The comments in that article are all favourable about the requirement to link to G+.

I was 100% against G+ and the whole profile thing at first but over the last few months have come round to the idea. I strongly believe that any attempt at anonymity on the internet is impossible and misguided, so I have gone the whole hog and accepted G+.

Certainly it will help keep reviews a little less polluted with self-written praise.

G+ does have advantages for websites in the SERPS and in other ways. Agreed my pic in the SERPS is not exactly a fashion statement but then again I don't think users expect it be anything other than a pic of a normal person.

I am trialling another pic (from my partners account) on some of our pages which shows off her charms in a rather obvious way. At the moment there appears to be no difference but more time is required.

...any attempt at anonymity on the internet is impossible and misguided, so I have gone the whole hog and accepted G+

Whats to stop you making 20 G+ accounts?

I've reviewed every app I have ever installed.

If I'm now blocked by not having G+ then that's their loss.

any attempt at anonymity on the internet is impossible and misguided

Sounds like you want to see WebmasterWorld closed down.

...

Next google will ignore any review, on any site, unless it has a readily identifiable social profile attached, you know they will.

You know what? That's Google's prerogative and they can do as they wish. Unfortunately it means that my reviews will never end up shown by Google which is their loss, not mine. I mean, what do I care if my review doesn't help them sell more product anyway?

When I interact with friends and family it's by email, phone, by sticky mail and in person. I have no reason to have those conversations in front of the rest of the world and I don't think Google understands that, or they do but it's not profitable enough to respect.

IRONY - That article has a related article linked from it titled...

Android apps 'leak' personal details

enough said.

I strongly believe that any attempt at anonymity on the internet is impossible and misguided, so I have gone the whole hog and accepted G+.

There is a deliberate policy by certain companies to get us all used to the idea of abandoning privacy and it would seem that you are one of the victims of it. I have been trading on the Internet very successfully for more than 13 years and I have still retained ny own privacy - if I can do it everyone can.

Google, of course, wants as much data as possible about us all and that, I believe, is the main reason for this move. Any increase in the quality of the comments is just a bonus.

I already stopped my facebook, linkedin and twitter account and did never start a google+ account. And never will. Time to say goodbye to gmail I guess too. I do not care.

[edited by: bakedjake at 2:03 pm (utc) on Nov 29, 2012]
[edit reason] spelling correction requested by bwakkie [/edit]

There is a deliberate policy by certain companies to get us all used to the idea of abandoning privacy and it would seem that you are one of the victims of it.

I'm not exactly sure what I have given away by opening a G+ account. Have you any specifics that are above and beyond what I have already given away by opening up an Adsense account for example (aside from the obvious rather pathetic picture)?

In my mind, my Adsense account gives away my bank, my bank account number, the associated sort code, my address, my email, my phone number, the websites I operate et al. My Adsense account probably also gives them a very good idea of my income. In reality, with that information, they can literally identify my entire family both current and past over the last 500 years. They can track down my families addresses, their names, ages, the list is endless - all just by the information in my Adsense account. I assume that other Adsense type income generators also give the owners access to the same information.

As far as I can see, G already have anyone who has an Adsense account firmly by their balls, what more does G+ give them? And that's a real question not just a knee-jerk reaction, because if they can get hold of information more important than they already have I might just condsider if G+ really is a danger to me. Specifics please because I can't fathom what information they don't already have or can't derive from what they already have.

>>it means that my reviews will never end up shown by Google

Oh wait... they back an open internet! ...see German copyright infringement case.

As a developer, I wish Android phones would just go away.

The suck to develop apps for because there are so many different variants.

***breaking news***

to search on goog, requires goog + account.

more desperate attempts..............

Google has a history of strong-arming people into it's services. And I don't like it.

Basically, reviews are part of rankings for apps. It's almost impossible for a small app developer to get a base amount of reviews, so they usually rely on friends and family to download and rate the app.

So, do you see what Google is doing here? Basically Google is strongarming developers to tell customers, friends, family, etc. to go get a G+ account to rate our app to help us out.

Promoting Google Plus at the developer's expense. A god damn shame.

I'm not exactly sure what I have given away by opening a G+ account. Have you any specifics that are above and beyond what I have already given away by opening up an Adsense account for example (aside from the obvious rather pathetic picture)?

In my mind, my Adsense account gives away my bank, my bank account number, the associated sort code, my address, my email, my phone number, the websites I operate et al. My Adsense account probably also gives them a very good idea of my income. In reality, with that information, they can literally identify my entire family both current and past over the last 500 years. They can track down my families addresses, their names, ages, the list is endless - all just by the information in my Adsense account. I assume that other Adsense type income generators also give the owners access to the same information.

As far as I can see, G already have anyone who has an Adsense account firmly by their balls, what more does G+ give them? And that's a real question not just a knee-jerk reaction, because if they can get hold of information more important than they already have I might just condsider if G+ really is a danger to me. Specifics please because I can't fathom what information they don't already have or can't derive from what they already have.

I hate to burst your bubble, but the average person doesn't have an Adsense account.

Imagine an employer Googling your name and finding all your reviews of silly nonsense games. That's one of the implications.