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Google Begins To Merge Google+, Gmail Contacts 339

An anonymous reader writes "Google today announced new integration between Gmail and Google+ that sees your social connections show up in auto-complete when you're composing an email. Google says the feature is rolling out "over the next couple of days" to everyone that uses Gmail and Google+."
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Google Begins To Merge Google+, Gmail Contacts

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  • Great.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by olsmeister ( 1488789 ) on Thursday January 09, 2014 @10:59PM (#45913885)
    Spam City, here we come. Why is this opt-out instead of opt-in? Because nobody would want it.
    • Re:Great.... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09, 2014 @11:22PM (#45914013)
      Google+: Google's third failure of a social network that nobody wants but Google is going to push by forcing integration with their popular services such as YouTube and Gmail.

      Sorry Google, but I've had I'm jumping ship. Microsoft looks like a saint in comparison.
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by JDG1980 ( 2438906 )

        Google+: Google's third failure of a social network that nobody wants but Google is going to push by forcing integration with their popular services such as YouTube and Gmail.

        This is the kind of thing that antitrust laws are supposed to stop. Unfortunately, we don't do antitrust enforcement in the U.S. any more, at least not in any meaningful sense.

        • Re:Great.... (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Rob the Bold ( 788862 ) on Thursday January 09, 2014 @11:53PM (#45914129)

          Google+: Google's third failure of a social network that nobody wants but Google is going to push by forcing integration with their popular services such as YouTube and Gmail.

          This is the kind of thing that antitrust laws are supposed to stop. Unfortunately, we don't do antitrust enforcement in the U.S. any more, at least not in any meaningful sense.

          I don't like Google integrating its other -- more useful or popular -- services like YouTube GMail with Google+, but where's the antitrust angle to that?

          • If G+ was market dominant, the argument could be made that by showing completions only from google services was anticompetitive.

            • by tlambert ( 566799 ) on Friday January 10, 2014 @12:27AM (#45914259)

              If G+ was market dominant, the argument could be made that by showing completions only from google services was anticompetitive.

              G+ is not market dominant... even among Google employees.

              • by aliquis ( 678370 ) on Friday January 10, 2014 @01:05AM (#45914347)

                What Google needs to bring to the market is Google porn.

                That would be an instant success!

                • by Gumbercules!! ( 1158841 ) on Friday January 10, 2014 @01:09AM (#45914357)
                  They already have - but they just called it Google.
                • Yeah, like a search engine that produces porn pics, no matter what search term you enter.

                  • by jafiwam ( 310805 )

                    Yeah, like a search engine that produces porn pics, no matter what search term you enter.

                    The "Rule 34" Option.

                  • Yeah, like a search engine that produces porn pics, no matter what search term you enter.

                    We already have that. It's called "Bing".

                    Ever wonder where the "Bing" name came from? Remember Wayne's World? Rhymes with "schwing!"

                • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

                  by Anonymous Coward

                  They used to. Image search was quite nice for a quick and high quality porn fix. Then Google decided to replace "Save Search" with some fucked up "we'll detect if you want to see porn" setting which tends to find lower quality porn then before.

                  Google is getting worse every year.

                • What Google needs to bring to the market is Google porn.

                  That would be an instant success!

                  But then they would have to redefine the term 'Googlewhack'...

                • Image search, with safesearch turned off. Is pretty much "Google porn."
                  • I almost forgot about google trying to detect when you wanted porn (Hint: always)
                    Just add "xxx" to every search, and the free porn avalanche begins again.
        • It's only anti-trust if you have no other choice. Last time I checked there were nearly endless social media and email choices out there.

          Anti-trust is not synonymous with anti-business that are jerks and stupid heads.

        • by LF11 ( 18760 )

          > This is the kind of thing that antitrust laws are supposed to stop. Unfortunately, we don't do antitrust enforcement in the U.S. any more, at least not in any meaningful sense.

          That would be because antitrust laws are meant to help end competition for existing monopolies.

      • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

        I agree, but there is a way to avoid it so far. Do not log on to youtube unless you absoultely need to (it's mostly usable without login) and use POP3 to fetch your gmail.

        That way you can avoid all the "do you want to join google+? yes/no, but we're going to make you join it anyway" prompt.

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday January 09, 2014 @11:24PM (#45914023)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Spam City, here we come. Why is this opt-out instead of opt-in? Because nobody would want it.

      Yeah that and hardly anyone tends to "opt" when allowed. Why would a company bother to release a feature and make it opt in?

    • Re:Great.... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Dachannien ( 617929 ) on Friday January 10, 2014 @12:16AM (#45914219)

      Why is this opt-out instead of opt-in? Because nobody would want it.

      Oh, wait, you're talking about Google. For a second there, I thought you were talking about Slashdot Beta.

    • Re:Great.... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by swillden ( 191260 ) <shawn-ds@willden.org> on Friday January 10, 2014 @12:30AM (#45914263) Journal

      Spam City, here we come.

      Do you circle a lot of people who will spam you?

      • by wonkey_monkey ( 2592601 ) on Friday January 10, 2014 @04:10AM (#45914805) Homepage

        Do you circle a lot of people who will spam you?

        That's not that game where everyone... never mind.

      • by Rich0 ( 548339 )

        Spam City, here we come.

        Do you circle a lot of people who will spam you?

        Sure. I don't post publicly in general, because I know that most people aren't interested in half of what I write. If I'm writing about something FOSS-related it goes to one circle, and if it is family-related it goes to another. I have circles for people I follow, and I have circles that I broadcast to but don't read.

        My threshold for putting somebody in a broadcast-only circle is VERY low. Why would I want to restrict access to my own posts? Again, I don't post publicly most of the time.

        If Google fixe

        • My threshold for putting somebody in a broadcast-only circle is VERY low. Why would I want to restrict access to my own posts? Again, I don't post publicly most of the time.

          Then for your particular mode of using G+, you should probably remove permission for people you've circled to e-mail you.

          I wouldn't be surprised if this particular permission becomes more fine-grained over time, so you can specify it on a per-circle basis. In fact that's the way I think it should go. Another alternative would be to make it easy to create gmail filters by the circle(s) the sender is in, then you could create a filter than just trashes e-mails from any of your "broadcast" circles. Actually,

        • Oh, I should also mention that my personal take on this feature is "Yay, finally!". I've wanted for some time to be able to send e-mail to a circle, so I can use circles as poor man's mailing lists. Yeah, I can set up a real mailing list easily enough, but for example, I have circles for people in various branches of my extended family, and for groups of former co-workers, and I occasionally need to send an e-mail inviting people to some family gathering or friendly dinner. I don't do it often enough to bot

  • bad bad idea (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jaymz666 ( 34050 ) on Thursday January 09, 2014 @11:07PM (#45913927)

    When will they force everyone using any google service to use G+?

    What about all these people that have problems having G+? This could well be the real beginning of the end

    • Re:bad bad idea (Score:5, Informative)

      by MacTO ( 1161105 ) on Thursday January 09, 2014 @11:16PM (#45913969)

      You aren't actually forced to use G+, even if it is enabled on your account. Realistically, Google won't be able to force you to use G+ either since that would break interoperability with other email providers.

      As for the privacy concerns associated with G+, they should exist whether or not these are independent services. It is the same company collecting your data after all.

      • Re:bad bad idea (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Frosty Piss ( 770223 ) * on Friday January 10, 2014 @12:09AM (#45914191)

        You aren't actually forced to use G+

        Most Slashdotters aren't actually forced to do much of anything, but that doesn't stop them from bitching about just about everything.

      • by spruce ( 454842 )

        So your argument is basically "yes you'll have a forced social account you don't want (which if you follow the rules has to be in your name,) but it's not that bad." Fuck you and Google.

        I've had a gmail account almost as long as it's been out, I love my Nexus 5. I'm not someone who flips out over small issues (IMHO,) - but I'm seriously considering dropping all google services due to forced integration, and several of my friends are in the same boat. If I can't have contacts outside of G+ I'll drop them w

        • Just don't use google + and everyone in a while check the security settings o that it stays locked down.

          google is just merging all of it's products to one username/password combo. instead of having an account with youLube, Docs, mail, etcs, it is google +.

          It will make adding features easier on the backend. the down side is I don't use social networking, of course since I have an iPhone I can't use google contacts anyways.

      • by jaymz666 ( 34050 )

        There are more than privacy concerns with G+

        G+ requires that you use your real name, your first and last real name
        Will people who don't use their real name on the gmail account be screwed because they've been integrated with the G+ system?

        This is all very anti-user

        I just received the email about the update

        Receiving email from people outside your circles
        If you receive an email from someone outside your circles, it will be filtered into the Social category of the inbox (if enabled) and only after you respond or add them to your circles, can they start another conversation with you.

        So it looks like there is a setting, that can only be modified via web browser on a desktop, so people who only use tablets are kinda SOL, that disables this

    • Good lord. I understand Slashdot folks generally don't like to read the actual article, but I don't think a single comment on this has come from someone who actually read it.

      It is simply and integration between G+ and gmail. They are NOT merging. IF you use G+, then you'll be able to send emails to people in G+ without having to know their email address. It's a nice convenience. That is all.

      So if you're not using G+ for anything now, nothing at all will change for you in gmail. If you are using it, you will

  • by barlevg ( 2111272 ) on Thursday January 09, 2014 @11:19PM (#45913995)
    Though the obvious response is, "for now."
    • Though the obvious response is, "for now."

      What motive would Google have for removing this feature?

      If anything I expect it to go the other way. I bet we'll ultimately end up with a global email-from-circles kill switch (what they've provided so far) along with per-circle settings, so you can allow people in some circles to e-mail you and not others. Since most G+ users have separate circles for friends & family vs random people whose posts they like to read, that would make a lot of sense.

      • If anything I expect it to go the other way. I bet we'll ultimately end up with a global email-from-circles kill switch (what they've provided so far) along with per-circle settings, so you can allow people in some circles to e-mail you and not others. Since most G+ users have separate circles for friends & family vs random people whose posts they like to read, that would make a lot of sense.

        Actually, IIRC that's already the setting--you can select which circles can send you emails. But to answer the question of why would they remove your option to opt out: I dunno--why did Google force its Youtube users to link their accounts to G+ when they first made it optional? Near as I can figure is that Google really wants G+ to succeed, because they want to directly compete with Facebook. But since no one was actually interested in using G+, they're trying to force you to by saying, "if you don't use i

  • Whatever (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Barlo_Mung_42 ( 411228 ) on Thursday January 09, 2014 @11:19PM (#45913997) Homepage

    That's great Google. Keep trying to make google+ a thing. That's great.
    Can't say I'm happy about how that worked out for youtube but keep trying. You never know.
    I don't care that much anyway. I switched my gmail account to be my spam account a while ago and only check it via outlook any so whatever. Good luck though.

  • by 50000BTU_barbecue ( 588132 ) on Thursday January 09, 2014 @11:28PM (#45914047) Journal
    We run a small condo, 12 units. A few years ago we created a gmail account for the condo administration to communicate with the residents. We used the condo association's legal name as registered with the government. Recently I had to go through the whole "upgrade the account to google+ and you can't opt out" rigamarole. I sent the registration form to google's anonymous and unreachable (except through the one-way web form) to be told the name doesn't meet Google guidelines because they want people to be able to find us.

    Guess what? It's a condo. It only concerns the 12 people who live here. No one else cares about who cleans our carpets and who's complaining about the squeaking hinges on the door over at #201.

    It's so stupid. I downloaded all the documents in the drive but Google doesn't handle french accents too well in file names, AND it creates a flat zip... We lost the whole tree. Oh well, I'll manually re-create it when I migrate over to Yahoo groups.

    You can say what you want about Yahoo, they don't annoy you at the same level as Google.

    • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09, 2014 @11:53PM (#45914131)

      A few years ago we created a gmail account for the condo administration to communicate with the residents....Recently I had to go through the whole "upgrade the account to google+ and you can't opt out" rigamarole.

      I have a gmail account and I don't recall anytime that I was required to upgrade to google+. Sure, I have had the occasional "friendly reminders" that I need to update my contact information or I could permanently lose access to my account if I forget my password, but other than that no troubles. What the hell did you do to piss them off so much?

      • by 50000BTU_barbecue ( 588132 ) on Friday January 10, 2014 @12:21AM (#45914229) Journal
        Who knows? Like I said, Google was forcing me to upgrade to Google+ and it was complaining that the name didn't live up to their exalted standards. They said they wanted other people to be able to contact us. If we were a business, we should create a google+ page. Guess what? As a condo admin, I'm not paid, and I'm not interested in creating a google+ page. Furthermore, a condo board in Quebec is not a business so why should I care?

        The main problem Google seems to have is with the name. It's a long sequence of letters and numbers at gmail.com.

        We don't want other people to find us. We don't want to find other people.

        We are not going to help Google+'s bogus social networking numbers simply because like I said we're boring. Just let us keep our name...

        The pop-up I get is in French but it boils down to that the name "doesn't sound" like a name and we must change it. Even though I sent the document showing that it's the name registered with the government, it's not good enough for Google??

        • I lost you somewhere around the point where you linked a youtube account to administrate a condo.

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) * on Friday January 10, 2014 @07:42AM (#45915435) Homepage Journal

          You are full of shit. I just created a Gmail account without a real name to prove it.

          Email: a38749238467332443@gmail.com
          Pass: supersecure

          Feel free to log in and check it out. The name on it is "Not Real". It is required for email headers. Fake birthday too, which is of course required because minors can't agree to TOS.

          They don't force you to create a G+ account just to continue using Gmail. Obviously they are aware that many Gmail accounts are not personal (they have a whole Gmail for business thing going on) and provide email services for other companies (like UK ISP Virgin) who would not take to kindly to having their customers forced to join G+.

          Unless you have provide some evidence that you were forced to sign up to G+ against your will I'm afraid you have been exposed as a fraud or a chump who didn't see the "no thanks" button.

          • by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

            At no point did I want or attempt to create or agree to a google+ account.

            The bastards gave me one and linked it to my gmail without my permission.

            And I still can't post comments to youtube videos.

            • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) *

              You claimed they are upset that this account does not have a real name on it, yet do not require one just to have an email account. Where is your evidence?

    • by Urkki ( 668283 )

      You should ask yourself, why would Google want your business, when your use case is what it is, and when you have the requirements you have?

      Perhaps you should pay them. Of course with your experience, you're not likely to, but you were not likely to before, either. Lost or badly handled sales opportunity for them, I suppose.

    • by Bazouel ( 105242 )

      Your use case better fits Google Apps, which we use for exactly the same purpose as you without a hitch. We registered our domain when GApps was still free, but alas, now it would cost you a bit per user (you can register only one user and use people's private email addresses in a mailing list).

    • You can say what you want about Yahoo, they don't annoy you at the same level as Google.

      Just 'cause they know they can't get away with it. Rest assured, they would, if they just could.

      Lesson to learn from this: Never join the biggest bandwagon. Choose someone who will think twice before giving you the "my way or the highway" attitude.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10, 2014 @12:27AM (#45914253)

    Just give me GMail.

    Why is it so hard for Google to give me something I want and not something that I don't want?

    Or is this part of Google's plans to increase their Google+ numbers by forcing everyone with GMail to become part of Google+?

    Give it a break Google.

    You were cool.

    But now you're becoming annoying.

  • Wow, all of my gmail accounts are going to be linked to my (non-existent) g+ account? This could be fun.
  • .....mud pies?

    Google seems to be up for it.

  • why the hell google don't understand that nobody wants G+ ??????????
  • Ref: #6: You can make money without doing evil.
    http://www.google.com/about/company/philosophy/ [google.com]

    YRS
    • by Ksevio ( 865461 )
      Combining all my contacts' email addresses is a stretch to call "evil". For the vast majority of people it would be a handy feature
  • But the setting preference was there already. I apologize to the company for opting out before anyone had a chance to spam me.

Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them. - Oscar Wilde

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