For Google+ to achieve its ultimate, Google needs everyone to kindly use their real names and identities.
Why, exactly? Eric Schmidt said this weekend that Google+
was built primarily
as an identity service, reports
Andy Carvin, a social-media strategist at NPR. "So
fundamentally, it depends on people using their real names if they're going to build future products that leverage that information," Schmidt explained, according to Carvin.
"This
was incredibly exciting (and a little scary) for me to read," admits eWeek's Clint Boulton. "I'd argued in the past that one of the reasons Google wants people to use their real names is so that they can target them personally with
advertising." Indeed, in the context of Google's controversial real-name policy, Schmidt revealed "a new perspective on Google+," writes Mashable.
Regarding Schmidt's comments, venture capitalist Fred Wilson posits: "It begs the question of whom Google built this service for? You or them. And the
answer to why you need to use your real name in the service is because they need you to."
Under the seemingly damning headline, "Google+ is About Your Identity," WebProNews writes: "The focus on identity makes a great deal of sense, as social networks have
essentially become who we are on the Web .. It makes even more sense when you consider Google's grand plans in payments with the inevitable integration of Google+ and Google Wallet."
"Google doesn't believe identity can exist without real names," Softpedia writes. "This, even as countless
people have used pseudonyms and aliases for years, across services, Websites or games, and are known in real life by plenty of
people after their pseudonyms rather than their actual names."
"How could Google leverage users' identity information for new products?" Mashable asks. "Perhaps
through more targeted advertising or personalized search, or maybe something completely different."
Moving well into the realm of conspiracy, eWeek's Boulton adds: "Think of
this as the prelude toward the Minority Report ads that targeted Tom Cruise's character when he walked through a mall. Though instead of a retinal scan, Google's algorithms pair users'
interests with their Google+ Profiles."