Tl;dr I like to whine.
Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL
81–90 of 165 posts
Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL
#82Why the phone verification is required to claim a custom URL? Custom URL is a poor incentive to provide Google your phone number.
I have a mobile number but have opted out of texting (they are blocked so I don't get charged) and instead use a free texting app which also assigns me a virtual number. Unfortunately the verification text from Google does not make it through. I tried two texting apps, and even tried my normal cell number hoping that Google had some agreement with my carrier to pass the code along. Seems odd that Google would risk tu…
those verification texts work when sent to google voice numbers, for what it's worth (plenty of other similar systems break when you give them gvoice numbers)
Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL
#83Why I won't get a Custom URL: > Many people have the same name. Add a few extra letters or numbers to this URL to get one that is unique for you. Why would I want yet another "MyName " identifier? How does that help friends and family remember or identify me? What purpose does it serve? I'm yet another person with a nickname that identifies me all over and has for years, I too own the domain. But Google+ keeps insist…
Even though I prefer +simoneau, e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=simoneau , I had come around to living with +MatthewSimoneau (if only to keep someone else from getting it). When it required me to add some trailing garbage after my name though, I also canceled the process.
Same here, I don't understand why I'm forced to append junk, and I'm pretty sure my first/last name alone aren't taken.
I canceled at that point.
Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL
#84I wrote about this over a week ago, also they demand your cell phone number and apparently don't allow you to change it.
http://privasectech.com/2013/10/terms-service-google-vanity-...
Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL
#85I got mine! The only place that I didn't get my name exactly the way I want it is on Twitter.
Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL
#86Alright you guys, I'm gonna blow your minds. Try this kind of link: profiles.google.com/[YOUR USER NAME HERE] For example, vrypan's custom link would be: http://profiles.google.com/vrypan
That's a neat trick until you say "Google apps" and it all falls apart.
Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I was about to go through with it anyway until I realized that doing so would require me to register a phone number with my Google account, which I have so far avoided. That requirement was the final straw That's exactly how I feel. I try very hard to not give my number out, why the hell does google force me to tell them, just to get a URL?
I think it's for Google accounts in general. Even getting a gmail account requires this.
It didn't when I signed up, and thus far, I've not been forced to add it.
Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL
#88I noticed the same clause in the TOS last week and was taken aback. Ideally I'd love to be able to distribute my Google+ URL with the same confidence as I distribute my email address: namely, if you send a message to this address, you can guarantee that I'm the one who receives it. The fear here is that, should Google start charging for this "service" in the future, and should I decline to play along, someone else co…
Why should Google agree to give away something to you for free forever? They are doing you and the majority of the users (who will never pay for Facebook/Google Plus/Github) a favor by providing the service without charging you a dime. They reserve the right to charge you in the future. If this changes, they will let you know.
Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL
#89Here's how it works. The techies create something. The legals come along and say, OK, to release that in the wild it needs some T&Cs that cover our arses for everything and then some, because people keep sueing us. In practice, would Google ever dare invoke this on a large scale? No, you know that. Yes, there should be some transparent process that is undertaken if yours were revoked, but Google only like stuff that…
So, we're talking Google here. IF your assessment is true, then Google is certainly reigned by lawyers, not engineers.
Point taken.
Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL
#90Here's how it works. The techies create something. The legals come along and say, OK, to release that in the wild it needs some T&Cs that cover our arses for everything and then some, because people keep sueing us. In practice, would Google ever dare invoke this on a large scale? No, you know that. Yes, there should be some transparent process that is undertaken if yours were revoked, but Google only like stuff that…
Me in 1993: Yeah, but seriously, nobody is going to start charging for domain names. Writing a hundred bytes in your named.conf? What would you charge, ten cents? Doesn't make sense. And everybody swaps secondary service with everybody else, and your upstream includes it at no extra charge.
Where can I read more about this seemingly magical era? I'm so young that it sounds like a faerietale.