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Opt out of Google using you as an ad
- kmfrk 13y agoSpeaking of all this tripe, does anyone know how to export your YouTube favourites without creating a G+ account? A couple of days ago, it starting requiring me to sign up to add a video to my list of favourites, and the API throws an error - probably for the same reason.
- packetlss 13y agohttp://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/base/users/<youtube-username>/favorites?alt=rss&v=2&orderby=published&client=ytapi-youtube-profile
- Glyptodon 13y agoI don't have a Google Plus profile for my Google account so I can't get to the checkbox to opt out without first creating a creating a Google Plus profile. Talk about a catch 22. Though maybe they're only planning to use Google+ content for ads?
- atestu 13y agoYes I think so because they specify that they use the photo and name that you use on G+ so I think you're good.
- RyanZAG 13y agoIf you don't use G+ there is nothing this opt out would do. This is an opt-out for having your G+ profile picture and name show up next to search results for people who have you in their circles. If you +1 a page, then that page can be promoted in your friends search results with your name linked to the page. It's actually a fairly useful feature and I often see Android links promoted by people I have added to circles, which is useful. It's really a fairly benign feature to begin with as you have to actually +1 a page before it shows up. At any rate, this checkbox appears to remove that so that others can't see your +1s in search results. I don't really understand why you would +1 something and not want people to see though, although I'm guessing it has something to do with an employee of companyA +1ing companyBs page by mistake and making it look like an endorsement.
- talmand 13y agoI don't understand this page. Under the heading "Setting: Shared Endorsements in Ads" the copy reads as if this setting was an opt-out type of thing. The actually text next to the checkbox reads as if this setting was an opt-in type of thing.
- derefr 13y agoIt's phrased as "do this", but it starts already-checked. So you're unchecking it to make it stop.
- wf 13y agoThe box was already unchecked for me as well, thus the confusion.
- smoorman1024 13y agoIt must be because you already opted out of +1's It was blank for me too. http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/11/google-users-shared-endorsements-ads/ http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/11/google-users-shared-endor...
- talmand 13y agoIt wasn't checked for me. I suppose I could have unchecked it earlier and don't recall.
- jeena 13y agoMine was unchecked when I went to the page.
- wsinks 13y agoThat's the way I read it.
- 300bps 13y agoI opted out by deleting my Google+ profile last night. I honestly never wanted a Google+ profile and me submitting a YouTube video for a private audience (demonstrating a new feature in a web site I developed for a side client) that got broadcast to all my friends on Google+ was the last straw.
- abrowne 13y agoSerious question: can you still use Google Hangouts -- the video chat -- after deleting G+? It's the one G+-related service I use.
- 300bps 13y agoYes, it looks like it. I just went into it and it said, "Hangouts get better with a Google+ profile" and these benefits: http://i.imgur.com/4guE3FI.png http://i.imgur.com/4guE3FI.png But I was able to click "Not Now" and proceed.
- drivebyacct2 13y agoSo, no then. "Group video chat" is one of the listed benefits...
- drivebyacct2 13y ago>me submitting a YouTube video for a private audience (demonstrating a new feature in a web site I developed for a side client) that got broadcast to all my friends on Google+ was the last straw. No offense, but how did you manage to do that? I've posted a few videos to YouTube in the same manner and have never, ever had an issue with it.
- patrickaljord 13y agoSo brave.
- uptown 13y agoDidn't realize you could do that without destroying your profile elsewhere in their ecosystem. So something like GMail and YouTube still work, but you have go Google+ profile?
- nullc 13y agoAsks me to make a google+ account. Does that mean I'm already immune?
- marban 13y agoThis was default off for my paid G Apps account with a regular G+ Profile.
- duaneb 13y agoDo I have to make a plus account to opt out?
- nilved 13y agoDon't you need an account to be used in ads to begin with?
- Lewisham 13y agoYes, you need a G+ account to make reviews. Not having a G+ account means you cannot be used for Shared Endorsements. Disclaimer: I'm a Google employee.
- redbulls 13y agoThe only users included in this are ones with G+ accounts so you are good.
- robodale 13y agoWho wants to bet that checkbox does nothing...like the thermostat in my office to control the temperature.
- ChikkaChiChi 13y agoThis is exactly how opt-out pages should work. I understand it took some bad publicity before it happened, but I commend Google for correcting their mistake and making it easy to disable.
- wtvanhest 13y agoI agree. It was so backward from what I would expect. Definitely great to see the box unchecked as default.
- lake99 13y ago> Definitely great to see the box unchecked as default. I'm not so sure if it's a default setting. I guess it inherits some other settings that Google used to have earlier. I have always allowed Google to use info from me, as they pleased. So, when I visted the link, it was checked for me.
- bentcorner 13y agoMind was unchecked as well. A little confusing seeing the headline and then it looking like I had already opted-out somehow. Made me wonder if it was one of those double-negative check boxes for toolbar installations.
- ryanmcbride 13y agoAgreed. It's nice to see an opt out page that isn't asking me if I'm sure that I don't not want to opt in to not being used as a not ad.
- pjbrunet 13y agoIt's too vague. Some of it sounds cool, some of it does not. So I opted out. I would have made a series of focused opt-in pages that popup in stages over months (less annoying, less confusing) and sell each recommendation function as a cool feature with real benefits, like increased SEO authority, traffic to your Google Plus page, etc. That said this makes me not want to comment, thumbs-up, plus one anything.
- badclient 13y agoWhen we look back a few years from now to see where google went wrong, it'll begin and end with Google+. It is the worst product execution and strategy in recent times.
- roc 13y agoI'd go back a little further, when the ads first started to overpower the search results. In retrospect, Buzz might have been their last classically-Googly project.
- Miyamoto 13y agoHoly sensationalism batman! I know HN loves its sensationalism, but wow.
- gamache 13y agoName another time that Google spent years putting its entire weight behind something no one wanted.
- cleverjake 13y agoGoogle Wave.
- product50 13y agoEntire weight behind Google Wave! I think you got that wrong, chief. Also, it was killed in 1 year: http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/04/wave-goodbye-to-google-wave/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/04/wave-goodbye-to-google-wave...
- cleverjake 13y agoAfter spending years developing it.
- brymaster 13y ago
- redbulls 13y agoI honestly don't understand whats wrong with this. It just seems like the natural progression of the services that Google already provides. If my friend searches for a new phone, they should see my public reviews of the phones. Friends reviews should be made front and center because reviews from people we know are always more valuable. The way the page reads, it seems they will only use your reviews in ads for friends, I think that's fair, but if they use it for strangers too then I'll probably opt out.
- jfb 13y agoMe neither. It seems perfectly consonant with Google's entire MO, and not in any way out of line with the implicit or explicit usage agreement that people have with them. Perhaps the culture of G+ is such that this is unexpected, or perhaps it's just HN echo chamber bleating? I'm not a Google user, so I wouldn't presume to say.
- kissickas 13y agoI agree, it seems expected. Every time I +1 something it's with the goal of that turning up in someone's search results one day. They only use your reviews in ads for strangers if you share it with everyone. Just share it with one circle, and only people in that circle will see it, if I understand this correctly.
- patrickaljord 13y agoNice to see some common sense on the subject here. Totally agree. This is a nice feature. I like seeing my friends reviews of Android and Chrome app I download. I would like to have the same feature for ads. This is great.
- pjbrunet 13y agoShouldn't that be a conversation you have with your friend directly? Also it's not a recommendation for your friend, it's a recommendation to the general public. If I want to recommend something to my friends on Plus, don't I already have a "Friends" circle I can broadcast to?
- 13y ago
- piptastic 13y agoDidn't go through the link. This was turned off by default for me when I edited my Google Profile (not a paid user). Shared Endorsements Off edit
- graiz 13y agoIt's interesting that folks in the tech community had the same reaction that I did... TURN IT OFF. Seems that this would be one of those "Don't be Evil" moments for Google. It seems reasonable that people wouldn't want their rating or review used out of context on an ad. This is exactly what's wrong with Facebook "Like" buttons. Why repeat the same mistake?
- estel 13y agoWhy would a rating or review of a place be out of context on an ad for it?
- sequoia 13y agoIs it unchecked by default? For me it was unchecked when I got there.
- swetland 13y agoI forget what the old setting was, but there was a G+ setting about showing +1s in other contexts, which I recall unchecking when I was unchecking all the "email me about..." settings and other cruft in the G+ settings. Looks like they remember that (it was unchecked for me too).
- benblodgett 13y agoThis is a perfect example of HN acting productively. Identifies a serious problem that effects the audience and pushes the solution to the top.
- ck2 13y agoShouldn't it be opt-in ?
- drelihan 13y ago"When you disable this setting, your friends will be less likely to benefit from your recommendations." - I'm surprised that even my computer could render these bytes with a straight face.
- jff 13y agoWhy? It's absolutely true. If you disable the setting, your reviews for products will not show up in your friends' results. Presumably some people would be interested to know that one of their friends purchased such-and-such a thing and found it useful.
- barista 13y agoUnfortunately this page will probably not even hit the most gullible folks who signed in their gmail and are using Google+ unknowingly. Hope there is a broader communication from Google to allow people to disable this. Can't imagine this was made an automatic opt in.
- jff 13y agoSo the people who are unknowingly using G+... aren't really generating anything for Google to use, are they? They want to show your reviews alongside ads. Well, if you're making reviews on Google+, that's not really "unknowing". If you're sharing, +1'ing, following, or starring content on G+, you're not really unknowingly using G+. So basically people who technically have a G+ account but never use it shouldn't be affected, because you have to use G+ to generate this content.
- dmamills 13y agoI'm in the minority in that I love Google+. It's everything good about social networking without any of those pesky people everyone seems to like so much.
- panarky 13y agoThe contrast with Facebook couldn't be more stark. Google is advertising the change extensively, and they explain it in simple English. Google lets you opt out. And if you were already opted out, they retain that more restrictive setting without you having to do anything. I personally don't want to be an unpaid shill for anybody, which is why I refuse to create G+ or Facebook accounts. But I have to recognize that Google's approach is far more open and honest than Facebook's.
- vbhavsar 13y ago> The contrast with Facebook couldn't be more stark. Wouldn't it be more stark if Google didn't do this at all?
- dtx 13y agoOne good reason why it "shouldn't" do this? It's doing it and giving you a choice to either be a part of it or not. That is more than you can ask for from a free service. If you were able to be a part of a service, not pay a thing, feeding data to it and expecting it not to use it in anyway you wouldn't like- then you would also not see the constant innovation brought about by such companies; and this is justified as long as the user is not forced into it; the golden rule of software.
- tjoff 13y agoBecause with that reasoning we could, and really should, just abandon all free software. Because with that reasoning it is worthless. There are other ways to make money in this world, even for a free service, than being a dick.
- randomstring 13y agoAnyone else find it ironic you cannot +1 that page?
- ausjke 13y agoI made this simpler, just leave google+ and I'm "safe".