Will You Pay?
You’re now eligible for a unique Google+ custom URL that lets you easily point folks to your profile (no more long URLs!). Here’s what we’ve reserved for you: googleplus.com/username
Did you get this email?
Promote this on:
* your website,
* emails
* or other media.
Sound good?
Buried in the fine print or what’s called the : Google+ Custom URLs Terms of Use is this:
Custom URLs are free for now, but we may start charging a fee for them. However, we will tell you before we start charging and give you the choice to stop participating first.
Still sound good?
So basically, Google+ wants its users to invest time, effort and tea money using these fun new URLs (users are complaining about the choices already) in our posts, on our websites and within our emails. Then, a fee may roll out so that Google can double dip into the revenue stream (let’s not forget that ads are on the way).
What do you think the chances are that may will turn into, “How would you like to pay?”
I wonder why I may not be feeling the Google+ love lately?
I’ve met some great folks on Google+, including fellow bearded dragon friends, but such policies and fine print leave a bad taste on the user experience tastebuds.
But the service is free. No, it’s not free. The price is our meta-data, content and eyes. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s free.
So, with Google’s funny math for user counts, #nymwar history and small print, one enters at their own risk.
I’ve learned that the fine print is there for good reason though.
Will I pay?
My coin is going to more tea leaves.
