Google has announced that starting June 24, it will aggregate all user reviews for movies, TV shows, books, albums, and games under one profile page. In addition, it will be visible and searchable through Google searches. This move may lead to users being profiled based on their preferences and dislikes.
Google Expansion of Review Functionality
The company initially introduced the ability to post movie reviews for India-based users in 2017. In addition, over the years, this feature has expanded globally. In 2023, Google made review profiles public and searchable in certain regions, starting with the U.S. and India. Now, it plans to make all profiles public on a global scale.
Google Profile Visibility and Privacy Options
Users can click on any user profile to view all the reviews they have posted. Google states that it provides a toggle to make profiles private. However, this option was not available until recently.
The company emphasizes that profiles make it easier for people to manage their reviews. In addition, it aims to make reviews more helpful for others. It also offers control for users to make their profiles private or delete them altogether. Additionally, it has an option to edit or delete their reviews privately.
Default Public Profiles
By default, Google makes all profiles public. It means that user profiles will be viewable to all if users are unaware of having a profile page or have not paid attention to emails from Google notifying them about it.
Notifications and Concerns
Google informed users about the profile control through the Google Profile interface and via a pop-up on their existing reviews. However, there are concerns that users may not be aware of the new profile’s existence. Thus, it may potentially impact their privacy and online presence.
However, potential employers can use searchable profiles to gain insight into the opinions of their future employees. Thus, it can potentially affect their hiring prospects. Additionally, it poses a privacy risk for advertisers to scrape this data and serve targeted ads to users.
Profile Privacy Settings by Google
To make a profile private, users can navigate to profile.google.com, and click on the three-dot menu next to their profile name. In addition, they can select the “Profile Options” item, and turn on the Profile Privacy toggle.
While hiding a profile, individual reviews will still be visible under a movie or TV show title. However, they won’t link back to a page with all of the user’s reviews. It’s important to note that this update does not affect reviews on Google Maps.
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