Google Takes Word Of Mouth Marketing A Step Further, Tweaks Its Privacy Policy And Terms Of Service To Use User’s Face And Activity For Promoting Ads

Google announced the latest privacy policy and terms of service update on Friday, October 11, 2013, according to which the search engine giant will now use the Google Plus activity of the users to promote advertisement.

Called as ‘Shared Endorsements’ setting, the new ad promotion policy will allow Google to use the Google+ profile picture, name and related activity of the user to promote the ads from advertisers and sponsors who are willing to pay.

“Feedback from people you know can save you time and improve results for you and your friends across all Google services, including Search, Maps, Play and in advertising. For example, your friends might see that you rated an album 4 stars on the band’s Google Play page. And the +1 you gave your favorite local bakery could be included in an ad that the bakery runs through Google. We call these recommendations shared endorsements,” read the announcement.

This means that if you have visited and reviewed the new fancy restaurant in your city, Google will use this information in Google Ads display for the restaurant (provided the joint uses Google Ads and has agreed to pay for this feature)

You recommendations will appear to your friends and people you have agreed to share your data with in your Google+ profile privacy settings. Overall ads will still be targeted according to their geographic and demographic relevance.

The shared endorsement feature is activated by default and users have the option to out of it, if they so desire. Google also stated clearly that the actions of minors who use Google+ will not appear in ads as part of shared endorsements.

This is an extension of the concept of Advertising as a Service (AAS) whereby companies like Google, Twitter, Facebook etc provide free use of their services to people in order to use their data to pitch to the advertisers.