Google announced Friday via their policies and principals page that a change in its terms of service will be implemented on Nov. 11, allowing the company to include adult user names, photos and comments in ads shown on the Web.
According to the company, Google Plus users will have the chance to opt out of being included in the new endorsements, and people under the age of 18 are automatically excluded.
After the policy goes live, 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, according to the New York Times.
Google stated three main changes on their policies and principals page: The first is the change in how user profile names and photos might appear in Google products like reviews, advertising and any other commercial context. These settings can be controlled through Google's Shared Endorsement settings.
The second is a reminder to use mobile devices more safely, and third were changes on the details of the importance of keeping passwords protected.
According to Google, friends and families may see user profile's name, picture and will be able to like reviews you share or the ads users +1 (Google's version of the "Like" action, but this will only happen if the user takes action, like commenting or following something on Google services. The only people who will see these actions are those who have been chosen to view it, if you customize your settings as such.
"You're in control of what you share," the Google policies and principles section stated. "This update to our Terms of Service doesn't change in any way who you've shared things with in the past or your ability to control who you want to share things with in the future."
According to the Times, 190 million users post on Google Plus and 390 million use the social network indirectly by sharing through other Google sites.
Since Google is under the supervision of the FTC for previous privacy violations, they want to show they have considered the privacy implications of the new ads, so that user's feel comfortable, the Times reported.
"The trick to any advertising like this is to avoid coming across as creepy to your user base and have them say, 'I didn't want anyone else to know that,' " said Zachary Reiss-Davis, a Forrester analyst, speaking generally about social ads, to the Times.
Google will be notifying users of the change with banners of its homepage, search results and Google Plus notifications.
