Google Ads Will Now Feature Users’ Names, Photos, and Comments

Well there you have it, folks. Last Friday, Google announced that they’ll now feature your profile name and photo (age 18+) on all Google products (reviews, advertising, and commercial materials) beginning November 11, 2013.

The news came out as a result of a change that appeared in the company’s Terms of Service. All reviews, ratings, comments, recommendations, and endorsements will appear alongside a profile picture and a name and will only target connections – people whom users have connections with on Google+, YouTube or other Google products. If you’re curious, it’ll look something like this:

We have to admit, it’s a bit creepy, but we realize that it’s just the nature of the online world now. Targeted ads aren’t anything new. Online reviews aren’t anything new. And like we’ve mentioned before, Google is seriously tunnel-focused on providing more helpful and relevant information to the user and this is another attempt at doing just that.

How to Prevent Personal Information From Appearing on Google Ads

If this update sounds completely crippling to you, the search engine does allow users the ability to limit how much data is used for these online ads. They mention (in bold font) that “you’re in control of what you share”. So here’s how you take control: 

Use Google’s Provided Way to Opt-Out 

• You can opt-out by visiting this page.
• Enable or disable the setting that allows people to see your name in photo displayed in Shared Endorsements on ads by checking or unchecking the box shown at the bottom of the page:

The name and profile photo shown in Shared Endorsements is the same name and photo on your Google+ account. The fine print mentions that changing this setting doesn’t necessarily prevent shared endorsements from appearing on other non-ad spaces, like Google Play. That’ll just have to require the deletion of the related activity or post or modifying the visibility settings in Google+.

Additional Ad Settings

Google has also provided a way for users to modify Ad Settings, which allows you to control what Google ads display about you, any advertising campaigns you’ve blocked, or interest-based ads you’ve opted-out from.

The fact of the matter is, due to the rate and nature of users sharing experiences online, the digital world isn’t getting any more private. For those of us who wouldn’t want their information displayed, it’ll have to take some precaution on the our part to take action and control of what we’re sharing. This change definitely reflects the growing expansion of online data and ever growing importance of personal endorsements and word-of-mouth for both marketers and customers.

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