You might become a Google ad star - with no permission asked for!
Google is all set to to make its users the stars of advertisements—without first asking for permission.
You too could be a Google star
The move encourages word-of-mouth marketing "but is bound to raise privacy alarms," says the Wall Street Journal today.
A bright blue warning across the Google home page yesterday said that from Nov. 11, the search giant may display users' names, profile photos, ratings and reviews in ads as part of what it is calling "shared endorsements."
Users age 18 or over "could now see themselves pitching their favorite smartphone, say, or recommending an Italian restaurant across Google's stable of sites including in its search results," said the WSJ.
Such social-context ads are more useful—and maybe even less annoying—than traditional types of online advertising, say many of Silicon Valley's most popular sites.
"But they have raised the hackles of privacy advocates, and advertisers have yet to fully buy into their effectiveness," the WSJ reported.
Already , when users click the "+1" button—Google's version of Facebook' s "like" button—their endorsement may appeared in an ad.
Now it is expanding the type of content that may appear in ads—for example, ratings of songs in the Google Play store, or restaurant reviews posted to its Google+ social network.
Users who sign into third-party applications using their Google account may also see their activity used in Google ads.
Marc Rotenberg , executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told th WSJ
Google responded: "The privacy and security of our users is one of our top priorities. We believe our Terms of Service updates are a positive step forward in clarifying important privacy and security details for our users, and are in full compliance with the law."
By default, Google users' information, ratings and reviews can be included in social advertisements, though Google gives users the option to opt out and to change their ratings and reviews at any time.
Marketers have long known the value of a word-of-mouth endorsement from a friend. If social ads can replicate this online in a blog post, that could be a powerful weapon in the advertising arsenal . Google itself has given the example of how a user of its maps service may respond more positively to a restaurant listing endorsed by a friend.
Facebook in 2007 when it launcged ads tied to friends' actions, such as a visit to a restaurant or an endorsement of a business. Later came new features such as the "Like" button.
However Facebook recently agreed to pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit, in which users complained that Facebook shared their activity for ads without compensation or the ability to opt out. (Members can now opt out of having their actions used with ads.)
David Cohen , chief media officer of agency UM, told the WSJ, "In a world where we are besieged by marketing and advertising messages, one of the ways to cut through clutter is to have the opinion of someone that you know and trust.
The same applies online, he says, though advertisers can overdo it. "Imagine every ad we were to see had some kind of endorsement associated with it," Mr. Cohen said. "It would lose its effectiveness and start to get overbearing."