You may or may not have heard but Google has made a recent change to its terms and conditions that allow Google to use your name, picture, and comments/reviews posted on Google+, Google Play Store, and Google+ Local to endorse products advertised via Google AdWords.

For example, if you +1 a product on Google+, Google will show that you +1’ed the product in the product’s ad shown to your friends… sort of as if you endorse it (minus the paycheck that comes with endorsements, of course); and if you rate an app or book or movie or show on Play Store, Google will use your rating (with name and picture) in ads for the thing you rated.

It is easy to imagine many people being uncomfortable with this. Thankfully, there is a way to opt-out of these so called shared endorsement ads — a way to stop your name, picture, and reviews/comments from appearing in ads. This guide shows you exactly how to do that.

HOW TO DISABLE OR STOP GOOGLE SHARED ENDORSEMENT ADS

Stopping Google from using reviews/comments in shared endorsement ads and removing your name and picture is actually fairly easy. To remove your name and picture and reviews/comments from appearing in shared endorsement ads, do the following:

• Go to https://plus.google.com/settings/endorsements. If you aren’t logged into your Google account already, you will be asked to login.
  • Once logged in, if you don’t already have a Google+ account, you will be asked to upgrade to one. (If you have a Google+ account, you will be taken straight to the settings page — skip down to the next bullet point below.) Upgrading to a Google+ account is free and a fairly simple process, since you already have a Google account. You must upgrade to a Google+ account if you want the ability to turn remove your name/picture/reviews/comments from shared endorsement ads.
• Now scroll to the bottom of the page and look for a setting that says “Based upon my activity, Google may show my name and profile photo in shared endorsements that appear in ads” — uncheck the box next to that setting.
• Finally, hit the ‘Save’ button.

Done!

Repeat this process for all your Google accounts.

CONCLUSION

I realize that Google is feeling pressure from Facebook and Facebook ads, but I’m can’t understand why Google execs thought this was a good move. A good move for Google’s wallet, yes, since it will make Google ads more competitive against Facebook ads, but a good move for Google’s users? Eh. Did they think the majority of people would be happy endorsing ads in advertisements? At least cut us in on the profit, if you are going to do that.