Shortly after I started this blog, I tried to promote it a bit on Google+, the community that Google had hoped would be its rival to Facebook (but which, apart from inspiring a pretty devoted, but small, following, hasn’t taken off). Pretty quickly, Google acted against me – they deactivated my profile (“N. Likes,” they said, “is not compliant with Google’s ‘Names Policy.’”) For a day, they took down my blog (which ultimately inspired me to move to my own self-hosted domain).
Yesterday, I learned that my real name (not N, but the name you don’t know, by which I lead my life) may not, itself, be in compliance with Google’s Names Policy. My Google+ profile was disabled. And I got a nastygram to that effect. I’m now engaged in an “appeals” process, whereby I submit evidence that my name is my name. And, in the mean time, I may not use certain of Google’s services linked to my name.
I suppose you get what you pay for, right? (And, conversely, it’s a reminder that if you really need something, it may be worth actually paying for it.)
Postscript: I just received this from Google:
Hello,
Thanks for sending us your appeal. You’re right: your name does comply with the Google+ Names Policy. Your name has been updated on your Google+ profile. If you submitted the appeal during sign up, your profile has now been restored. Log in to Google+.
Sorry for the inconvenience,
The Google+ team.
Gee, thanks, guys….
Google’s real names policy sucks for sex bloggers. It means we either have to go by pseudonyms or go without Google altogether. Ridiculously, nothing about this policy comes anywhere near guaranteeing that everyone on G+ is there under their real name. They only guarantee that everyone’s names will *sound* relatively real, when briefly looked over by someone in their community team. In my case, the pseudonym I’ve chosen is not even half as meaningful as ‘girl on the net’, which is a name far more people will recognise and identify with.
All true. But in this case, IT WAS MY REAL NAME.
Yes, have similar bad experience with Google. Not sure what is its policy with regards to erotic stuff. My G+ account under my name is being suspended. My blogspot was closed down all of a sudden after I submitted over 570 postings there. After this, I learn a lesson, better to use my own pay domain. This big organization such as Google is the big bully against the small people like us. Google behaves as if it owns the Net and can set rules arbitrarily. Actually, who gives Google the right to do this?