Google Sets Plan to Sell Users’ Endorsements

Google Sets Plan to Sell Users’ Endorsements

From the New York Times:

When the new ad policy goes live Nov. 11, Google will be able to show what the company calls shared endorsements on Google sites and across the Web, on the more than two million sites in Google’s display advertising network, which are viewed by an estimated one billion people.

If a user follows a bakery on Google Plus or gives an album four stars on the Google Play music service, for instance, that person’s name, photo and endorsement could show up in ads for that bakery or album.

It is possible to turn the feature off…sort of:

Opting out of the ad campaign doesn’t opt you out of all Shared Endorsements, however; your persona will still appear alongside websites you +1 and apps you like while your friends are scouring the web or Google Play.

This why Google haters continue to hate Google. It’s also how Google continues to be Google no matter what the haters think.