might be, I have about as much respect for the advertisers as I do for telemarketers and e-mail spammers.
Marty
10/14/2013 04:26 pm
Well, all it does is make the adds take up even more vertical room and pushes the organics down further. Anyone disagree that's the main motivation behind this move???
CaptainKevin
10/14/2013 04:40 pm
More proof that the privacy laws in the United States are weak. Let's see if/when the EU looks into this matter further.
JustConsumer
10/14/2013 04:43 pm
You must use better translator when you read statements by Google. Google says all around: "We do care about visitors/consumers." I'm consumer and my question is - How this can help me ? From the other hand advertisers are also consumers of Google product - AdWords in this case. Well, then we see here an obvious conflict of interests. I just can't believe, how conflicting Google became in so short period of time.
JustConsumer
10/14/2013 04:56 pm
That's why I decided not to live in US on regular basis ) It became clear to me around 2006, that USA will be the next Soviet Union, talking about the control over population. But I didn't expect it would be so soon. It's sad. I like USA )
Stuart David
10/14/2013 05:04 pm
Agree with every point made, not disclosing the dislikes devalues the services and kind of leaves Google looking like they care more about the advertisers than the users, who they claim to do everything for. This TOS Update and what it brings/ appears to means raises some serious issues about the company line of 'Everything for the users' We should definitely be disclosed the dislikes and not recommending of a service.
Rahul Trivedi
10/14/2013 05:25 pm
Why thy use our data to display?
Durant Imboden
10/14/2013 06:16 pm
"I'm consumer and my question is - How this can help me ?" Indirectly, it can help you by making it easier for Google to generate the revenue that allows it to provide free services. That's the basic principle of all advertising-supported publishing and broadcasting.
JustConsumer
10/14/2013 07:25 pm
Good point. But then it must be clearly stated, that this is an Advertising. Don't call it Recommendation. This is false statement. When you press +1, you don't do this to advertise, do you ? You press to Recommend, not Advertise. The intention is different. Google replaces your intention. Google already replaced quality by popularity, now they replace intentions of MY relations with MY friends. I see this as an evil.
Juggernart
10/14/2013 08:16 pm
It's in fact manipulation! Google takes my recommendations and my face to increase the chance that my google+ friends click on advertisements (instead of organic results). I opted out and just before the final opt out this message shows up: "Are you sure? When you disable this setting, your friends will be less likely to benefit from your recommendations."
Jitendra Vaswani
10/15/2013 06:54 am
agree with you john
Shivam Mahajan
10/15/2013 07:51 am
Why Our data ??
TimMH
10/15/2013 08:06 am
In the UK the company I work for uses Review Centre. In the past Adwords has used ratings from external sites to apply an overall star rating. Will individual recorded reviews from review centre now also be shown? or likely just those associated with Google+ social signals? Thoughts? From a business perspective this could be great for our Paid listings, but I would no doubt imagine this may push all organic listings down the page. I simply opted out for my own personal thoughts so they are not shown.
Richard Boss
10/15/2013 12:47 pm
Public reviews are going to still be public.
Sundar Rawat
10/15/2013 12:56 pm
So another facebook feature is being copied in Google.
JustConsumer
10/15/2013 03:56 pm
"In the UK the company I work for uses Review Centre." What does it mean ? How does it use it ? I'm watching this websites during the long period of time and can't get it - why is it so popular in UK ?
JIMMY
10/15/2013 10:00 pm
Its another effort by Google to give more bang for the buck to the advertisers. The user is not in mind. It's all about the advertisers. Just because I liked a resturaunt or a hotel and I G+ it doesn't mean I want to endorse it to all my friends....if they are going to use my face in the Ads I want a $check. I'm not for free LOL
Gracious Store
10/16/2013 05:01 am
I do not understand why your information should appear with your ads
James Ryan
10/27/2013 09:05 pm
OK I get it. Now make the Blue Bar go away!