nsane.forums Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 If you want to post an Android app review, you'll need a public Google+ account. In an apparent attempt to eliminate anonymous trolling in Android app reviews, Google is now requiring users to sign up for Google+ before posting reviews of Android apps on the Google Play store. The change apparently went live overnight. Testing on a Nexus 7 running Android 4.2, I was still able to leave one anonymous review of an app this morning. But upon a second attempt I was required to accept new Google Play terms and conditions and the ability to post anonymous reviews went poof. You can still log into Google Play and download apps with a non-Google+ account, but if you try to review an app you'll be greeted with this message: And, as you might expect, when you post a new review it will have your Google+ account name and picture right next to it: This is effectively a ban on anonymity, because Google+ requires users to sign up with their real names. Pseudonyms are allowed, but not just for any old person—Google only allows pseudonyms if the person is well-known by a moniker other than their given name (like Madonna or Sting). On Google's YouTube, Google+ profiles can optionally be used to leave comments on videos, but as of today it's not a requirement. The iPhone and iPad App Store, meanwhile, still allows reviews with anonymous usernames. View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted November 27, 2012 Administrator Share Posted November 27, 2012 Google forcing reviewers to use real names If you want to cheer or jeer for an app in the Google Play store, you'll have to do it with your real name from now on. Search giant Google has started requiring that anyone who submits a review at its online app store use their Google+ identity, or if they don't have one, set one up. When you attempt to post a review to the Google Place site, you will be greeted with the following: "Google Play is now connected with Google+ to help you find reviews you trust. "New reviews will be posted publicly using your Google+ name and picture. Your name on previous reviews will appear as 'A Google User.'" Google+ names are mostly the real names of its users, a decision that has drawn criticism from some corners of the Internet community in the past . The move has some benefits for review readers. For example, it allows them to evaluate a review based on who wrote it. That could cut down on spam, glowing reviews by shills for developers and vitriol from curmudgeons. It could possibly improve the quality of the reviews, too, as reviewers who use their real names are likely to temper their scribblings with more thought than those who don a cloak of anonymity. Moreover, comments from people with real names are more likely to capture a developer's attention and be a stimulus for improving an application than spew from an anonymous writer with an unbridled id. On the other hand, fewer reviews may be posted to the site because people may feel that if they speak their mind without the protection of anonymity, they may be subject to harassment by every nut on the Internet. In addition, some writers may be reluctant to contribute to the site for fear that if their real name is associated with a review, the review may be associated with their employer, which could have consequences at their place of employment. Furthermore, a reviewer may find it an imposition to be required to sign up for Google+ in order to express their opinion of a product -- although it's pretty difficult to avoid getting chained to Google+ if you do anything on the Internet these days. This latest move by Google to get users of its services to use their real names follows a similar action last summer on YouTube , which is owned by the search giant. At that time, people seeking to comment on a video were asked to start using their Google+ identity. However, a commenter on YouTube can refuse to use their real name. Reviewers of Google Play content cannot. View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweety.Abd Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 This is a bad thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted November 27, 2012 Administrator Share Posted November 27, 2012 I hardly review them. But this means I won't review them, at-all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffi Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 what happens when you remove your google+ profile: https://plus.google.com/u/0/downgrade/ ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.