G+/Google information everyone should know

[merhawk]

Andy Carvin of NPR spoke with Google Chairman Eric Schmidt for a few minutes. Per the conversation, Schmidt acknowledges/states that "G+ was build primarily as an identity service, so fundamentally, it depends on people using their real names if they're going to build future products that leverage that information."

Identity Service != Social Network, Eric Schmidt. And you're billing G+ as a social network. Just sayin'.

Todd Vierling looked into the Profile Real Name issues. He discovered that these issues are about more than just G+. It looks like the endgame will end up involving most, if not all, of Google Products.

[reposted from my journal]

Comments

[merhawk]

You're welcome.

The thing is, it's not Google itself you should be concerned about, per se. It's about linking too much of your data in one place, in a situation where you're the product instead of the customer.

I've been advocating splitting your data up for a long time, as well as paying for your email. Just because it's pay doesn't mean that they're your advocates; however, businesses are more likely to listen to you if you're paying them.

Going back to Google, they haven't suddenly "turned evil". They've always needed to monetize the individual user, because that's how they get their money. They're just getting more blatant about it now. In addition, if they hadn't stated up front that the naming convention for G+ was going to be to "use the name your friends, family or co-workers usually call you", it wouldn't have ever blown as big as it's gotten. If I'd known when they were setting it up that they wanted a Facebook type naming convention, I would never have gone there. However, by acting as if I could use the name that everyone calls me (Hawk), and then reneging after I sign up and give them data... classic bait and switch.