This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Google May Be Starring You In Their New Version Of Sponsored Stories

Google has found a new fresh advertising celebrity: YOU.  You are probably thinking what do you mean? They intend to use the names and photographs of Google Plus members in their future advertising and marketing - FREE.  In this article we will discuss Google+'s  new "Shared Endorsements" and how it works.

Google+’s  new ad promotion is called "Shared Endorsements" and is something to be aware of. If you are under the age of 18 this will not affect you, however the ads are not live yet. Google’s Terms and services said in the update that the new advertising campaigns will begin 11-11-13.

How Does It Work?

Find out what's happening in Woodburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

When a member of Google Plus makes a comment, +1, a post, or follows a company page, Google may make future use of those actions to promote whatever they have actually endorsed. This includes both the Google Plus members name and their picture in their ad - FREE.  Google is making use of free user content and social media for low-cost advertising. So look out! After November 11, 2013, if you hit the like button on a post from a dentist, or restaurant, or are following a company, you could be featured in upcoming ads.

Is This A First in Social Media?

Find out what's happening in Woodburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Remember back in 2011 when Facebook had dreadful Sponsored Stories? They cleverly switched customer recommendations into promotions. Facebook took what people “liked” for fan pages and placed them in their advertisements. They ended up with a $TWENTY million class action suit from some customers.

Is Shared Endorsements The Same As Sponsored Stories?

Your different circles of friends on Google+ will be able to experience the "mutual endorsements", those that are in your circle.   For example, if you had posted an update referring to a company like Pepsi, Facebook could have turned it into a Sponsored Story. The only people that would have seen this was based on your privacy settings. On Google+ the new Mutual Endorsements would be only shown to those in your circles.

How Is This Different From Facebook?

There is actually an essential distinction separating Google’s new fresh attempt from Facebook's Sponsored Stories: While Facebook users were actually unable to opt out of Sponsored Stories entirely, Google Plus users can opt out. The search engine made this legal protection distinction in order to protect them.

Fortunately for you, having read this article, you can protect yourself. To avoid having your name and photo displayed in the discussed documented recommendations in Shared Endorsements ads; just place your setting to "off". Then your name and photo will not be displayed in any ads. It was critical for G+ to do this in order to preventing future legal troubles.

Google+ users that have not reviewed this article are going to likely to be surprised when they see themselves in an ad.

Can You Turn Off The Ads Featuring You?

Yes, you can turn off the ads in the settings in G+!  Will this help Google+ users to avoid problems? Legally yes, but many users who haven’t read this article about how to turn off the settings may still see themself in an ad.

Do You Need to Warn Your Friends?

Yes! If you would like to protect your friends from possible future embarrassment, forward this article.

Questions?

Thanks for following our social media posts. If you have any more questions about this, other social media topics, or online marketing in Woodbury, contact us at 651-731-0768 or email us at info@StPaulMarketingTeam.com.

 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?